The+Floating+House+Reinforcing+Activity

Read the book as a class and have the students keep in mind the challenges that the McClure family faces along their trip.

Once you have finished the book, have the students get into small groups and list a number of the challenges and hardships that the family faced, both listed in the book and foreseen. When the groups have their lists, reconvene and make a master list on the board, addressing each struggle and how it would affect a family traveling via flatboat.

After this list is together, as a class, brainstorm a number of other ways the McClure family could have traveled to Jeffersonville. Together, list pros and cons for each mode of transportation and then decide why the McClure family probably decided to travel by flatboat.

Instruct the students that their assignment is to pick an early settlement, such as those shown on the first page of the book, and decide how they would get there. Have the students describe the challenges they would face with their specific mode of transortation, the advantages to their mode of transportation and how they would get food and supplies along their journey. They should complete the assignment individually, writing their responses on a piece of notebook paper.

Once the projects are completed, have the students share their journeys with each other for the sake of comparing and contrasting different early methods of transportation.