Frequently Asked Questions about Annie Oakley

Fourth Grade Lesson Plan on Annie Oakley, Using Garst Museum Resources

Content Area: Language Arts
Standard: Writing
Benchmark: Write informative text to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Lesson Objective: In this lesson, the students will learn to research and write a short report on Annie Oakley, using resources from Garst Museum or its website..

Download a Word doc here.

First session: Learning to take notes

Introduction: Tell students that when you are writing a report, it's necessary to take notes so you can remember the information you want to use. Tell them they are going to practice taking notes together, then by themselves.

Pass out Worksheet # 1, plus a printout about Annie Oakley from the Garst Museum. (www.garstmuseum.org/docsPeople/Annie.htm )Tell the students that when you take notes, you don't write down complete sentences. You write a phrase to remind you of the fact. Tell them that it's illegal to copy any information word-for-word and use it in a report. Have them read the first paragraph of the printout. Ask where Annie was born. Tell them not to copy the first sentence, but to write just "born Darke County Ohio near Greenville Aug. 13, 1860" Then ask them to write notes telling two problems she faced in early years. Have different children read their note aloud. They should have written something like "Father died" "Was very poor." Ask them to write a note about her name. They should just write Phoebe Ann Moses. Now ask them to go to the second part of the worksheet and write a full sentence using each fact they've noted. Tell them to make sure to write it in their own words and not the way it was written on the printout. Have some students read theirs aloud.

Worksheet # 1

Fact #1

Fact #2

Fact #3

Fact #4

Sentence from Fact # 1

Sentence from Fact # 2

Sentence from Fact # 3

Sentence from Fact # 4

Second session: Using an outline to take notes

Give the students Worksheet #2, which is an outline of the report you want them to write. It includes five paragraphs, and leaves room for the students to take notes on information for each paragraph. Also pass out the following list of resources they may use. Try to have some of the books available in the classroom for them to use.

Annie Oakley & Buffalo Bill's Wild West by Isabelle Sayers
Bulls-Eye: A Photobiography of Annie Oakley by Sue Macy
Annie Oakley by Charles Wills
Who Was Annie Oakley? by Stephanie Spinner
www.annieoakleycenterfoundation.org Click on the FAQ to read information about Annie
www.garstmuseum.org

Tell the students they are to take notes on the worksheet. Remind them that when they take notes, they only write phrases and words, not complete sentences.

Have the students hand in their worksheets when they are finished. Check them over to make sure they have enough information to write a short report.

Worksheet # 2

I. Annie's Childhood at Home

II Living at the Infirmary and with the "Wolves"

III. Earning Money with her Shooting

IV. Meeting Frank Butler and Performing with the Wild West Show

V. Annie's Later Life

Third session

Pass back Worksheet #2. Have the children start writing their report. If their worksheet indicated they needed help before they start writing, work with them. Have them hand in reports when they finish. Go over report with each child before he or she makes a final copy of his or her report.

Fourth session

Have children make final copies of their reports or assign them to do this at home.

Images courtesy of the Darke County Historial Society
Annie Oakley Center Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 1025, Greenville, OH 45331info@annieoakleycenterfoundation.com