Today’s Walking Classroom looks at the Pony Express, a series of trails that were created in 1860 to deliver mail and important communications between the east coast and the west coast. The life of a Pony Express rider was very dangerous and difficult., as Pony Express riders would travel on horseback for many miles and would then give the letters to the next rider. The Pony Express forged the trail for what would become the U.S. Postal Service.
Character Value: Responsibility
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Common Core
L–Language | SL–Speaking and Listening | RI–Reading: Informational | RL–Reading: Literature | W–Writing | RH–6-8 Literacy in History/Social Studies | RST–6-8 Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects Elementary School:RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, SL.3.1, SL.3.4
RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3, SL.4.1, SL.4.4
RI.5.1, RI.5.2, RI.5.3, SL.5.1, SL.5.4
Middle School:
RI.6.1, RI.6.2, RI.6.3, SL.6.1, SL.6.4
RI.7.1, RI.7.2, RI.7.3, SL.7.1, SL.7.4
RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, SL.8.1, SL.8.4
RH.6-8.4
Supplemental Resource Links and Downloads
Quiz: (Make sure you're already logged into your Gmail account, then click to copy this Google form to your Google Drive. Quiz keys are here.)
The Pony Express Google Quiz
Slide Deck:
The Pony Express Slide Deck
Test your knowledge of the Pony Express with this quiz from Ducksters Education Site.
Compose journal entries from the perspective of a Pony Express rider with this activity from Mary Pope Osborne’s Classroom Adventures Program.
Test your knowledge of Pony Express vocabulary and historical facts with a word search and assessment from the National Pony Express Association.
Simulate the speed and efficiency of the Pony Express riders with this outdoor team relay race activity from Mary Pope Osborne’s Classroom Adventures Program.
See More Podcasts in Subject Area: Social Studies
See More Themed Groupings that Contain this Podcast: Westward Ho