How to run Head West, 1846 as Problem-Based Learning: your role, the pre-planning maps, pacing, role cards, sources, and debrief prompts. The golden rule — guide, don't tell. In PBL the students should feel they, not you, planned the investigation.
| Phase | What you do | What you resist |
|---|---|---|
| ① Surface | Teach vocabulary and facts efficiently; run the jigsaw; check acquisition. | Rushing to the problem before facts are secure. |
| ② Deep | Facilitate the concept map and source routine; model claim + evidence. | Giving your own interpretation of the sources. |
| ③ Transfer | Read the problem well; hold the KWHL chart; answer questions with questions; point to sources. | Answering the “Need to know” questions yourself. |
The Surface phase uses a four-topic jigsaw (The pull west, 1846) — a high-leverage move (d ≈ 0.92) because every student must teach. The flow: expert groups each study one topic and take notes → students re-mix into home groups with one expert per topic → each expert teaches → an individual check for understanding holds everyone accountable.
Before teaching, brainstorm every direction the westward-expansion problem could branch — so you can steer discussion and decide, in advance, which threads are productive and which are too sensitive or off-topic for your class and community.
| If students investigate… | They are working toward… |
|---|---|
| the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny | §113.16(c)(4)(C) |
| contributions & challenges of American Indian & immigrant groups on the frontier | §113.16(c)(4)(F) |
| U.S. regions, physical features, and settlement patterns | §113.16(c)(6), (c)(7) |
| how people adapted to & modified the land on the way west | §113.16(c)(8) |
| using & questioning sources; points of view; claim + evidence | §113.16(c)(23)(A–H) |
| defining the problem, weighing options, choosing & evaluating a decision | §113.16(c)(26)(B) |
Confirm access through your district's approved catalog before class. Vetted, free starting points:
Aligned to (not reproduced from) 19 TAC Ch.113 §113.16. Effect sizes from Visible Learning MetaX.