Before your students read Rachel's Journal, take some time to talk to them about pioneer life in America. Have students look at the map at the beginning of the book, and then point out the journey on a larger map of the United States. Discuss with students where these travels took place in relation to where your school is located. Talk to students about some of the other books, movies, or television shows about pioneer life that they are familiar with. Have students look at the map and review when Rachel's family reached key points. Then ask them to predict what challenges the family probably faced at different points during the trip.

Classroom Activities

Make a Map
Encourage children to look at the map at the beginning of Rachel's Journey. This map clearly indicates how Rachel's family got to their new home in California. Then have children make their own simple map of how they get from school to their own home each day.

Create a Character Sketch
At the beginning of the trip, Rachel thinks that 13-year-old Prudence is "too full of herself to make a good friend." Yet by the end of the trip Rachel has grown very fond of Prudence. Ask students to write about people in their own lives for whom their feelings might have changed. Encourage students to include the reasons why they weren't sure they liked someone, and why they changed their minds.

A Social Studies Report
In her journal, Rachel writes about the food available on the trail, as well as the water for the cattle and oxen. When the families journey across the desert, the lack of water makes the trip especially dangerous. Have groups of students research the natural food and water resources found in your area. For example, one group might find out what fruits and vegetables are grown on farms nearby. Another group might learn about animals that live in the area. A third group could research the source of drinking water for your area. Ask students to give group reports of what they've learned. You might want to extend this activity by visiting some local farms or having someone from the water department come to talk to your class about the local water supply.

Write a Story
Explain to students that Rachel's Journal was written in modern times by an author named Marissa Moss, not a pioneer girl named Rachel. Discuss with students that Marissa Moss had to learn a lot about pioneer life in order to write this book. Ask students to think about a time and place that they find interesting. Encourage them to read books and talk to "experts" about that time and place. Then have students write their own stories about children their age who live in their chosen time and place.

Keep a Journal
In Rachel's Journal, the narrator writes all about her journey westward from Illinois to California. She includes details about the other people on the trip, the animals traveling with them, the clothes she has to wear, and the landscape they pass through. She also writes about the dangerous adventures they have — crossing rivers, meeting Pawnee Indians who wore warpaint, crossing the treacherous desert, and trying to get to California before snow fell.

Ask students to think about the aspects of the journal that help Rachel really come alive for them. Is it details about what Rachel and her family eat? How she and her friends play? How Rachel feels about others on the trip, especially Prudence, and how those feelings change? Then ask students to try to write their own journals, and give them the following tips.

1. Make a habit out of writing in your journal every day. Your writing will get freer and more expressive as you get used to putting your thoughts and observations down on paper.
2. Carry a notebook with you everywhere. Your writing will be especially vivid if you can write down your observations and ideas as they happen.
3. Think about including pictures in your journal. You might want to include photographs and drawings, like Rachel did, to help you keep memories fresh.
4. Listen to the people around you. Record conversations that you find interesting.
5. Take some time to practice describing places. You might want to take your journal to a different place each week, and write about what it's like in each place (for example, your bedroom, your school cafeteria, a playground).
6. Tell stories from your day. Think about who did what where, how they did it, and why. Telling stories well will help you in all your efforts to communicate.
7. Make lists of favorites. On some days, you may not have adventures to write about. Then you can use your journal-writing time to list what books, movies, and television shows you like best. Make sure to include why you like them.
8. Every now and then, read earlier entries. Journals can be a wonderful way to keep memories alive. Does your journal help you to remember special events and feelings?