Having looked at the role of Indian trappers who had been supplying skins to British, French and Spanish traders on the Missouri river for decades, students now turn their attention to the Mountain Men. What were they really like?
The lesson starts with a funny story to arouse interest. The script is provided as a downloadable resource. It comes from The Wild West by Robin May and is highlighted on slides 3-4.
Now is the time for students to begin to make up their own minds as to what these Mountain Men were really like. Quickly show them two contrasting images, one after the other, using slide 5. Then reveal the first painting section by section in more close-up detail.
Copy slide 7 onto the middle of an A3 sheet so that there is a wide enough margin all around onto which students can write their annotations. Challenge them to find 5 significant features which the artist has deliberately included to create an effect. Then ask them to write a caption underneath, starting with the words, “What I think the artist is trying to tell us is….”
They can then come to the interactive whiteboard on which slide 8 is
