Activities
1.Literature Extension Plan for
Grade 4
The literature extension plan that I would do with the orphan trains is based on
the book Anne of Green Gables. This
book is about a girl who was adopted from an orphanage to live on a farm. The family actually wanted a boy, but they were
given Anne and they couldn’t refuse her.
The setting of the book is on Green Gables farm on Prince Edward Island. This is a beautiful island just off the coast of
Nova Scotia. (This could be a place to tie in some Social Studies.)
The extension that I would have the students do is focus on the period of time that Anne was around. Starting with the year 1866 when Anne was born, make a timeline of the events that were happening during that period of time. Compare and contrast the historical events with the events that are happening with Anne in the books. This will give the children an understanding of the history a way to relate it to something that they enjoyed.
2. Social Studies Activity for Grade 4
Topic:
Timeline for Orphan Trains
Organizational
Pattern: Whole group/small group
Time
Frame: 45 min.
Goal: When the students complete this activity, they
will understand the events that led to the rise in homeless children.
1.
The students will practice the
chronological order system.
2.
The students will learn why there were so many homeless children in the mid
nineteenth until the early twentieth centuries.
“The
learner will group state events by broadly defined historical eras and place in the proper
sequence on a time line with evenly spaced intervals for years, decades, and/or
centuries.” OSMCC Gr.4—American Heritage (AM) #1
Procedure:
1.
Read reference material that pertains to the time period discussed.
2.
Have the class bring in one occurrence that happened during the time of the Orphan
Train for homework. Make sure that they have
the date of the occurrence.
3.
When the assignment comes back, discuss each of the historical events brought in by
the students and their significance to the Orphan Trains.
(Some events may have no correlation.)
4.
Take the events discussed and chart them on the board by date.
5.
Split the students into groups of three, and have them create a time line of events
that led up to the Orphan Trains. This will
explain to the children the reasons that there were so many homeless children during that
time period.
1.
Go back and reiterate what is on the time lines and ask the students why. This will review the reasons that they learned.
1.
The students will be evaluated on their participation in the discussion.
2.
The students will be evaluated on whether or not they brought in an event that met
the requirements.
3.
The students will be evaluated on their group work skills.
4. The final project (time line) will be evaluated on accuracy, neatness, and skill in creating a time line.
3. Social Studies Extension Activity - 5th grade
Students would take knowledge gained through doing the Literature Circle and pick a key person involved with the Orphan Trains and write a report or drama on how things would be different if this person had not had the Courage to Care. Or write about the influence they had - what came about because of this person? This will get them to think about the big picture.
American Heritage:
1. Identify significant individuals from the region’s past and explain their influence on people from different times and their impact on the cultural heritage of the US.
4. Literacy Extension Activity - 5th grade
1. Children would have to read books from this topic.
2. Then they would write letters or journal entries from differing viewpoints. They could take the perspective of: a child who rode the train, was not picked, was picked, an adult who rode with the children, someone who had the courage to care. This is just to get them thinking about the feelings and emotions that were involved.
3. If so desire, they may share with the class their compositions - maybe develop into a role play activity.
Meets literacy objectives:
2. Read across the genres including historical fiction and biography
4. Select and use an appropriate mode of response to extend a reading experience
and many others!
5.Literacy Extension Activity - 7th grade
Have children go out doors and take a few pictures with a Polaroid camera. Or give them a disposable camera to take home. Students are to take shots that would be interesting enough subjects to write about. After the pictures are developed, students are to choose one picture to write a poem about. Students will need several days to expand their thoughts and work out their poetry. After their written work is fully developed, and has been approved by their teacher, students can write up a final copy. The photo will be mounted on appropriate colored card stock with the poem mounted under the picture. These works will be displayed either on a classroom wall or in the hallway in a prominent location. Optional: This activity can be centered around a particular theme.
Language Arts Objectives
met:
Writing
1. The learner will vary writing style according to purpose;
2. The learner will use a variety of organizational structures involving narrative, persuasive, expository, transactional, poetic, and expressive writing;
6. The learner will produce legible pieces of writing.
6.Social Studies Extension Activity - 7th grade
Learning activity idea: Planning a Trip (upper elementary – high school age – but not yet old enough to have a drivers license)
You are told that you will have to move across the country to a new city. This new city is very different from the one in which you are currently living. You are not given any details regarding the situation except that your parents can not come with you. You may or may not take a sibling with you – someone else will decide that. Please tell me in detail what you would bring along with you on this trip and why. Students will be given their location at random by the teacher.
Social Studies
Objectives met:
World Interactions
1. The learner will interpret information about places from a variety of resources
7.Language Arts
Literature Extension Activity:
Materials needed:
Pens/pencils, notebook paper
1. The students will read Out of the Dump by Kristine Franklin and Nancy McGirr.
2. The students will be asked to list their favorite poems of the book and describe why.
3. The students will then be asked to write poems relating to their own lives.
4. Remind the students how the children in Guatemala used detailed emotion in their poems and how you would like them to do the same.
5. After the students have completed their poems (will probably take a couple of days), ask any of them (who are willing) to share their writing.
6. Compare their poems with the ones of the Guatemalan kids in Out of the Dump.
**Meets language arts Grade Eight instructional objectives #’s 3, 6, and 8 (reading-making construction); #’s 6 and 8 (reading-application); #’s 1, 2, and 3 (reading-multidisciplinary); #’s 1 (writing-structure); #’s 1,2,3,6, and 8 (writing-meaning construction); #’s 1, 2, 3, and 4 (writing-multidisciplinary); # 1 (oral communication-application); #2 (oral communication-multidisciplinary)
**Meets language arts Grade Eight performance objectives #2 (reading-a, b, c, d, h, i); #5 (reading); #’s 1 and 2 (writing—all objectives under this category); #2 (oral communication)
8.Grade Eight
Social Studies Activity (Orphan Trains):
Pens/ pencils, Notebook paper
Resources on the orphan trains (books, Internet, encyclopedias, etc.)
1. The students will read orphan train related books such as the ones we did for this assignment (e.g. Orphan Train Rider, The Orphan Trains, Train To Somewhere, etc.).
2. After the students have read the books, the class will participate in an in-class discussion of why the orphan trains existed; what caused them to originate; who were the major people that orchestrated their existence; and how did they impact society?
3. If the students are having trouble coming up with responses, the instructor can have them research these questions and bring a list on paper to class the next day(s).
**Note… some instructors might feel it necessary for each student to list the answers on paper during the discussion so they can keep them for a later time.
Fulfills Eighth Grade Performance Objectives #1 and 8; and Instructional Objectives #2, #3-a and b, #5, #6 (American Heritage).
