Train to Somewhere Lesson Plan

created by Shannon Overdahl

Grade Level: 2nd -4th

Subject: Orphan Trains

Title of Lesson: In their shoes

MN Standards:

K-3 I.A. US History: Family Life Today and in the Past

• The student will understand how families live today and in earlier times, recognizing that some aspects change over time while others stay the same.

K-3 IV.B. Historical Skills: Historical Resources

• The student will understand that we can learn about the past from different sorts of evidence.

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate critical thinking skills and comprehension of the book Train to Somewhere by drawing a picture and writing several sentences about traveling on the orphan train.

Materials Needed:

Drawing paper / crayons or markers / pens or pencils

Copy of Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting.

Bunting, E. (1996). Train to Somewhere. New York: Clarion Books.

Anticipatory Set:

Back in the late 1800s, there was a large immigration of people from other countries into the east coast of the United States. This overpopulation caused housing shortages, job shortages, and poverty. This poverty caused many people to be homeless and living on the streets in New York City. Since the living conditions on the streets were poor, many people became ill and were unable to care for themselves or their families. Children were abandoned because their parents died or were too sick to care for them.

Charles Loring Brace, a young minister who worked in New York City, worried about the homeless, abandoned children. He began the Children's Aid Society to help these children. He decided the best solution was to send the children to families out West who lived on farms and could offer a new family life for these homeless children.

To help explain this situation, we are going to read the book, Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting. After we read this story, I want you to pretend you are a child who rode the orphan train. Write a few sentences about your travels and draw a picture of your new family.

Vocabulary:

orphan - child without parents

conductor - drives the train

placing-out - giving children to families that want them

tenement - apartment building

warehouse - place to store goods

atlas - map (collection of maps)

platform - waiting area at the train station

agreement papers - signed papers to adopt the child

locomotive - train

Procedure:

Teacher reads the book. After the book is read aloud, teacher asks questions about the book (see below) and answers any student questions. Students return to their seats to complete their project. Teacher writes vocabulary words on the board for reference. If time allows, students will share their stories with the class.

Questions:

• Why did people come to the train station? (To adopt a chld).  
• Why did the children have to change their clothes?  (To look their best in the good clothes. To look clean for the potential parents.) 
• Do you think the children liked standing on the stage being looked at by the adults? 
• Why did Marianne not want to be chosen? (She was waiting for her mother.)
• What would it feel like to be the last one chosen? 
• Do you think the couple at the end wanted a boy or a girl? ( A boy. They brought a toy locomotive.)
• What do you think the feather symbolizes?  Why did she give it to the lady at the end of the book?  (It symbolilzed her mother. She gave it as a sign of accepting this woman as her new mother.)

Classroom Management:

Teacher will hand out drawing paper, crayons or markers, and pens or pencils.

Assessment:

Review of the students' written stories and pictures. Teacher will be looking for historical references, vocabulary words, and relevance to the story told.  

Train to Somewhere

Additional lesson plan and activities for Train to Somewhere:

From National Orphan Train Complex www.orphantraindepot.com/TrainToSomewhereLessonPlan.html

From Houghton Mifflin www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/readers_guides/bunting/train.shtml

Orphan Train Video

Orphan Train Helpful Links

NCSS Theme - Individuals_Groups_and_Instititutions

Social Studies Standard - History

Book Title