Introduction Kindergarten Grades One and Two   Lesson One     Experience One     Experience Two     Experience Three   Lesson Two   Lesson Three Grades Three and Four Online Games and Activities Culminating Experience Train Glossary National Standards		Grades One and Two: Lesson One - Experience Two Reading Roundhouse >> Resources What do stories about trains and train heroes tell us? Students explore trains and train heroes as characters in stories, legends and folklore. Objectives: Experience Two will enable students to: Identify the main characters and events in train stories and folklore. Determine the main theme or message in stories. Retell stories in their own words or summarize the main events in a story using a graphic organizer. Consider why trains and the people who work on trains and railroads have become important characters in stories. Examine the personal qualities of heroes in train stories and legends. You will need... Materials: Train books, such as The Polar Express or Circus Train; Visual 4: Story Train graphic organizer Time: Two to three 30-minute periods Words: More powerful than a locomotive... Plot Focus Questions: Use these questions to help students focus on key ideas in Experience Two. Why is it fun to read stories about trains? Why do people write stories about trains? A Train of Events Indiana's Academic Standards: Grade One: Language Arts Standard 2: Reading Comprehension (1.2.3, 1.2.6); Standard 3: Literary Response and Analysis (1.3.1); Standard 4: Writing Process (1.4.1, 1.4.2). Grade Two: Language Arts Standard 2: Reading Comprehension 2.2.5); Standard 3: Literary Response and Analysis (2.3.1); Standard 4: Writing Process (2.4.2). Procedures: Before beginning the experience, make construction paper cutouts of the locomotive and cars from Visual 4: Story Train graphic organizer. Save the cutouts for discussion of the plot. Set up the Reading Roundhouse, a story area with picture books and stories for beginning readers. Day One: Prepare students to listen to a story, such as The Polar Express or Circus Train. Ask students to think about the title and guess what the story might be about. Read the story aloud, using pictures and key words to help students predict events. Encourage students to discuss who the main character is, where the story takes place, what happens and when and why events happen. Day Two: Ask students to retell the main events in the story. Help students summarize the story by using the cutouts of the locomotive and cars to create a "train of events." Use magic markers to write the first event on the locomotive, middle events on the cars and the last event on the caboose. Help students to arrange events in order so that the story has a beginning, middle and end. Explain that this pattern or chain of events in a story is called the plot. Arrange the locomotive and cars from left to right on the chalkboard or wall with painter's tape. Try mixing the cars up and have students rearrange them correctly. Day Three: Divide the class into groups of three or four to select a story from the Reading Roundhouse. Coach students as they help each other to use pictures and key words to identify main characters and events. Assessment: Each group will use the Story Train graphic organizer to organize and write down the main events of the story and create their own "train of events." Bring the groups together to retell the selected stories. Have students discuss and compare the different plots, settings and characters. Performance criteria: Each group should be able to use the graphic organizer to summarize the main events and retell the beginning, middle and end of the story. All group members should participate in summarizing, retelling and discussing the stories. Train of Thought Journal: Have each student draw a picture that shows an event in the story they read as a group. Ask students to think about these questions: Why was the train important in these stories? Can you think of ways that trains might have been important to people's lives in the past?
		John Henry and Casey Jones: For a long time, trains have inspired the imaginations of storytellers. There are many stories for children in which a train or a locomotive is the central character or plays an important role. Stories of trains and heroic railroad workers have become part of our folklore. Legends, like that of John Henry, take place in a historical context and often contain exaggerations and elements of fantasy. Actual events, individuals or circumstances may have inspired some legends. Usually these stories come from unknown authors and are handed down from one storyteller to another long before they are ever written down. The Casey Jones story is based on the accounts of people who survived the famous train wreck. The real John Luther Jones was born in 1863 near Cayce, Ky. He became known as Casey while working on the Illinois Central Railroad. Early versions of the John Henry story originated from an African-American ballad. Several states in the eastern half of the United States claim John Henry and his legend. We may never know if the story is based on historical events. We do know that between 1870 and 1873 the Big Bend Tunnel on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was built through the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia, a site mentioned in several versions of the ballad. The Coosa Mountain Tunnel, built from 1887 to 1888 near Birmingham, Ala., is another potential site. We also know that in those days many hard-working people, like "the steel-driving man," risked their lives in dangerous jobs. They must have felt a sense of pride in their work. At the same time, machines were beginning to take the place of human workers in factories, farms and railroads. The John Henry and Casey Jones legends tell us that, no matter what, human strength and courage make a difference. Tips for the Teacher: In Experience Two, students learn how to recognize the main characters and events in a story. Using a graphic organizer of some sort is a good way to help them identify and summarize major events and begin to consider the relationship that events in a story have to each other. Stories usually have three major parts: The beginning introduces the main characters, the setting and an event that sets the plot in motion. The middle introduces complications or a problem that leads to a crisis. The end brings a resolution to the problem and a conclusion to the story. Bonus - Story Train: Extend students' experience by using the Story Train to create their own stories. Have Kindergarten students make up and tell a story about the locomotive character they have drawn. The teacher or another adult can write down the story. (Language Arts K.4.2) Older students can use the graphic organizer to plan and then write their own legend about a train or train hero. Students should review, evaluate and revise their own work. (Language Arts 1.4.3, 1.5.1, 2.4.6, 2.5.1, 3.4.6, 3.5.1, 4.4.10, 4.5.1)