Introduction Kindergarten Grades One and Two Grades Three and Four   Lesson One     Experience One     Experience Two     Experience Three   Lesson Two   Lesson Three Online Games and Activities Culminating Experience Train Glossary National Standards		Grades Three and Four: Lesson One - Experience One Trainspiration! >> Resources How do trains spark our imaginations? Why do trains inspire us? Perhaps it is because they remind us of the romance and excitement of travel. Their speed and power touch our emotions. When we see a huge engine pulling many pieces of a train in unison we experience the poetry of motion and we hear the music of the rails. It is no wonder trains have influenced the way we express ourselves. They have inspired stories, legends, art, songs and poems since the time they were invented. Train Speak - How have trains influenced the words we use? Students explore the ways that trains have become part of our language as they learn the functions of different parts of a train along with train vocabulary and expressions. Objectives Experience One will enable students to Distinguish between freight and passenger trains. Explain the purposes of different kinds of cars on a train. Use train-related words and expressions in writing activities. Improve word-recognition and writing skills. Reflect upon what they have learned and record new ideas in their journals. You will need... Materials: Visual 1: Freight Train and Visual 2: Passenger Train, card stock, construction paper Time: Two to three 30-minute periods Words: More powerful than a locomotive... Locomotive or Engine Passenger train - passenger car, baggage car, dining car, dome car Freight train - boxcar, refrigerator car, tank car, flatcar, gondola car, caboose Focus Questions: Use these questions to help students focus on the key ideas in Experience One. What is a locomotive or engine? What does it do? What is the difference between a freight train and a passenger train? What do different types of train cars carry? The Expressive Express Indiana's Academic Standards: Grade Three: Language Arts - Standard 4: Writing Process (3.4.3, 3.4.6, 3.4.8); Standard 5: Writing Applications (3.5.2, 3.5.4); Standard 6: Writing Conventions (3.6.1). Grade Four: Language Arts - Standard 4: Writing Process (4.4.10); Standard 5: Writing Applications (4.5.5); Standard 6: Writing Conventions (4.6.1, 4.6.3). Procedures: Day One: After reading Train Song or another story, help students brainstorm as many train-related words as they can and develop a list. (See the Visuals and the Glossary for more words.) Ask students if they have also heard of expressions that relate to trains. Expressions are phrases with special meanings that people use to communicate ideas. They usually have more than one meaning. Introduce Train Expressions. Help students explore meanings and suggest sentences using the expressions. Write model sentences on the chalkboard. Day Two: Divide the class into groups of three. Each group will write a descriptive paragraph about a train using words from the list and train expressions. Have groups focus on one expression and its meanings and develop their idea for a paragraph around it. Help students brainstorm and model examples before groups begin their work. For example: 1. The Storytown Train roared down the track at lightning speed. It was going full steam ahead because... or 2. It was a terrible day when the Expressive Express got off the track... Assessment: Each group will write a descriptive paragraph that develops a main idea and uses a topic sentence and supporting ideas. Groups will make their writing more expressive by using word choices that describe, explain and provide details. Each member should participate in the writing process. Performance Criteria: Each group will: Write a paragraph, legibly, in complete sentences. Use train vocabulary and at least one expression. Review and revise their writing for clarity and meaning. Train of Thought Journal: Help students begin their individual journals by making front and back covers and a first page. Have students choose their favorite train expressions and record them in their journals. Ask students to think about why we have so many train-related words and expressions in our language. What information about trains could help make their writing more exciting or descriptive? What would they like to investigate in more detail? Train Expressions: To get off the track - to get off the topic or to get the wrong idea ("Don't get off the track when you explain your project.") When trains get off the track it is a real problem! One-track mind - to think about only one thing. ("Joe has a one-track mind. Baseball is all he thinks about.") When trains have to share a single track, only one train, going in one direction, can be on the track at a time. Full steam ahead - to do something with enthusiasm and as quickly as possible. ("Let's go full steam ahead with our research projects!") In the days of steam engines, engineers built up the pressure in the steam boilers in order to make the train go at maximum speed or "full steam ahead." On board - to be informed about something or to be in agreement. ("If we want to take a field trip, the principal has to be on board." This means the principal has to be informed and to agree, not that he or she has to go along.) A train wreck - a mess or a disaster. ("The baseball game was a train wreck! We lost 6 to 1.") Before good communications technology was developed, train wrecks were common. Often, they really were disasters. Asleep at the switch - not paying attention. ("The other team got a home run because our outfielder was asleep at the switch.") Before trains were routed electronically, a switchman had to throw a switch to put each train on the right track. If the switchman wasn't paying attention or fell asleep, there might be a train wreck. A carload - a lot of something. ("Joe got a carload of books from the library.") A freight car holds a large amount when it is full. The green light - to give approval. ("The principal gave our field trip plans the green light.") Long before there were stoplights for cars, colored signal lights were used for trains. They are still used today. An orange or yellow light means to slow down and be ready to stop. A red light means stop. A green light means the train can go forward. Can you think of more train expressions? Tips for the Teacher: Experience One allows students to identify the sounds of train words. Example: Help students think of words that rhyme with words like box (ox, fox) and car (far, star, bar). Students may want to experiment with rhyming words, listen to rhymes and poems or create their own rhymes. There is also a mystery to solve. Students may notice that the caboose is often missing from the trains we see today. What happened to the caboose? As students explore further in the unit, they will find out. Bonus - Extending Experiences: Cover a shoebox with brown paper or poster paints and decorate it like a boxcar with a flap cut in one side for the door. (A box without a top could be a gondola car.) Ask students to write or draw their favorite train word on a small piece of paper and place it in the box. Draw words and expressions from the box periodically and ask students to explain their meaning. This can be an ongoing game as the unit continues and students learn more words. Students may want to bring shoeboxes from home to make boxcars for their own "carload" of words. Have students write or draw a "train of events" for the things that happen in a typical day at school or home. Students may be interested in exploring the ways we communicate with people operating trains and how people on trains communicate with each other, including signs, hand signals, lanterns, telegraph, electrical signals and computers.