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 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: Children's books, such as the John Henry and Casey Jones stories; Visual 4: Story Train graphic organizer Time: Two to three 30-minute periods Words: More powerful than a locomotive... Message, legend Focus Questions: Use these questions to help students focus on key ideas in Experience Two. Why do we tell stories about the people who build railroads and work on trains? What kind of a person did it take to do these kinds of jobs in the past? What do you think it takes in the present? Train Heroes and Legends Indiana's Academic Standards: Grade Three: Language Arts Standard 2: Reading Comprehension (3.2.6); Standard 3: Literary Response and Analysis (3.3.2, 3.3.4); Standard 4: Writing Process (3.4.2); Standard 5: Writing Applications (3.5.1). Grade Four: Language Arts Standard 2: Reading Comprehension (4.2.2); Standard 3: Literary Response and Analysis (4.3.1, 4.3.2); Standard 4: Writing Process (4.4.4); Standard 5: Writing Applications (4.5.4). Procedures: Prior to the experience, prepare the Reading Roundhouse, a reading area with versions of the John Henry and Casey Jones stories and other legends or folktales. Day One: Engage students in a dramatic reading or readers' theater of one of the stories. Stop periodically to recall major points in the text and make predictions about what will happen next. Help students to identify exaggerations and fantasy elements. Ask students to describe the main character and events of the story. Discuss the effects of major events on the outcome of the story. Have students identify what problem or crisis the main character faced and the main message of the story. The message is the underlying theme or idea. Ask students to identify personal qualities of the main character. Ask them to decide: Is this person a hero? Why or why not? Day Two: Review the main events of the story. Explain to students that stories like the ones about John Henry are called legends. A legend is an imaginative story from the past that may have some basis in history, although this is difficult to determine. Discuss how a legend is similar to and different from other imaginative stories. Do students think that the John Henry and Casey Jones stories are based on real people and real incidents in the past? Why? Where and how could they look for clues? How could they find out if there is any historical evidence to support these stories? Day Three: Divide students into groups of three to four and take turns visiting the reading area to read one of the stories from the Reading Roundhouse. Assessment: After all the groups have read a story, each group will use the graphic organizer to write a summary of the plot. Bring the groups together to discuss and compare the plots. Performance Criteria: Each group should be able to: Use the Visual 4: Story Train graphic organizer to produce an outline of the story, including a main character and a series of major events. Organize their story summaries so that they have a beginning, middle and end. Train of Thought Journal: Have each student write a brief summary of one of the stories for the journal. Ask students to consider these questions: Why did the people who built railroads and operated trains become characters in legends and tall tales? What do these stories tell us about ourselves and our country? 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)