Railroad+Fever+Reinforcing+Activity

__**Materials:**__ //-Railroad Fever: Building the Transcontinental Railroad 1830-1870// By: Monica Halpern -White 8 x 11 paper -Colored pencils and markers -Pens and pencils -Internet access -Printer access

__**Objective:**__ Students will explain why the railroads were developed and will discuss the positive and negative effects that the railroad industry has on modern society.

__**Time Allotted:**__ Two 50 minute class periods

__**Procedure:**__ > __**Assessment:**__ Students will be assessed for the written work they produced which should reflect that they have read the book and researched on the additional web resources. Their work should demonstrate an understanding of their "point of view." Students will be assessed for their work as cooperative members of their teams and class participation through teacher observation.
 * 1) Teacher reads //Railroad Fever: Building the Transcontinental Railroad//. 1830-1870. (It might need to be read in chunks depending on time constraints.)
 * 2) Students are divided into four teams.
 * 3) Tourists and Settlers
 * 4) Railway Owners/Promoters
 * 5) Chinese Workers
 * 6) Native Americans
 * If ample time, each team could complete all perspectives.
 * 1) Each group reacts to the advent of the Transcontinental Railroad from a different perspective using information/pictures from the book and reliable online sources (listed in additional references) to back up their points.
 * 2) The railway owners and promoters create travel brochures explaining why the west was so appealing and why railroads are needed. They must include text and pictures.
 * 3) Tourists and settlers write diaries about an actual trip on the railroad in upper classes and in lower classes.
 * 4) Chinese workers write a series of letters home about building the Iron Rail and how these jobs came to be available.
 * 5) Native Americans write chants mourning the passing of the buffalo and speeches expressing their anger at the growing incursion onto their lands.
 * 6) After individuals finish their perspective projects students meet as a team to choose five words or phrases, which best express their team's attitude toward the Transcontinental Railroad (in the roles they played).
 * 7) At the end, all four groups come together to share their words and discuss the total effect the railroad had on American life by using a T-chart with the left side labeled positive and the right side labeled negative.

__**Suggested Extension Activities:**__ Students can dress up and act out their perspective during the class discussion. Students can decorate their projects in a realistic manner with drawings that resemble the time period.

__**Additional References:**__ Also read- //Railroad Fever: Songs, Jokes and Train Lore// By: Wayne Erbsen [] The Library of Congress presents a collection of "on the trail" accounts from diaries and letters written by westward emigrants, 1846-1869 [] This Library of Congress site features hundreds of railroad maps dating from 1828 to 1900. [] This site offers an interactive and extended look at the many facets of the transcontinental railroad.

__**Other Ohio standards for this book:**__ Grade 5 Geography, Human Systems 7. Variations among physical environments within the Western Hemisphere influence human activities. Human activities also alter the physical environment.

Grade 8 Economics, Production and Consumption 23. The Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed the means of production as a result of improvements in technology, use of new power, resources, the advent of interchangeable parts, and the shift from craftwork to factory work.