Orphan trains
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/Lessons.cfm?DocID=72
A lesson plan for Grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 8
- Subjects
- social studies (United States history)
- Provider
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
Legal
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The purpose of this lesson is to examine social trade-offs in the context of the Orphan Trains and society's treatment of children whose parents can longer care for them. Gaining an understanding of the concept of social trade-offs may be one of the most important components of a comprehensive education. If the habit of considering alternatives and their consequences is to be functional for students, they should exercise it in a rich variety of contexts.
In this lesson students will develop their ideas about social trade-offs by examining the history of the Orphan Trains and the New York Children's Aid Society, created in 1853. The purpose of the society, a forerunner of modern foster care, was to provide thousands of street children with homes in rural communities in the American Midwest. For some poor urban children the trip west brought great opportunity, but for others it meant heartbreak and disappointment. The majority of the Internet resources about the Orphan Trains have resulted from genealogical research done by families of the children who were sent to the Midwest by the New York Children's Aid Society. By considering what these children as individuals both gained and lost, as well the benefits and consequences to the larger society, students can explore the concept of social trade-offs into a compelling perspective.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Social Studies (2003)
Grade 8
- Goal 6: The learner will analyze the immediate and long-term effects of the Great Depression and World War II on North Carolina.
- Objective 6.01: Identify the causes and effects of the Great Depression and analyze the impact of New Deal policies on Depression Era life in North Carolina.
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 8
- Goal 1: The learner will use language to express individual perspectives through analysis of personal, social, cultural, and historical issues.
- Objective 1.01: Narrate a personal account which:
- creates a coherent, organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
- establishes a point of view and sharpens focus.
- uses remembered feelings.
- selects details that best illuminate the topic.
- connects events to self/society.
- Objective 1.02: Analyze expressive materials that are read, heard, and viewed by:
- monitoring comprehension for understanding of what is read, heard, and/or viewed.
- reviewing the characteristics of expressive works.
- determining the importance of literary effects on the reader/viewer/listener.
- making connections between works, self and related topics.
- drawing inferences.
- generating a learning log or journal.
- maintaining an annotated list of works that are read or viewed, including personal reactions.
- taking an active role in and/or leading formal/informal book/media talks.
- Objective 1.03: Interact in group activities and/or seminars in which the student:
- shares personal reactions to questions raised.
- gives reasons and cites examples from text in support of expressed opinions.
- clarifies, illustrates, or expands on a response when asked to do so, and asks classmates for similar expansion.
- Objective 1.01: Narrate a personal account which:
- Goal 2: The learner will use and evaluate information from a variety of sources.
- Objective 2.01: Analyze and evaluate informational materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by:
- monitoring comprehension for understanding of what is read, heard and/or viewed.
- recognizing the characteristics of informational materials.
- summarizing information.
- determining the importance of information.
- making connections to related topics/information.
- drawing inferences.
- generating questions.
- extending ideas.
- Objective 2.02: Use multiple sources of print and non-print information to explore and create research products in both written and presentational forms by:
- determining purpose, audience, and context.
- understnaing the focus.
- recognizing and/or choosing a relevant topic.
- recognizing and/or selecting presentational format (e.g., video, essay, interactive technology) appropriate to audience.
- evaluating information for extraneous detail, inconsistencies, relevant facts, and organization.
- researching and organizing information to achieve purpose.
- using notes and/or memory aids to structure information.
- supporting ideas with examples, definitions, analogies, and direct references to primary and secondary sources.
- noting and/or citing sources used.
- recognizing the use of and/or employing graphics such as charts, diagrams,and graphs to enhance the communication of information.
- Objective 2.01: Analyze and evaluate informational materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by:
- Goal 3: The learner will continue to refine the understanding and use of argument.
- Objective 3.01: Explore and evaluate argumentative works that are read, heard and/or viewed by:
- monitoring comprehension for understanding of what is read, heard and/or viewed.
- analyzing the work by identifying the arguments and positions stated or implied and the evidence used to support them.
- identifying the social context of the argument.
- recognizing the effects of bias, emotional factors, and/or semantic slanting.
- comparing the argument and counter-argument presented.
- identifying/evaluating the effectiveness of tone, style, and use of language.
- evaluating the author's purpose and stance
- making connections between works, self and related topics.
- responding to public documents (such as but not limited to editorials, reviews, local, state, and national policies/issues including those with a historical context).
- Objective 3.01: Explore and evaluate argumentative works that are read, heard and/or viewed by:
- Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
- Objective 6.01: Model an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression by:
- using a variety of sentence types, punctuating properly, and avoiding fragments and run-ons.
- using subject-verb agreement and verb tense that are appropriate for the meaning of the sentence.
- applying the parts of speech to clarify language usage.
- using pronouns correctly, including clear antecedents and case.
- using phrases and clauses correctly, including proper punctuation (e.g. prepositional phrases, appositives, dependent and independent clauses.)
- determining the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words using context clues, a dictionary, a glossary, a thesaurus, and/or structural analysis (roots, prefixes, suffixes) of words.
- extending vocabulary knowledge by learning and using new words.
- evaluating the use and power of dialects in standard/nonstandard English usage.
- applying correct language conventions and usage during formal oral presentations.
- Objective 6.02: Continue to identify and edit errors in spoken and written English by:
- using correct spelling of words appropriate in difficulty for eighth graders and refining mastery of an individualized list of commonly misspelled words.
- producing final drafts/presentations that demonstrate accurate spelling and the correct use of punctuation, capitalization, and format.
- self correcting errors in everyday speech.
- independently practicing formal oral presentations.
- Objective 6.01: Model an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression by:
