Blue Ridge Parkway Travelogue

Students plan and develop a week-long trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway, from beginning to end. The virtual tour culminates in the creation of a travelogue that will outline the trip.

A lesson plan for grade 4 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Rachel Elliott

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Related topics

• Learn more about Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina, language arts, maps, mountains, research skills, social studies, and writing.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• locate and describe geographic features in Western North Carolina.
• gather and assess information in the planning of a trip.
• gather information and generate an informational text.
• generate a map using a variety of sources and information.
• learn about the history of the Blue Ridge Parkway and its role in the industry and environment of Western North Carolina.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1-3 weeks

Materials/resources

• Paper (notebook and plain white)
• Pens, markers, colored pencils
• Rulers, scissors, glue
• North Carolina Social Studies Textbook
• Maps of the Blue Ridge Parkway
• A computer with internet access
• Brochures, photos, articles, books about the Blue Ridge Parkway and its attractions
• Handouts of Mile-by-Mile guide to the Parkway (available on-line at http://NCNatural.com/)
• Laminating materials (optional)
• Spiral binding materials (optional)

Technology resources

A computer with internet access

Word processor (optional)

Printer

Pre-activities

Students will have background knowledge of basic research skills, as well as map skills in scale and labeling. They will also have basic knowledge of the tourism industry in Western North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Prior to beginning this project, I had my class read the lesson in the social studies textbook that dealt with tourism in Western North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Activities

1. As a class, discuss and define the Blue Ridge Parkway and sites along it that we have visited.
2. Teacher provides students (I divided them into groups of 4) with mile-by-mile guides to the Blue Ridge Parkway and a handout with information about the project, including objective, requirements, and due date. (see attachment)
3. Students (in groups, or individually) study the guides and highlight points of interest and opportunities for lodging. They narrow down the points of interest to no more than 21 (or no more than 3 per day of the trip). In order to cover the entire parkway in 7 days, they will look for lodging about every 70 miles.
4. Students write notes and gather information on attractions and lodging from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, brochures, websites, articles, and books. Lists of considered sites should be submitted to the teacher for a progress check.
5. To begin writing the travelogue, students will complete a rough draft for an information sheet of the history of, and interesting facts about, the parkway itself (approximately 1 page in length).
6. Next, students will create a map of their trip, including and labeling all sites that they will visit and places they plan to camp or lodge.
7. Students will then generate a rough supply list of anything they plan to take with them, from camping gear to swimsuits or skis(with respect to the season).
8. After completing these three items, students will begin their rough draft of a day-by-day account of the trip. This section will include one page per day. Each page will include: miles traveled, sites visited, lodging, pictures or drawings, and comments about what they did during that day (for example, what trails they hiked).
9. When rough drafts of all 10 pages have been completed, each student or group will conference with the teacher and revise the drafts for a final copy.
10. When all pages are finalized, students create a cover and put it all together in a booklet to be laminated and bound if possible.
11. The final step requires that students share their travelogues by presenting them to the teacher and the class, explaining each page, and what they learned from the project (not to exceed 5 minutes).

Assessment

Students will be assessed through the evaluation of their finished travelogues and their presentations to the class. Both will be evaluated on a number of criteria including:

• Effort
• Accuracy
• Depth of information
• Neatness

The following rubric offers an example of how one might evaluate the travelogues.
Grade A:

• Product is well organized and neat.
• Maps are accurate in scale and geographic placements.
• Supply list, and information page reflect research and offer accurate and reasonable information.
• Day-by-day pages show accurate calculation of mileage, accurate and reasonable accounts of sites visited, and creativity in interpretation.

Grade B:

• Product may be a bit disorganized.
• Maps may have problems with detail, accuracy, or scale.
• Supply list and information pages may be lacking and/or unrealistic.
• Day-by-day pages may have slightly inaccurate mileage calculations, may include inaccurate or unreasonable details, and/or may be short on details.

Grade C:

• Product is disorganized and sloppy.
• Maps are inaccurate in detail and scale.
• Supply list and information page show little attention to detail and are unreasonable/inaccurate.
• Day-by-day pages are missing some of the required information, include inaccurate mileage calculations, and/or are missing relevant comments and pictures.

Grade D:

• Maps are insufficient and inaccurate.
• Supply list and information page are incomplete and lacking in relevant information.
• Day-by-day pages are incomplete and lacking in details and accurate information.

Grade F:

• Entire product shows little effort, is inaccurate, disorganized, and sloppy. Little attention has been paid to detail.

Supplemental information

Handouts, including mile-by-mile guides, are available from a number of websites. I printed an excellent one from http://NCNatural.com/.

Related websites

http://NCNatural.com/
http://www.nps.gov/blri/viscentr.htm
http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/
http://www.byways.org/pages/index.html
I gathered information from these sites, including travel guides and mile-by-mile guides, to help my students begin the project. The students also went back to these sites for more detailed information and pictures of the locations they were interested in.

Comments

Although constructed for 4th grade, this lesson would work for any upper elementary or middle school class, especially eighth grade social studies. It can also be adapted for virtually any level of learner and has great opportunities for AG learners. I have implemented this lesson with my class divided into small groups, but it could also be done by individual students, or as a whole-class activity. If done as a unit, a field trip to one or more of the sites along the parkway would be a wonderful culminating activity!

This lesson plan can also be adapted for other geographic regions in North Carolina.