READING

After reading FLY LITTLE BIRD, FLY!,  BEYOND THE ORPHAN TRAIN, or another book or article of the orphan trains, test students' comprehension with a version of the game "20 Questions". 

Write the names of the people featured in the reading on individual slips of paper.  Divide the class into two teams.  A member of one team draws a name and "becomes" that person.  Members of the other team ask questions that can be answered "yes" or "no" to discover the identity. 

Give teams one point for each questions asked and five points for an incorrect guess.  At the end of each round (set a time limit, or decide how many questions can be asked), the team with the lowest score wins!

ART & DRAMA

ART:  Have students create photo collages or other illustrations using computer graphics to represent the experiences of orphan train riders. 

Choose an orphan train rider and create a drawing, painting or diorama that illustrates the changes he or she experienced when "Placed Out".

DRAMA:  Write and perform a play about an orphan train rider's experiences.  You might want your play to depict the train ride itself.  Most children who boarded orphan trains had never ridden on trains before.  What would it have been like for them?

Or, your play could depict the selection process where children were examined by prospective parents.  Sometimes agents had children recite poems or sing.  Find out what the selection process was like for riders, then act it out!  Be creative - there is a lot of drama in the stories of orphan train riders.  WIth careful research, this could turn into a History Day project!

SOCIAL STUDIES

The Orphan Train Era began prior to the Civil War and ended on the eve of the Great Depression, yet this mass migration of children is rarely mentioned in student textbooks. 

Have students create a time line from the mid-1800's to the mid-1900's showing what was going on in the country during the years that the orphan trains carried children throughout the nation.  Some of the events that could be included on a time line:  westward migration on the Oregon Trail, the Pony Express, presidential elections, Civil War battles, the sinking of the Titanic, World War I, Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight, the enactment of laws governing adoptions and regulating child labor, etc.

Challenge students to add events from local, county, state, national, and world history to the time line every day.  This could be an ongoing project!  It will help students see how the pieces of history fit together.

LOCAL HISTORY/WRITING

Have your class write letters to the editors of area newspapers.  In the letters, explain that you are studying the orphan trains and ask for those who rode orphan trains or who are descendants of riders to contact you.  If possible, schedule times for riders and descendants to visit your class.  Have students prepare lists of questions to ask the visitors, and capture the interviews on video or audio tape.  If a visit is not possible, ask them to respond in writing to questions you send in the mail.  Be sure to include a postage-paid pre-addressed envelope for their reply.  From these interviews, create a documentary or publish your own orphan train magazine.

-from "Suggestions for Cross Curriculum Studies"

 www.orphantraindepot.com

Projects From Avon Grove Charter School 4th Graders

West Grove, PA