Final Chicago Blog

The Chicago adventure was great. I was concerned that even though I was building on my own knowledge that I would not be able to bring many things back to may classroom, but I was wrong. As we visited the sites I thought of many different ways that I could bring the topics back to my classroom. The hard part became which one I would choose to do my lesson on.

The easiest topic to bring into my classroom is Lincoln. I have several ideas to implement in my classroom from Dr. Sarah Marcus from the Presidential Museum. I will be able to use the different activities we completed with some modifications for my third graders.  The next easiest would be to look at works of art and bring out the historical story. This will help the students to start thinking about the topic we will start discussing a topic or to wind up the topic that had been discussed and to see what they can connect to the picture from what they learned. Thanks Jonathan for taking us to another art museum and providing us with an excellent guide. The next time I am in Wisconsin visiting I may take the train down and visit the museum again.  Frank Lloyd Wright and architecture would be another good way to compare cities how they are different and the same. I can also have the students look at the detailing on buildings and discuss what influence the design came from.

The hardest topic I thought would be progressivism but I found a small section on Jane Addams in my social studies book. The chapter called “People and Their Local Government” begins with a story about Hull House and Jane Addams and the first section in the chapter talks about leaders in the community using Addams as an example.  I was thinking that Pullman would be difficult to discuss but I was thinking I could probably discuss the differences between Pullman as an owned town versus that of a town that has elected officials and people own their own homes and businesses.

The only topic I am having problems fitting into my grade level is Hay Market Square but I found away to expose the students to the event in a book by Michael Burgan in the We The People series called The Haymarket Square Tragedy. I could have the students read the book in reading groups as we got close to the first of May.

I found the topics we covered on the trip to surprisingly to be introduced in tiny portions in my social studies textbook and the other things we covered can be easily added in different ways in other parts of my curriculum. My knowledge of these topics has increased greatly and I will be able to share this knowledge with my students as we cover these topics

Day 10 Haymarket and Pullman Tours

Today we toured the Hay Market Square and discussed where different events took place. We then had lunch at the Healthy Food Lithuanian restaurant. The food was good. It is interesting how foods can be called different things from different parts of the world but still be very similar. We then continued on our tour to Pullman. The Pullman town was interesting thinking about how George Pullman thought he would solve all the problems that other companies were facing by building his own town. When in reality he set himself up for another set of problems with his employees.  I thought it was interesting how he and his family have not learned from their mistakes. In their thinking big corporations take care of the worker, is that why all the big companies are sending their factories out of the country so the workers are taken care of?

Day 9 — Madison

Today we had our journey to Wisconsin. Thank you Jonathan for the cheese curds. They were great. Our first stop was the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum.  They showed the great resources they have created for Wisconsin teachers. W e could use most of the resources in our classroom as mini-units. They have done a wonderful job putting their materials together.  I will keep them in mind for the future when I need some good biographies.  We then toured the museum. My favorite floor was the fourth floor and the Odd Wisconsin displays. My favorite display was a letter Lincoln wrote to McClelland asking him about having the army go fight the war.

  We then had lunch at the Great Dane.  After lunch we went to the University Wisconsin Madison Campus and had 2 lectures and a session looking at primary documents from the archives.  The first lecture by Jon Pollack was interesting. We looked at the naturalization documents and talked about immigration and why they were or were not allowed to become citizens and the laws of the time. Our second lecture was from Harry Miller. He was very entertaining and very knowledgeable about his subject.  We ended our day relaxing on the terrace and taking in the view and the music. I was happy to be back in Wisconsin for the day.  I wished we could stay longer  and see some more sites.

Day 8 Hull House and Architecture

What a dreary day. Today’s sodden adventure to the Hull House Museum was interesting in seeing and hearing about the work people did to help the poor and educate anyone who wanted to learn and how some of these programs are still in place though slightly altered to meet the needs of todays society. The push for innner city gardens to provide fruit and vegetables for theses communities was interesting. They had an interesting garden. Their problems with rabbits in the garden are about the same as mine in Pueblo West. Except mine are not being monitored by National Geographic.  Lunch was  good I liked the soup but I did not care for the lettuce. I guess our tastes have changed to meet what we grow today. Though I can imagine the horseradish flavored lettuce would have been a treat  in the past. The boat tour was interesting but would have been much better if it had not been raining. The woman was very knowledgable about her topic. She did the tour with out looking at notes and without an umbrella. 

I think a classroom or school garden would be beneficial as to the students. I think showing the students where their fruits and vegetables come from is important. I am a Project Wild and Project Wild Aquatic facilitator in the manuals there is a lesson called “What Did Your Lunch Cost Wildlife.”  This lesson has you think about what your lunch  caused in taking land away from wildlife for fields, pesticides used on the crops, trucks hauling the product to the plants, the polution the plants makes to make the product, waste the plant creates, trucks make polution hauling the product to the store, we create polution going to the store and back home again, and the polution the products containers  adds to land fills.    This lesson could be modified to have the students think about the ideals of Hull House and the inner city plight for fresh foods instead of thinking about wildlife.

Day 7 — Frank Lloyd Wright, Museum of Science and Industry, and White Sox

What an incredible day. We started out with an amazing tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. The home /studio was beautiful.  They have put in quality workto restore the palce back to when Wright lived there. The walking tour was also wonderful. We were able to see a variety of Wright’s design in just a few blocks. After the Wright tour we went to The Museum of Science and Iindustry where we had twolectures about the Worlds Fair. Both presenters did a good job presenting their information. The walking tour went well and we were able to see the architectural elements in the building.

Today was full of great information and I learned many thing to broadene my knowledge but I don’t think I will be able to use todays content in my classroom. Archetecture may be a little beyond my third graders at this point. But I will be looking for ways to slip it in where ever I can.

Today I attended my first professional baseball game. We had some awesome seats but no foul balls came our way. The White Sox played the Detroit Tigers. Detroit won 2 to 1. Who was that sitting across the field from us?

 

 

 

 

It was a good day.

Day 6 — Chicago History Museum DBQ Session and Walking Tours

Our second day at the Chicago History Museum went very well.  I liked the DBQ’s. I wish I had attended the session that Chip had presented at the college.  I want to try and set up some “micro” DBQ’s for my third grade students.  I did notice a few areas I do teach or that I could use in the 2^nd binder.  I could use these to help set some DBQ’s on Pueblo history (CF&I, The Flood, Creation of the reservoir), communities overtime (colonial mid 1700’s, industrial mid 1800’s, and modern – today.), or on immigration (ethnic portions of cities and movement from one area to another).  I enjoyed the Old Town walking tour. Our guide was hard to hear, he needed a little microphone and speaker, but he was very knowledgeable on the information he presented to us.

After the tour I went to Navy Pier I was disappointed. I thought there would be more going on down there.

Day 5 — Chicago History Museum

 It was another great dayin Chicago.  Today we took the subway to the Chicago History Museum where Dr. Sarah Marcus gave a lecture on Chicago at the turn of the century. We compared the Chicago fire and the Peshtigo fire, we came up with many reasons why the Chicago  fire was more sensational than the Peshtigo fire. The one that came to my mind but was not discussed was that the Pestigo fire was started by lightening a natural element versus the Chicago which was started by a human element.

Peshtigo Fire

 

Then Heidi Mosian gave a presentation on using historical fiction in the classroom that has resources for elementary  age students. I can’t wait to dig through their web site to check them all out. After lunch we  completed a hands on reading artifacts activity that has students looking at everyday items that could be purchased in the late 1800′s from a Sears or Montgomery Wards  catalogues and then looked at similar items that could be purchased today. It was fun looking at the matching catalogue purchase prices and descriptions. We then went and toured the exhibits upstairs. After the museum Dona, Becky, Lindsey and I went down to Wrigglyfield. 

Day 4 — Art Institute of Chicago

Today’s presentation of the American Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago was very good. It reminded me that we can tell stories about literature and the time period of when the art was sketched, painted, or sculpted. This in turn made me start thinking  about the talent these artists had. I also thought about how they learned from studying at each others work and started art shows. I also began thinking about the opportunities they had to become artists, they had to have had access to the mediums they used. I began to think about the opportunities I gave my students to be artists other than giving them a piece of paper and just letting them color. These opportunities were very few.  Looking back over time we have taken art out of schools due to costs and state testing.  As budgets become tighter music and P.E. will not be far behind. Our students deserve to have opportunities to be creative and to become the next Coply, Peale, or Remington. Whole in the museum store I came across some books that had art ideas and skills with how to steps to complete each project or practice each skill.  I want to use the projects to teach some art skills that has them produce a piece of art that will go with a lesson we are working on such as writting, social studies, science, or reading. Today was a very reflective day with some thoughts to guide my planning this next school year.

 

 

  My favorite in the American collection was the “Haunted House” but my picture did not come out so here I placed this unusual work.

Day 3 Springfield — More Lincoln Sites

Lincoln's House

Today started out with a tour of the Old State Capital. Our presenters did a wonderful job of presenting their information. It was sad to think of all the items lost in the  great Chicago fire. From there we went to a very detailed presentation at the Lincoln Herndon Law Office. It was interesting to hear about the the two lots and the development s of two stores and the rental units.  After the law office we went to the Lincoln’s home. This was very interesting  as we were able to see Lincoln’s home as it might have been long ago. It was intersesting to hear how they had bought the house and then added on to the house over the years. It was neat to see the exhibits to show the different additions. 

Next we went to Lincpln’s tomb. I thought the tomb to be a respectful rememberance of the Lincoln family.  I was also intriguied to learn about the several attempts to steal Lincoln’s body.  Ourf final stop of the day was New Salem. New Salem was the village that Lincoln lived in during his younger years when he lived in Illinois.  This stop gave me the most to take back to my students. In third grade we talk about communitiess. This village would be a great way to talk and compare villages  of the past and the present and also compare different time periods.  My favorite old tool in the village was the ash bins to make soap.

Day 2 Springfield — Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

 

Today was a good start to our  journey.  It set up our thinking to start thinking about the past in a different light. I enjoyed the presentations in the library today. I believe I can use the lessons in my classroom with a few modifications to bring it down to my third graders level. I think the students will like playing detective and look at the pictures of Lincoln to find out all the different things the pictures can tell us about him. Also, the students will enjoy using some of the web sites from the web quest we completed.

The movies in the museum were incredible.  Ghosts in the Library had an incredible ending.  As often as technology can be a pain in the butt people  can still do some incredible things with it. The other movie was also very good. The vibrations, smoke,  and visual effects were great.  The shooting of Lincoln was  unexpected and brought the assignation very close to home.  To bad we can;t bring our students here.