Grade 4 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 7, Lesson 3

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Oh, California

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 7, Lesson 3: Building the Railroad (pp. 173-177)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Change The engineering and work crews faced many challenges as they completed the transcontinental railroad.

Make simple props (illustrated on page 174): wooden yoke (yard stick with string), and buckets of rock (blocks). Have students take turns role playing the workers chipping through the rock and carrying buckets of rock away. As they do, discuss with them the difficult task the railroad workers faced (bitter cold, snow slides, explosions, long working hours).

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Refer students to the poem on p. 177. Then have students write their own poems celebrating the coming of the transcontinental railroad.
Have students make a mural showing the route of the transcontinental railroad. Included in the mural should be scenes depicting the hardship and sacrifice made for its cause.

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