Transportation Systems and Postcard

ISL Uptown

4th grade Social Studies & Visual Art

Ms. Eliza / Ms. Sonia / Mr. Jean / Ms. Geraldine 

In 4th grade Social Studies, students have been learning about Westward expansion and manifest destiny. In this particular unit, they have been learning about the transportation systems that revolutionized travel and encouraged settlement out west- the National Road, Erie Canal, and the Transcontinental Railroad.

We introduced students to the idea of postcards- how postcards are used to paint a picture of a certain place and slogans can be a way to advertise these places. I had students pick one of the transportation systems they learned about and create a postcard based on it. We then brainstormed slogans that might help advertise these modes of transportation to potential users. Students then created a postcard that featured the mode of transportation, some natural resources that could be expected on its path, and wrote a slogan about it advertising it to the world.

The next class we looked at pictures of the Transcontinental Railroad to jump start our writing. We then brainstormed descriptive nouns and adjectives about the surroundings, the trains, and the different people depicted. Each student then wrote a letter embodying someone interacting with their chosen mode of transportation- these people ranged from workers, to travelers, to fish, to captains. They chose an imaginary recipient and wrote to them describing their time on either the road, train, or boat highlighting the nuances of westward travel.

I loved to see the imagination that students brought into their images and letters-they wrote to people that were important to them or added in images that they related to. The exercise allowed students to imagine what it would be like to travel on these systems- why these modes of transportation were both beneficial and had extreme consequences.