In library this week, we looked at  primary source documents to discover how trains were used to transport goods. Students were asked to discuss what they saw. The Students provided evidence and made connections.

A 1903 silent, black and white film, Train taking up mail bag.  The subject of this Postal Department documentary is “snatching” the mail bag from the suspended post by the railroad mail clerk. As the film begins, a man climbs the steps leading to the device that suspends the mail bag in the air. A train can be seen in the distance approcaching the mail bag. At the end of the film, the mail bag is just being snatched from the suspension device.

Students were provided a copy of the image, Men working in a railway mail train and asked to  “Circle and label what you see that helps you guess where you think these men are working.” Analyzing primary source documents allows students to discover, prove, or investigate, their ideas. The thinking routines they use to make observations and reflections when analyzing visual primary sources are transferred to other academic areas.

Using a carousel protocol, students expressed their thoughts and ideas around a set of three early 1900s photographs of a horse-drawn U.S Mail wagon at a railway station, unsorted mail at the post office, and a girl handing a letter to the mailman in “A letter to papa” and then asked to create a time line.

In order to model the mail delivery observed in the primary sources, next week, the students will create his or her own postcard reviewing a book of their choice. The “postcard” book review will be mailed to the public library of their choice. The public libraries have agreed to display the ‘postcard”  book recommendations. Take your child to library to ensure it was delivered safely!