Library of Congress
Pathway Adventures:
Using Historical Documents to Develop Early Literacy
Authors:
Emily Jensen
Sonni Daisy
Breanne Andersen
Kierstin Blythe
Josh Meadows
College of Education
University of Northern Iowa
Book Backdrop Title:
Industrial Revolution
Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………. 2

Lesson Module
o Lesson 1: Pre-Industrial Revolution- What Was Life Like?...............................3
o Lesson 2: Immigration: Where in the World?.................................................... 6
o Lesson 3: Machines of the Industrial Revolution……………………………... 9
o Lesson 4: Working Conditions During the Industrial Revolution ……...…… 11

Appendix I: Library of Congress Resources ……………………………………….. 14

Appendix II: Bibliography …………………………………………………………… 24
1
INTRODUCTION
Book Backdrop Title:
Industrial Revolution
Focus Book Citation: Sioux, Tracee. 2004 Immigration, Migration, and the Industrial
Revolution. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group
Focus Book Summary: Many changes occurred in America during the Industrial Revolution.
Life no longer centered around farming and agriculture, but rather around power supplies and
machines. This change in the American economy effected many lives including those of
immigrants and former slaves.
Book Setting: America
NCSS Notable Trade book Theme: History, Life and Culture in the Americas
Historical Period: The Rise of Industrial America
Grade Range: 3-5
2
LESSON MODULE
Five Lesson Primary Source-Based Book Backdrop Lesson Plans
Lesson 1
Title: Pre Industrial Revolution: What Was Life Like?
Learning Goals:
Knowledge



Students will learn what life was like before the Industrial Revolution.
Students will examine the transition to the Industrial Revolution from the regular days of
society.
Students will start to understand why the Industrial Revolution started and what it meant
for society at that point in time.
Skills



Students will collaborate in groups and make a T-chart of inventions before and after the
Industrial Revolution.
Students will use laptops to research inventions that that people may have used before the
1800’s.
Students will demonstrate their artistic skills by creating and coloring a large poster of a
family before the Industrial Revolution.
Dispositions


Students will develop a clear understanding of what life was like before the Industrial
Revolution by critically thinking and examining the transition period.
Students will learn how to work collaboratively with others to reach one common goal.
Links to National Standards:
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
TIME, CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE: Social studies programs should include experiences
that provide for the study of the past and its legacy.
PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.
INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, AND INSTITUTIONS: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions.
3
POWER, AUTHORITY, AND GOVERNANCE: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures
of power, authority, and governance.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of relationships among science, technology, and society.
General Instructional Materials:
 Immigration, Migration, and the Industrial Revolution
 Large sheets of paper (Easel size)
 Markers and/or colored pencils
 Laptop (at least one per group if not one per person)
LOC Primary Source Materials:
Appendix I: Image #4- Low-income families in the early 1800’s struggle to make a living and
provide for the entire family.
Appendix I: Image #5- Working on the land was a common job for many young men during the
1800’s.
Lesson Procedures:
Introduction:
1) Begin by talking about “The Industrial Revolution” to the class. Write the phrase
on the board and ask the students what it might mean.
2) Let the students answer and get a couple of student’s different perspectives. Write
their answers on the board so the class can see them.
3) Tell the students that we are going to learn about the Industrial Revolution and
how it impacted the United States and the rest of the world forever.
4) Hold up the book and tell them that we will be reading a section a day to learn
about the Industrial Revolution in different parts.
5) Read the section about the Pre-Industrial Revolution days and have the students
listen to you read.
6) Answer any questions that the students may have and tell them that they will be
doing a fun project dealing with the Pre-Industrial Revolution.
Development
1) Show the students the pictures provided and let them look at them for a minute or
two.
2) Ask the students to tell the class what they think of the pictures. Where the
pictures were taken, their emotions, and what might be going on in that time
period.
3) Let the students gather their thoughts and discuss it among themselves and with
you the teacher.
4) When the students are out of guesses, tell them that they are pictures of life during
the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Explain to them that times were
hard back then without any of the machinery that we have today and most things
had to be done by hand.
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Culmination
1) Tell the students to get into groups of 4-5 depending on the number of students in
the classroom. The teacher can choose the groups if necessary or the students can
choose for themselves.
2) With the laptops, the students are going to research on their own how things were
done before the Industrial Revolution. They will research machines, people, and
main concepts of Pre-Industrial Revolution and the Industrial Revolution (This
works assuming the students have prior knowledge of how to properly research a
topic)
3) The students will make a T-chart using an easel pad of paper. One side will say
“Pre-Industrial Revolution” and the other will say “Industrial Revolution”. They
are supposed to pick out just key concepts and jot it down on each side. No more
than one sentence each. This will give them a general knowledge of the topic
which they will get in more detail in the other lessons.
4) The students will also draw a picture using another easel sized paper of what they
think life looked like Pre-Industrial Revolution. This lets them be creative. They
can draw whatever they want as long as it relates to the topic.
5) In each group, they can have some work on the picture and some work on the
laptops with the T-chart or they can do it all together. The group has control of
what they are doing. The teacher can and should step in if they are not working
well together though.
Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals
1) The students will present their T-Charts and their posters to the class. They will
talk about why they drew what they drew and why they wrote what they wrote.
2) Hang up the posters and the T-charts throughout the unit so the students can
reflect on them during the duration of the thematic unit.
5
LESSON MODULE
Lesson 2
Title: Immigration: Where in the World?
Learning Goals:
Knowledge:
 Students will learn the how people came to be in this country and where they immigrated
from.
 Students will learn the difference between the terms “migration” and “immigration,” and
explore primary resources about these two terms.
 Students will explore why immigrants came to the United States.
 Students will begin to understand migration in the United States.
 Students will develop an understanding of what it was like to come to a country to start
over.
Skills:
 Students will begin exploring various types of articles and pictures that are centered on
immigration and arrival of the immigrants.
 Students will participate in a sharing activity where they explore their past and the
countries they came from.
Dispositions:
 Students will develop an understanding of the experiences of immigrants coming to the
United States during the Industrial Revolution.
 Students will begin to develop an ability to evaluate multiple perspectives and think
critically about the past.
Links to National Standards:
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
TIME, CONTINUITY AND CHANGE: Social studies programs should include experiences
that provide for the study of the past and the people in it.
CULTURE: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of
culture and cultural diversity.
PEOPLE, PLACES AND ENVIRONMENT: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments that enable us to
understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence
6
General Instructional Materials:
 Paper
 Writing Utilities
 Map of the World
 Push Pins
 Colors/Markers
 Play Props
LOC Primary Source Materials:
Appendix I: Image #8- Photograph taken in 1910 of five women immigrants arriving at Ellis
Island.
Appendix I: Image #9- Immigrants coming up the board-walk from the barge, which has taken
them to Ellis Island, in 1902.
Appendix I: Image #10- Immigrants just arriving from foreign countries in 1904, all crowding in
the Immigrant Building in Ellis Island, New York Harbor.
Lesson Procedures:
Introduction
1. Begin the lesson by talking about why people would want to immigrate to a
different country. Ask students to do a “Think, Pair, Share” about what they think
about why people immigrate to a new country.
2. After a few minutes ask for a few students to share what they know about the
subject, what they understand now about the subject, and questions that they
might still have about people immigrating to another country.
3. Explain that during the industrial revolution millions of people came across the
sea to the United States, where they wanted to start their lives over. Many of our
ancestors came over during this time. When people came to a new country it is
called immigration. Show all three of the pictures from Library of Congress and
say that these are immigrants. When people move from one part of a country to
another part of the same country, this is called migration. At your tables please
discuss the difference and give examples of each of these. When you are done we
will come back together as a class and tell each other our ideas.
4. When they are done at their tables call back their attention and ask what they
discussed at their tables. If any are wrong, correct them and explain why they
were wrong. Explain to them that you are going to be showing them the three
pictures of immigrants coming off of boats in the early 1900’s and ask what they
were doing, migration or immigration.
5. When you get the answer of immigration tell them that we are going to be talking
about our own ancestors and talking about where they immigrated from, at
whatever time period.
7
Development
1. Show students the map. (The day before send a letter home asking where students
ancestors came from)
2. Ask students the following questions:
 Can you come up and find the country on the map?
 Can you put a pin in the place where your ancestors came from?
 Do you know anything about these/this country?
3. Have all of the students come up and do that and then have a conversation about
how our nation is a country of immigrants.
Culmination
1. After we will have a discussion about how it would feel coming to a new country
and not having anything but the clothes on their backs. Have them get into groups
and have them make up a reenactment of what it felt like getting off of the ships.
This will help their understanding of what it felt like for someone getting off the
ship.
2. Clear an empty space in your classroom for this reenactment.
3. Ask for volunteers that would like to go first. After they are done performing ask
for two stars and a wish for the group.
4. Provide some time for follow-up discussion and questions. Ask the students if
they would have to do this activity again what should we do differently.
5. Have the students look at the pictures again and ask the students to draw pictures
of what they thought their ancestors looked like getting to this country, whenever
they arrived.
Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals
1. Ask students to draw a picture depicting what they think it looked like when their
ancestors came over from another country.
2. Have students share their drawings and writing with their classmates in order to
promote reflection and show that they understand the meaning of immigration and what
their ancestors went through coming to another country with nothing.
8
LESSON MODULE
Lesson 3
Title: Machines of the Industrial Revolution
Learning Goals:
Knowledge:
 Students will explore the different machines used in the Industrial Revolution.
 Students will know the importance of the different machines.
Skills:


Students will construct a machine and share it with the class.
Students will share their machines with the class.
Dispositions:
 Students will experiment and enhance their creativity with machines.
 Students will appreciate others’ ideas and inventions.
Links to National Standards:
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
TIME, CONTINUITY AND CHANGE: Social studies programs should include experiences
that provide for the study of the past and its legacy.
PEOPLE, PLACES AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.
PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION AND CONSUMPTION: Social studies programs should
include experiences that provide for the study of how people organize for the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods and services
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of relationships among science, technology, and society.
General Instructional Materials:
 Paper
 Markers
 Cardboard tubes
 Yarn
 (students can bring materials from home)
LOC Primary Source Materials:
Appendix I: Image #6- Brenham weekly banner. (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, February 06, 1880
Appendix I: Image #7- The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, April 01, 1914, Page 11
9
Lesson Procedures:
Introduction:
1. Write Machine and Industrial Revolution on the board and ask the students what they
think of when they hear the words. Think Pair Share.
2. Have one person from each table share their ideas with the class.
3. Watch the flocabulary video.
4. Discuss as a class what machines were mentioned and how life was different back then
5. Mention the cotton gin, spinning jenny, railroad, postal service, and steam engine.
6. In groups, think of how the world has changed in the last 15 years and how they think it
will change in their lifetime.
7. Share with the class.
8. As table groups, make an invention. Draw or create. With supplies from home or
provided materials.
9. Share with the class.
Development:
 Students get into group of 2, or by themselves, and research one machine or development
of the Industrial Revolution.
 Each person or group will present to the class their findings with a visual aid.
Culmination:
 Each table group will think up a machine, such as an IPod, toaster, copy machine, etc.
 Each group will make their machine using their bodies only.
 The rest of the class will guess the machine.
Assessment Strategies Linked to Lesson Goals:
 Everyone will explain to someone else about an Industrial Revolution machine that they
learned about from someone else.
 Each person will REALLY know about the machine they researched but they will also
know about each machine that other groups presented on.
10
LESSON MODULE
LESSON 4
Title: Working Conditions during the Industrial Revolution
Learning Goals:
Knowledge:
 Students will learn facts about the Industrial Revolution that began in America around the
1800’s.
 Students will better understand the working conditions of people who worked in the
factories during the Industrial Revolution.
 Students will better understand some of the labor laws for Iowa in 2012.
 Students will begin to understand the term “child labor” and what it was like to for
children who worked in factories during the Industrial Revolution.
Skills:
 Students will participate in a classroom KWL (Know, Want to know, Learned) chart to
help show what they already know and what they individually want to learn about
working conditions during the Industrial Revolution and a second KWL chart for labor
laws in Iowa.
 Students will use media from the Library of Congress to get a better mental picture of
what it was like working in a factory during the Industrial Revolution.
 Students will use some pre-approved websites and websites found on their own to find
information about the Industrial Revolution to help answer the “W” and the “L” portion
of the KWL chart.
 Students will be able to fill out a venn diagram showing the similarities and differences
between working conditions during the Industrial Revolution and Iowa’s labor laws.
Dispositions:
 Students will develop an empathetic understanding of what children and adults who
worked in factories during the Industrial Revolution went through.
Links to National Standards:
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands
TIME, CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE: Social studies programs should include experiences
that provide for the study of the past and its legacy.
PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.
POWER, AUTHORITY, AND GOVERNANCE: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures
of power, authority, and governance.
11
PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND CONSUMPTION: Social studies programs should
include experiences that provide for the study of how people organize for the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
General Instructional Materials:
 Immigration, Migration, and the Industrial Revolution book.
 Two poster boards with the KWL chart drawn on it.
 Printed out copies of a KWL chart for students (two per student)
 Marker
 Lap Tops or Computer Lab signed up
LOC Primary Source Materials:
Appendix I: Image #1- Twelve year old Selina Wall working at spooling room in the Brazos
Valley Cotton Mill, West, Tex.
Appendix I: Image #2- One of the many small children at work in Lancaster Cotton Mills.
Appendix I: Image #3- Leo, 48 inches high, 8 years old. Picks up bobbins at 15 cents a day in
Elk Cotton Mills.
Lesson Procedures:
Introduction:
1. Begin by showing the pictures found on LOC. Have them hanging up or pass them
around the room. Ask the class to guess how old the children were, where they think the
children or adult were working, and how safe do the machines look that they are working
with.
2. Take out the book Immigration, Migration, and the Industrial Revolution. Open to the
page that it talks about the poor working conditions. Show the pictures on the page again
and reread the page for the students.
3. After finishing reading hold a class discussion on how fair they think it was for the
workers to have to work in the conditions stated in the book. Ask the students why the
people who owned the companies let it be like that. Ask the students if they think they
would rather work at a factory like that or be in school. Then ask them what they think
the children working in the factories back then would have wanted, to be in school or to
have to continue working at that job.
Development:
1. Hand out the two KWL charts for each student to have. Ask the students to share
ideas about what we already know about working conditions during the Industrial
Revolution. While students share their ideas write them in the K column on the post
KWL chart at the front of the room. Encourage students to write down the ideas on
their own KWL chart.
2. After finishing with the K column move to the W column and have students think
about what they want to learn more about the working conditions of the Industrial
12
Revolution. Have them share their ideas and write them on the poster for everyone to
see and have them write it down on their own chart.
3. After finishing with both the K and the W chart for working conditions during the
Industrial Revolution, move to the next KWL chart about labor laws today in Iowa.
4. Have the student’s help you fill out both the K and the W for this chart and have them
copy it onto their own individual chart.
Culmination:
1. After finishing the KWL charts explain to the students that they will be
responsible for their own learning today. Write down the web addresses on the
board for them to get started finding the “Want to Learn” information they came
up with as a class. Explain that these are just some sites to get them started
finding the information but they may have to dig a little deeper and search more
websites to find the answer to some of the things they wanted to learn about.
2. Have the students remind you and the rest of the class ways that we search for
information on the internet and write those search websites on the board if the
students need a reminder.
3. Tell students they are allowed to work with partners on this if they want or they
can work alone.
4. After finding the information, have students put computers away or turn off their
computers. Have students share their information of what they found to help fill
in the “L” column for what they learned for both KWL charts.
5. Have students talk about how the workers and children probably felt working at
those jobs every day. Ask the students what they think the workers could have
done to made try and change things. Ask the students if they think our labor laws
are fair. Ask students if they feel like the laws now are protecting people more in
the work place.
Assessment Strategy Linked to Lesson Goals:
1. Have students put away their charts and take the two poster charts off the wall.
2. Hand out a venn diagram to each student. Tell them to label one side “Industrial
Revolution Labor” and the other side “Todays Labor”. Have the students fill in
the venn diagram from what they have learned.
3. At the bottom of the page have the students write a paragraph about children
working during the Industrial Revolution. Have them explain what it was like for
the children and how they would feel if they were children working back then.
13
Appendix I:
Library of Congress Resources
1. Image
Twelve year old Selina Wall working at spooling room in the Brazos Valley Cotton Mill, West,
Tex.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/nclc.02866/
14
2. Image
One of the many small children at work in Lancaster Cotton Mills.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a13674/
15
3. Image
Leo, 48 inches high, 8 years old. Picks up bobbins at 15 cents a day in Elk Cotton Mills.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/nclc.01892/
16
4. Image
Low-income families in the early 1800’s struggle to make a living and provide for the entire
family.
http://xhsyoung.pbworks.com/w/page/8002526/Images%20of%20the%20Realities%20of%20Lif
e%20in%20New%20York%20Slums
17
5. Image
Working on the land was a common job for many young men during the 1800’s.
http://legrandcirque.tumblr.com/post/18990067114/lewis-wickes-hine-the-ball-team-composedmainly
18
6. Article
Brenham weekly banner. (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, February 06, 1880
Explains the Spinning Jenny
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86089443/1880-02-06/ed-1/seq-4/
19
7. Newspaper article
The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, April 01, 1914, Page 11
Newspaper article about benefits of transcontinental railroad.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/46032385/1914-04-01/ed-1/seq-11/
20
8. Image
Photograph taken in 1910 of five women immigrants arriving at Ellis Island.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2012646353/
21
9. Image
Immigrants coming up the board-walk from the barge, which has taken them to Ellis Island, in
1902.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97501086/
22
10. Image
Immigrants just arriving from foreign countries in 1904, all crowding in the Immigrant Building
in Ellis Island, New York Harbor.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97501095/
23
Appendix II:
Bibliography/ Webliography
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/workingconditions.htm
http://www.dol.gov/whd/minimumwage.htm
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/ushistory.htm
http://atlantis.coe.uh.edu/archive/sstudies/sstudies_lessons/ssles5/inventions.html#what
http://www.iowaworkforce.org/labor/
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz134422f65758.html
http://blog.flocabulary.com/industrial-revolution/
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/search/resources/?q=industrial+revolution&x=0&y=0
http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution/photos#industrial-inventions
http://www.studenthandouts.com/09handouts/7industrialrevolutionwordsearch.pdf//
http://worldhistory.mrdonn.org/industrialrevolution.html
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/lessons/industrialrevolution/industrialsummary.htm
http://www.lessonplanet.com/lesson-plans/industrial-revolution
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/
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