Wanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Only Hard Workers Need Apply
OVERVIEW: There were many people with many different types of jobs that were important to the building and operation of the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Students will be dividing into pairs to learn more about their assigned part in those building and operating processes. They will then enact, using student made or written stories/reports/charts/ diagrams/ maps/dioramas/models, their role in the development of the Illinois & Michigan Canal.
Grade Level 5-10
Duration 3 class periods and homework time
Illinois Learning Standards
Social Science: 16 Science: 11, 13 Language Arts: 3,
4
Geography Themes
Places: Physical and Human Characteristics
Human and Environmental Interaction
National Geography Standards
Element: Places and Regions
Standard 4: The geographically informed person knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of place.
Element: Human Systems
Standard 10: The geographically informed person knows and understands the nature and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaics.
Standard 11: The geographically informed person knows and understands the patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth’s surface.
Element: Environment and Society
Standard 14: The geographically informed person knows and understands how human actions modify the physical environment.
Cross Curricular Connections
History Art Drama Language Arts Science
Objectives:
Students are expected to:
1. analyze readings and diagrams for descriptions of the different activities/construction requirements of their assigned topic.
2. create a short multi-media report on their assigned topic (oral and visual).
3. perform/present their information in a dramatic way in order to paint a picture for their classmates of life along the Illinois & Michigan Canal in the late 1800's.
Materials
Students and Teachers:
Action Plan for an Illinois & Michigan Canal Project
Information Sheets for Student Reenactors:Wanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for EngineersWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Lock BuildersWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Gate BuildersWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Bridge BuildersWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Aqueduct BuildersWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Canal LaborersWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Lock TenderWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Mule or Horse Team DriversWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Lake Boat CrewWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Grain Boat CrewWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Stone Boat CrewWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Steamboat CrewWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Packet Boat CrewWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for PassengersWanted: Illinois & Michigan Canal Workers
Information for Townspeople
Teachers:
A.1 Illustration: Locking Through
A.2 Illustration: Docked Canal Boats
Suggested Teaching Procedure
Advanced Preparation for the Lesson
1. Make two copies of each of the Information Sheets for Student Reenactors. There should be enough assignments so that each part can be assigned to two students, however, each student should have their own Information Sheet. Make one copy per student of the Action Plan for an Illinois & Michigan Canal Project.
2. Make copies of the Illustrations, Locking Through and Docked Canal Boats in the form of pictures to put on the wall/overheads.
3. If you decide to provide part of the materials for the projects, collect them prior to introducing the lesson. Have blank transparencies and transparency markers available in case students choose that way of presenting information.
Opening the Lesson
1. Ask students if any of them have ever attended a Civil War (or any other type of) Reenactment? Have students who have been to a reenactment describe the activities they witnessed. Discuss the importance to reenactors of authentic costumes, weapons, living arrangements, etc.
2. Inform students that in this lesson on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, they will be staging a reenactment of their own. Even though they cannot put the effort, time and money into their reenactment that hobbyists do, they can attempt to be as authentic as possible.
3. Read over the list of jobs they will be playing using the Student Materials list. As a class, brainstorm different ways they can present the information and visuals to the class. The ideas should include, but not be restricted to student made or written stories/reports/charts/diagrams/maps/dioramas/models.
4. Write all of the ideas on the board. Then, go back and discuss which ideas they would be able to carry out. Have students copy the revised list from the board.
Development of the Lesson
1. Assign two students to every job and give them their Information Sheet(s). As you assign students to a job, give the class an overview of what everyone will be doing by briefly showing the diagrams/reading short excerpts from the Information Sheets.
2. The most difficult jobs for students will be the Lock Builders, the Gate Builders, and the Aqueduct Builders. Assign those jobs to students with a knack for figuring out how things operate.
3. Some groups may choose to work together but they should do so only if it gives a more coherent picture of an activity. Natural combinations would be Lock Builders and Gate Builders; Engineers, Bridge Builders and Aqueduct Builders; and Packet Boat Crew and Passengers. Lock and Gate Builders should be careful not to use the information that the lock Tender will be using to explain their job. Students should be free to discuss their jobs with other pertinent groups in order to understand their job more completely. Students may need to do some more research to add to the information provided.
4. Ideas for students of effective ways to present their information might be:
Engineers-Students could build a cross section of the canal using a shoe box with one end cut out and covered with clear plastic. The model could be made with dirt. Another more challenging idea would be to make a mock-up of a larger section of the Canal.
Lock Builders-Students could make a lock using a shoebox and even attaching moving parts.
Gate Builders-Students could make a large poster of the gates so that the butterfly valve actually moves. It is the most crucial part that they will need to demonstrate so that other students can understand the operation of the lock.
Bridge Builders-Students could build different types of bridges that were used to span the Illinois & Michigan Canal.
Aqueduct Builders-Students could make a replica of an aqueduct and explain how it works.
Canal Laborers-Students could build a model of the clapboard shacks of Corktown, make a flow chart showing what happened to Irish immigrants who came to America to work, or make a graveyard with headstones showing the names of those who died building the Canal.
Lock Tender-Students could build a lock tenders house to go with a model of the canal or do a skit of the lock tenders life.
Mule or Horse Team Drivers-Students could demonstrate the process used for pulling canal boats especially what happened when boats had to pass each other.
Lake Boat Crew, Grain Boat Crew, Stone Boat Crew, Steamboat Crew, or Packet Boat Crew-Students could build a replica of the canal boats.
Packet Boat Passengers-Students could write and perform a skit or make a diagram of the interior of the boat both in the day and when prepared for sleeping.
Townspeople-Students could reenact a town meeting where the townspeople were trying to decide what types of activities and businesses to set up to entertain passengers who might be stopping over in their town on a Sunday.
5. Make sure students understand that they must have their plan of action approved by you before they begin their project. Pass out the Action Plan for an Illinois & Michigan Canal Project to students. Go over the instructions with them and discuss how projects will be graded. Assign a date when the student projects/skits/etc. are due.
6. Give students the rest of the class period plus the following class period to make plans on how to present or to reenact their assigned job. After that, they will need to complete their project/practice their reenactments on their own time.
Concluding the Lesson
1. On the date that projects/skits are due have students present the material in the order listed in Development #4. In that way, they should be able to visualize the canal from the initial stages of building to the final stages of operation.
2. When they are through with the presentations, find someplace to display their projects so they can be viewed by other students in the school, if possible.
Grade Level Adaptations
5th grade
This plan should be usable as it is by fifth grade classes. The projects may need to made a little easier or the requirements for a grade may be a little less stringent.
Assessment
Students should be graded on their project separately for 1) the finished project, 2) presentation, and 3) effort.
Extensions
This could be turned into a class play or tour that could be performed for other classes.
If you have a class that works extremely well together/you have quite a bit of time to allot to the project, students could plan and construct a full size/living diorama.
Special Information
Philip Vierling’s book, Hiking the Illinois & Michigan Canal and Exploring its Environs, was the source of much of the material used in this lesson. The text is very readable. The sets of four books contain very detailed and intricate hiking maps as well as detailed information about towns along the route from LaSalle to Ottawa. If you can find this set of books in your library, it is an excellent source for more information that could not be included due to space constraints.
Sources
Boyer, Edward, River and Canal, New York, New York, Holiday House, 1986.
Drago, Harry Sinclair, Canal Days in America, New York, New York, Bramhall House, 1972.
Hayden, Martin, The Book of Bridges, New York, New York, Galahad Books, 1976.
Illinois and Michigan Canal, Pamphlet copy put out by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Illinois State Historical Society, no date given.
O’Donnell, Kevin, The Illinois and Michigan Canal, The Nature of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, The Nature of Illinois Foundation, Volume V, Number 1, 1990.
Vierling, Philip E., Hiking the Illinois & Michigan Canal and Exploring its Environs, Chicago, Illinois, Dandellis Printing, 1986.