There is so much to cover in the classic Waldorf 4th grade "Local History & Geography" block! We spread this content out over four month-long blocks:
Sep - Landforms & Water Features
Jan - Local Geography and History
week 1 - Illinois State Symbols, Glaciers & Dinosaur Fossils
week 2 - Rivers & Drainage Basins, New Madrid Seismic Zone
week 3 - Mound Builders, Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clark
week 4 - Founding of Carbondale, Illinois Central Railroad
Apr - Local Industry
Sep - Orienteering
Since this block often includes map skills and terms such as scale and compass rose, we will also do Orienteering next September as we transition into the 5th grade year. I always like to start out each fall with a lively outdoor hands-on topic. It helps break the ice, and I love to see the children come together and bond as a group.
What to cover in April?
I made a short list of the local Industries I was interested in:
I also flagged those books we used in January that I wanted to check out again:
Rudolf Steiner talked about "economy of teaching," and this is a perfect example. I am combining this block with the grade 4 Composition focus in Language Arts, which is Personal Narratives. I want to give them some context to understand why Personal Narratives Matter!
Industry being an ideal theme to highlight the importance of the stories of everyday people living their lives, we can go to the Historical Society and hear firsthand from the staff there about the value of personal artifacts such as journals and letters.
Of course, the children can write their own narrative pieces about events from their own lives.
We can even interview several local people who are part of traditional industries in the present moment. And the children have also requested that we have someone from the Tourism Board come as a special guest, to talk about what attracts people and businesses to the region. That's a great idea!
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Last, but not least, our June Summer Camp theme this year is Tall Tales. This is another excellent bridge from grade 4 into grade 5, since Tall Tale figures often typify the traditional Industry of their region. In looking at them, we transition perfectly into U.S. Geography!
I vastly prefer Olive Beaupre Miller's Heroes, Outlaws & Funny Fellows of American Popular Tales
from 1939 over all other collections of tall tales. The writing is exquisite and the collection
far-ranging. She also tells which state each legend is from in the table of contents, which is helpful!
This collection contains 25 stories, enough to easily fill two Waldorf 4th grade main lesson blocks. They are as follows:
Captain Kidd and His Buried Treasure
A Story of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and New England
Lord Timothy Dexter, First Lord of "Amercay"
A Story of Newburyport, Massachusetts
Old Stormalong
A Yarn of the Yankee Sailors on the Maine to Massachusetts Coast
When Witches Rode Broomsticks
A Legend of New England
Dutch Adventures in Old New York
Yarns and Legends of the Dutch Retold after Washington Irving
Christmas in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
A Story Told by Czech and German Settlers from Moravia
Old Johnny Appleseed
A Tale of Ohio and Indiana
Mike Fink and the Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock
A Story Told by Boatmen of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
A Twelfth Night Prank in Cahokia
A Folk Tale of the French in Illinois and Missouri
The Pirate La Fitte and His Ghost
A Popular Tale of Louisiana and Texas
The Bell Witch
A Folk Tale of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi
John Henry's Contest with the Big Steam Drill
A Story of West Virginia Told from Ballads of the Railroad Builders
The Crazy Doings of a Funny Fellow Among the Pennsylvania Germans
Told from Articles Written in Pennsylvania German by T.H. Harter
Heroes of the Coal Mines
Told from Tales and Songs of the Anthracite Miners of Pennsylvania
John Buck, the Big Norwegian Sailor
A Story of the Green Bay Islands off Wisconsin and Michigan
Big Paul Bunyan and His Blue Ox, Babe
A Tall Tale of the Forests of Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota as told by Loggers in the Lumber Camps
The Cardiff Giant
A Favorite Story Told by Old Timers in Iowa
The Sad Story of Febold Feboldson and His Enormous Load of Sand
A Popular Tale of Nebraska
The Traveling Courthouse
A Yarn of the Kansas County Seat Wars
Kemp Morgan, the Hero of the Oil Fields
A Tale Told by the Oil Drillers of Oklahoma and Texas
Pecos Bill, the Cowboy
A Tall Tale of Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado as Told by American Cowboys
Don Jose's Sheep
A Folk Tale from the Spanish of the Mexicans in New Mexico
Finn MacCool, the Greatest of Civil Engineers
A Tale of the Grand Canyon of Arizona as Told by Irish Work Gangs and Civil Engineers
Joaquin, the Robber
A Story of the California Gold Rush
Paul Bunyan Goes West
A Tall Tale of North Dakota, Oregon, and Washington
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