Tall Tales & U.S. Geography Week 2

This week we learned some more tall tales and American folk legends from New England and the Mid-Atlantic region, then moved to the Southeast and the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys, and ended with a field trip on Friday!

Monday, March 25

• watch video for U.S. Capitals song, pass out lyrics and sing along
• play Here Is... Where Is map skills game
• listen to The Ballad of Captain Kidd recorded by Carl Peterson
• rough draft summary and illustration, add Captain Kidd to MLB
• listen to "I've Been Working on the Railroad," what were the jobs involved in building the railroad?
• listen to railroad work songs from This is the Way We Wash-a-Day:
  "Pat on the Railway" - track #9
  "Manamolela" - track #10
• listen to Manamolela - Work Song recorded by The Song Swappers and Pete Seeger and collected by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
• discuss how many legends were passed down in rhyming poetry or song (Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, Poetic Edda of the Norse, etc.)
• read John Henry's Contest with the Big Steam Drill: A Story of West Virginia Told from Ballads of the Railroad Builders from Olive Beaupre Miller's Heroes, Outlaws & Funny Fellows of American Popular Tales

Tuesday, March 26

• pass out lyrics and sing along to the U.S. Capitals song with Turkey in the Straw - music video in the barnyard! by the Biegel Family
• recall John Henry, read tall tale version of John Henry by Julius Lester
  
• listen to John Henry Song recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford
• listen to John Henry Song recorded by Harry Belafonte
• rough draft summary and illustration, add John Henry to MLB
• read Heroes of the Coal Mines: Told from Tales and Songs of the Anthracite Miners of Pennsylvania by Olive Beaupre Miller

Thursday, March 28

• use pp.15-16 of States and Capitals to take notes on the states and capitals of the Southeast Region (15 states, including the Southeast states as well as those along the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys)
• read Mike Fink and Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett, both by Steven Kellogg
  
• play State Capitals Bingo Printable Game

Friday, March 29

• read Mike Fink and the Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock: A Story Told by Boatmen of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Olive Beaupre Miller's Heroes, Outlaws & Funny Fellows of American Popular Tales
• field trip to Cave-in-Rock State Park

signage at the top of the steps

the huge bluffs

cave entrance

climbing in the first chamber

the hole in the ceiling of the second chamber makes it lighter

looking back at the cave entrance

the limestone walls

Zac is fascinated by the texture

it's quite easy to climb a bit on the naturally formed ridges

cold water drips constantly from the roof

and falls on your head

and makes the floor quite muddy and slick

the Ohio River

looking over at Kentucky

We had a great time! And it couldn't be any easier to get to. Just head east on IL-13 through Marion and on until you turn right on IL-1 (labeled Cave in Rock) and follow it to the town. Drive until you get to the River and turn left. The state park is right there. There's a small playground (with an old-fashioned metal merry-go-round) and then head up the steps, read the signage, head down the steps, and walk along the sandy beach to your left.

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