Embracing Curiosity in the Lower School

When fifth-grade teacher Tina Anderson learned that she would be teaching social studies, she was inspired to build an HO scale model train set to give students an interactive visual that would help bring specific historical events in Tennessee’s rich history to life. The fifth-grade curriculum begins with Reconstruction after the Civil War and trains played a large role in Tennessee as the South embraced industrialization, so it was a great addition to her classroom.

The train is set up in an L-shape and incorporates the three divisions of Tennessee complete with a tunnel through the Smokey Mountains. Throughout the layout, students can explore a farming area, a small town, a river, managed tree farms, a sawmill, and a large factory.

The train layout is often used as a starting point in student writing pieces about Tennessee’s history.

Anderson said, “When we studied immigration, students created families getting off the train at the depot, explaining where they came from and what jobs they hoped to get in America. Our study of the Great Depression saw students adding a Shanty Town down by the river and explaining in detail why that location was chosen. During WWII, students decided the factory would stop making cars and begin making airplanes, which prompted the discussion of women taking on men’s jobs since the men were being sent overseas to fight.”

“I like to know the details – movies they would watch, houses they lived in, cars they would drive, etc.,” said student Kayler Grace Hopkins. “Sometimes it’s hard to know the smaller details when it’s not visual. I like to write books independently and this helps me see some of the things that are harder to find in textbooks.”

Anderson updates the track weekly adding in special features based off the time period they are studying or any holidays that are taking place at the time. She had a pumpkin patch around Halloween, Santa at Christmas and every now and then Waldo makes a surprised appearance.

Hopkins continued, “We ask a lot of questions. One day we walked into the classroom, and everyone ran in to see what she added because she told us the day before that she was going to add something cool and it was the Indian mound.”

Students are able to vote on new changes to the track like whether or not they wanted to add a steel factory or textile factory. They had to look up facts on each industry and chose steel because it was instrumental to car production and construction.

Roads running through the downtown area head off into the distance. At the end of the unit, Anderson uses this to prompt students to predict other industries that could lie beyond the tracks.

“When you hear a lesson, you don’t really know what it looks like,” said student Bailey Hager. “Ms. Anderson showing it on the train track gives you more of an idea of what it’s really like. Some of the lesson plans don’t include pictures but we are able to see what’s happening on the train set.”

The train display is just one of the many ways that faculty at USJ go above and beyond for our students, and we are grateful for our top-notch teachers!