Captivating Informational Breathtaking Cinematic
Locomotive
By Brian Floca
Published in 2013 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published in 2013 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
A brilliantly illustrated tale of the journey across America in one of the first passenger trains on the Transcontinental Railroad. Join one family on their journey and learn all about the locomotive they are riding and the places they pass. Locomotive takes you on a captivating journey with this family on the way to their new home.
The New York Times Review:
“Older children will appreciate the wealth of detail and history, while younger ones will be entranced by the appropriately chugga-chugga rhythm of Floca’s free verse and his abundant use of sound effects (playfully emphasized with well-muscled, 19th-century-style typefaces.)
-Bruce Handy.
“Older children will appreciate the wealth of detail and history, while younger ones will be entranced by the appropriately chugga-chugga rhythm of Floca’s free verse and his abundant use of sound effects (playfully emphasized with well-muscled, 19th-century-style typefaces.)
-Bruce Handy.
Awards:
- 2014 Caldecott Medal Winner
- Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
- New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Books of the Year
- ALA Notable Book
Helpful Information:
Grade level: 1-5
Reading Level-Fountas and Pinnell: S
Lexile: 840L
Suggested Delivery: Read-a-loud
Genre: Non-fiction, History, Children's Literature
Reading Level-Fountas and Pinnell: S
Lexile: 840L
Suggested Delivery: Read-a-loud
Genre: Non-fiction, History, Children's Literature
Key Vocabulary:
- Locomotive- the vehicle that produces the power that pulls a
train. - Heave- to lift or pull (something) with effort.
- Throttle- a device that controls the flow of fuel to an
engine. - Frontier- a distant area where few people live.
- Convenience- a quality or situation that makes something easy or
useful. - Conductor- a person who collects money or tickets from passengers on
a train. - Pistons- a part of an engine that moves up and down inside a tube and that causes other parts of the engine to move.
- Telegraph- an old-fashioned system of sending messages over long
distances by using wires and electrical signals.
Comprehension Strategies:
Before Reading Activity-
KWL Chart on Locomotives
KWL Charts are great ways to introduce a new topic, in this case Locomotives. From the chart you can get a sense of what the children know about the topic, what they want to learn about the topic, and then after they read the book, what they have learned. You can choose to use this activity as a whole class activity and fill it out all together. Or you can have each student fill it out individually to see if each child comprehended the information given throughout the text.
KWL Charts are great ways to introduce a new topic, in this case Locomotives. From the chart you can get a sense of what the children know about the topic, what they want to learn about the topic, and then after they read the book, what they have learned. You can choose to use this activity as a whole class activity and fill it out all together. Or you can have each student fill it out individually to see if each child comprehended the information given throughout the text.
During Reading Activities-
Jigsaw
A great during reading activity to implement in your classroom is a jigsaw. Jigsaw is a strategy where students are grouped together this is called their home group. Each student specializes in one aspect of a topic and then share the information they have learned with their home group.
For my take on this strategy I would assign students to different groups made up of 4-5 students. For the book Locomotive the different topics I would have children focus on during the read-a-loud would be as follows:
After students have listened to the story allow them to meet with members from the other groups who were assigned the same topic. Always allow them to view the book again, so have it available for them! After the students have had a chance to discuss their topic have them go back to their home group and share the information they have gained to the group. This is a great way to use a cooperative learning strategy. Where each student in the home group is a piece of the puzzle and when work together and share their information they create the jigsaw puzzle.
A great during reading activity to implement in your classroom is a jigsaw. Jigsaw is a strategy where students are grouped together this is called their home group. Each student specializes in one aspect of a topic and then share the information they have learned with their home group.
For my take on this strategy I would assign students to different groups made up of 4-5 students. For the book Locomotive the different topics I would have children focus on during the read-a-loud would be as follows:
- the parts of the train
- the crew
- the passengers
- the places/land
After students have listened to the story allow them to meet with members from the other groups who were assigned the same topic. Always allow them to view the book again, so have it available for them! After the students have had a chance to discuss their topic have them go back to their home group and share the information they have gained to the group. This is a great way to use a cooperative learning strategy. Where each student in the home group is a piece of the puzzle and when work together and share their information they create the jigsaw puzzle.
For more information on a jigsaw and where I got my information please visit Reading Rockets.
After Reading Activity-
Popcorn Review
A great way to recap the information and see what students have gained from the jigsaw activity is to do a Popcorn Review. (And of course finish the KWL chart!) For the popcorn review simply write the word Locomotive on your whiteboard or SMART board and encourage students to participate by coming and writing information they remember about locomotives on the board or sharing their ideas and thoughts with the class.
A great way to recap the information and see what students have gained from the jigsaw activity is to do a Popcorn Review. (And of course finish the KWL chart!) For the popcorn review simply write the word Locomotive on your whiteboard or SMART board and encourage students to participate by coming and writing information they remember about locomotives on the board or sharing their ideas and thoughts with the class.
Writing Activity:
A fun writing activity to have students complete after they have read Locomotive is to have your students write letters. Have them imagine they are passengers on this locomotive on the Transcontinental Railroad and they are writing a letter to their family back home. Discuss with the class how in their letter they can include what they do on the train, what they see out the window (what does it look like? what places can you see?), people they have meet, what the train is like, and what they miss about being home. Allow your students to get creative with this writing activity.
Resources:
- This is a great curriculum guide to Locomotive provided by Simon and Schuster that includes background knowledge, discussion questions, activities, and looking at the craft and structure of the text in the book, linked to Common Core State Standards. This resource provides many different options to support the reading of the text through pre, during and post reading activities.
- Extend the learning of the Transcontinental Railroad through the great information and video provided by the History Channel here. Locomotive will intrigue your students interest in the transcontinental railroad, so continue their learning though this great resource.