Step 1: Explain that the narrator and main character of this book is a fictional teenager named Sean Sullivan. Read aloud the entry “August 7, End of Track” (The Journal of Sean Sullivan, pp. 5-6) until the paragraph on page 6 ending in “in case of an Indian attack.”
Ask students to summarize Sean’s general mood and feelings (excitement, nervousness, uncertainty). Have students reread the entry on their own and write down all the words and phrases related to nature and transportation and circle terms that they do not know.
Responses might include:
• Transportation: track, train, railroad towns, covered wagons, Oregon Trail, “prairie schooners,” sailing, mile, car, “excursionists,” “cowcatchers, pilots, station
• Nature: prairie, grass, wildflower, breeze, buffalo herd, animals
Hand out Vocabulary for the Journal of Sean Sullivan worksheet. Students should look review the definition of any of the unfamiliar vocabulary terms they circled earlier.
• (Optional) If you would like to focus on metaphors, ask students, whether or not a “Cowcatcher” is a person or a thing. Then, ask them to search for an image of a “Cowcatcher” online. Alternatively, show them a picture of a “Cowcatcher” (the front grill of a train).
Wrap up by discussing: “Based on this journal entry, what is the setting of the story?” Responses might include:
• End of the Track, Nebraska, Kearney, Great Plains
• the prairie, buffalo herds • end of the Oregon Trail and beginning of the railroad • men shooting buffalo, “Excursionists” [Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 5: Standard 4, 6]
Step 2: Explain that the novel contains a number of themes, or big ideas, about the building of the railroad that they will explore in “Theme Teams.” Divide the class into small groups of 2-4, and assign each group a theme (you will probably need to assign the same theme to more than one team).
Themes: (1) work and working conditions of railroad builders (2) tension among and between immigrant groups (3) corruption of railroad companies (4) conflict with Great Plains Indians (5) boomtowns
Step 3: Handout the five Themes in The Journal of Sean Sullivan worksheets to the appropriate groups.
Teams should:
• Read the pages listed on their worksheet and then complete the reading questions and tasks in Part 1 as a team. [Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 5: Standard 1, 2, 4].
• Teams should add any unfamiliar vocabulary words and their definitions to the vocabulary list which you handed out in Step 1.
• Each theme worksheet includes a writing task in Part 2 that highlights a different historical perspective on the railroad. Students should complete this task on their own. [Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 5: Standard 6]
Step 4: After “Theme Teams” complete their worksheet and individual writing tasks, ask for volunteers to read their writing tasks to the class. You should try to cover at least three different themes/historical perspectives.
Discuss:
• What are some of the hardships that people faced during the building of the transcontinental railroad?
• How did various groups respond to these difficulties?
Step 5: For homework, assign the “Historical Note” chapter at the end of the book (pp. 163-70) and handout the “Technological Turning Points and their Impact” worksheet. Students should complete the worksheet using the information provided in the assigned reading.
