Previous Letterland at Tweetsie Railroad Each May since 2007, children from all over North Carolina (and Texas and Georgia) have come to Letterland at Tweetsie Railroad, where we have transformed our theme park into Letterland, complete with a cast of live Letterland characters to interact with the children! Motivation and reward Those fun occasions were designed as a reward for the children for really applying themselves in their Letterland lessons and other classes throughout the school year, and raising their standards of achievement accordingly. The motivation worked as demonstrated on various pie charts showing more children than ever before up to their Grade Level or beyond! A number of North Carolina teachers have put together the following Letterland at Tweetsie Curriculum Guides (Preschool through Grade 2) for increasing the educational value of their children s visits. For more information, or to schedule your group, visit http://tweetsie.com/for_groups/letterland.html or call Tweetsie s Group Sales Office at 1-877-TWEETSIE, ext. 108.
Preschool Preschool & Kindergarten Curriculum Guide (Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood; D. T. Dodge and L.J. Colker) Cognitive Development To expand logical thinking skills: Recall a sequence of events: Site: Entire Park; classroom Activity: Take photographs of your children at different locations in the park. After your trip to Tweetsie Railroad, talk about some of the things you did while your group was there. Use the photographs to recall the sequence of events that day; display them on a chart showing the sequence of your day. To acquire concepts and information leading to a fuller understanding of the immediate world: Use words to describe the characteristics of objects: Site: Main Street, Tweetsie Activity: Use words to describe the Tweetsie train colors, shapes, numbers, etc. Count in correct sequence and match one-to-one, Mouse Mine Train, Planes/Helicopters ride Activity: Count the number of cars pulled by Tweetsie, the number of cars on the Mouse Mine Train, and the number of planes and helicopters. To expand verbal communication skills: Railroad bus Activity: Sing Wheels on the Bus while riding the Tweetsie bus to and from the upper area. To demonstrate skills in make-believe play: Site: Classroom Activity: After trip to Tweetsie, children will pretend to be train engineers, passengers, Sheriffs, Cowboys, etc.
To develop beginning reading skills: Site: Entire Park Activity: On Letterland Days, identify names of Letterland characters throughout the Park. Kindergarten Math Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.01: Develop number sense for numbers through 30. B: Count objects in a set., Mouse Mine Train, Planes/Helicopters ride Activity: Count the number of cars pulled by Tweetsie, the number of cars on the Mouse Mine Train, and the number of planes and helicopters. C: Read numerals Site: Tweetsie, Mouse Mine Train, Planes/Helicopters ride, Turnpike Cruisers ride. Activity: Read the numerals on the cars pulled by Tweetsie, on the cars on the Mouse Mine Train, the numerals on the planes and helicopters and the cars. E: Use ordinals (1st 10th)., Main Street Activity: Find the first part of the train (the engine), then the second, third, etc. Find the first, second, third, etc. train cars out of sequence. Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.02: Recognize concepts of calendar time using appropriate vocabulary (days of the week, months of the year, seasons). Site: Classroom Activity: Mark the day for your Tweetsie Railroad visit on your classroom calendar. Identify the month, day, year, and season of your visit during classroom calendar time. Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.01: Identify, build, draw, and name triangles, rectangles, and circles; identify, build, and name spheres and cubes. Site: Entire Park Activity: Identify various shapes in the park, e.g. square, triangular, and circular signs; as well as solid shapes spheres and cubes.
Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.03: Model and use directional and positional vocabulary. Site: Entire Park Activity: Use words, on and off, as students get on and off the Tweetsie train. Use words, up and down, to describe the trip to and from the upper level of the Park. Competency Goal 4 / Objective 4.02: Display and describe data with concrete and pictorial graphs, as a group activity. Site: Classroom Activity: After your visit to Tweetsie Railroad, talk about students favorite activity. Each child will draw a picture of their favorite activity. The students as a group, sort pictures of favorite activities into like groups. Display the pictures as a pictorial graph showing your class s favorite Tweetsie activity. Kindergarten Science Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.01 Observe and describe the similarities and differences among animals including: structure, growth, changes, and movement. Site: Deer Park Activity: Talk about the various animals you see in the Deer Park. How do they move? What do they eat? Size? Notice body coverings fur, hair, feathers? Are their feet different -hooves, talons? Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.05 Observe the similarities of humans to other animals including; basic needs, growth, change, and movement. Site: Deer Park Activity: Look for baby animals and their mothers. Compare the size and appearance differences. Talk about how the animal and human parents take care of their babies and how the babies grow and learn just like us. Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.04 Observe and determine the effects of weather on human activities. Site: Classroom Activity: Before your trip to Tweetsie Railroad, talk about the type of weather you would like on the day of your trip. How would rain, storms, sunshine, etc. affect your trip? Check the weather forecast. Why is Tweetsie Railroad open only from May through October? What seasons are those?
First Grade Curriculum Guide Language Arts Competencies and Activities Grade 1 Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.01 Develop phonemic awareness and demonstrate knowledge of alphabetic principle. Activity: Find one syllable words on the signs at Tweetsie and count the phonemes in each word. Identify the Letterland characters that make up the word. Blend the phonemes together to read the word. Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.02 Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of texts (e.g., storybooks, newspapers, telephone books, and everyday print such as signs and labels, poems, word plays) Activity: Identify words on signs and brochures found around the park. Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.01 Elaborate on how information and events connect to life experiences. rides and different attractions Activity: Decide why the Letterland character you see is located at that particular Tweetsie location. (Example: Talking Tess is at the Train because train starts with T ) Activity: When you return to school write in your journal about your experiences at Tweetsie. Competency Goal 4 / Objective 4.01 Select and use new vocabulary and language structures in both speech and writing contexts. Objective 4.06 Compose a variety of products (e.g. stories, journal entries, letters, response logs, simple poems, oral retellings) using a writing process. Railroad Depot and Miner s Mountain Activity: Introduce new vocabulary to students (locomotive, miner, gem, gold panning). Activity: When you return to school write a story using the new vocabulary you have learned about Tweetsie. Write a letter telling someone about your trip to Tweetsie.
Mathematics Competencies and Activities Grade 1 Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.01 Develop number sense for whole numbers through 99. Objective 1.02: Use groupings of 2 s, 5 s, and 10 s with models and pictures to count collections of objects. and Mouse Mine Train Activity: Count the number of people in your car as you ride. Or count the number of people on the Mouse Mine Train. Count the number of people on rides by 2 s, 5 s, or 10 s. Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.02 Tell time at the hour and half-hour. Solve problems involving applications of time (calendar and clock). Site: Departing for Tweetsie Railroad park. Activity: Discuss departure time from the school, arrival time at Tweetsie; departure time from Tweetsie and return time to school. Activity: Recognize the day and date of field trip to Tweetsie on a calendar before leaving school. Discuss how many days there are leading up to the trip the week before. Activity: Determine time (to the nearest hour or half-hour) when you arrive and depart. Activity: Determine the time (to nearest hour or half-hour) when your ride to Tweetsie begins. Determine the time your ride to Tweetsie ends. Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.03 Compare and contrast geometric figures. Railroad Depot Activity: Identify the shapes found on the Tweetsie locomotive (round wheels, rectangular windows, and cylindrical smokestack). Activity: Identify different shapes found around the park on different rides, signs and attractions. Competency Goal 4 / Objective 4.01 Collect, organize, describe and display data using line plots and tallies. Activity: When you return to school, create a line plot or tally chart that displays the students favorite activity at the park.
Social Studies Competencies and Activities Grade 1 Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.02 Describe past and present changes within the local community. Activity: After exploring the park and noting the different clothing, different transportation, and different lifestyles of the characters who work there, students will discuss the changes of our world in the last 200 years. As a class, create a chart or Venn diagram to record the discussion. Competency Goal 5 / Objective 5.02 The learner will express geographic concepts in real-life situations. Investigate key features of the Tweetsie Railroad map. Railroad Activity: Use the Tweetsie Railroad Map and Guest Guide to identify key features at Tweetsie Railroad. Locate map key in brochure Locate directional arrows Make a list of map keys indicating areas visited while on the field trip. (e.g. the key for food) Competency Goal 6 / Objective 6.03 Participate in activities that demonstrate the division of labor at Tweetsie Railroad. Activity: Observe different employee activities in the various sections of the park and note the variety of jobs. Develop a chart that indicates different workers and tasks (compare and contrast). Science Competencies and Activities Grade 1 Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.02 Investigate the needs of different animals. Objective 1.04: Identify local environments that support the needs of common North Carolina plants and animals. Deer Park Activity: Discuss the needs of deer and other animals native to the North Carolina mountains before your trip to Tweetsie. Visit the Deer Park and observe the deer and their behaviors.
Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.02 Describe rocks and other earth materials. Objective 2.05 Explore where useful earth materials are found and how they are used. Gem Mining and Gold Panning Activity: Discuss earth materials before your trip to Tweetsie. Then visit the gold panning and gem mining attractions and discuss how those items also come from the earth. Second Grade Curriculum Guide Language Arts Competencies and Activities Grade 2 Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.01 Use phonics knowledge and structural analysis to decode regular multi-syllable words when reading text. Activity: Find multi-syllable words on the signs at Tweetsie and count the syllables in each word. Read the words. Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.02 Use text for a variety of functions, including literary, informational, and practical. Activity: Use the Tweetsie brochure and Map and Guest Guide to read and determine which attractions and rides you want to see and do during your trip. Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.03 Explain and describe new concepts and information in own words. (key vocabulary, plot, setting, key concepts) Activity: Use new vocabulary learned on the trip (locomotive, miner, gem) to explain in writing to a friend what Tweetsie is and what you saw there. Competency Goal 4 / Objective 4.06 Plan and make judgments about what to include in written products. (e.g. narratives of personal experiences, creative stories, skits) 4.08: Write structured, informative presentations and narratives. 4.09: Use media and technology to enhance the presentation of information to an audience for a specific purpose. Activity: When you return to school write a narrative about your trip to Tweetsie.
Activity: With a group of your peers create a PowerPoint presentation highlighting your trip to Tweetsie. Include pictures from a digital camera or pictures from the website. Mathematics Competencies and Activities Grade 2 Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.02 Represent fractions (halves, thirds, and fourths) concretely and symbolically. Activity: Use people to create fractions of your group. (Example: if there are 3 girls and 2 boys, the fraction representing girls would be 3/5.) You can create all types of fractions with your group or with people on rides (Example: What fractions of people on the Tweetsie Twister are wearing jeans?) Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.01 Estimate and measure using appropriate units. and the Mouse Mine Train Activity: Estimate the length of the Tweetsie locomotive (not the entire train). Estimate the length of the Mouse Mine locomotive. Compare the estimates. (Tweetsie is actually 54 feet long; the Mouse Mine locomotive is 12 feet long.) Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.03 Identify and make symmetric and congruent figures. Activity: Find symmetric or congruent shapes on the signs, on the rides, or just in nature. Competency Goal 4 / Objective 4.01 Collect, organize, describe, and display data in a pictograph where symbols represent multiple units. Activity: Create a pictograph when you return to school of your classmates favorite activity at Tweetsie. Competency Goal 5 / Objective 5.02 Write addition and subtraction number sentences to represent a problem. Activity: With a group, create a word problem and a number sentence to solve the problem about an activity at Tweetsie. (Example: If 14 children get on the Mouse Mine and 8 children get off of the Mouse Mine at the end of the ride, how many children still need to get off of the ride?)
Social Studies Competencies and Activities Grade 2 Competency Goal 4 / Objective 4.01 Analyze the effects of change in communities and predict future changes. Activity: After exploring the park and noting the different clothing, different transportation, and different lifestyles of the characters who work there, students will discuss the changes of our world in the last 200 years. As a class, predict what changes you will find in our world in the future. Competency Goal 5 / Objective 5.05 Interpret maps, charts, and pictures of locations. Railroad Activity: Use the Tweetsie Railroad Map and Guest Guide to identify key features at Tweetsie Railroad: Locate map key in brochure Locate directional arrows Make a list of map keys indicating areas visited while on the field trip (e.g. the key for food). Competency Goal 7 / Objective 7.02 services provided in communities. Distinguish between goods produced and Activity: Observe different employee activities in the various sections of the park and note the variety of jobs and products that are being sold. Activity: Develop a chart that indicates different workers and tasks (compare and contrast) and goods that are provided. Science Competencies and Activities Grade 2 Competency Goal 1 / Objective 1.01 Describe the life cycle of an animal including birth, developing into an adult, reproducing, and death. Site: Deer Park Activity: Discuss the life cycle of a deer and observe deer at the deer park. Competency Goal 2 / Objective 2.06 Observe and record weather changes over time and relate to time of day and time of year. Site: Tweetsie
Activity: Observe and record the weather for your field trip to Tweetsie on your daily weather graph. Competency Goal 3 / Objective 3.01 gas. Identify three states of matter: solid, liquid and Activity: Try to find objects that are examples of the three states of matter.