Update from 4th Grade (Ms. A's Class)
Posted on 11/14/2014
The 4th graders have been studying the Northeast of the United States in our Social Studies classes. One of the landmarks we studied was the Lowell Mills. In the classroom, we learned about the mill workers. We studied their working schedule, daily lives, and how hard it was to work in the factories. To personally experience the mill, we took a field trip to the Lowell Mill Museum. Here is our interactive personal narrative story about the trip.
“When is it my turn to use the cotton gin machine?” Olivia wondered in the cotton cleaning room inside the Boott Cotton Mill Museum. The fourth graders were on a field trip to learn about the Mill workers. We were using some tools from around the house to clean the cotton. We have been divided into teams of three. Before we started, we discussed about our plans for cleaning the cotton. Then, we started cleaning the cotton balls and picking out seeds from inside the cotton. While we cleaned cotton, two groups at a time went to work on the cotton gin machine. The machine separates seeds from the cotton. Everyone was so excited. We turned the wheel to make the cotton gin work. Every time a person turned the wheel, the seeds went, “plink, plink!” Because the wheel was so heavy, we had to tighten our faces as our hands turned round and round. “I hope my turn would never end!” Olivia hoped.
“Slam!” The door to our second classroom slammed behind us. After the cotton cleaning lesson, we walked across the hall to the second classroom. When we entered, we walked around the perimeter of the colorful rug and sat down. “Do you notice the pictures on the walls?” Our guide, Andrew, asked. The class thought about how the land changed from the 1600s to the 1800s. He also played a CD with sounds from the different times. Then, Andrew called on Hailey to place a fish on the Merrimack River / rug. Hailey was so excited that her face grew red. She got up quickly and took the model fish from Andrew and placed it on the rug. Her hands were shaking a bit. When time ran out, we walked to the next activity. It turned out the next activity was five flights of stairs down, across the canal, and into the boarding house.
“Stomp, stomp, stomp!” 48 feet stepped up the stairs to the second floor of the boarding house. We have entered the facility where the mill workers lived and ate. “Ok everyone!! Follow me to the bedroom!” Andrew guided us. We were all very excited to see all the rooms in the boarding house. “I can’t wait!” We all thought. First, we visited the bedroom. “It’s so small!” Faye thought. After, we walked down the stairs to the Keeper’s Room, which is now called the kitchen. Since we were so inclined to see all the artifacts, we tempted to touch the displays. “Beep, beep, beep!” The alarm went off when Ben accidentally leaned over the glass. After, we saw the dining room, which was full of silverware, chairs, and tables. When we finished, we walked back to the factory building for our last activity.
At last, we made it into the factory. “This is exactly what we have been studying!” Joanna exclaimed. Before we entered, Andrew warned us, “Cover your ears if it’s too loud for you!” As soon as we entered the factory, we heard it. The machines clanked with loud noises! “Chug, chug, chug!” The machines shouted. We walked along the middle path to look at all the bobbin machines. We shook our heads and wondered, “how could the machines work so fast?” and “how could the workers stand the loud noises?” Our eyes grew bigger and bigger as the machines amazed us. We held onto the green fence along and path and leaned over it to take a closer look at the machines. We gaped. We simply couldn’t believe how much noses the Mill works had to deal with everyday. Eventually, when we exited the factory, we left the noises behind. Andrew gave us a bag of cloth to take back to the school.
If we worked in the Cotton Mills, it would be very hard. But now, the factory was shut down and we could visit it, it was fun to be there. We were excited to learn about different things. Plus, Andrew was really cool! We had a lot of fun putting objects on the timeline rug and we wish we could go back to the Mills!