Books used in this lesson (you really only need to use one):
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TITLE: Twenty-One Elephants AUTHOR: Phil Bildner Illustrator: LeUyen Pham PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster PUBLICATION DATE: Sept. 28, 2004 ISBN: 9780689870118 PAGES: 40, illustrated |
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TITLE: Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing AUTHOR: Phil Bildner Illustrator: LeUyen Pham PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster PUBLICATION DATE: Sept. 28, 2004 ISBN: 9780689870118 PAGES: 40, illustrated |
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
These titles came out within a year of one another, and both are about the same event: the public opening of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. The bridge enabled people to cross the East River more quickly than going all the way around, but some citizens’ fear of crossing it safely. How much weight could it really hold? Showman P.T. Barnum decided to advertise his traveling circus and took his 21 elephants, led by Jumbo, his most famous elephant, across the bridge.
WHICH BOOK IS BETTER FOR OLDER READERS?
Honestly, either book would work for older readers, but I prefer Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing just slightly over Twenty-One Elephants because the latter is told from the perspective of a little girl, which makes it feel a little younger. If you are teaching upper-middle school or high school, I would go definitely go with Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing. Either title could be used at the elementary level.
LESSON IDEAS:
This lesson is huge and could easily take a few library times if you want to use everything included here. I did it in a 40-minute lesson, but I did not do the extension activity at the end.
- Activate prior knowledge by asking if they think crossing bridges is a scary activity. Most students will say it’s not at all scary. We’ve been over so many bridges nowadays that crossing a bridge is no big deal. But what if you had never crossed a bridge before? What do you think people might worry about?
- Read the story aloud. As always, take your time. Stop along the way to discuss things like:
–Who was P.T. Barnum?
–How much do you think one elephant weighs? How about 21 elephants?
–Are there bridges in your area? What purpose do your local bridges serve? Are there any places in your area where a new bridge might be needed?
–Who is responsible to build the bridges? How long does it take? How much does it cost? Who draws the plans? - Show the PowerPoint (below) featuring bridges around the world. I have updated the record-holding bridges in the slides, which are accurate as of today, June 23, 2016.
The following presentation is available for free download on SlideShare.
- Art–I love this famous picture of workers eating atop a beam.
- Economics–Show the video below about a man who made a thriving business out of people’s fear of driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland.
- STEM–Build card houses! Students LOVE doing this. It’s a fun way to engage their inner-engineers and get their minds working! This video is about a young man setting a world record for building card towers (31 stories!!!). Be forewarned that the word “damn” appears at the very beginning of the video.
- Readalikes/book display– Display books about bridges, structures around the world, tall buildings, sky bridges. Ideas are listed and linked below.
PICTURE BOOKS (AND OTHERS) FEATURING THE HISTORY OF BRIDGES: 
