Professional Documents
Culture Documents
y31,2013
Monday-Thur
sday10:
00am -7:
00pm
Fr
iday&Sat
urday10:
00am -5:
00pm
Exhibit Credits
Endorsed by
Advisory Committee
Robert Baum – Great grandchild of L. Frank Baum
Angelica Carpenter – Curator,
Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature
Dr. Joel D. Chaston – Distinguished Professor of English,
Missouri State University
Janine Farver – Executive Director, Florida Humanities Council
John Fricke – Author, Emmy Award-winning producer and performer
Gita Dorothy Morena – Great grandchild of L. Frank Baum
Jean Nelson – Founder, Indiana Wizard of Oz Festival
Assistance Provided by
Allen, Dyer, Doppelt, Milbrath & Gilchrist, P.A.
Clearwater Public Library
gingersnaps
In the year, 1900, L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
W. W. Denslow illustrated the book. Considered to be the first American
fairy tale, its popularity was something of a national craze. Mr. Baum
responded to the sensation and demand with thirteen sequels over the
next 20 years.
The exhibition, by the same name, uses this iconic story as a backdrop
to engage students to learn about science, history, math, performance
arts and storytelling. The Educator Materials focus on literature and
storytelling and can be used either before or after a field trip to see
the exhibition. Included are activities that are designed for preschool,
elementary and middle school age students.
4
B u z z Wo r d S t o r y
Instructions
• Practice the sound and motion cues for each character with the students.
• Students can make cue cards for each of the seven character buzz words to hold
up as the class does the story as a group.
• Read the story aloud and have the class do the sound and motion cues as each
buzz word is said.
• Scarecrow – rub chin in the palm of one hand in a pondering manner and say,
“Hmmm…” thoughtfully
• Tin Woodman - raise right arm up and down from the elbow to make a chopping
motion with arm two times and say, “Chop, chop.”
• Wizard – make two fists placed back to back in front of mouth as if they are a
trumpet and say “Do do dah do!” – the sound a trumpet makes to announce
things
5
T h e Wo n d e r f u l W i z a r d o f O z
S h o r t Ve r s i o n o f t h e S t o r y
There once lived a young girl named Dorothy. She lived in a farmhouse in Kansas with
her Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and little dog Toto. One day the farmhouse got caught up
in a terrible tornado with Dorothy and Toto still inside! The house flew up and up into
the cyclone, then landed with a terrible CRASH. Dazed but unhurt, Dorothy and Toto
stepped outside and found themselves in the Land of Munchkins in the Land of Oz. The
Munchkins were grateful to Dorothy because her house squished their evil ruler, the
Wicked Witch of the East. The Munchkins were free!
Then the Good Witch of the North appeared. She rewarded Dorothy for her good
deed by giving her the glittery silver shoes from the feet of the Wicked Witch. She told
Dorothy that, to get back to Kansas, she must visit the City of Emeralds and ask the
Wonderful Wizard of Oz for help. It wouldn’t be easy; nobody had ever seen the Wizard
before.
Wearing her new shoes, Dorothy and Toto set out on their journey down the road
paved with yellow brick. The kind-hearted girl freed the Scarecrow from the cornfield he
was guarding, oiled the very rusty Tin Woodman, and befriended the not-so-fearsome
Lion. They all agreed to join her to go meet the Wizard with their own requests: a brain
for the Scarecrow, a heart for the Tin Woodman, and courage for the Lion.
Nervous and excited, Dorothy and her friends approached the chamber of the
mysterious Wizard. Despite his terrifying appearance, the Wizard announced he would
be happy to help all of them get what they wanted. But they had a big job to do: First
they had to rid the Land of Oz of the Wicked Witch of the West! The four friends and
Toto departed Emerald City, determined to accomplish their assignment.
This made the Wicked Witch very angry. She sent the Winged Monkeys to capture the
group. Swooping from the sky, the monkeys brought Dorothy and the Lion back to the
castle, where the Wicked Witch lived with her enslaved army of Winkies.
When the Wicked Witch tried to steal Dorothy’s silver shoes, the young girl threw a
bucket of water on her captor. Within seconds the Wicked Witch melted away. The
Winkies were so happy to be free that they elected the Tin Woodman as their ruler!
Dorothy asked the Winged Monkeys to carry her and the Lion back to the City of
Emeralds so they could tell the Wizard that the Wicked Witch was gone. As they entered
the Wizard’s chamber, Toto accidentally tipped over a screen in the corner of the room.
To everyone’s surprise, there stood the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. But instead of being a
great and terrible wizard, they discovered he was an ordinary old man! He had floated
to Oz from Omaha long ago in his hot air balloon, and when he landed the people of
Oz made him their Wizard. He smiled and gave each of the travelers a token to help
them focus on their desires.
6
The Wizard named the Scarecrow the new ruler of Oz! Dorothy’s reward would be a
trip home to Kansas in the hot air balloon, but she missed the ride chasing Toto. The
balloon floated away, leaving Dorothy on the ground. Would she ever get home?
Dorothy decided to travel South to the Quadling Country, where Glinda the Good
Witch lived in a shining red palace. Perhaps the Good Witch could help her get
home. On their journey, the friends escaped the Fighting Trees, dodged the armless
Hammer-Heads, and treaded carefully through China Country. The animals of the
forest were so grateful to the Lion for defeating a terrible spider that they made him
the King of Beasts!
When the four friends and Toto finally arrived at the Good Witch’s gorgeous palace,
she surprised them all by announcing that Dorothy had had the power to go home
the whole time! Her silver shoes could take her anywhere – All she had to do was
tap her heels three times. Dorothy thanked the Good Witch, gave a tearful goodbye
to the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion, and she and Toto returned to
Kansas and her home.
The End
7
Wr i t e t h e S e q u e l
• Ask the students to imagine they are the author of this book and are going to
write a sequel.
• Ask them to think about what will come next in the story.
• Have them write a couple paragraphs describing what will happen next for the
major characters in the book. For younger children, one paragraph.
C r e a t e Yo u r O w n S t o r y
Be the author and illustrator of your own story. Write a make-believe story that
gives voice to animals, inanimate objects or made-up creatures who are on a
journey. What is the journey and why are they on it? Determine page length
based upon the capability of your students.
8
Character Analysis
Goals
• Students will learn to analyze the major characters in The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz.
• Students will learn that behavior is not an absolute.
Materials
Activity Summar y
Activity Procedures
• On a white board or overhead, the teacher should draw a long straight line with
two x’s on either end.
For example:
Dorothy
X-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X
I n d e p e n d e n t Dependent
• Students place an “x” on the line where they feel the traits reflects the character.
The activity and discussion is more interesting when there are differing opinions.
• Once everyone has placed their “x” in the spot they feel appropriate, engage
the students in a discussion to explain and justify their placement of the “x” on
the line graph.
• Do this same analysis for each of the five key characters using the traits above.
9
Meet the Author: L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum was born in the village of Chittenango, New York on May 15, 1856. Frank,
as he preferred to be called, was the seventh of nine children born to Cynthia Stanton and
Benjamin Ward Baum. Only five of the children survived into adulthood. Benjamin, a
successful businessman and oil speculator, soon moved his family to a large estate east of
Syracuse called Rose Lawn.
Frank and his siblings were tutored by traveling teachers. They had a grand library and
a live-in music teacher. Between lessons, Frank and his brothers often played in the fields
and nearby woods. Frank’s imagination flourished during these years. It was on one such
outing that he had an experience with a Scarecrow which made a lasting impression on
him. Frank’s parents sent him to Peekskill Military Academy when he was 12 years old for
a more formal education. Within two years the strict military regime and Frank’s ill health
brought an end to his formal schooling.
Back home Frank pursued many different activities. With the printing press his father
bought him, he and his younger brother, Harry, printed their own paper, The Rose Lawn
Home Journal. They sold ads and wrote all the stories and poems that were published in
the paper. He also started another publication called Baum’s Complete Stamp Dealers’
Directory. He even tried his hand at acting. At the age of 20 he became a breeder of
Hamburg Chickens and established a monthly trade journal, The Poultry Journal. In 1886
he wrote his first book, The Book of Hamburgs, a technical book on raising different
varieties of Hamburg chickens.
During these busy years, his interest in acting prevailed and he took small parts in local
productions. While managing a string of theaters his father owned, he began writing
his own plays. In 1880 he wrote a melodrama called The Maid of Arran, composed the
songs and music, and was the lead actor under the stage name, Louis F. Baum. The play
was a success and his company took it on the road. When he was home for the Christmas
holidays in 1881, his sister Harriet Neal introduced him to Maud Gage, the daughter of
Matilda Joslyn Gage, a leading Suffragette. It was love at first sight and they were married
on November 9, 1882.
When Maud announced the coming of their first child he gave up acting and became
superintendent of the family oil business, Baum’s Castorine and Axle Oil Co. His position
was a traveling salesman for the company. On one of these trips, while installing a window
display for a customer, the idea of the Tin Woodman came to him. The company enjoyed
some success but came to an end when the bookkeeper gambled away the profits.
Frank and Maud next headed to Aberdeen, South Dakota with their two children for a fresh
start. Frank started Baum’s Bazaar where he sold everything – from atomizers to nails,
ostrich feathers to zippers. He even became Secretary of the local baseball team, the Hub
City Nine, who went on to win the championship that year in 1889. But in that same year,
the drought and deepening depression plagued the area, and he lost his store.
19
Falling back on his printing experience, Frank started his own newspaper, The Aberdeen
Saturday Pioneer. He invented the character of Sadie Bilkins for his column “Our Landlady,’
and used her to not only have some fun with Aberdeen’s population but express some of
his own views and ideas for the growing city. In the afternoons, he could always be found
telling stories to the local children on the steps of the newspaper office. Unfortunately, due
to the continuing depression and drought, his paper closed at the end of 1890.
Frank traveled to Chicago, rented a house, and sent for Maud and their four sons. He
worked for a local newspaper and also sold crockery for the Pitkins and Brooks Company.
No matter how hard his day was, he always made time in the evenings to tell stories to a
gathering of his children and their friends. Maud’s mother often listened to his imaginative
stories. It was after one such story time that she suggested he write his stories down. She
saw that the children loved them and was sure others would to. Not to mention, the
extra money would be a big help! Frank took her advice and in 1897, published his first
children’s book, Mother Goose in Prose. It was soon followed by Father Goose, His Book.
His new-found fame and money made life easier and gave Frank the time to concentrate
on his new story idea. He tested some of his new story ideas at the evening story time.
One night he was telling the gathered children about Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin
Woodman. They were walking down a road of yellow bricks and about to enter a dark
forest, when a girl in the group asked, “Where is this magic land, Mr. Baum?” Stumped for
a quick answer, Frank continued the story while looking around the room for an answer.
He saw his filing cabinet in the next room. The top drawer was marked A-N and the bottom
drawer O-Z. “Why they live in the Land of Oz,” he answered.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900 but only after Frank and W. W.
Denslow, the illustrator, paid to have the 24 color plates included in the book. The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz was an overnight success. Frank now turned his attention to his
first love, the stage. In 1902 he produced the Broadway play, The Wizard of Oz. It too
was a great success and played to packed houses for many years. Thinking he was finished
with Oz, he turned his imagination to other writing projects including other fantasy stories.
His little readers, however, had other plans. Frank was flooded with thousands of letters
demanding more Oz! He soon relented and continued the Oz books. In all, he wrote 13
more Oz books. The final book was published in 1920, the year after his death.
Frank and Maud moved to Hollywood in 1910 where he built his home called Ozcot. He
had a wonderful garden in back where he wrote many of his books. It was not unusual for
him to produce six or seven books a year. He was also active in Hollywood’s fledgling film
industry, starting the Oz Film Manufacturing Company with several of his friends from the
Los Angeles Athletic club. He passed away May 6, 1919. Maud proudly attended the
1939 premier of the film version of his famous book. When asked about the source of his
ideas, Maud unequivocally stated “from his vivid imagination!”
L. Frank Baum was truly the man behind the curtain, the real Wizard of Oz.
20
The Man Behind the Man Behind Oz:
W. W. Denslow at 150
by Michael Patrick Hearn July 05, 2006
The year 2006 marks the 150th birthday of not only L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz (1900) but also that of W. W. Denslow, the original illustrator of the Great
American Fairy Tale. Although remembered today almost solely for that one work, Denslow
made significant contributions to other areas of American commercial art. Denslow was a
character. The poet Eunice Tietjens described him as “a delightful old reprobate who looked
like a walrus.” He married three times and divorced three times. Alcohol finally did him in. But
he produced some of the most important children’s books of his day.
Born in Philadelphia on May 5, 1856, William Wallace Denslow began submitting illustrations to
the magazines when he turned 16. He soon developed into an extraordinarily adaptable
designer and went wherever the work was. He roamed the countryside drawing lithographs for
county atlases in New York and Pennsylvania. He designed theater posters and other
advertising in Philadelphia and New York City. When the daily press started using pictures, he
went from paper from paper from New York to Chicago to Denver to San Francisco and back to
Chicago. He earned his first international reputation for his newspaper, book and magazine
posters during the art poster craze of the late 1890s. He was the first professional artist Elbert
Hubbard invited to work at the Roycroft Shops in East Aurora, New York. There he spent part of
the year drawing cartoons, posters and bookplates and decorating limited editions. He
supplemented this income by designing dozens of book covers for Rand McNally and supplying
hundreds of little pictures for Montgomery Ward’s mail order catalogues. In almost every
design could be found his totem—a tiny seahorse.
Denslow did not think much of entering the juvenile field until he met Baum. At the time the
author was editing a trade journal for window trimmers, but he wanted to write children’s
books. His first, Mother Goose in Prose, came out in 1897, and it was also the first book
Maxfield Parrish ever illustrated. Baum and Denslow began working on a book of nonsense
verse for boys and girls; but because both author and artist wanted the pictures in color, no
Chicago firm was willing to invest in the project. They finally convinced the George M. Hill Co. to
publish Father Goose, His Book if Baum and Denslow paid all printing costs. To everyone’s
pleasant surprise, it became the best‐selling children’s book of 1899.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900 was an even more impressive achievement. As Baum and
Denslow were again responsible for all printing costs, they created a truly enticing volume.
With its twenty‐four colored plates, and two‐color headpieces and tailpieces, chapter title
pages, and other delightful marginalia, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is one of the most lavishly
produced children’s books ever published in America. Baum’s story was a challenge. Denslow
admitted that he had to “work out and invent characters, costumes, and a multitude of other
details for which there is no data—and there never can be in original fairy tales.” And he
succeeded brilliantly. Denslow’s contribution to the book is all the more remarkable when one
realizes that he drew all of these pictures in black and white and then had the printers add the
colors.
Denslow was first and foremost a comic artist, and Baum’s whimsical characters gave him much
to play with. “To make children laugh, you must tell them stories of action,” Denslow explained.
“I tell my stories with pictures, and I can often indicate action by expression. Action and
expression, then, are two of my mainstays, and when you add the incongruous, you have the
triad that I rely on.” His little figures are always doing something, always acting and reacting;
and Denslow made the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman his own. “I made twenty‐five sketches
of those two monkeys before I was satisfied with them,” he explained. “I experimented with all
sorts of straw waistcoats and sheet‐iron cravats before I was satisfied.” The Cowardly Lion and
Toto too demonstrate Denslow’s skill with comparative anatomy. He further enlarged the
magic of Oz with his amusing anthropomorphized architecture.
Despite their success together, Baum and Denslow produced only one more children’s book,
the pretty fairy tale Dot and Tot of Merryland (1901). The two bitterly clashed over the 1902
musical extravaganza based on their most famous book and went their separate ways. Denslow
left for New York where he drew an early Sunday comic strip “Billy Bounce,” cowrote and
designed another musical extravaganza The Pearl and the Pumpkin, and continued to illustrate
successful children’s books. Denslow’s Mother Goose (1901), Denslow’s Night Before Christmas
(1902), and the eighteen volumes of “Denslow’s Picture Books” (1903‐1904) were all enormous
sellers. With his considerable profits from the plays and books, he bought a small island in
Bermuda, built a “castle” on it, and crowned himself King Denslow I of Denslow Island. But all
fashions fade. Denslow began drinking heavily as his career went into a slump. He spent his last
years working for a third‐rate advertising agency in New York, drawing postcards, sheet music
covers, advertising booklets, and an occasional magazine illustration. In 1915, he unexpectedly
sold a cover to the popular humor weekly Life, went on a bender with the money, caught
pneumonia and died. He was only 58 years old.
The children’s book is a true collaborative art. The pictures are as important as the texts. Lewis
Carroll had his John Tenniel, A. A. Milne had his E. H. Shephard, and L. Frank Baum had his W.
W. Denslow. There might not have been The Wonderful Wizard of Oz if not for the illustrator.
Therefore, it is only appropriate that in the year of Baum’s sesquicentennial that we celebrate
Denslow too.
Provided with permission by AIGA – http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/the‐man‐behind‐the‐man‐behind‐
oz‐w‐w‐denslow‐at‐150
Resource List
Resource List
The resource list
Toincludes references for the story, about the author L. Frank Baum, and
Be Inserted
about topics explored through the story for integrated learning across the curriculum.
The Story
Baum, Frank L. and W. W. Denslow (Illustrator). The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. New
York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 2000.
Baum, Frank L. and W. W. Denslow (Illustrator). The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 100th
Anniversary Edition. Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 2000.
Baum, Frank L. and Michael Patrick Hearn (Editor). The Annotated Wizard of Oz. New
York; W. W. Norton and Company, 2000.
Rogers, Katharine M. L. Frank Baum Creator of Oz: A Biography. Da Capo Press, 2003.
About Kansas
Bjorklund, Ruth. Kansas: Celebrate the States. New York: Benchmark Press, 2009.
Cannarella, Deborah. Kansas: America the Beautiful. Third Series. Connecticut: Children’s
Press, 2008.
Ballooning
Priceman, Marjorie . Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride.
Atheneum/ Anne Schwartz Books, 2005.
Tornadoes To Be Inserted
Fisher, Carolyn. Twisted Tale. Diane Publishing Company, 2002.
Prigger, Mary Skillings and Betsy Lewin (Illustrator). Aunt Minnie and the Twister. New
York: Clarion Books, 2002.
Human Body
Simpson, Kathleen. The Human Brain: Inside Your Body’s Control Room, 2009.
Viegas, Jennifer. The Heart: Learning How Our Blood Circulates. Rosen Publishing
Group (1st Edition), 2001.
Camouflage
Dell, Pamela. Why Do Tigers Have Stripes?: A Book About Camouflage. Capstone Press,
2005.
Smith, Penny. Animal Hide and Seek. New York: DK Publishing Inc., 2006.
Courage
Loewen, Nancy. I Can Do It!: Kids Talk About Courage. Picture Window Books, 2003.
Waber, Bernard. Courage. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2002.
Shapes
Gunzi, Christiane. Shapes. Two-Can Publishing, 1997.
Figure This! Math Challenges for Families. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,
2004. www.figurethis.org*
Step 1 Arrange 4 cornhusks as shown in the photo.
Step 2 Tie the straight ends together tightly using a small piece of string.
Step 3 Using a scissor, trim and round the edges where the husks were tied
together.
Step 4 Turn upside down and pull the long ends of husks down and over the
trimmed edges, covering the string.
Step 5 With a small piece of string, tie to form a ball or head.
Step 6 Use another husk and flatten it and roll, lengthwise, it into a tight
cylinder.
Step 7 Tie each end of the cylinder with string to form the arms.
Step 8 Fit the arms under the neck, through the husks
Step 9 Tie with string to form a waist.
Step 10 Use another husk and drape it around the upper body, coming in front in
across‐cross pattern to form the shoulders.
Step 11 Arrange 4 or 5 more husks around the waist with the flat end at the waist
and the pointed husk end toward the feet.
Step 12 Tie the husks in place with a string at the waist as a skirt.
Step 13 To create legs/pants, divide the husks in half and tie with strings at the
thigh, knee and ankle to create the shape.
Step 14 Optional: To finish the doll, tie small strips of husk to hide the strings or
use pieces of fabric scraps.
Corn Husk Doll Photo Directions
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Step 13
Craft Activity
Tornado Tubes
Goals
• Children will visualize the properties of a vortex.
• Children will connect the phenomena with the tornado from The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz.
Supplies
• 8 ounce plastic soda bottle with cap
• water
• dishwashing liquid
• 3‐4 marbles or small fish tank pebbles
• glitter (optional)
Content Summary
Dorothy’s house was swept away by the tornado in the story. A tornado is a weather
phenomenon with wind that swirls in a vortex. The wind force is stronger on the inside of the
vortex and weaker on the outside.
A tornado is known as a vortex because as it spins, objects are sucked towards the center.
Creating a vortex with water and dishwashing soap can correlate to a tornado forming in air.
The dishwashing soap is denser than that of water. Similarly, cold air is denser than hot air and
when the two meet, storm‐like conditions are created.
Craft Directions
• Fill 2/3 of the bottle with water.
• Put 1 drop of dishwashing liquid into the bottle.
• Place a few marbles and a pinch of glitter into the bottle. Recap the bottle tightly.
• Hold the bottle vertically with one hand on the top and one on the bottom.
• Rotate the bottle in a circular motion to swirl the liquid.
• Keep the liquid swirling as you turn the bottle upside down. Keep the cap end of the
bottle steady while you continue to swirl the liquid in the large end.
• Watch the vortex form and spin!
Suggested comments to engage children
• Have you ever seen a tornado?
• What direction does the vortex spin?
o Counterclockwise
Lesson Plans
Elementar y – Histor y
Elementar y – Stor ytelling
Preschool – Human Body
Preschool – Stor ytelling
Lesson Plan
Elementary: Farm Life in 1900 America
Book Connection
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by W. W.
Denslow. In the book, Dorothy lives on a farm in Kansas with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. It
is a modest farm and they are modest people living in a small house in a rural setting typical of
America’s Midwest in 1900. A tornado, referred to as a cyclone in 1900, takes Dorothy far
from home to the fantastic Land of Oz with magical creatures, good characters and wicked
witches. In the end she returns to her home in Kansas.
Estimated Time
30 ‐45 minutes
Activity 1 can be done during the entire program
Select 2 activities from Activity 2, 3, or 4
Goals
• Students will utilize map skills to find their community on a map of the United States.
• Students will utilize critical thinking skills to determine lifestyle in 1900 Kansas through
study of historic photographs.
• Students will utilize dexterity and playfulness with historic games and toys.
• Students will learn that it took effort to make food in the past that is purchased today.
Materials
• glass fruit jar with lid – Provided – Activity 1
• five marbles – Provided – Activity 1
• 1 pint whipping cream and dash of salt – Activity 1
• saltines or soda crackers – Activity 1
• butter chant cue card – Activity 1 ‐ Provided
• map of United States today – Provided – Activity 2
• ruler – Activity 2
• 24 crop magnets for the map – Provided – Activity 2
• crop chart – Activity 2
• five historic photographs of circa 1900 Kansas – Provided – Activity 3
• seven historic games and toys plus instructions – Provided – Activity 4
Activity 1
Let’s Make Butter
This activity can be done with other activities underway. Prepare the jar as described below
and have students take turns shaking the jar during the program.
• Have the cream at room temperature and pour it into the glass jar.
• Add marbles to the jar and twist the lid on tight.
• Shake the jar, continuously and vigorously, taking turns around the class until butter
forms. This will take about 30 minutes.
• Pour off the buttermilk that remains.
• Mix in some salt with the butter (optional).
• Serve with simple crackers.
Background Information
When farmers milk cows, the milk that is collected has cream on top. The cream product is
more fattening than the milk and will actually float on top of the collected milk. The cream is
then skimmed off and used for various other products, including butter.
Enhancement
• While the cream is being churned, have the class chant this old exhortation to butter in
time with the shaking.
• Think of ways to change the chant. Devise some modern versions and shake to these,
too.
Come, butter, come,
Come, butter, come,
Nellie’s standing by the gate,
Waiting for her butter cake,
Come, butter, come.
Activity 2
Map Time
Find out where Kansas is located, where your community is located and what crops were
commonly grown in America in 1900 and in which states.
• L. Frank Baum wrote the book in 1900 and Dorothy lived in Kansas in 1900. How many
years ago is that?
• Look at the map of the country.
• Where is Kansas?
• Where is your state?
• Where is your community on this map? Have a student locate it.
• How far is your community from Kansas? Have a couple students use a ruler and
calculate using the scale of miles.
• Dorothy’s Uncle Henry was a farmer. What did he grow? Corn Place a crop magnet on
the map in that area.
• What other crops are grown in the country and in what parts of the country are they
grown?
• Hand out the 24 crop magnets to the class – 3 magnets for each of the crops below.
o corn
o wheat
o tobacco
o cotton
o citrus
o dairy
o potato
o apple
• Using the 1900 Crop Chart, call out the top three producing states one crop at a time
and have each student place the crop magnet on the state on the map.
• Continue until all 8 crops have had their magnets placed on the map
• Discuss the clustering of the crops and where they are grown.
Activity 2
Pictures From The Past
A collection of photographs will be shown and discussed with the class. The basic descriptions
are noted on the back of each photo.
• Main Street, Ottawa, Kansas 1898
o What do you see on the buildings that are different from stores today?
Advertisements painted on the buildings – before lighted signs and
billboards
Awnings to keep the sun out – before air conditioning
o What do you see on the street that’s different than today?
Street is mud
No cars – horses and carts
Not a lot of people on the street
• Milking Cows on Riley County farm 1903
o Who is milking the cows – mother and father
o Who is helping – all the kids
o Are the kids wearing work clothes – that’s their clothes – don’t have lots of sets
of clothes
o What is the milk collected in – pail – see the girl carrying the pail
o What season of the year is it? Fall – no leaves on trees and no jackets or
sweaters
o What is the building to the right – the family house
o What is the pile of vegetation piled near the house – hay
o The hay is stacked outside and the cows are being milked outside – they must
not have a what ‐ barn
o What is the structure in background going across the picture – a bridge –
appears to be metal ‐ probably a railroad bridge that is very close to this modest
farm.
• Herkimer School in Marshall County, Kansas 1900‐1910
o What style of the clothes did the students wear 100 years ago – long dresses
with ruffles, aprons, dark stockings and shoes; some boys in vests, jackets and
bow ties. Dressed very nice and all similar style.
Does anyone look shabby? no
Do you think this is in the city or the country? Why? City – well‐dressed
and the school is well supplied – piano.
o What materials were used in the classroom – wood floors; wood walls; wood
desks; painted blackboard
o How big is the class? How big is your class?
• Harvesting crew, Saline County, Kansas 1900
o What is growing in this field – wheat
o They are removing the plant from the field –what is that called – harvesting.
o The big unit in the middle of the picture is a combine used to harvest the wheat.
o On the right and left are wagons pulled by horses in which was loaded the
wheat. Why is it sloped? So they can pitch in the wheat as it is cut.
o 100% horse power
• Farmstead, Haskell County, Kansas ca 1891‐1912
o Describe the land ‐ flat
o House yard is fenced – why – to keep out the farm animals
o Do you think this is a farmstead of a family just getting by or one that is doing
better – more than getting by: good condition of buildings and property; house
has lots of lovely details rather than just plain
o What is the windmill for: windmill operates a pumps for water from an
underground well and that water was used for the animals.
o What is the big building on the right – the barn
Activity 3
Play Time
• Students will be given time to play with historic toys and games individually or in groups.
Instructions provided for each game.
o Pegboard Game
o Pull Top
o Marbles
o Jacobs Ladder
o Pick‐up Sticks
o Hooey Stick
o Cup‐and‐Ball
American Crops 1900
Crops Top Producing States
HEART
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM- STOMACH
LUNGS
BRAIN
LUNGS
HEART