• examine picture book illustrations, looking for clues.
• use reference materials to research landmarks.
• work in cooperative pairs or groups.
• write and publish their research of each landmark.
• share their research with the class.
• locate each landmark on a world map, noting their location.
• draw conclusions based upon the global location of the landmarks.

• Ben’s Dream by Chris Van Allsburg
• Encyclopedias, atlases, trade books, and other reference materials
• Looking at Landmarks Student Interactive
• Illustrations or printouts of the landmarks mentioned in the story
• Guiding Questions
• List of Landmarks
• Landmark Web sites
• Flip Book online tool
• One copy of a world map for each student.
• Rubric

• Acquire a copy of Ben’s Dream by Chris Van Allsburg to read aloud to the class.
• Make copies of the world map for students.
• Locate books with pictures or illustrations of the landmarks mentioned in Ben’s Dream, or print some additional pictures from the Internet.
• Make copies of the Guiding Questions, List of Landmarks, Landmark Web sites, world map, and rubric for students.
• Test the Looking at Landmarks Student Interactive, Flip Book, Multigenre Mapper, Timeline Tool, and Graphic Map on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.
• As a further example of looking at landmarks, the teacher may want to read Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong by James Loewen. This book takes a critical look at 100 landmarks from around the country, examining them for historical inaccuracies, what is included, as well as what is excluded.

1. Read Ben’s Dream by Chris Van Allsburg to students, showing all of the illustrations as you read the story aloud.
2. At the end of the book, invite students to share their thoughts and observations about the story. Some of the students may know the names of the landmarks and where they are located. Others may discuss design and architectural styles.
3. If desired, read the book again.
4. After this reading of the story, go back and provide the students with the official name of each of the landmarks. As you name the landmarks, show a photograph or printout showing what the real landmark looks like.
5. Pass out the List of Landmarks, and using the list, help students name the landmarks that are illustrated in Ben’s Dream.
6. Invite students to share more about these landmarks now that they are named.
7. Provide students with a variety of reference materials, such as nonfiction books, atlases, encyclopedias, Internet printouts, etc. Make sure that all of the landmarks are represented in those materials.
8. Invite students to peruse these materials, looking specifically for landmarks mentioned in Ben’s Dream. If desired, show photos of the landmarks, using the Looking at Landmarks Student Interactive.
9. As the students are skimming and searching, ask them to think about one landmark they would like to learn more about. In the following sessions, they will be conducting research on one or more of the landmarks presented in the book.

1. To begin the session, invite students to recall the names of the landmarks illustrated in Ben’s Dream.
2. In pairs or small groups, ask students to choose a landmark to learn more about.
3. Pass out copies of the guiding questions, which students will use as they conduct their research.
4. Encourage students to find additional information about their landmarks as well as the answers to the required questions.
5. Model the research process using the Looking at Landmarks Student Interactive, which shows illustrations of each of the landmarks illustrated in Ben’s Dream and provides an area for notetaking.
6. Pass out copies of the Landmark Web sites for students to refer to as they research their landmark.
7. When each pair or group believes they have collected enough information, ask students to work together to write a description of their landmark.
8. Publish students findings in one of the following ways:
   
   
   • The class can work together to create a flip book. Since there can be ten pages in the flip book, each page can highlight a different landmark.
     
     
   • Again, using the Flip Book, each pair or group of students can make their own flip book on their selected landmark. Each page can address some of the prompts from the list of guiding questions.
     
     
   • Using the Multigenre Mapper, students can draw a picture of their landmark, and use the other three spaces to detail information they have learned about their landmark. In true multigenre fashion, students can include a newspaper clipping about their landmark, a poem written about the monument, song lyrics, an advertisement for the location, and so forth.
     
     
   • Using the Timeline Tool students can visually show the history of their selected landmark.
     
     
   • Students can use the Graphic Map to show the ups and downs of the monument.
     
     
   • Students can use Book Cover Creator to illustrate the books they compose to highlight a monument.

1. Pass out a blank world map and the rubric to each student.
2. Have each group share their published project with the class.
3. As each group is sharing, ask class members to note the location of each of the landmarks on their blank world map.
4. After each presentation, provide time for the students to ask questions or clarify any information that was shared.
5. When all of the student groups have shared their research, ask students to share their observations of the placement of the landmarks in Ben’s Dream, using the following questions to guide discussion:
   
   
   • Is there a pattern or a path?
   • Do they think it was random or planned?
     
     
6. If desired, the students can write more about their thoughts of Ben’s path of travel.
7. At the end of the discussion and presentations, assess the students’ work using the rubric.

• The class can work together to create a book similar to Ben’s Dream. In their class book, students can highlight landmarks from their own community, region, or state. Their book can include historical monuments, courthouses, churches, schools and universities, and so on.
  
  
• Invite students who require a more challenging project to explore landmarks that are frequently underrepresented or to research the inaccuracies that are found related to landmarks. This lesson idea is based on James Loewen’s book, Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong. Since students will be looking at landmarks with a more critical eye, use Loewen’s List of Ten Questions to Ask at a Historic Site to guide students’ research.
  
  
• Ask students to make a list of landmarks Ben could also have visited. Some examples are the White House, the Colosseum, the Golden Gate Bridge, Stonehenge, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Wailing Wall, Mesa Verde, the House of Slaves in Ghana, or Easter Island. Using the list of guiding questions, students can learn more about these locations.
  
• For a contemporary twist on this lesson, invite students to research more about the monument at Ground Zero, an excellent example of a landmark that stands where something used to be. Many students will recall the event that the monument memorializes, and numerous documents are available that explore the steps to create the monument.

Images of Famous Landmarks
http://alliance.la.asu.edu/geoliteracy/intro/PhillipsLeapinSPhotos1.pdf

This reproducible includes photos of the ten landmarks mentioned in Ben’s Dream.

Online Encyclopedia and Reference Guide
http://www.kidskonnect.com/Encyclopedia/EncyclopediaHome.html

This site contains a listing of online reference materials for children. Its links will meet many research needs.

World Almanac for Kids
http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/

An online almanac aimed towards children, with topics such as animals, states, birthdays, and inventions.

NCTE/IRA Standards

1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

2 - Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

11 - Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).