History Social Science Schoolhouse

Schoolhouse Lessons and Activities
Activitity One
Introductory lesson to unit
(Activity should be modified depending on age and ability of students. With older students a short introductory lesson, a homework assignment to interview family members, and a sharing of information and source reliability the following day may be sufficient to introduce the lessson. However other students may need a more structured lesson.)
What is the history of our school? (How old is our school?)
Purpose: Many young students take for granted that the things they use have always been there and have always been the same. This introductory activitity leads them to think about historical elements that exist in their lives, and provides a connection between their lives today and the history unit. In this unit students begin to use various sources for historical research.
Objectives:

Students see history as relevant and happening in their lifetimes.
Students begin an inquiry process as they discuss their school.
Students learn to frame questions to begin research.
Students consider the various sources of information that are available to them as they begin their research.

Time and Materials: Two 45 minute class periods or more depending on interest and depth of discussions-- May also include a homework session in which students discuss schools with parents, siblings, and relatives to discover what schools their parents/relatives attended in order to compare and contrast other schools to their own.
*For ESL students: Students may be asked to share information about the schools that they attended previously. Students, whose first language is not English will, depending upon their level of language proficiency, need visuals and graphics to allow them to participate in the activity.

Pictures of new, modern buildings

Pictures of older buildings

Vocabulary list written clearly on easel or board with pictures nearby to facilitate comprehension
Oxford Picture Dictionary is helpful

Bilingual dictionaries

Students should work in small groups for support

They may be encouraged to share their native vocabulary with members of their groups. This helps to check for ESL students' comprehension and also to enrich language awareness of English speakers (World Languages)

Lesson One
I. Ask students how old they think there school building is?
How long has it been there?
When was it built?
(For ESL students build core vocabulary-- "how long", "when" ,"where" , "why", "estimate", "guess"and comparisons of adjectives--)
** If students know the age of their school because its very new, the discussion could focus on what was on the land before the school... or where the students went to school before the new school was built. The important concept is that students are beginning to see the relevance of history to their immediate surroundings and that they begin to consider sources for research.**
II. Students may share their thoughts and ideas in a large group or in small groups and report back to large group.
III. Ask them to justify their answers... Why do they think that their building is 10 years old or 100 years old etc.? (Reasoning skills)
If they have difficulty guide them to understand that buildings, styles of architecture, etc. were different 10, 25, 50, 100, etc. years ago. Refer to pictures.
Next to the age of the building that they have estimated, have students write their reason for the estimation.
IV. Using various sources of information: Ask students how they can find out the actual age of their school building, and some of the history of the building as well.
(For ESL students build core vocabulary-- "resources", "research" )
Guide students to understand that there are many possible sources besides encyclopedias and books... and list these sources on the board.

plaques on the inside or outside of the building

interviews with primary sources within the building
interviews with someone at the local historical society
historic documents at the local historical society
interviews parents or others in the community
VI. Have students look for the building plaque, and plan an informal interview to find more information about the school and surrounding area. Generate a list of questions they could ask in their interviews.
For ESL students: Interview questions provide good language practice for ESL students, however, many of these students' parents may not know the history of the community. These students and other students who come from different communities should ask their families about schools they attended (including locations and dates for comparisons and contrasts).
VII. Evaluation: Students write interview questions
VIII. Follow-up: Students interview parents, relatives, etc. and share information with the group. The information should be displayed in the room. This may be done in charts, interview reports, time lines, pictures, etc.