Title: Welcome to Appalachia
Type of Teaching Unit: lesson
Grade Levels: 3
Time Frame: 2-3 hours
Subject Matter: Historical Analysis and Interpretation
Literature
Teacher Information:
Natalie Fish
William Holliday Elementary
AAM affiliation: SIUE
Lesson Plan Description and Rationale:
This lesson will be the second in a series of three lessons and will focus on the use of primary sources from the AAM website as a means to exploring the geographic region of Appalachia. The use of photographs and music exemplifying the landscape, people, and homes of Appalachia is meant to help students make concrete connections to the subject matter and reinforce the concept of primary sources. Students will also read a short story that chronicles the life of an Appalachian native. Through the use of both primary sources and literature, students will hopefully learn not only about the landscape and people of Appalachia, but of the distinctions between various sources of information (i.e. literature and primary sources.)
State Standards:
State Goal 16: Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States and other nations.
Standard A: Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation.
Benchmark: b Ask historical questions and seek out answers from historical sources (e.g., myths, biographies, stories, old photographs, artwork, other visual or electronic sources).
Objectives:
1. List details contained in images of life from the Appalachian region of the U.S. during the early 1900’s.
2. Draw general conclusions about life during this period and region using a combination of primary sources (photographs) and literary sources (My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston.)
Resources:
Reed, H. “Shoo Fly”. Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/afcreed:@field(DOCID+@lit(afcreed/13035a40))]
(May 2004)
Houston, G. My Great-Aunt Arizona, HarperTrophy, 1997.
“Untitled”. America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWL, 1935-1945
(May 2004)
“Untitled”. America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWL, 1935-1945
(May 2004)
Wolcott, M.P. “Mr. and Mrs. S. Castle or Mr. and Mrs. William S. Allen…”. America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/fsaall:@field(NUMBER+@band(fsa+8a43814))]
(May 2004)
Wolcott, M.P. “Mule Carrying Sack of Meal in Front of Country Store, Knox County, Kentucky”. America from The Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWL, 1935-1945
(May 2004)
Wolcott, M.P. “Noah Garland’s Barns and Home on the Hillside…”. America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/fsaall:@field(NUMBER+@band(fsa+8c14176))]
(May 2004)
Wolcott, M.P. “Noah Garland Sitting on the Steps of His Son’s Home…”. America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/fsaall:@field(NUMBER+@band(fsa+8c14199))]
(May 2004)
Wolcott, M.P. “Two of Dutton(“Dut”) Calleb’s Children Watering the Mule…”. America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWL, 1935-1945
[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/fsaall:@field(NUMBER+@band(fsa+8c14209))]
(May 2004)
Methods:
The teacher will remind students of the difference between primary and secondary sources and inform the students that they will look at primary sources in the form of photographs.
The teacher will give students a brief overview of the FSA-OWI 1935-1945 collection by visiting the collection homepage and reading the description in a whole class setting with the use of a projection device. The teacher will be sure to remind students that these photographs were taken between the years of 1935-1945 in different regions of the United States.
Students will view photographs from the FSA-OWI 1935-1945 collection via a teacher created webpage. Students will then work with a partner to list 5 objective observations (facts) and 5 subjective observations (opinions) about Appalachia based on the photographs.
In a whole class setting, students will share their observations and the teacher will make a chart of facts and opinions using some of the students’ observations.
Students will make predictions about the setting and the main character in Gloria Houston’s My Great Aunt Arizona based on their observations from the photographs. Students will write their predictions on a prediction chart that they can later look back to.
Students will read the book My Great Aunt Arizona with a partner and complete a comprehension guide.
Evaluation:
Students will write a short essay (1-2 pages) in response to the following prompt regarding the FSA-OWI collection and the book My Great Aunt Arizona.
Aunt Arizona always dreamed of traveling to faraway places, but she never did. Why do you think she wanted to travel to different places? Why do you think she never did? How do you think she felt about her life? Use what you know from the story and the photographs you looked at from the American Memory collection to explain your answer.
This short essay will be scored with the Illinois Standards Achievement Test Student-Friendly Extended Response Reading Rubric.
Keywords:
Appalachia
fact
opinion
photograph