Past and Present Communities

Engage

Activity 1
Teachers:
America has changed a lot over the years.  Using the websites below, project images of several major US cities from the early 1900s. 

• http://www.northcarolinatravels.com/durham/history.htm
• http://www.dallashistory.org/history/dallas/dallas_history.htm
• http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/ahc/briefhistory.htm
• http://www.kcmo.org/kcmo.nsf/web/kchistory?opendocument

If available, locate historical pictures and information on your community website.
Pass out the worksheet entitled “Your Community: Then and Now” to give students a place to record their thoughts.  They can work in small groups to complete this activity.  It is a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting your community in two different time periods.  If information is not available for your community, locate the nearest community available to complete this assignment.

Students: 
You will discuss with your team the similarities and differences of the cities in the early 1900s and now.  As a team, record your thoughts on the worksheet entitled, “Your Community:  Then and Now.”  Share your thoughts with your class.

Now, begin to brainstorm with your team several places that you would be interested in researching over the next couple of weeks. 

Explore

Activity 2
You will sit in a sharing circle and share with your classmates the location you have chosen to research and what time period you are interested in learning about.  Share with the class why you have chosen that particular area.  It would be easiest if you focus on a particular decade, so sufficient information is available.

When all of your classmates have finished sharing their thoughts and ideas, you will pick another person you can work well with.  You will be working in pairs to help each other find information, but you will complete the project based upon the place that you are interested in. 

Activity 3
Teachers:
Give the students the worksheet entitled “Research.”  This is a suggested guide to the students’ research.  There are three things to compare for both time periods (homes, transportation and typical jobs).

Students:
When you receive the worksheet entitled “Research”, you and your partner will begin research on your selected place.  On the back, there is a place for you to write your own questions that you hope to find the answer to while you research.  As you learn more about the place you are researching, write down any questions you might want to explore.
 

Explain

Over the next four days, you are in charge of working together with your partner to find the information for your project.  This is best completed with books and internet resources.

Here are some suggestions to help you locate some research.
• Start your exploration by creating questions you have about your community and then categorizing the questions into topics.

• Find Printed Materials:  Look for books and articles to start answering your questions.  The local library is the best source for this task.

• Find People:  Books can only tell you so much, so make a list of people you could speak with and find out more information.  Look for people who have lived in the town for a long time and people who are prominent members of your community, i.e., police chief, mayor, etc.  Ask your teacher for help in setting up interviews.  Use NortelLearniT resources about Career Bytes to help you with your interviews. 

• Visit Museums and Sites:  Sometimes you local library will have artifacts for you to view.  Other places you might visit, would be a local museum, cemetery,  or historical site.

 

 

Elaborate

Use this time to finish your research and prepare and present your multimedia project.  A key step in your work is sharing it with others.

You will use Microsoft PowerPoint to create a slideshow with text and graphics that highlights at least one major difference between the time periods you studied.

The presentation should be at least 6 slides:
1. Title Page
2. Introduction to place and why you chose that place.
3. Place in the past
4. Place in the present
5. Impact of Change
6. Credits/Bibliography

You can refer back to the sample presentation, Teacher Example, for an example of the requirements.
• PowerPoint Presentations, http:.//nortellearnit.org/technology/PowerPoint_Presentations/
If students finish, they can add animations, sound effects and transitions to their slides.

Be prepared to present your work to your class.  The teacher will assign you a time for your presentation. 

Evaluate

Work will be evaluated using the attached project rubric.

PowerPoint Presentation Rubric

Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Needs Improvement	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Research	Limited research, from limited sources	Somewhat well research from somewhat varied sources.	Well researched, from various sources	Thorough research from varied sources presenting different points of view
Storyboard / planning	Limited planning evident	Some planning evident	Planning evident	Thorough planning evident
Content	Lacks detail	Some detail	Good detail	Excellent detail
Technology Use to Demonstrate Understanding	Technology use with little purpose	Technology use with some purpose	Technology use with purpose	Intuitive technology use with specific purpose
Overall Final Project	Inconsistent and inappropriate aesthetics and technical functionality	Somewhat consistent and appropriate aesthetics and technical functionality	Consistent and appropriate aesthetics and technical functionality	Consistent, creative and appropriate aesthetics and technical functionality

 

Extend

 

Additional Activities

History Conference –
1.  Students, you have become historians over the past few weeks and now will present your research to audiences at your class “History Conference.”  You will present, and then answer 2-3 questions from a panel of students/guests. 

To help facilitate your discussion, have plenty of examples to show to your audience. 

2.  You can use scrap materials and create a before & after model of your place, highlighting the changes that occurred. 

3.  Find music of that time period and region to compare with more modern day music from the same region.  Present it to the class and lead a discussion on the similarities and differences. 

4.  As a small group, write a play that takes place in two different time periods of the same place.  Use your imagination – maybe a time machine is involved, for example!   Show the differences that have occurred over time.

5.  Write a play that starts in the present time and then visits the future of the place you studied.  Based on what you learned about change, how do you predict this place will change in the future?

These files were referenced during the lesson and are available at the Nortel LearniT web site location for this lesson plan.

• Your Community: Then and Now
• Research
• Teacher Example