Community history

Submitted by vharada on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 21:57Printable version Bookmark and Share
Created By:
Violet Harada
Title/Role:
Professor
Organization/School Name:
University of Hawaii
Location:
Hawaii

Grade Level:
7
Type of Lesson:
Lesson in a unit
Type of Schedule:
Combination
Collaboration Continuum:
Intensive
Content Area:
Language Arts, Social studies
Content Topic:
Change and continuity within a community
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner
Skills Indicator(s):
1.1.4 Find, evaluate, and select appropriate sources to answer questions.
1.1.5 Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context.
Dispostion Indicator(s):
1.2.1 Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and investigating the answers beyond the collection of superficial facts.
1.2.4 Maintain a critical stance by questioning the validity and accuracy of all information.
Responsibilities Indicator(s):
1.3.3 Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information.
Self-Assessment Strategies Indicator(s):
1.4.1 Monitor own information-seeking processes for effectiveness and progress, and adapt as necessary.
1.4.3 Monitor gathered information, and assess for gaps or weaknesses.
Scenario:
Seventh grade students in social studies focus on the history of their state as part of the grade level curriculum. The social studies teachers decide that one way to pique students’ curiosity about the state’s past would be to start with the students’ own community. They approach the school library media specialist (SLMS) with the concept of research on local history. She sparks excitement when she immediately agrees to involve the neighborhood public librarian and the regional archivist in this project. As a planning team, the teachers and SLMS decide that students might not only examine print, nonprint, and digital resources, but that this would be a great opportunity to teach students the techniques of the interview. Toward this end, the SLMS also identifies potential human resources in the community, who can provide first-hand information about changes that have occurred in the community. This particular project extends over two months.

Overview:
Seventh grade students conduct a community history investigation that centers on the essential questions: How has our community changed over time? What caused or influenced these changes? How can we find out?

Final Product:
Students work in pairs to compose multimedia presentations that synthesize the information they have gleaned from readings, viewings, and interviews. The presentations are added to an online archive of student produced materials on local history that the SLMS creates for the school.

Library Lesson:
Students work with the SLMS in a series of six sessions focusing on various aspects of information gathering including how to retrieve information from archival photographs, how to take notes from primary documents, how to conduct and analyze interviews, and how to properly cite these various resources.

Estimated Lesson Time:
120 minutes
Assessment
Product:
Teachers, the SLMS, and students use a rubric created by the instructional team to critique the multimedia presentations that are the final product. The rubric includes criteria on content accuracy, organization, visual layout, and cited authority.

Process:
Students maintain a running reflection log on their progress throughout the project. Some of the questions framing their entries are listed below under self-questioning.

Self Questioning:
1. What background information would help me get an overview of my topic so that I can ask good questions and learn more about it? 2. What intriguing questions do I have about this topic? 3.What is my plan for research? 4. What are all the sources that might be used? 5. How do I evaluate the information that I find? 6. Have I found enough accurate information to answer all my questions? 5. What new understandings did I develop about the topic?

Instructional Plan
Resources students will use:
Still image (i.e.paintings, drawings, plans, and maps)
Moving Image (i.e. animations, movies, tv program, video)
Text (books, letters, poems, newspapers, etc.)

Resources instructor will use:
Projector
TV

Instruction/Activities
Direct instruction:
Introduce the interview as an important source of primary information for this particular research project. Go over an SLMS-designed checklist of the steps involved in pre-interview, interview, and post-interview. The steps might include the following: stating goals, gathering sufficient background information on topic, setting up the interview, preparing and sequencing the questions, rehearsing, and practicing appropriate interview etiquette.

Modeling and guided practice:
Have the SLMS and teacher model a mock interview being conducted. Invite the students to use the portion of the checklist that focuses on how to conduct an interview as they observe the SLMS and teacher perform. Critique the interview together.

Independent practice:
This portion must be done by the students in the actual interviews. The SLMS assists with scheduling since the interviewees are invited to the school library where the interviews are conducted.


Have you taught this lesson before:
Yes
AASL/Common Core State Standards Crosswalk

Common Core State Standards English Language Arts:

CC.7.W.2.b » English Language Arts » Text Types and Purposes » b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. (7)

CC.7.W.7 » English Language Arts » Research to Build and Present Knowledge » 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation. (7)

CC.7.R.L.1 » English Language Arts » Key Ideas and Details » 1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. (7)

CC.7.R.I.4 » English Language Arts » Craft and Structure » 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. (7)

CC.7.W.9.a » English Language Arts » Research to Build and Present Knowledge » a. Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history"). (7)