Zooming Into Local History

Name of Participants: Mary Fortin, Michelle Gottschall, Anita Squier, Emily Sullivan

Overview/Purpose: This unit is designed demonstrate how history influenced the lives of five unique individuals from Northern New York; and how their accomplishments influenced the development of local and state history. The teaching of local history is a New York State learning standard that is often not covered in the 4 th grade classroom largely because there is a lack of specific useable curriculum available for teachers. With the dissolution of the NYSCA Kent Delord House Museum Grant, teachers in PCSD will have a greater responsibility to implement local history lessons. By the end of this project each 4 th grade teacher in the PCSD will have access to a binder containing ready to use lessons and materials to teach a 6 lesson unit on local history. Special attention would be given to provide Differentiated Instruction will be worked into the lessons so that all students will be able to understand the content taught.

The lessons will include the analysis of: primary and secondary source documents, photos and portraits, timelines and maps. Student and community member reenactments, as well as walking field trips to local historical sites will further reinforce student understanding.

Length of instructional time: Each lesson will consist of a 45-60 minute session. There will be 6 sessions in this unit. The lessons can be implemented in any sequence and over 1any time frame.

Grade/age level: The targeted level would be 4 th grade regular and special education students as well as AIS students. The activities will be tiered to accommodate basic as well as more advanced learners resulting in a broader spectrum of student abilities.

NYS Learning Standards Addressed:

  • ELA Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding.
  • ELA Standard 2: Students will read, write listen and speak for literary response and expression.
  • ELA Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.
  • ELA Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction.
  • Social Studies Standard 1
  • History of the United States and New York: Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.
  • Social Studies Standard 3

Geography

  • Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live—local, national, and global—including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.
  • Social Studies Standard 5
  • Civics, Citizenship, and Government-
  • Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

PCSD Standards

  • Critical Thinker
  • Effective Communicator
  • Lifelong Learner
  • Healthy Citizen

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  • How are we connected to people from the past?
  • What can we learn from studying the past?
  • Whom do we believe and why?
  • Is history the story told by the “winners”?

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Declarative: The students will …

  • Know how these individuals affected the history of Northern New York
  • Understand the use of plants in the treatment of illness
  • Understand how individuals shape a community
  • Analyze different styles of poetry and examine the “whys” of poetry
  • Work through the process of writing poems using 6+1 traits.
  • Listen to readings and glean important information from the readings

Procedural: The student will be able to:

  • Read, discuss and analyze primary and secondary source documents
  • Relate the lives of each individual studied to their life in the present.
  • Identify primary and secondary source documents
  • Work with peers in a structured cooperative group setting
  • Chronologically identify the historic changes and development of our city and region
  • Read a timeline
  • Locate places on a map
  • Utilize a timeline to understand historically significant events of prominent Plattsburgh residents.
  • Complete graphic organizers using primary and secondary sources.