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Summary and Objective
Students will examine pictures of early houses in Deerfield (The Sheldon House and The Wells-Thorne House) and compare these to their own homes. Students will understand that although the basic structure of homes has remained similar over time, dwellings have changed to accommodate families' changing lifestyles.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Students will be asked to bring in a picture of their home (outside view). They should be encouraged to bring in interior photos as well, if possible. *A word of caution- You may need to adjust this part to avoid making any student uncomfortable about showing a picture of his/her home.
Step 2.
Show exterior pictures of The Sheldon House and interior and exterior pictures of The Wells-Thorne House (there are many other pictures available in Lesson 10 of the Everyday Life Curriculum: Dwellings- The Message of Houses and their contents. See links below.
Step 3.
Make a list together of some of the similarities and differences. Depending on the age of the students, this could be done as a simple "Same and Different" comparison chart or a Venn diagram.
Step 4.
Possible discussion topics: Why are most (if not all) of the roofs on the Deerfield homes peaked? Why do most houses still have chimneys? Are they used for the same purpose? Are the windows different? Why?
Do all houses today use wood clapboards? If not, what do they use and why? How are the interior rooms used and how do they compare to our homes today? Do their bedrooms look like the bedrooms in the early Deerfield homes? Do they have more things or less? Do we see a bathroom in the early homes? Why not? How is the kitchen in their home different from the early kitchens? If they live in an older home, (100 years or more) what changes do they think have been made to the house since it was built?
Step 5.
Wrap up discussion by coming up with some general statements about the information on the comparison charts.
Some examples might be, "The shapes of houses and the way they look on the outside, hasn't changed that much, but they have really changed on the inside." "We have a lot more possessions today than people did back then." We have a lot of electrical items to make peoples' lives easier and more comfortable today, especially in the kitchen." "Many of us still heat with wood in New England, but a lot of us have wood stoves instead of a fireplace."
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