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Summary and Objective
Documents from the past can often teach us much about the persons who lived during the time period in question. After studying written documents, students will understand and be able to identify information about the people in question and present it in written and visual reports. They will take this knowledge and apply it to themselves, writing documents that tell us something about themselves and how they live.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Have class discussion about how we can learn about people who lived before us. Students will brainstorm a list of possibilities.
Step 2.
Students will review the documents for this activity, using the "show text" feature provided for each document to allow for ease of reading. Working in small groups, they will then list facts about the people involved that they can determine from the documents. A class discussion will follow to discuss their findings and point out any information missed.
Step 3.
Students will review probate inventories found on the Old Sturbridge Village Online Resource Library link below. They will list facts they learned about the person based on the probate inventory they reviewed. Facts can be sorted into categories (farm implements, animals, kitchen items etc.) and students should write a summary of facts learned about the person in a paragraph format to avoid simply copying information. This will allow connections to be made to the person and what their life might have been like.
Step 4.
Students will write a summary for two of the documents reviewed (digital collection or website). The summary should include information about the people in the documents, where they lived and when, and also what information was learned about their life. This summary can be modified to fit the needs of each student.
Step 5.
Students will create a visual document reviewing information learned from one of the documents (their choice).
Step 6.
Students will create a probate inventory of their current possessions. Documents will be exchanged with peers. Peers will write a summary of what they learned about their classmates.
Step 7.
Students will use information gained from other documents to create another type of document on themselves (i.e. will, guardianship appointment)
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