Analyzing Primary Sources
- On-site Activity/Ranger Led
Grade Level: 8
Content Area:
History and Language Arts
Time to Complete:
at least 1.5 hours (see procedures)
Title of Lesson:
Life at the Plantation South Carolina
State Standards Addressed:
|
8-4.2 |
Describe the causes and course of the
Civil War and its effect on the American people. |
|
8-8.5 |
Describe the role of technology
development in the shaping the characteristics of economic,
cultural, and political regions in South Carolina and the United
States. |
|
8-8.3 |
Explain how the people interacted with
their physical environment to create distinctive regions in South
Carolina and the United States. |
|
8-C2.1 |
Demonstrate the ability to listen for
meaning in conversations and discussions. |
|
8-C3.1 |
Demonstrate the ability to make
predictions about the content of what he or she views. |
Lesson Description:
In this program we will be examining the
artifacts used by the Hammond family and
architectural features which give us
important information about the house.
These features will help us identify
ways in which South Carolinians modified
the landscape and pulled from the
natural environment to carve out a
lifestyle. Special focus will be on
using investigative methods to learn
more about Redcliffe and the Hammond
family.
Focus Questions
for Students:
| 1. |
What methods do
historians use to investigate the past? |
| 2. |
What do the
photographs, letters, diary entries, and artifacts say about the
people who lived at Redcliffe? |
|
3. |
How can you find
out more information about your family history and the history of
the area that you live in? |
Culminating Assessment:
See
Post-site activities
Materials/Resources:
All materials supplied by Redcliffe
Plantation.
Teacher Preparation:
Complete steps in "Plan your Discovery" and
complete the pre-site activity prior to the field trip.
Procedures:
Utilizing objects in the classroom teacher kit do the following activities:
| I. |
Introduction: |
| |
Interpreter will
briefly discuss the history of the house and the types of primary
sources that historians at Redcliffe use to learn more about the
house and family. |
| |
Students will be
given a clipboard, a worksheet and pencils to complete activities on
the tour. |
| |
Total time: 20 minutes |
|
II. |
Interpreter will then give a very brief
history of the site and the family who lived here, using some of the
same photographs that the students used in their pre-site
activities. Emphasis will be on four generations of Hammonds
that lived in the house and their close relatives at nearby sites. |
| |
Total time: 10 minutes |
| |
Rather than following a formal
script given in the form of a
lecture, the Interpreter will
take students into each room,
briefly describe what the room
was used for, and then highlight
specific items.
|
| |
Students will be exposed to the
history of Redcliffe through
identification of significant
artifacts and architectural
features and they will have to
decide what each of the objects
and features tell them about the
people that lived and worked
here and their daily activities.
|
| |
Total time: 40 minutes |
|
IV. |
Tour of the
slave cabin, garage, and stables: Interpreter will follow the same
strategy as in the main house. |
| |
Total time: 20 minutes |
|
IV. |
Wrap up
activities: |
| |
Return
to the front porch and discuss what they learned about the
lifestyles of the people living at Redcliffe and how their
activities relate to others living in South Carolina during the same
time period. Students will be prompted to talk about specific
artifacts and how they used the investigative methods learned in the
pre-visit activities to analyze the significance of the artifact. |
| |
Total time: flexible depending on schedule |
|
