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Sharing Our Past
Lesson 3:
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Lesson
Handouts
Academic Standards
Philanthropy Framework
3rd-5th Grade
Subjects:

Language Arts, Library / Technology, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view
ELA: Listening; Reflection; Speaking; Writing Process
PHIL: 1 genOn; Caring/Sharing; Sensitivity; Service Project
SOC: 6 genOn; Chronology; Common Good; Family; Immigration; Mobility; Opportunity Costs; Primary/Secondary Sources; Scarcity; Supply/Demand; Timelines; Volunteerism

Purpose:

Students will meet their Senior Friend at the local museum to discuss the state/local history. Students will “report to” the senior citizens about our very early past, and students will learn from their Senior Friends as they explore more recent history. They will focus on reasons that people came to this area.

Teacher Note: Arrange the date and time with the museum and the care facility and then arrange for transportation. It is helpful if additional adults can accompany the class. Remind students of using respect at the museum as well as for their Senior Friend. It helps to get to the museum about fifteen minutes earlier than the seniors so they can do a quick rehearsal at each display.

Duration:

One Hour-Long Visit at the Local Museum Forty-Five Minutes for Writing about the Experience

Objectives:

The learners will:
  • be considerate of his/her senior friend: help with walkers, getting an elevator, reading a display for them, finding a chair for them to rest on, etc.

  • “teach” his/her senior friend about the state’s earliest history.

  • learn from the senior friends about their first-hand experiences: war, economy, way of life, personal memories of displays.

  • recognize causes/patterns of immigration and migration within the state.

  • write about the trip to the museum and include it as one page of the book of Living History.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

Students will provide companionship and a meaningful excursion for a senior friend.

Materials:

Notebooks or clipboards with paper and pencil for taking notes

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set:
Read a book about immigration and life 100 years ago. There are several suggestions in the Bibliographical References below. Discuss some of the reasons people immigrated to your state over the years. Talk about the economic reasons that people moved in the early years of your state and the more recent economic reasons for change in the state. Tell the students that some of their senior friends have been in the state for many years and they may have first-hand knowledge about some of the changes that have taken place. Encourage the students to learn as much as they can from the seniors.

  • Tell the students that during the visit to the museum with their senior friends, they will be both a teacher and a student! The students will be teaching their senior friends about the state’s early history. As they visit each display at the museum, the student shares knowledge learned in school, in books, and from previous visits about that aspect of the state’s history. Then students will be the listeners and learners as the seniors share their knowledge about what life was like in the state when they were young.

  • Remind the students to use the “life skill” of “caring” as they help their senior friends around the museum. If they need a chair or an elevator, assist them. Be sensitive to their needs. Speak clearly and listen respectfully.

  • When the class arrives at the museum, take the students on a whirlwind tour of the areas they need to take their senior friends. Give them a few minutes to preview each display and comment on the important points. When the seniors arrive, the students should greet their friends and lead the tour. The students should take notes about information learned from the displays and from the seniors’ stories.

  • Students guide the seniors through the designated tour of the museum with displays about the history of the state. Students share information they know about each display. They should lead the conversation and reflect on the information presented at each display. (They should be careful not to be condescending; the seniors may be very knowledgeable about the state’s history already.) Then they should ask the senior questions about their own experiences in the state. What brought them to the state? Why did they move or not move? What economic changes did they see?

  • At the end of the tour, the students should thank their senior friends for participating in this visit.

  • Back at the classroom, the students write about the museum experience. The writing should focus on what they learned, how they related to their senior, what problems or difficulties they faced, what was the best part of the trip, how they felt about the volunteering experience, etc. This writing in its final form will be used in the book of Living History that is the culmination of this project.

Assessment:

Assess students’ participation in the museum visit by observing them with their senior friends and through their writing. The writing should include honest descriptions of what they learned from the experience. Look for expressions of sensitivity, awareness of the value of the seniors’ contributions and experiences, and enthusiasm for learning about the past and others’ part in the past.

School/Home Connection:

Invite Students’ family members to accompany the class to the museum. Use some of the students’ comments from their writing in the class newsletter.

Cross-Curriculum Extensions:

Prepare for the museum visit or follow up with lessons on the state’s history. Focus on the early history of the state as well as the causes and patterns of immigration and migration. Tie this lesson to reading and social studies curriculum.

Bibliographical References:

  • Bradby, Marie. Momma, Where Are You From? New York: Orchard Books, 2000. ISBN 0531301052

  • Freedman, Russell. Immigrant Kids. Scott Foresman, 1995. ISBN 0140375945

  • McGovern, Ann. If You Lived 100 Years Ago. New York: Scholastic, 1999. ISBN 0590960016

  • Maestro, Betsy. Coming to America. New York: Scholastic, 1996. ISBN 0-590-441515
    (Social Studies textbook for state history and reading text for stories about immigration)

Lesson Developed By:

Kathleen Veenstra
Reeths-Puffer Schools
Central Elementary School
Muskegon, MI 49445

Handouts:

Philanthropy Framework:

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