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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that paintings, prints and photographs often provide important information about peoples' wants/needs, shelter, food, habits of work/play, and age and gender roles. By responding to focusing questions and learning to examine source documents closely using a pretend spy glass, students learn to make predictions about what life was like during a particular time period.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Students are divided into partner groups. Each group receives a print (either "Thanksgiving Pies" or "A New England Kitchen") depicting people in a kitchen scene during the colonial period.
Step 2.
Students are asked to look closely at the print for clues to understanding the past. They are given 5-10 minutes to examine the print with their partner and are asked to talk to each other about the interesting details they are noticing. Students are told how historians use documents like these to make observations and interpretations about life, communities, and individuals during different time periods.
Step 3.
Next, the teacher asks students a series of questions meant to activate and focus their thinking, increase their observational skills, and develop their ability to make predictions about the past using information gleaned from the art document. Sample questions include: "What is the common location or setting of each of these prints? Who might the people in these prints be, and what activities are they engaged in? Do you think these prints depict life today or long ago? Why do you think so?" After a brief discussion, the teacher passes out paper spy glasses to each student, with holes cut out of the center.
Step 4.
The teacher challenges students to put the spyglass over something that provides a clue about the time period in which the scene is taking place. After each partner group has found something (for example, clothing styles), the teacher asks students to name what they framed with their spyglass. The teacher records these on easel paper in front of the room under the heading "Clues about Time."
Step 5.
Next, s/he asks children to find clues about the food people in the print might have eaten or grown. Again, children share what information they have found with their spyglasses and report out to the group. These are recorded, as well, under the heading "Clues about Food."
Step 6.
This same procedure is followed, with the teacher directing students to find clues regarding clothing, shelter, tools and chores, entertainment, and gender and age roles with their spyglasses. For example: "Do you see anyone working in these prints? Are they using any tools that might have helped them to do their chores? Use your spyglass to identify a tool you notice. Talk to your partner about who is using it and why."
Step 7.
After the class completes their search for relevant clues in each of these categories, each partner group is asked to write down or dictate three to five predictions about life during the time depicted in the print. These responses are recorded on large easel paper, so the chart can be revisited as children continue their learning.
Step 8.
Students study colonial life using various books and other source documents. Suggested resources include: Life in a Colonial Town (S. Isaacs); Colonial Times 1600-1700 (J. Masoff); If You Lived in Colonial Times ( A. McGovern). As students glean information that either confirms or disproves their predictions, it is noted on the easel paper with a TRUE or FALSE or perhaps a question mark, if further information or clarification is needed.
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