In this unit students use historical thinking to explore their local community’s past and how communities change over time. The unit begins with a review of historical concepts and ideas from first grade. Using the book The Oxcart Man or a similar literature choice from the economics unit, students identify evidence the story took place in the past. Using a graphic organizer, students compare life in the past with life today. Acting as historians, students investigate various ways we learn about history and begin to gather information about the history of their local community. In a lesson on chronology (sequence) they explore a timeline of local community events. Using The House on Maple Street and A River Ran Wild or similar books, students investigate and compare change over time in a fictional and a non-fictional community. First, students investigate change in the community in The House on Maple Street and then investigate change in their own local community. Students identify historical figures in the local community and explain their contributions and significance in local history. Using the book, A River Ran Wild, students identify how a problem was solved in a community’s past and look for examples of past problems in their own local community. Students are introduced to the concept of historical perspective as they begin to understand why people may view the same historical event in different ways. Finally, using the information about their community’s past which they have gathered throughout the unit, students create a class book describing and illustrating the history of their local community.
Stage One - Desired Results
How do communities change over time?
artifactchangechronologydecadeshistorianhistorical evidencehistorical narrativehistorical perspectivehistorypastpeopletimeline
Cause and EffectComparing/ContrastingSynthesizing
Stage Two - Assessment Evidence
Stage Three - Learning Plan