Readin', Writin' an' American Memory
Readin', Writin' an' American Memory
Lesson Tool kit
Reading an' Writing an' American Memory
Judy Drummond, Sixth Grade Language Arts Teacher
Cathy Johnson, Library Media Specialist
The American Memory Collection not only serves the needs of social studies and history teachers, but is equally inspirational for Reading, Writing, and Language Arts teachers.
The collections are rich in content and suggest one writing project after another.
Since we both deal with written language, we decided to use the American Memory Collections to support our Sixth Grade Language Arts curriculum guidelines. Baseball Cards is a natural starter, so to speak, and introduces students to the American Memory Collections and the search engines needed to do competent InterNet research.
The second collection
FSA/OPI introduces students to the incredible photographs that document the Great Depression and the people who came to our state, California, in search of work and a new life.
Baseball Cards Lessons
Lesson One:
World Series Game
Lesson Two:
Use Railroad Maps to find how players got from one game to another
Lesson Three:
Write a newspaper article talking about your team and citing the highlights of the year
Lesson Four:
Write a thank you letter to the donor of the Baseball Cards collection
Lesson Five:
Make our own personal baseball cards
Lesson One: World Series Game
Objectives
Reading and writing objectives are drawn from the San Francisco Language Arts Curriculum:
Students will use primary sources as the basis for their writing needs
Students will be able to find specific information in the Baseball Cards Collection
Using this information, students will build a team roster and learn information about each player
Students will test each other's knowledge of their teams
Time Required
The World Series Game takes three to four hours of Computer Lab time and two hours of class time.
Recommended Grade Level
This plan can be used from Fourth to Twelfth Grades.
Curriculum Fit
These lessons fit into the basic Language Arts curriculum, including reading, writing, thinking, and organizational skills.
Resources Used
Baseball Cards: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bbhtml/bbhome.html.
Railroad Maps: http://kearning.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/rr/rrintro.html
Baseball Roster
Guidelines for writing a magazine article
Jackie Robinson collection: http://learning.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/jr/jrintro.html
Local baseball schedule (San Francisco Giants)
Procedure
1.
Students will divide into "student pairs" in the classroom before going to the computer lab.
2.
At their computers, students will go to the Apple in the upper left hand corner and scroll down to Netscape and click to open.
3.
When the Horace Mann Home Page comes up, students will click on the American Memories Learning Page.
4.
Demonstrate to students how to "scroll down" the bottom of the page and then click on "Baseball Cards from 1877 to 1914."
5.
Students will locate and click on "choose team."
6.
A list of teams will appear.
Students will scroll down and view the entire list.
Each student pair must choose a team then go to the front of the room and write down their choice.
Each team may be chosen by a student pair only once, so it is a good idea to have two or three choices.
7.
After teams are selected, explain that each team member is a co-manager of that team.
After clicking on the team name, their job is to assemble a full team, selecting their players from the players on the baseball cards listed under each team.
From the team that the managers have selected, an alphabetical listing of players will appear.
There will also be a statement of how many cards there are for each team.
This is important, because if there are more than 15, the managers need to click on "Go to Next Page" to
view the rest of their cards.
8.
Using the TEAM ROSTER FORM "managers" click on each player's name.
They must look for the name of the player, any statistics, and any other information, such as birthplace, nickname, education, and other teams played with.
This information is entered on the Team Roster.
9.
Teacher should then do the lesson on HOW TO READ THE BATTING AND FIELDING AVERAGES.
"G" equals games played,
"B" equals batting average, and "F" equals fielding average need to be understood so the managers can understand why players are recruited for teams.
10.
If the managers cannot complete a team roster because they cannot find a player for a particular position, they can go back to the Baseball Card Homepage and click on "keyword search."
They type in the team name and the position they need filled.
After pressing "return" or "search" the computer will generate a list of players who played that position on that particular team.
Managers can then go to "search by player" and click to bring up that particular player's card or cards.
This "player search" can also be used if a particular player's card has only an advertisement - there may be other cards with more information on that player.
11.
After completing their roster, "managers" should prepare two questions for each of their players.
For example, "What gifts did Cy Young receive on the first 'Cy Young Day.'"
"Was Cy Young a hitting pitcher?"
They then receive a letter-size envelope on which they write their team name and their own names.
"Managers" then copy their sentences onto strips or small squares of paper with each answer on the back.
These are all placed in the team envelope.
12.
The teacher sets up a game schedule, one team "playing" another team.
The opposing "managers" exchange envelopes and each "manager" takes turns pulling a question strip from the envelope and asking the question to the opposing "managers."
If correct, that team scores a point, if incorrect, no point is scored.
The team with the most points wins and plays the winner of the next round.
The two final teams play the "World Series" and the winning managers receive a facsimilie trophy and a mighty applause.
Evaluation and Extension
The managers of each team write an article for Sports Illustrated that details highlights of the World Series.
Teacher asks the questions:
Why were the first baseball cards printed as advertisements by the tobacco industry?
Why were there no African Americans on player cards, even though the Negro League was very strong and very popular?
Students may access and search the "Jackie Robinson" collection for further baseball information and information about the racial integration of major league baseball.
Teacher may contact local baseball team for game schedule and reduced tickets.
Students will attend game and record batting and fielding averages for all the players in the game then compare those statistics with their American Memory team.
Lesson Two: Use Railroad Maps to find how your team got from one game to another
Objectives
Students will be able to read maps and follow railroad lines
Students will learn names of major East Coast cities that were the homes of early baseball teams
Students will be able to plot out travel routes from one city to another
Students will be able to plan team schedules based on travel routes
Time Required
Two hours to research and print out maps
Two class periods to piece maps together, trace routes and plan the team schedules
Recommended Grade Level
Fourth through Twelfth Grades
Curriculum Fit
Resources Used
Baseball Cards: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bbhtml/bbhome.html.
Railroad Maps
Procedure
Evaluation and Extension
Lesson Three: Write a magazine article citing the highlights
of the year
Objectives
Time Required
Recommended Grade Level
Curriculum Fit
Resources Used
Procedure
Evaluation and Extension
Lesson Four: Write a thank you letter to the donor of the Baseball Card collection
Objectives
Time Required
Recommended Grade Level
Curriculum Fit
Resources Used
Procedure
Evaluation and Extension
Lesson Five: Make your own personal baseball card
Objectives
Time Required
Recommended Grade Level
Curriculum Fit
Resources Used
photograph of each student
scanner
high quality printer
lightweight card stock
Procedure
Evaluation and Extension
Top of Page
jdrummo@muse/sfusd.k12.ca.us.
March 5, 1999.