[ Lesson
Toolkit ]
Entertainment and Recreation in the Early Twentieth Century and Today
Dawn Jaeger and Marla Johnson, Clear Lake, SD
Students research the entertainment and recreation in the early twentieth
century using the American Memory Collection and "From the Hidewood", a
book reflecting life in Deuel County, SD during the late 1920's and 1930's.
They then make comparisons of the rural experience for the time period
to the national experience and to their own experience.
Objectives
AT the conclusion of this lesson, the students will be able to
-
recognize that a book based on a life history is not necessarily a primary
source
-
recognize that the American Memory collections are primary sources and
why
-
understand and use research methodology including online primary sources
-
describe the types of recreation and entertainment available during the
late 1920's and 1930's
-
describe the similarities and differences between their lives and the lives
of people of the 1920's and 1930's
-
identify key search terms and be able to use synonyms in searching
-
express their ideas in writing and through a multimedia presentation
Time Required
One week
Recommended Grade Level
11th grade
Curriculum Fit
American History, Interdisciplinary with Language Arts, Art, Music.
Time period fit is 20's and 30's.
Resources Used
Procedure
1. Students will read in teams selected chapters of the book "From
the Hidewood" by Amerson. Before reading this book, students will
work through an activity to clarify their understanding of what is and
is not a primary resource.
2. As they read they are to record key terms related to entertainment
and recreational activities enjoyed by Amerson, his family and/or friend.
The key terms will be used to search the American Memory collections. Students
will complete an activity in using synonyms to expand the list of terms.
For example in a chapter on fourth of July celebration, students will possibly
come up with the words phrases: fourth of July, swimming, firecrackers,
lakes. However, they term firecracker could also be fireworks.
Each term generates a completely separate picture result.
3. A sample search will be done as a class to familiarize the
students with the American Memory collections. Following on the example,
students will find do a key term search in the FSA-OWI collection using
the word swimming. This comes up with a number of hits. If
the same search is Southern Mosaic collection, no hits are found.
4. Students will search the American Memory collections listed
above to compare and contrast the life of the Amersons as being typical
or atypical of the general American experience of the time period.
Students will use deductive reasoning to formulate a conclusion based on
their synthesis and interpretation of the information gained through their
research of the American Memory collections and the ideas they garnered
from the reading in the Amerson book. Looking at he FSA-OWI collection
sources on swimming might lead to the conclusion that swimming was a common
activity, but that in some locations, pools were the location for swimming,
in other places it was "holes", while in others it was in a lake.
Also it might be noted that the holes or pools took on many different forms,
some of which are not available to students in many rural areas.
5. Each student group will prepare a presentation in any multimedia
format to demonstrate the conclusions reached in the previous step.
6. Following the presentations, a discusssion will be held as
to similarities and differences of conclusions reached by each of the groups
about entertainment and recreation during the 1920's and 1930's.
7. Each individual student will write a two page essay comparing
and contrasting the entertainment and recreational experiences of the late
20's and the 30's to his/her own life.
Evaluation
Two evaluation rubrics will be prepared. One rubric will be used
to evaluate the group presentation. The second rubric will be used
to evaluate the essay.
Extension
1. This lesson plan can be modified by using other books based in
the same time period, such as "Grapes of Wrath", "The Dust Bowl Diary",
etc.
2. Students conduct oral histories with local people in order
to test their conclusion about recreation and entertainment in their community.
3. Another extension of the lesson could be to use population
density maps, maps showing, settlement maps to hypothesis as to a
connection between distance and entertainment. Also, changes in transportation
technology could be brought into this discussion.
djaeger@itctel.com or mjohnson@itctel.com
7/23/99