CHAPS Lesson Plan: Place-based Curriculum

7th

Grade Texas History

Anne-Marie Huff, IDEA College Prep San Juan

Introduction to Time Traveler’s Trunk: Oral History Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is the last in a series in relation to an on-going summative assessment

that is applied throughout Unit 1: Where in the World? for seventh grade Texas History. The

main objective is “Students will be able to [SWBAT] describe what oral history is through a time

traveler’s trunk.” This lesson plan serves a dual purpose, fulfilling both immediate and long-

term curriculum goals: 1) The immediate goal fulfilled is the culmination and completion of the

Time Traveler’s Trunk as a project-based summative assessment for Unit 1, in which

fundamental social studies skills are tested. 2) The long-term goal embedded within this lesson

plan establishes the foundational skills required for identifying, collecting, and sharing oral

histories that will be drawn upon within each unit until the end of the school year across varying

themes and assigned intervals. Lastly, this lesson plan is predicated on previous lesson plans and

assignments that rely on the Time Traveler’s Trunk, which is to be described in the following

section.

Detailed Background

In light of this lesson’s substantial reliance on previous lesson plans and the continuing

summative assessment for Unit 1: Where in the World?, the backwards planning for it must be

purposefully and meticulously calculated, as well as the ultimate big goal and vision of the

summative assessment firmly established. Essentially, a more accessible way of viewing this

lesson plan would be realizing it both as a short-term component of the Time Traveler’s Trunk

summative assessment, as well as a foundational lesson to instill long-term mindsets on the

importance of oral history that will be drawn upon in each unit throughout the year.

Additionally, the rational for creating this final lesson plan first ensures that everything

preceding it will be embedded within the lesson. Thus, before the enclosed lesson plan on oral

history is to be described, one must understand the ongoing, project-based summative

assessment, again, called the Time Traveler’s Trunk.

The Time Traveler’s Trunk is a summative assessment that is meant to serve as a diagnostic

of basic social studies skills (i.e. reading maps, understanding demographics, identifying primary

and secondary sources), while at the same time inspiring students to see Texas History through a

local and personal perspective throughout the school year in the hopes of maintaining student

investment. This Time Travelers Trunk will be maintained and utilized throughout the school

year during each unit.

Initially, constructing the “trunk” could be a lesson activity to establish classroom culture

within the first few weeks. While serving as a fun ice-breaker between students, teachers could

also modify the requirements for its creation to incorporate more knowledge-based material if

they so choose. The trunk is to be made of a recycled shoe box and personally decorated by the

student with a pseudo “coat of arms” representing their life and family, which would be placed

on the lid of the trunk. Inside of the trunk, students will store items such as but not limited to

personal artifacts, primary and secondary sources, as well as oral narratives. Trunks will be kept

in the classroom and at the end of the school year students will be able to take them home.

For Unit 1: Where in the World?, students will be required to make their trunk for the very

first time, as well as finding and creating certain items that pertain to their personal lives, while

at the same time applying skills required for the unit, weaving both together to create an oral

history within a box. Initially, this project will take up a substantial amount of time, since

students will have to decorate their box and family “coat of arms.” However, as students add

items to their trunks throughout the course of the year during each unit, it will not be as time

consuming as it may be during the beginning of the year. Furthermore, during the unit Where in

the World?, students will not be expected to put all of the items in their trunks at once, but rather

little by little throughout different lessons during the two week period of the unit. This

strategized scaffolding will ensure that students are not being overwhelmed with requirements

and information, as well as better enabling them to turn in a complete product.

By the time of the lesson plan Time Traveler’s Trunk – Oral History is reached within the

scoping sequence in Unit 1, some items that may be within the trunk could be the following

(depending on individual teacher goals and objectives):

A timeline with at least four important events from the student’s life (not including

your date of birth or birthdays)

A primary document of an important event in the student’s life (i.e. a photograph

from a special birthday celebration, First Communion, awards ceremony, etc.)

A secondary document of an important event in the student’s life (i.e. a summary

another student writes about their primary document in class)

A map of the state(s) and/or countries in which the student has lived with their cities

of residence highlighted

A drawing/photograph and summary of the natural environment in which the student

currently lives

Finally, with all of these previous lessons and necessary tasks completed, the enclosed lesson

plan, Time Traveler’s Trunk: Oral History, may be carried out. Bearing the objective in mind

(“SWBAT describe what oral history is through a time traveler’s trunk.”), one must be prepared

to introduce the concepts and skills required to understand oral history in the most basic way

initially. For more resources and ideas for future assignments for teaching oral history, please

see Section III: Teaching Oral History: Teacher Resources in the appendix at the end of this

document.

Unit Objective:

UNIT 1: Where in the World?

Unit Focus: The goal of this unit is for students to review fundamental social skills while

familiarizing themselves with their home state and the Rio Grande Valley. The objectives listed

in the first section are skills that are meant to be spiraled throughout the first quarter and so may

not be fully mastered during unit one. Some examples of Unit 1 objectives are listed below:

TEK Skills/Knowledge

21.C Organize and interpret information from maps

21.C Organize and interpret information from graphs and charts

8.A Create and interpret thematic maps and graphs representing modern Texas’ human

and physical geography

21.B Analyze information by finding the main idea and summarizing

21.B Use valid primary and secondary sources such as computer software, databases, media

and news services to acquire information

22.C Transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and

statistical to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate.

9.A Locate major cities in Texas.

9.B,

21.C

Compare places and regions of Texas in terms of physical and human characteristics

8.B,

11.D,

21H

Describe the structure of the population of Texas using demographic concepts such as

growth rate and age distribution.

Guiding Question

Unit: What’s your (the student) position in Texas and world history? So in other words, where in the

world are YOU?!

Daily:

How does our daily life help us understand history?

How is history made by “everyday” people just like you?

Daily Objective:

Main Objective:

SWBAT describe what oral history is through a time traveler’s trunk.

Embedded Skill-Based Objectives:

SWBAT identify a primary and secondary source.

SWBAT explain the definition of “artifact” and provide examples.

SWBAT describe the geography and environment of the Rio Grande Valley.

Assessment

Project Name: Time Travelers Trunk

This project-based summative assessment is meant to serve as a diagnostic of basic social studies

skills (i.e. reading maps, understanding demographics, identifying primary and secondary

sources), while at the same time inspiring students to see Texas History through a local and

personal perspective throughout the school year in the hopes of maintaining student investment.

This “Time Travelers Trunk” will be maintained and utilized throughout the school year during

each unit. The trunk will be made of a shoe box and personally decorated by the student with a

“coat of arms” representing their life and family on the lid. Inside of the trunk, students will

keep items such as but not limited to artifacts, primary and secondary resources, as well as oral

narratives. Trunks will be kept in the classroom and at the end of the school year students will

be able to take them home.

For the first unit Where in the World, students will be required to make their trunk for the very

first time, as well as finding and creating certain items that pertain to their personal lives, as well

as applied skills required for the unit, weaving both together to create an oral narrative in a box.

Initially, this project will take up a substantial amount of time, since students will have to

decorate their box and family “coat of arms.” However, while students will be adding items to

their trunks throughout the course of the year and each unit, it will not be as time consuming as it

will be during the beginning of the year. Furthermore, during the unit Where in the World?,

students will not be expected to put all of the items in their trunks at once, but little by little

throughout the two week period of the unit. This strategized scaffolding will ensure that students

are not being overwhelmed with requirements and information, as well as better enabling them to

turn in a complete product.

Some items that will be required to construct the “trunk” and items to be placed inside for Unit

1: Where in the World? throughout the two-week period of instruction:

Any shoe box (decorated by student)

Student’s family “coat of arms”

A timeline with at least four events from student’s live (not including your date of birth

or birthdays)

A primary document of an important event in student’s life

A secondary document of an important even in student’s life

A map of the state(s) and/or countries in which student has lived with their cities of

residence highlighted

A drawing/photograph and summary of the natural environment in which student

currently lives

Grading Rubric

NOTE: Rubrics are liable to change in lieu of each individual teacher’s preferred emphases and

goals, thus, the rubric below is left blank. For more ideas and tips on creating diverse rubrics,

visit rubistar.4teachers.org

A B C F

Materials

NOTE: These materials will not be made within this single lesson plan. These materials

have been collected throughout the two week period of the unit. Students have been given

time both inside and outside of class to work on the various components of this “traveling

trunk.”

Time Traveler’s Trunk: Oral History Worksheet (see Appendix)

Student’s completed “traveling trunk” with all necessary items, which include the

following:

- Your family “coat of arms”

- A timeline with at least four events from student’s live

- A primary document of an important event in student’s life

- A secondary document of an important event in student’s life

- A map of the state(s) and/or countries in which student has lived with their cities of

residence highlighted

- A drawing/photograph and summary of the natural environment in which student

currently lives

Key Points

What:

Question: What is oral history?

Answer: Oral history is history that is kept alive through the spoken word, which is telling

stories by talking NOT writing.

How:

EVERYONE can collect and study oral history!

YOU can learn through oral history when you listen to your abuelo talk about an old

family story, for example.

YOU can be a historian too by writing down or recording what your abuelo has to

say.

YOU can do this by writing down notes or recording with a tape recorder or video

camera.

Why:

Oral histories are important because most history books do not talk about “everyday”

people.

Learning about “everyday” people is important because it can tell us a lot about what life

was like at a certain period of time.

Even important people like professors and journalists collect oral histories through

interviews

Oral histories can be done by anyone! You can learn a lot about yourself and your

family’s history

Oral histories that we collect can help us protest certain stories in history that may be

wrong

Intro to New Material (INM)

SUMMARY: Teacher will explain what oral history is and how students will be learning about

oral history through their Time Traveler Trunks. (5 minutes total)

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Teacher: “As you know, we’ve been working on our Time Travelers Trunk for the past two

weeks. Well today, we are discovering how our trunks are important when we are telling our

oral histories, while also collecting them. But what is an ‘oral history?’ Does anyone have an

idea?”

[potential student responses having to do with the mouth]

Teacher: “Well, oral history is history that is kept alive through the spoken word, which is

telling stories by talking NOT writing. Some examples of oral history could be when your

abuelo tells you a story about your family from a long time ago. By listening to stories people

tell, you can be a historian – even as a seventh grader! And it’s so important because most

history – about 99% of it – is oral history! So that means our history books are leaving important

stories out that we better write down – or they will be lost forever. But how do you think we

collect oral histories?”

[insert potential student responses here]

Teacher: “Well, we can collect oral histories by writing down notes or recording what someone

says with either a tape recorder of video camera. We also use artifacts to tell us more about an

oral history – or sometimes an oral history can tell us about an artifact! Who remembers what

‘artifact’ means?”

Student: “Doesn’t that mean…something that tells you stuff about the past?”

Teacher: “Yes! It can be ANYTHING that you can touch, as long as it tells you something

about the past. So today you are going to be a historian by using the artifacts in your trunks to

record the oral history of your partner! At the end of the lesson, we’re going to be asking

ourselves – why are oral histories important?”

Guided Practice (GP)

SUMMARY: Teacher uses their personal traveling trunk as an exemplar and questions students

about its contents as a review of embedded objectives. Once teacher is done with this portion of

the guided practice, the teacher prompts the students to present their own trunks to their partner

and relate why selected items inside are important to them. Partner A will present for two

minutes and Partner B will present for two minutes. Students must take “field notes” about the

oral histories their partner relates to them about their artifact. This allows students to preview

the items inside the trunk before their independent practice, while at the same time prompting

students to fraternize. (10 minutes total)

SAMPLE SCRIPT

[teacher gets out exemplar of Time Travelers Trunk]

Teacher: “Right here, I have my time travelers trunk and today we are only going to be using a

few things in our trunk….[teacher describes their own personal trunk]…I have my “coat of

arms” [describes it]...I have my timeline [describes it]…I have my primary [describes]…I have

my secondary [describes]…I have my photograph of where I live [describes]….”

Teacher: “So those are some of the things in my trunk! Right now, with your partner, you are

going to be examining each other’s trunks. Right now, you have a worksheet in front of you.

Let’s read the LIST OF MATERIALS at the beginning of the instructions together.”

[student reads List of Materials on the instructions]

Teacher: “So what are the only things in our partner’s box that we are looking at today?

[Student name], will you read what we are looking at today?

Student: “Today we need our timeline, a primary document, secondary document, and an

environmental artifact from where the person lives.”

Teacher: “Wait a second…did I have all of those things in my box? Did I have a timeline?”

Student(s): “Yes.”

Teacher: “Did I have a primary source?”

Student(s): “Yes.”

Teacher: “Who can tell me what the primary source was?”

Student: “It was the picture of you at the Grand Canyon with your family!”

Teacher: “Excellent, and why was that the primary source?

Student: “Because it was something that was taken when you were there. You were there when

the event happened.”

Teacher: “Excellent, now who can tell me what the secondary source was?”

Student: “Wasn’t it the letter your brother wrote about what he thought of your trunk?”

Teacher: “Awesome. And why was it a secondary document?”

Student: “It was a secondary document because he was summarizing what was in the box and

was not there when all of the events happened.”

Teacher: “Nice, and finally, do I have my environmental artifact?”

Student: “Yes, it was the….”

Teacher: “So, right now we’re going to do think-pair-share. The first two minutes, Partner A

will be presenting everything in their trunk and explain why it is important to them. When I say

STOP, Partner B will present on everything in their trunk for two minutes. Lastly, MAKE

SURE YOU ARE WRITING DOWN NOTES ABOUT WHAT YOUR PERSON IS SAYING!”

[teacher circulates while students present to each other for a total of four minutes]

Independent Practice

SUMMARY: During independent practice, students will trade trunks with their partner while

filling out a worksheet that prompts students to identify and describe objects in their partner’s

trunk before finally writing a summary on their partner’s life based on what they have found in

the trunk and their notes. Students will also get a post-it note and write down a positive shout-

out about an aspect found in their partner’s trunk. (10 minutes)

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Teacher: “So now this is where you fly away from the nest! First, trade your trunk with your

partner. When you’re done trading with your partner, put up your thumb so I know you’re ready,

and then I will continue.”

[waits for students to trade trunks]

Teacher: “Okay, since everyone is done trading, I want you to take the worksheet on your desk

and hold it up. I want to see everyone with a worksheet.”

[students hold up worksheet]

Teacher: “Okay, so now you are going to fill out this worksheet using your partner’s trunk. At

the end you will write a summary about what you have learned about the person.”

Closing

SUMMARY: Each student will do a one minute presentation on one thing they learned about

their partner, while also vocalizing their positive shout out about their partner. With 25 students

in my class, this should take between 20-25 minutes, assuming that some kids will be shy and

take only about 30 seconds. At the end of the presentations, students will turn in their

worksheets. Before class is dismissed, there is a concluding five minute discussion.

SAMPLE SCRIPT:

Teacher: “So that was great! Do you think you would have learned all of that oral history about

your partner if you had not asked?”

Student(s): “No!”

Teacher: “So why do you think recording oral histories is important?”

Appendix (Handouts, resources, etc.)

See the following page.

APPENDIX – LESSON PLAN RESOURCES

Table of Contents

I. Time Traveler’s Trunk - Oral History Worksheet

II. Teaching Oral History: Teacher Resources

TIME TRAVELER’S TRUNK: ORAL HISTORY WORKSHEET

INSTRUCTIONS: Use the artifacts in your partner’s Time Traveler’s Trunk and the notes you took while

they were telling you their oral history by answer the following questions.

1. Describe the artifact your partner used as a primary source in their trunk. What is it? What oral

history did they tell about this artifact? (At least three to five sentences)

2. Describe the environmental artifact your partner used from their trunk. What is it? What oral

history did they tell you about this artifact? (At least three to five sentences)

3. Now, using your partner’s primary source, environmental artifact, and oral history, write a summary

about what you think about your partner’s life and personality. (At least five sentences)

Appendix – Section II: Teaching Oral History – Teacher Resources

Henderson, Kitty A. “Lesson II: Oral Histories”. A Shared Experience: The History,

Architecture, and Historic Designations of the Lower Rio Grande Heritage Corridor, A

Teacher’s Companion Activities and Resource Book. Austin, Texas: Texas Historical

Commission, 1994.