Living in the Past

Social Studies Activity

WHAT YOU NEED

• Resource materials
• Writing and drawing supplies

WHAT TO DO

1. Have students form "family" groups. Then ask each group to choose a time in the near or distant past when their family settled in America. They also need to choose a country of origin. Each member of a group then assumes the identity of one member of the family. (A choice need not depend on the gender of the student.)

2. Students research their choices and make a presentation about their lives. Examples of presentations:
   • Journal pages of each family member over a certain number of days
   • A family album that includes drawings of family members in authentic clothes, views of their home (inside and out), a simple map of the town
   • A series of letters home to the family's country of origin
   • A dramatization of a family, school, or work situation -- something such as a family dinner or the family preparing to go to a fair.

3. Whatever the presentation, students should try to include information about as many of these aspects of life as they can:
   • Housing
   • Schooling
   • Work
   • Clothing
   • Transportation
   • Household chores
   • Recreation (games, sports, etc.)
   • The geography of the area
   • Any significant social events (wars, a gold rush, homesteading, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Great Depression)

TEACHING OPTIONS

Students may enjoy sharing their presentations with other classes. As part of the presentation, have students do historical role-playing in costume. If possible, students talk about their lives and answer questions about it, always staying in character.