T E A C H I N G O N M Y O W N H I S T O R Y2
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StandardsWriting • Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process.
• Demonstrates competence in the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing.• Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions.• Gathers and uses information for research purposes.
Reading • Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the reading process.• Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of
literary texts.• Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies for reading a variety of
informational texts.Listening and • Demonstrates competence in speaking and listening as tools for learning.Speaking
Visual Arts • Knows a range of subject matter, symbols, and potential ideas in the visual arts.• Understands the characteristics and merits of one’s own artwork and the artwork of
others.
Civics • Understands ideas about civic life, politics, and government.• Understands issues regarding personal, political, and economic rights.• Understands how certain character traits enhance the citizens’ ability to fulfill
personal and civic responsibilities.
Multiple Intelligences Utilized• Spatial, linguistic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal
Go to www.lernerclassroom.comfor a complete list of titles in theOn My Own History series.
T E A C H I N G O N M Y O W N H I S T O R Y 3
Pretest(class, teacher)• Have students share where they live, describing the
houses or features near their homes. • Discuss what a setting is.
Read(student)• Read an On My Own History book.
Model(class, teacher)• Imagine all the streets, homes, and landmarks in your
own neighborhood.• List these on the board.
Practice(student, class)• Complete Brainstorming Where I Live p. 8.• Draw and color or paint neighborhood features on
the mural, or decorate separate sheets of paper tocut and glue onto the mural (this provides texture tothe mural).
• Add figures or self portraits to the scene.
Discuss(class, teacher)• How did you decide which were the best or most
representative features of your neighborhood? • How is your neighborbood similar to the setting in
the book?
Evaluate(student)• Select a name for the neighborhood, add it to the
mural, and display it.• Complete the Reflections form p. 9.• Compare the neighborhood illustration with the
book setting.
Lesson 1 My Neighborhood, theSettingPurpose: Students will use prior knowledge to draw amural of their neighborhood and compare it to thesetting in a book.
Objectives• Recall geographic features of a community.• Define setting.• Illustrate the buildings and features of a
neighborhood.• Select appropriate drawings.• Organize buildings and features on a mural.• Compare two settings.
Activity Procedures
Prepare(teacher)• Collect materials for the art project. • Copy one Brainstorming Where I Live p. 8 and one
Reflections Student Self-Assessment Form p. 9 foreach student.
Materials• mural paper• drawing paper• cotton balls• crayons or markers• tempera paint• paint brushes
• school glue• On My Own History books
• Brainstorming WhereI Live p. 8
• Reflections StudentSelf-Assessment Formp. 9
T E A C H I N G O N M Y O W N H I S T O R Y4
Read(pairs)• Each pair of students will read the same On My Own
History book.
Model(class, teacher)• Help students phrase interview questions to avoid yes
and no answers.• Role-play an interview to show students how the
questions might be answered.
Practice(student, pairs)• Write interview questions for the main character of
the book you read on Interview Notes p. 10.• Exchange papers with your partner and take turns
asking and answering interview questions.
Evaluate(student, teacher)• Use Reporter’s Assessment and Character’s Assessment
p. 11 to evaluate your partner’s interview questionsand answers.
• Check Interview Notes and Student Assessments forcompletion and accuracy.
Lesson 2 Reporters in ActionPurpose: Students will write interview questions forthe main character in the story. Acting as the story’smain character, students will also answer interviewquestions.
Objectives• Recall details and events from a story.• Transform events into questions.• Apply knowledge of a story to answer questions.• Explain details from a story.• Invent plausible details and events. • Evaluate each other’s work.
Activity Procedures
Prepare(teacher)• Copy Interview Notes p. 10, Reporter’s Assessment,
and Character’s Assessment p. 11 for each student.
Pretest(class, teacher)• On the board, list questions a reporter might ask in
an interview.
Materials• On My Own History books
• pencil or pen • Interview Notes p. 10
• Character’sAssessment p. 11
• Reporter’sAssessment p. 11
Read(student)• Read an On My Own History book.
Model(class, teacher) • Brainstorm and list a series of events from the book. • Write these on the board as students suggest them.
Practice(student)• Choose one event from the book to demonstrate
the 5 W’s: Who was involved, When it happened,Where it happened, What happened, and Why itwill be remembered.
• Complete the First Draft News! worksheet p. 12. Go back to the book for information if necessary.
• After revising and editing your first draft, write yourfinal copy and illustrate your news story using FinalCopy Daily News p. 13.
Discuss (partner)• Trade papers and respond to each other’s writing.
Evaluate(teacher)• Use the Assessment Evaluation for News! p. 14 to
assess student work. • Have students read their news stories to the class.• Students may want to compile their stories into a
newspaper. Have them choose a name for theirpaper.
T E A C H I N G O N M Y O W N H I S T O R Y 5
Lesson 3 Write a News StoryPurpose: Using the five journalistic W’s, students willrewrite a story in the form of a news article andillustrate it with a black and white “photograph.”
Objectives• Recall significant events from a story.• Describe facts surrounding events.• Practice writing sentences to recount the events.• Distinguish facts from opinions.• Arrange facts into a news story.• Predict how an event will be remembered in history.
Activity Procedures
Prepare(teacher)• Copy one First Draft News! p. 12, one Final Copy
Daily News p. 13, and one Assessment Evaluation forNews! p. 14 for each student.
Pretest(student, partner, small group)• List the kinds of things that might be important to
include in a newspaper article.• Share ideas with a partner or within a small group. • Respond to each other’s ideas. • Distinguish between facts and opinions.
Materials• On My Own History books
• pencils• paper• First Draft News! p. 12
• Final Copy DailyNews p. 13
• AssessmentEvaluation for News!p. 14
• black pens ormarkers
Read(student)• Read On My Own History books.
Model(class, teacher)• Brainstorm and list events that occurred in the story.
Practice(student)• Use the Diary Worksheet p. 15 to write a diary entry
as if you were the book’s main character. • Students who finish ahead of the others can illustrate
scenes from their diary entry.
Discuss(small group, teacher)• Share diary entries with the class or within small
groups.
Evaluate(teacher)• Use the Assessment Evaluation for Diary p. 16 to
assess students’ writing skills and their understandingof the book’s main character.
T E A C H I N G O N M Y O W N H I S T O R Y6
Lesson 4 Write a DiaryPurpose: Students will explore the motives andfeelings of the story’s main character.
Objectives • Recall main ideas from a story.• Identify problems in a story.• Illustrate understanding of a character.• Solve problems a character could have had.• Compose a diary based on a character’s life.• Predict possible events in the life of a character.
Activity Procedures
Prepare(teacher)• Copy Diary Worksheet p. 15 and Assessment
Evaluation for Diary p. 16 for each student.
Pretest(class)• Discuss what a diary is and what it might include.
Materials• On My Own History books
• Diary Worksheet p. 15
• pencils or pens
• AssessmentEvaluation for Diaryp. 16
• colored pencils orcrayons
• paper
T E A C H I N G O N M Y O W N H I S T O R Y 7
Women’s History Month<http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/womenhist/program.html>This site has links to hundreds of women’sbiographies.
BOOKSBarnard, Bryn. Dangerous Planet: Natural Disasters
That Changed History. New York: Crown Booksfor Young Readers, 2003.This book details various natural disasters andtheir effects on the world.
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Growing Up In CoalCountry. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.This book tells about the life of coal miners,particularly children, during the nineteenth andearly twentieth centuries.
Beatty, Patricia. Turn Homeward, Hannalee. NewYork: William Morrow & Co., 1999.This book touches on themes of courage, childlabor, and the Civil War.
Cheney, Lynne. A is for Abigail: An Almanac ofAmazing American Women. New York: Simon &Shuster, 2003.This alphabet book features the accomplishmentsof American women through time.
Coles, Robert. The Story of Ruby Bridges. New York:Scholastic, 1995. This picture book tells the story of Ruby Bridges.
Dalgleish, Alice. The Courage of Sarah Noble. NewYork: Simon & Schuster Children’s, 1986.This Newbery Award-winning book tells the storyof one girl’s courage during her family’s move tothe Connecticut wilderness in 1707.
Denenberg, Barry. The Journal of William ThomasJefferson, A Revolutionary War Patriot (DearAmerica Series). New York: Scholastic, 1998.This is the story of one boy’s experience duringthe American Revolution.
Hoose, Phillip M. We Were There, Too! Young Peoplein U.S. History. New York: Farrar, Strauss &Giroux, 2001.This book places young people at the center ofsome of the most exciting events in U.S. history.
Treffinger, Carolyn. Li Lun: Lad of Courage. New York:Walker & Company, 1995.This Newbery Honor Book tells of a youngChinese boy’s courage when he is sent to live inthe mountains.
Additional ResourcesWEBSITES African-American History Biographies
<http://afroamhistory.about.com/library/blbiographies.htm?PM=ss13_afroamhistory> This site contains the biographies of many famousAfrican Americans, with links to topics such as theBlack Panthers, Civil Rights, and the Civil War.
Biographies of Notable Women<http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_list.htm>This site links to hundreds of women’sbiographies.
Colonial Kids: A Celebration of Life in the 1700s<http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/>This kid-friendly site gives students a glimpse intothe lifestyle of kids from the colonial period.
Eric Weisstein’s World of Scientific Biography<http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/> This site contains hundreds of scientists’ biographies.
History Channel.com<http://www.historychannel.com/>This site features hundreds of historical topics,events, and people.
Innovative Lives<http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/ilives/index.html> This kid-friendly site features inventors of everythingfrom pacemakers to Scotchguard and robots.
Our Story in History<http://americanhistory2.si.edu/ourstoryinhistory/>This historical site for kids includes a number ofactivities and resources.
Our Virtual Underground Railroad Quilt<http://www.beavton.k12.or.us/greenway/leahy/ugrr/>This site, designed by students, providesinformation about the underground railroad,slavery, and Harriet Tubman.
Statue of Liberty—History<http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/sl/history/liberty.html>This site gives the history of the Statue of Liberty,from its conception to its unveiling in the UnitedStates.
8
Brainstorming Where I Live
Name________________________________
Date_________________________________
I live:
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In my neighborhood there are:
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These people live near me:
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Teaching On My Own History
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Teaching On My Own History
Reflections Student Self-Assessment Form
Name______________________ Date_________
Activity __________________________________
Directions: Use complete sentences to answer the following questions.1. What was the purpose of this activity?
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2. What did you do in this activity?
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3. What did you learn from this activity?
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4. What worked well in your group?
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5. What could you have done to help your group work better?
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Teaching On My Own History
Interview Notes
Interviewer Name ________________________________
Interviewee Name ________________________________
Character _______________________________________
Directions: Write interview questions for the book’s character on the lines below.Exchange interview questions with a partner and answer interview questions from the pointof view of the book’s character.
1. Question _________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
2. Question_________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
3. Question_________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
4. Question_________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
5. Question_________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
6. Question_________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
7. Question _________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
8. Question_________________________________________________________________
Answer ____________________________________________________________________
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Teaching On My Own History
Reporter’s Assessment
Interviewer__________________________ 2 points for yes 1 point for no
_______________ answered all my questions. ■ yes ■ no
The answers were easy to read. ■ yes ■ no
The answers made sense. ■ yes ■ no
There were few or no errors. ■ yes ■ no
I know a lot more about _______________ now. ■ yes ■ no
Total points for______________________________(Main Character) = ___________
Character’s Assessment
Main Character ______________________ 2 points for yes 1 point for no
The questions were easy to read. ■ yes ■ no
The interviewer asked at least seven questions. ■ yes ■ no
The questions were easy to understand. ■ yes ■ no
I had to remember details from my experience. ■ yes ■ no
I was able to tell more about my character. ■ yes ■ no
Total points for______________________________(Interviewer) = ___________
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Teaching On My Own History
First Draft
News!Write a Headline _______________________________________________________
Read and revise your story. Correct all your mistakes.
WHO was involved in this event? _____
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WHEN did it happen? ______________
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WHERE did it happen? _____________
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WHAT happened? _________________
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Draw a picture of the event.
WHY will this event be remembered
in history?________________________
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Teaching On My Own History
Final Copy
DAILY NEWS_________________________________________________________
Reported by _______________________________
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(Headline)
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Teaching On My Own History
AssessmentEvaluation for NEWS!
Reporter________________________
Points Possible [ ]
[ ] Student read the book.
[ ] The news story is based on an event from the book.
[ ] The story contains facts to describe the event.
[ ] The drawing illustrates the event.
The story contains the 5 W’s:
[ ] Who was involved.
[ ] When it happened.
[ ] Where it happened.
[ ] What happened.
[ ] Why the event will be remembered.
[ ] There are few or no grammatical errors.
[ ] Total points earned
Comments__________________________________________________________________
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Teaching On My Own History
Diary Worksheet
Name ____________________________
Date _____________________________
Directions: Write a diary entry for your character on the lines below.
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AssessmentEvaluation for Diary
Writer’s name_________________________
Points Possible [ ]
[ ] Writing recalls main ideas from the story.
[ ] Writing includes other characters or family members.
[ ] Diary includes some description of settings.
[ ] Student shows the qualities of the main character.
[ ] Student included new events that could have occurred.
[ ] Student presented problems that the main character solved.
[ ] There were few or no grammatical errors.
[ ] Total points earned
Comments___________________________________________________________
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Teaching On My Own History