Ridgewood, New York – Now and
Then
Project URL: http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnet-lab/ps88/ps88/ridgewd/
How it works:
The students will be learning about
the history of our town, located in the borough of Queens in New York. We will be
writing narrative accounts on postcards about our town and sending them to
classrooms around the United States. We
will be looking at what Ridgewood was like in the past, and comparing it
to Ridgewood as it is today. We will be referring to a series of articles
published by the Ridgewood Times (the local newspaper) that
highlight
Ridgewood’s past. Students will be taking facts from these articles and
writing about them.
We
will be talking walking trips around our town to see many of the changes
that have been taking place over the years. We will be sketching and
photographing buildings and comparing them to old photos.
In
addition, we have decided to make a three-dimensional model of a Ridgewood
street using the photos and sketches.
We will be interviewing
some longtime residents and teachers from the area. The students will gain
experience in collecting data and appreciating the value of oral history.
Each of these lessons will be used to construct our website.
Standards
addressed:
English Language Arts
Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening:
Language for Information and Understanding
Language for Literary Response and Expression
Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Language for Social Interaction
Social
Studies:
History of the United States and New York
Geography
Art:
Creating,
Performing and Participating in the Arts
Knowing and Using Arts Materials Resources.
Technology:
Using
Internet resources to find relevant information
Creating
a web page with text, digital photos, and scanned artifacts
Software
or materials used:
Student Writing Center, Apple Works,
scanner, digital camera, Internet connection, back issues of the Ridgewood
Times.
The students:
This project is being
completed by a group of thirty-five fourth grade students, of average
ability. The entire class will be learning the history of Ridgewood,
writing narrative accounts, touring Ridgewood to sketch architectural
features, and creating a model of a Ridgewood street.
Pairs of students
will be conducting the oral history interviews, while others will be
searching the Internet for sources of information about Ridgewood. The
last group will be reading and summarizing the historical articles from
our local newspaper.
All the students will work
together on the web site design.
Overall value:
The students will
learn to appreciate the town in which they live. They will learn how their
town has changed and has become the place it is today. The students will
learn to use reliable sources to do their research. The students will be
using primary sources when they interview longtime residents of Ridgewood,
who have experienced the town’s growth first-hand. The culminating art
project will bring this subject alive for the children. It will stimulate
great interest and creativity.
Tips for the teacher:
Consider checking
with your local senior citizen center for longtime residents to interview.
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