Activity One

These activities introduce students to the concept of primary source documents as ways of recording an historical event.

1. On the board or overhead, brainstorm ways in which nature affects people's lives.
2. Play a song about a natural disaster such as "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot, based on the sinking of an ore boat on Lake Superior because of a November storm.
3. While listening to the song, students write five words or phrases from the song that interest them on a note card. On the back of the card, they should write their reactions to those words or phrases.
4. Discuss the following questions:
• Why would the songwriter compose this song?
• What event may have sparked the idea for this song?
• What words or phrases help you to understand the songwriter's perspective of the event?
• How does listening to this song change your understanding of the people's emotions who experienced the event?
5. Next, show students a photo related to the event.  Repeat the 5 word reflection activity and group discussion.
6. Finally, present a newspaper story with a personal account of the event.  Repeat the 5 word reflection activity and group discussion.
7. Pass out an encyclopedia or history book description of the disaster.
8. Using a Venn diagram, have students compare and contrast the kinds of information about the event each medium provided.
9. Reflection Journal: have students explain how these sources differ from encyclopedia accounts of the event.