Teacher's Guide

Materials & Preparation

Preparation:

Before you begin:

• Check your media center to see what historical fiction and resources are available to support research on American natural disasters.
• The Resources Page may be helpful in finding additional materials.
• Students should have background in searching the American Memory collections. Refer to the "getting started page" on the Learning Page to assist them.

The following guides are used in the unit:

• Image Analysis Guide - questions to assist students in analyzing images such as photographs and films.
• Personal Account Analysis Guide - questions to help students examine accounts.
• Song Analysis Guide - questions to aid students in interpreting the lyrics of songs written about the events.
• SQ3R Research Notes Sheet - a worksheet with questions to guide further research of the circumstances surrounding a natural disaster.
• Book Guide - questions for reader responses.
• Wax Museum Guide - an explanation of the format to be used to create the exhibition of the disaster.
• Presentation Checklist - element sheet for student/teacher preparation for the presentation.

Procedure

Review the student page with the class.

Activities

• Activity One - students learn the concept of primary source documents as ways of recording an historical event.
• Activity Two - students are introduced to primary source analysis.
• Activity Three - a guidance counselor leads students in a discussion and activity on the impact natural disasters.
• Activity Four - students take part in guided reading of an account of a natural disaster.
• Activity Five - students research a natural disaster.
• Activity Six - students prepare presentations for a wax museum.
• Activity Seven - students present information to the class about their natural disasters.
• Activity Eight - students present their wax museum to visitors.
• Activity Nine - evaluation and guidance summary.

Evaluation and Extension

This lesson combines language arts, social studies, guidance and technology skills. Students interpret and construct meaning from the photographs, song lyrics and life histories and apply the information by creating an original oral composition. They compare fictional and factual accounts of an event and learn independently as they research a natural disaster and its effects. Finally, students create a quality product synthesizing information and meaning from several sources.

Student products include:

1. A personal interpretation of photographs.
2. An interpretation of song lyrics.
3. An evaluation/analysis of an oral history.
4. A journal with reactions to an historical fiction novel.
5. A presentation including an original fictional eyewitness account of the event which demonstrates the ability to apply information gathered through research to a new composition.
6. A poster with photographs, maps, diagrams, drawings or other information about the natural disaster.

Students may extend their experience by examining a recent natural disaster, locating and analyzing primary source documents related to it, and noting similarities and differences to those of earlier times. Students may also examine how the events are presented in children's books using the bibliography.