Recreation Yesterday and Today   Teacher's Guide

The lesson can be done in three to five days, but it also has an expanded version which requires a week to ten days. Each version can be varied by changing the readings.

Before beginning the lesson, teachers should read the memo from Robert Amerson which explains a little about himself and his motivation for writing the book. It is highly recommended that students also read this. The memo is written to the history students in Deuel High School, where the authors of this lesson teach.

Resources for this lesson.

Day One

Students will complete The Historian's Sources Activity to learn the differences between primary and secondary sources. This student lesson has definitions of primary and secondary sources and two activities:

The Mindwalk shows students how they encounter and create both primary and secondary source records of their every day life in the activities that they do and the materials they use such as newspapers, e-mail messages, etc.

The second activity is an Analysis of Primary Sources and also shows types of primary sources.

Homework

Day Two

Students will view the images listed in resources and select those which illustrate a key theme from their assigned reading. Students use the Photographic Analysis Worksheet (Requires: Adobe Acrobat Reader) to summarize similarities and differences in the images they view and the experience of Sonny (Robert or Bob) Amerson. (Teacher option: students may go to "display images with neighboring call numbers" to view additional images

Day Three

Students will form groups of two or three based on their readings, and use the resources to find two photos to illustrate an example of the same types of recreation that the Amerson family enjoyed and then two photos to illustrate entertainment or recreational activities that Sonny Amerson's family did not enjoy, according to the selections read. For example, students reading "Town School" might find images of musical activities and gym class because those activities are featured in the chapter.

These photos will be reproduced and labeled with the source and the topic and whether it is an activity similar to or different from the Amerson's. Each group will present the photos and their analysis to the class. (Teacher option: groups might also provide a written summary of readings, to be included on the bulletin board.) The photos will then be posted on the classroom bulletin boards to be viewed by the rest of the class.

Day Four

Following the presentations, the class will discuss similarities and differences in the conclusions reached by each of the groups about entertainment and recreation during the 1920s and 1930s, beginning with these questions:

1. What similarities do you see between your life and Amerson's? Differences?
   
2. What similarities in activities from one section of the country to another did you notice as you looked at the pictures? What differences?
   
3. Do you think it makes a difference that Amerson's experience was rural and small town or is there a similarity to urban dwellers' experiences? What differences do you see between Amerson's rural experiences and those of urban dwellers?
   
4. What differences do you see between your life and Amerson's? Is this a matter of generation or is there a different factor such as rural/urban or region?

Homework

Expanded Version

Resources for the expanded version of this lesson.

Activity One (1-3 days)

Students will complete The Historian's Sources Activity to learn the difference between primary and secondary sources. If students have done this activity earlier in the year, then they need only review the definitions of primary and secondary sources.

Homework

Activity Two (1-2 days)

Step 1: When the students come to class the next day, create a list of all the terms the students generated for searching. Match up all similar terms. These will be used when the students do their own searches (step three).

Step 2: A sample search will be done as a class to familiarize the students with the American Memory collections. Do a key word search in the FSA-OWI collection using the word "swimming." This comes up with a number of resources. If the same search is carried out in the Southern Mosaic collection, no resources are found.

Step 3: Students will search the American Memory collections listed in the resources to compare and contrast the life of the Amersons as being typical or atypical of the general American experience of the time period. Students will use the Photographic Analysis Worksheet (Requires: Adobe Acrobat Reader) to summarize similarities and differences in the images they view and the experience of Sonny (Robert) Amerson. (Teacher option: students can do this individually or with a partner who read the same assignment.)

Activity Three (1-2 days)

In groups of 2-3, students will find 2-4 photos to illustrate another example of the same types of recreation that the Amerson family enjoyed and then 2-4 photos to illustrate entertainment or recreational activities that Sonny (Robert or Bob) Amerson's family did not enjoy, according to the selections read. For example, students reading "Town School" might find images of musical activities and gym class because those activities are featured in that chapter.

These photos will be reproduced and labeled with the source and the topic and whether it is an activity similar to or different from the Amerson's. Students will present the photos and their analysis to the class. (Teacher option: groups might also provide a written summary of what they read to be included on the bulletin board.) The photos will then be posted on the classroom bulletin board to be viewed by the rest of the class.

Activity Four (1-2 days)

Following the presentations, the class will discuss similarities and differences in the conclusions reached by each of the groups about entertainment and recreation during the 1920s and 1930s, beginning with these questions:

1. What similarities do you see between your life and Amerson's? Differences?
   
2. What similarities in activities from one section of the country to another did you notice as you looked at the pictures? What differences?
   
3. Do you think it makes a difference that Amerson's experience was rural and small town or is there a similarity to urban dwellers' experiences? What differences do you see between Amerson's rural experiences and those of urban dwellers?
   
4. What differences do you see between your life and Amerson's? Is this a matter of generation or is there a different factor such as rural/urban or region?

(Teacher option: students might peer review and discuss their essays prior to submitting them for teacher evaluation.)

Homework

Evaluation

One rubric will be used to evaluate the group presentation.(Requires: Adobe Acrobat Reader) The second rubric will be used to evaluate the essay. (Requires: Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Extension

1. This lesson plan can be modified by using other books based in the same time period, such as The Grapes of Wrath, The Dust Bowl Diary, etc.

2. Students conduct oral histories with local people in order to test their conclusion about recreation and entertainment in their community.

3. Use population density maps or settlement maps to hypothesize about a connection between distance and entertainment. Changes in transportation technology could also be brought into this discussion.

Overview | Teacher's Guide | Homework | Resources