Introduction

Welcome to a trip back in time. A trip back to the way the people of rural America lived in the 1800's. Get ready to enjoy watching your students get excited about "the way we were". This lesson is about rural America, but is really about how people lived during the 1800"s, when most of the United Stated was rural. Your students will read, write, spell, "compare and contrast" and love it! So, what are you waiting for?
 
 
 
 

Content Areas and Grade Levels

This lesson on mid 1800's rural life in America is anchored in Language Arts and Social Studies for upper elementary and middle school students
 
 

Curriculum Standards

Curriculum Standards (Louisiana) to be addressed in this unit are:

English Language Arts

• ELA-1-E1 Gaining meaning from print and building vocabulary using a full range of word clues (Phonics, syntax.pictures, context)
• ELA-1-E5 Reading, responding, and reviewing written, spoken, and visual texts
• ELA-2-E6 Responding to text and life experiences as a basis for writing
• ELA-2-M2 Applying elements of the writing process
• ELA-7-E1 Using comprehension strategies (e.g., predicting, comparing and contrasting, making inferences, determining main idea, summarizing) in all contexts

• H-1D-M1 Describing the contributions of people, events, movements, and ideas that have been significant in the history of Louisiana
• H-1D-M6 Exanmining folklore and describing how cultural elements have shaped our state and local heritage

Implementation Overview

The lesson is to be implemented within a unit on Louisiana Rural Life in the 1800's, and will take 3-5 days of one-hour class periods per day. The lesson will follow one week of introductory information about rural life and after a 1/2 day field trip to the LSU Rural Life Musuem. The students will use Language Arts and Social Studies class time to complete the project.

Resources Needed

The following resources and materials will be helpful while working with this unit.

• Printed material from the Rural Life Museum, including history, museum map, and worksheets
• Information from sites linked from the WebQuest student page
• Books and refrences from school library
• Materials such as blank chart paper and chart stand, art paper, markers, and paints

Entry Level Skills and Knowledge

Other than grade level reading and writing skills, the student does not need prior knowledge of rural life. The teacher as well, does not need an extensive knowledge of rural life. The lesson is easy enough for a novice teacher to implement, and even a substitute teacher, with an appropriate lesson plan, could carry on the the lesson if the teacher needed to be absent.

Evaluation

The student(s) will be evaluated on the rewritten story, art work, and report outlined on the student WebQuest page. The total project is worth 200 points.

Possible Variations

The lesson has many opportunities for adapting to content, age and grade level, and difficulty. It could be adapted to elementary, middle and high school curriculum. It could especially useful to 8th grade teachers instructing Louisiana History.

Conclusion

A lesson about the way our ancestors lived is invaluable in helping students understand where we are today and how we got there. The lesson does not focus on the political aspects of the day, only the way the average rural American lived during that time. Enjoy seeing your students get excited about how we used to live.