This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient American civilization that they will explore in class or from information inspired by another history resource. Drawing on the knowledge of the World History they have studied this year, students will create two time capsules: one focusing on a selected ancient American indigenous civilization and one representing contemporary society. Students will share their time capsules and contents through group d... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient American civilization that they will explore in class or from information inspired by another history resource. Drawing on the knowledge of the World History they have studied this year, students will create two time capsules: one focusing on a selected ancient American indigenous civilization and one representing contemporary society. Students will share their time capsules and contents through group display. A time capsule is a historic collection of objects and/or information, intended as a way to communicate with people in the future. There are two types of time capsules: intentional and unintentional. Intentional time capsules are placed on purpose and are intended to be opened in the future. Intentional time capsules are sometimes created and buried during community celebrations and placed in the cornerstone of a new building. Unintentional time capsules are usually archaeological in nature and may include gravesites, cave paintings, or buried civilizations that have been unearthed in an archaeological dig. What are examples of ancient time capsules? Do you know examples of more recent time capsules?
There are numerous examples of ancient time capsules from different civilizations. For example, when Egyptian King Tutankhamen’s burial tomb was exposed by British archaeologists in 1922, the discovery revealed an unintentional time capsule from 1346 B.C. When King Tutankhamen was placed in this underground tomb, he was expected to remain there untouched and protected. However, its discovery revealed treasures in gold and new information about this civilization. Since its discovery, researchers have debated whether or not his tomb should have been opened. ( See Less )
ID 1285. Time Capsules of History. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/time_capsules.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient local civilization that they will explore in class or from the supporting documents provided here. Drawing on the knowledge of the World History they have studied this year, students will write an epic poem about their selected indigenous civilization following the format of traditional epic poems such as the Greek works The Illiad and The Odyssey. Students will then share their poem through group readi... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient local civilization that they will explore in class or from the supporting documents provided here. Drawing on the knowledge of the World History they have studied this year, students will write an epic poem about their selected indigenous civilization following the format of traditional epic poems such as the Greek works The Illiad and The Odyssey. Students will then share their poem through group readings.
For an example of one, see "The Real Ladies of LA: Women of Strength and Integrity" ( See Less )
ID 1286. Epic Poem. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/epic_poem.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to become critical readers of all texts but particularly news publications. After completing different reading exercises, students will become familiar with the layout and standard features of a newspaper by regularly reading and dissecting a contemporary, local or regional paper.
Newspapers, and the information they contain, are organized and presented in very specific ways. The methods that publishers or editor employ may allow readers to quickly access informati... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to become critical readers of all texts but particularly news publications. After completing different reading exercises, students will become familiar with the layout and standard features of a newspaper by regularly reading and dissecting a contemporary, local or regional paper.
Newspapers, and the information they contain, are organized and presented in very specific ways. The methods that publishers or editor employ may allow readers to quickly access information or use nontextual data to make a point. Not only did the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johanes Guttenberg in Germany change the development of Christianity and science through the quick communication of information, but the printing pres+ is also linked to the spread of different ideas related to politics, such as democracy and the rights of men (and women). For example, Guttenberg immediately printed a copy of the Bible that allowed everyday people to have a copy of the sacred texts and no longer require a religious figure to interpret it. Guttenberg also printed the “indulgences” of local Catholic priests in order to show corruption in the Church and the need for reform, thus leading to the Protestant Reformation. By 1499, over 15 million texts had been duplicated by printing presses, creating a demand for literacy across Europe. In the Americas and what is now the United States, printed materials assisted in the spread of religion and in the military and colonial goals of England, Spain and Russia. ( See Less )
ID 1287. Critical Reading. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/reading.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient, medieval or early modern local civilization that they will explore in class or from the supporting documents provided here. In so doing, students engage the critical reading skills they have gathered and look at the role of context, or the circumstances in which an event occurred, in reading any text. This lesson asks students to create a newspaper using information from local history.
Newspapers and ... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient, medieval or early modern local civilization that they will explore in class or from the supporting documents provided here. In so doing, students engage the critical reading skills they have gathered and look at the role of context, or the circumstances in which an event occurred, in reading any text. This lesson asks students to create a newspaper using information from local history.
Newspapers and the information they contain are organized and presented in specific ways. Not only did the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johanes Guttenberg in Germany change the development of Christianity and science through the quick communication of information, but the printing press is also linked to the spread of different ideas related to politics, such as democracy and the rights of men (and women). For example, Guttenberg immediately printed a copy of the Bible that allowed everyday people to have a copy of the sacred texts and no longer require a religious figure to interpret it. Guttenberg also printed the “indulgences” of local Catholic priests in order to show corruption in the Church and the need for reform, thus leading to the Protestant Reformation. By 1499, over 15 million texts had been duplicated by printing presses, creating a demand for literacy across Europe. In the United States printed materials assisted in the spread of Christianity and in the military and colonial goals of England, Spain, and Russia. Moreover, this lesson plan asks students to grapple with the concept of context or the circumstances surrounding a subject. ( See Less )
ID 1288. The Power of Print: Newspapers. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/power_of_print.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to create a timeline that reflects the local, national and international events shaping history. A timeline can represent information from many different disciplines, such as science, social studies, mathematics, and language arts. Timelines show changes over time in areas such as war, transportation, technology, and space travel, to name a few fields of history. Timelines also work well when representing people's lives and events throughout history. Here, students ... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to create a timeline that reflects the local, national and international events shaping history. A timeline can represent information from many different disciplines, such as science, social studies, mathematics, and language arts. Timelines show changes over time in areas such as war, transportation, technology, and space travel, to name a few fields of history. Timelines also work well when representing people's lives and events throughout history. Here, students will gather evidence to build timelines to create source-driven arguments that include evidence, a specific description and a justification.
Historians use timelines to display different types of information and to show cause and effect. For example, in tracking Christopher Columbus’ voyages, historians can trace how the Spanish crown spread its influence. Similarly, the evolution of different ideas, like Reason, across historical periods, like the Enlightenment, can have far reaching implications throughout history that may be easily mapped on a timeline. Timelines may reveal a bias in how history is written. Some historians on the East Coast ignore the colonial experience of other places in the United States, like the Southwest or Hawaii, in explaining the development of the United States. Yet, these histories are as relevant as the experience in the Roanoke, Jamestown, or Massachusetts Bay colonies. Indeed, because of its general absence in descriptions of the development of American democracy, many students will never familiarize themselves with other models of history that may shape a multicultural America. Timelines show parallel events and how different civilizations develop over time. ( See Less )
ID 1289. Timelines of History. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/timelines_of_history.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to design a map that charts the migration of peoples in and out of their community. Maps are important visual representations that can help highlight a region’s community and culture. Scholars use maps in order to illustrate the narrative of a particular region. For example, historians can construct various maps using data from the US Census. Each map shows the distribution of Native Americans throughout the United States during different time periods. This informat... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to design a map that charts the migration of peoples in and out of their community. Maps are important visual representations that can help highlight a region’s community and culture. Scholars use maps in order to illustrate the narrative of a particular region. For example, historians can construct various maps using data from the US Census. Each map shows the distribution of Native Americans throughout the United States during different time periods. This information can then be used to detail the type of relationship that the United States held with Native American tribes, and how the relationship affected land distribution among all the nations involved. Therefore this lesson plan will engage students with the ideas of how legislations, along with local and global events, shape the formation of communities.
Moreover, this lesson introduces students to the concept of migration. Many factors influence why and how people migrate. Important factors can include employment opportunities, physical environment, perceptions of region, health issues, education, and threats to individual safety. These factors can be classified as economic, social, political, and environmental. These same factors can also be categorized as “push” and “pull” factors. A “push” factor can drive a person away from their native location while a “pull” factor can draw a person to a new location. Therefore, these migration maps will help students initiate an investigation about how local, state, national, and global events played a role in the formation of their communities.
Finally, students will track their personal family migration histories. This exercise asks students to use social history, the experience of every day people, to connect their community to their own family migration histories. Using Howard Zinn’s model of social history, students will examine their families’ migration histories and link these histories to that of their communities. Social history is the study of the past “from the bottom up” with a focus on everyday events and the experience of every day periods. Social history emerged in the late 1950s from the French Annales School and was redefined in the United States as a result of the different civil rights movements that occurred throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1970s social history focused on labor, unionization movements, and allowed for a growing body of histories that used race and ethnicity, as well as gender, sexuality and family as ways of exploring the past. ( See Less )
ID 1291. Mapping Movement through Laws and Community. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/mapping_movements.html on Oct 16, 2024.
It is often said that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Here, we ask students to remember in order to repeat --the act of remembering. This assignment asks students to remember by making a memorial to a person who made an impact upon them. In addition to teaching students the importance of rememberin g those who have passed away, this assignment connects the student’s experience to a broader legacy. Throughout history, different civilizations have erected memorials to s... ( See More )
It is often said that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Here, we ask students to remember in order to repeat --the act of remembering. This assignment asks students to remember by making a memorial to a person who made an impact upon them. In addition to teaching students the importance of rememberin g those who have passed away, this assignment connects the student’s experience to a broader legacy. Throughout history, different civilizations have erected memorials to show respect and to remember the dead. Indeed, most of the world’s existing antiquities represent memorials, from the Egyptian and Mexican Pyramids, to Greek temples and tombs, to India’s Taj Mahal. In the recent past, scholars have explored the role of memorials and the importance of sharing memories as a group in order to collectively grieve and remember.
The exhibit entitled "Durango" available on the Archive is an example of a Memory trunk. Be sure to listen to Max Benavidez's description of his work and the symolism of each object in the trunk.
( See Less )
ID 1292. Memory Trunk. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/memory_trunk.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to create a photo-essay about their neighborhood. A deceptively easy exercise to complete, the “My Neighborhood Photo Essay Challenge” often results in contemplation about a local place using global themes, in this case the role of history on the landscape. In addition to honing their descriptive writing skills, students explore how text and image create different ways of conveying meaning, alone and in combination. Finally, students are asked to judge their environ... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to create a photo-essay about their neighborhood. A deceptively easy exercise to complete, the “My Neighborhood Photo Essay Challenge” often results in contemplation about a local place using global themes, in this case the role of history on the landscape. In addition to honing their descriptive writing skills, students explore how text and image create different ways of conveying meaning, alone and in combination. Finally, students are asked to judge their environments in ways that help contextualize their communities within a broader experience. ( See Less )
ID 1293. My Neighborhood Photo Essay. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/my_neighborhood.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to use social history, the experience of every day people, to connect their community to the twentieth century. This lesson plan pulls from Laura Pulido's A People's Guide to Los Angeles with Howard Zinn’s model of social history to inspire students to create guides to their communities. Social history is the study of the past “from the bottom up” with a focus on everyday events and the experience of every day periods. Social history emerged in the late 1950s from t... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to use social history, the experience of every day people, to connect their community to the twentieth century. This lesson plan pulls from Laura Pulido's A People's Guide to Los Angeles with Howard Zinn’s model of social history to inspire students to create guides to their communities. Social history is the study of the past “from the bottom up” with a focus on everyday events and the experience of every day periods. Social history emerged in the late 1950s from the French Annales School and was redefined in the United States as a result of the different civil rights movements that occurred throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1970s social history focused on labor, unionization movements, and allowed for a growing body of histories that used race and ethnicity, as well as gender, sexuality and family as ways of exploring the past. In the United States, Howard Zinn connected the importance of social history to organizing for civil rights. As an historian, Zinn came to believe that the point of view expressed in traditional history books was often limited and wrote the history textbook A People's History of the United States in 1980 with the goal of providing other perspectives of American history including the struggles of oppressed groups to receive justice and equality.
( See Less )
ID 1294. A People's Guide to Your City. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/peoples_guide.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This lesson asks students to define change over time within their own communities by recognizing landmarks, or prominent objects in a landscape, whose histories traverse across the twentieth century. In so doing, students define the original context for each landmark and how it may hold historical significance for the community. Throughout history, different civilizations have erected memorials to show respect and to remember the dead. Indeed, most of the world’s existing antiquities represent m... ( See More )
This lesson asks students to define change over time within their own communities by recognizing landmarks, or prominent objects in a landscape, whose histories traverse across the twentieth century. In so doing, students define the original context for each landmark and how it may hold historical significance for the community. Throughout history, different civilizations have erected memorials to show respect and to remember the dead. Indeed, most of the world’s existing antiquities represent memorials, from the Egyptian and Mexican Pyramids, to Greek temples and tombs, to India’s Taj Mahal. In the recent past, scholars have explored the role of memorials and the importance of sharing memories as a group in order to collectively grieve and remember. Students will determine ten landmarks that no longer exist and ten that do or are recent additions to their community’s landscape. Each entry will be defined and placed within a timeline of the community’s history to relay its original context and change over time. ( See Less )
ID 1295. Landmarks, Then & Now. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/landmarks.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This lesson asks students to map change over time in a local neighborhood. In addition to delineating chronological change, this assignment asks students to explore a specific geographic community. This project requires students and the class as a whole to leave the classroom in exploring and presenting local history.
ID 1296. Walking Tour. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/walking_tour.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about their town in order to conduct an interview with an older local resident who has witnessed change over time in their community. The state standards focus on the history of citizenship in the United States; as a result, this oral history should focus on the subject’s participation in community activities, voting behavior, participation in the military and other forms of public service as they pertain to local histo... ( See More )
This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about their town in order to conduct an interview with an older local resident who has witnessed change over time in their community. The state standards focus on the history of citizenship in the United States; as a result, this oral history should focus on the subject’s participation in community activities, voting behavior, participation in the military and other forms of public service as they pertain to local history. This assignment literally brings history to life through the discussion of it with someone who experienced it. ( See Less )
ID 1297. Oral History Project. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/lesson_plans/oral_history_project.html on Oct 16, 2024.
This lesson, designed for high school English (although adaptable for middle school and elementary), incorporates images and themes from the Navigating LA exhibit currently at the Studio for Southern
California History; it aims to encourage students to engage with images in understanding how different people connect to and reflect on their own communities. After reviewing the history of Bunker Hill--
captured by Leo Politi, government documents and photographs, contemporary LA writers, and the L... ( See More )
This lesson, designed for high school English (although adaptable for middle school and elementary), incorporates images and themes from the Navigating LA exhibit currently at the Studio for Southern
California History; it aims to encourage students to engage with images in understanding how different people connect to and reflect on their own communities. After reviewing the history of Bunker Hill--
captured by Leo Politi, government documents and photographs, contemporary LA writers, and the LA Times—students will discuss the following question raised by Leo Politi:
Can we really call it progress when it means the extinction of our leading landmarks of known historical, esthetic, and sentimental values?
Students will take a position on the issue of progress versus tradition with the renovation of Bunker Hill in mind; then, students will write a letter addressed to a newspaper that explains their positions and will refer to at least one of the documents presented. Students are to keep in mind the following: maintaining an
appropriate voice and style ( See Less )
ID 1299. Internalizing Identification - from Navigating LA. Lesson Plan. Jennifer Escobar. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.lahistoryarchive.org/resources/Navigating_LA/documents/Lesson_Plan.pdf on Oct 16, 2024.
An eleven page guide to conducting an oral history, complete with sample questions, a sample interview agreement form, justifications for oral history, and much more! See PDF for download.
ID 1300. How to Conduct An Oral History. Lesson Plan. the Studio for Southern California History. 2010. The Studio for Southern California History. Accessed on the LA History Archive at https://www.storage.lahistoryarchive.org/downloads/oralhisthowto.pdf on Oct 16, 2024.
