Lesson Number: 12
Maine Song and Story Sampler
Curriculum Connections Series
Lesson Number: 12
Standards Connection: Social Studies Maine Learning Results – Parameters of Essential Instruction (standard E-2). E. History. 2. Individual, Cultural, International, and Global Connections in History.
Geographic Region: Statewide
Grade Level: 5-12
Instructional Time: Approximately one hour
Introduction: Students are the historical actors of the future. Their actions, attitudes and artifacts are the stuff future historians will collect and analyze in order to understand our time. Although we may not consider our lives “historic” to historians of the future they may be. Likewise, the actions, attitudes and artifacts collected in the Maine Song and Story Sampler may not have been considered historic by their creators, but are worthy of our consideration today. In this exercise students will have the opportunity to analyze one artifact from the MS&SS website from the perspective of a professional archivist to determine its historical context and make recommendations regarding its future disposition.
Materials: The following materials are required for this lesson:
- Digital and sound projection equipment, e.g. a MLTI laptop in one-to-one computing environments OR a teacher-directed LCD/sound projection system in traditional classrooms.
- Access to the Maine Song and Story Sampler website.
- Access to the National Archive and Records Administration Document Analysis Worksheets website.
- Writing materials.
Pre-Teaching: Students should be familiar with the kinds of artifacts collected on the Maine Song and Story Sampler website. They should understand the mission of the MS&SS and how and why the artifacts and documents on the site have been collected.
Activity: The teacher will explain how folklore and cultural artifacts connect the past to the present. She should ask students to think about how their experience might be preserved for the future and how historians might make categoried and analyze the songs, stories and documents that contemporary students might leave behind.
Students will then access the MS&SS website and select a document or artifact from the site for further analysis. It is suggested that primary and middle level teachers develop a list of documents in advance that are appropriate for the content of their classes. Students should then review the NARA Document Analysis Worksheets and select the worksheet appropriate for the document they have chosen to analyze. With their instructor’s assistance students should complete the appropriate NARA worksheet.
Students may then work as a class to organize their NARA worksheets following the guidelines provided by the National Archives and Records Administration sharing their knowledge of the specific content of their artifacts and their mastery of document analysis with the class.
Assessment: Teachers may choose to assess student writing based upon the rubrics or standards of their respective districts. Mastery of PEI E-2 may be assessed through a review of the student’s NARA worksheet and through a review of the student’s participation in the summary portion of the exercise.
Download pdf: MSSS E-2