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Local History in a Rural District
Sharon O. Kosinski
Milford Central School, Milford, New York
Subject: Community Studies
Grade: 4
"With tape recorders and cameras, the students stepped back
in times to experience life on a rural farm."
Purpose and Description of Project
This project was designed to extend the classroom into the community
as 30 students were sent out to photograph local sites, to interview
a community member, and to step back in time. The results -- a slide
show with script and displays -- were to be combined into an oral,
written, and visual communication program that was planned to
increase students' knowledge of their local history.
Activities
Over a period of eight weeks, the fourth graders participated in six major activities:
- They visited a rural farm of the 1800s;
cameras
and tape recorders documented the students' experiences.
- The class was invited to "Share Your Skills Day"
at the local historical society. Students created a table display,
dioramas of farm life, a colonial cookbook, homemade ink with
quill pens, a photo exhibit based on their farm trip, and a "Tell
a Story About Our Town" booth where they heard and taped
local anecdotes. The society's museum offered the class a chance
to try out colonial trades, cook over an open hearth, and visit
a one-room schoolhouse. As the students interviewed their guides,
a museum staff photographer took pictures. They also used 35 mm cameras
to photograph the old cemetery behind the museum.
- Students drew a map of the community and symbolically represented
its local resources. Two maps were chosen for the slide show.
- Photo field trips were planned by the students. Since the
suggested assignments were varied, students were allowed to express
their creativity in selecting the subject matter and the
composition
of their slides.
- The students recorded oral history as a means of making their
area's past come alive. As they talked to community residents,
they were shown old maps, diaries, and photos that gave added
depth to what they were learning.
- The culmination of Kosinski's project was the slide/tape presentation.
The class organized the slides, selected tapes, sequenced the
material, and even made posters advertising its showing at the
school and the local museum.
Materials, Resources and Expenses
Several resource persons provided Kosinski, who was new to the
area, with background information; among them were the educational
director and the librarian from the New York State Historical
Association. A museum staff member told the class stories of the
town's past, and the local librarian was sought after as a resource
by the students. A professional photographer gave the class a
photography lesson and later helped photocopy the fragile documents
loaned to the students by community residents.
Kosinski made use of materials on teaching local history provided
by the State Historical Association. To complete the slide presentation,
students used 14 35 mm cameras, 4 tape recorders, black-and-white
film,
and a photocopy stand.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Students showed measurable improvement in the following skills:
- Organizing and evaluating oral and written information -- Students
were able to construct and conduct an interview of at least six
questions, evaluate the information, and write a script segment
for the slide show.
- Presenting information -- The students wrote
reports and used dramatization and role playing to give oral presentations.
- Improving self-management skills -- The need for working with
a partner, planning photo sessions, and sharing the cameras provided
social growth and improved sharing skills in a class that did
not usually get along.
Overall, Kosinski concludes that the interest
in and learning of local history generated by the project was
"excellent."
Kosinski finds this an easy program to replicate with any school
population in either large or small group settings; the same careful
planning, with the teacher serving as facilitator, would be needed
in either case. The focus could also be changed to include architecture,
personalities of the past, or any number of topics relevant to
any area's history.