Pay It Forward: Invigorating Instruction through Local SC History

Presented at the South Carolina Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference Columbia, SC October 3, 2008

Dr. George B. LipscombKatherine PatrickMelissa Summer

Lauren Young

The Project

WHY?? Enhance lesson plans Emphasize knowledge of local history Emphasize the need to cope with

limited resources

The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929

How did the Great Stock Market Crash affect Americans, especially the workers of Clifton Manufacturing?

Clifton Manufacturing Company

The Lesson Plan www.prongo.com/stock/index.pl Stock market simulation

Students divided into groups of four or five Each group tracks one of the stock market

certificates Students are able to see how someone

may have lost all of their money

The Lesson Plan The stock market crash

hits the mill villages The mills many times

employed all of the members of a family

When the mills began to struggle, whole families were laid off

The people of the mill villages had to depend on each other

Lesson Activities In conclusion, students will make a

mural of how they feel life was like for these mill village families.

Students can also write a narrative as if they were a mill worker during this point in America’s history.

Textile Technology

Deciding on an Artifact Antique Shop Search Conversation with Long-time Local Personal Connection Cotton Carder How do I focus the lesson from here?

Objective Students will gain knowledge about the importance of

technology in the cotton mills and why it was developed. They should be able to discuss how the technology affected children and families in South Carolina.

SC-SS-05.3.5.1 Summarize developments in industry and technology in South Carolina in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century, including the rise of the textile industry, the expansion of the railroad, and the growth of the towns. (H, G, E)

Lesson Plan Summary Gathering Background information Primary Activity

Hook: Babies in the Mill by Dorsey Dixon Video clip

Simulation PowerPoint Small Group Photograph Activity

Incorporated research, writing, art, and technology Assessment Plan

On the Home Front: Greenville and World War II The Quest: Finding an Artifact Possible Social Studies Standards

2-2.4: Summarize changes that have occurred in the life of the local community over time, including changes in the use of the land and in the way that people earn their living there.

3-5.1: Summarize developments in industry and technology in South Carolina in the late nineteenth century and the twentieth century, including the rise of the textile industry, the expansion of the railroad, and the growth of the towns.

5-4.4: Explain the principal events related to the United States’ involvement in World War II—including the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the invasion in Normandy, Pacific Island hopping, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and the role of key figures in this involvement such as Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler.

On the Home Front: Greenville and World War II

Constructing a Unit Finding resources Integrating other content

areas Why use local history?

Benefits for students Benefits for teachers

Did the project do what it was intended to do?

YES Students became much more aware of

local history (and I think enjoyed finding the artifact)

Lesson plans were more personal, less “mechanical” than in previous years

Did the project do what it was intended to do? (cont) NOT EXACTLY Focus of lesson plan too narrow for

many students Only the beginning of understanding

local history

Resources for Teaching Local History Local History Museum (UHM) Family/ Community Resources Photographs (Caroliniana Collections) SC Department of Archives and History Others?

Questions/ Comments

E-mail: george.lipscomb@furman.edu