Past, Present, and Future

1st Grade Inquiry UnitJoanna Backe

EDRNG 620

Essential Questions

How would your life and your family’s life be different if you lived long ago?

What will the future will look like? How is it different from the past and present?

Goals for Student Achievement

Indiana Academic Standards: 1.1.1 Compare the way individuals in the

community lived in the past with the way they live in the present.

1.1.2 Compare past and present similarities and differences in community life by using biographies, oral histories, folklore and video images.

Bottom-Line Goals Students will understand how people

lived their lives in the past, how that differs from the present, and make

hypothetical assumptions as to what the future will look like.

Students will research (using several forms of media and technology) the following concepts in the past, present, and future: schools, work, transportation, products, clothing.

Students will compare and contrast their findings of these concepts and discover the differences and similarities between the past and present and the foreseeable future.

Instructional Sequence Frontloading/Before Reading:

Brainstorm: What do you already know about the past?

Students will look at several objects and pictures from the past and present. They will discuss which objects they think were from the past and which are from the present. Students will discuss the features and purposes of objects.

Students will discuss in partners and then whole-group about the present. They will discuss school, clothing, products (toys and games), and jobs their parents have.

Each student will have their own KWL chart at their desk. Students will sit down and write what they already know about the past and what they want to learn. These will be posted on our classroom bulletin board until the end of the unit.

Frontloading (cont.) Students will watch an interactive video clip from the

Macmillan/McGraw website. This video clip is interactive. Students will watch this whole-class, while sitting next to their partner to answer the questions asked. http://activities.macmillanmh.com/OralLanguageActivities/main1.php?selectionID=104 This video describes the past, present, and future.

Students are asked to think about the possibilities of the future.

Intro to Diigo Using Glogster Introduce Diigo website to students. This site contains

resources from Thinkfinity. http://joannarose2020.glogster.com/past-present-future/ Complete a tutorial with students on the projection screen

to show how Diigo will be used during this unit. Students will use this site to link to resources and videos.

Explain to students that they will be researching the past and present through several activities, websites, videos, and pictures.

Through the read alouds, multimedia resources, and other activities, students will discover how their lives would have been different in the past.

Gateway Activities1. Read Indiana: Past and Present by Corona Brezina as whole

class. Before Reading: Discuss some of the items students put on their KWL charts.

Students will talk about what they already know about how the past and present are different. Tell students the book that is about to be read describes the state of Indiana in the past and present.

During Reading: Read the entire book through once, without asking any questions or stopping. Ask students to sit in “Carousel Seating”, so the inner circle is facing the outer circle. This makes it easier for students to discuss in an interesting manner. Read the story a second time, this time stopping to ask questions. Students will discuss their answers with their partners. Some questions may include, “How were schools in Indiana were different in the past? Do you think it was easier to live in Indiana in the past or present?”

After Reading: Students will fill out an “Exit Ticket.” Students will write down their answers to two questions: What have I learned today that is important? What do I want to learn more about?

2. Whole Class and Partner Vocabulary Discussion Students will create their own set of vocabulary cards

focused on words from the past, present or future. I will tell them to words, students will discuss the meanings

with their partners, and then write down meanings after we have discussed them. This will help give them

some background knowledge before students start reading and looking at material on their own.

TransportationA way to move from one place to another (ex: car,

train, plane)

FutureThings that might happen

someday

Sample Vocabulary Cards

PresentThings that are happening

right now

PastThings that have already

happened

3. Read and Discuss Several Stories (pertaining to past, present, or future)

Students will read several of the books listed below. Each book focuses on the past, present, or future. Students will read the book alone or with a partner. (Some of the books will be too hard for some first graders to read, but they are rich with illustrations that will still be helpful and informative.)

Before Reading: Go over vocabulary cards students worked on. Discuss how the purpose of students reading these books will be to get a more in-depth understanding about the past, present, and future through the books they are about to read.

During Reading: Silent Discussion- Each table will have a Silent Discussion dialogue at their seats. After each book is read, students will find that specific Discussion sheet and write one interesting fact and any questions they still have.

After Reading: Discuss the Silent Discussion threads as a whole class. Share ideas and thoughts about what it would have been like to live in the past, what students were surprised to learn, and what questions they still have.

Books availableEarly Schools: Early Settler Life by Bobbie Kalman

A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840 by Barbara Greenwood

A Child's Day (Historic Communities) by Bobbie KalmanYou Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer!: A Wilderness You'd Rather Not

Tame by Jacqueline MorleyThe Schoolmaster by Wil Mara

The Internet: Inside and Out (Technology--Blueprints of the Future) by Michael Eck

Marianna May and Nursey by Tomie dePaolaOx-Cart Man by Donald Hall

The One-Room School at Squabble Hollow, by Rosemarie HausherrRobert Henry Hendershot: True Stories from America's Past by Susan E.

Goodman and Doris Ettlinger Life in America's First Cities (Picture the Past) by Sally Senzell Isaacs

Marilou Forecasts the Future by Raymond Plante

4. Explore media sources and other resources on Diigo website

Before: We discuss as a whole class: What have you discovered about the past so far? How is it different from the present?

During: Students will be working alone as they explore the Diigo webquest. Students will have their journal nearby to answer the following question as they search and discover: What did you discover that gives you a glimpse of what it would be like to live in the past or future?

After: Discuss student findings with partners and small groups. Have a whole class discussion about the question students worked on during webquest.

Diigo link: http://www.diigo.com/list/joannarose/past-present-future The website contains links to online media, pictures, and articles

about the past, present, and future. Most of the bookmarks were found using Thinkfinity.

5. InterviewStudents will create a set of questions about the past, present, and

future to ask a family member (other than a sibling) or neighbor.Before: Gallery Walk: On the Gallery Walk board will be the question “What

question would help you gain the most knowledge if you asked someone about the past, present, or future?” Students will put their question on a sticky note and place it on the Gallery Walk board. Whole class discussion will ensure afterwards

During: Students will choose a member of their family or neighbor to ask questions about the past, present, and future. Students will come up with a list of 5-10 questions to ask that will help them in their research of how it would have been to live in the past and what it might be like to live in the future.

After: Students will come to class with an “Entrance Ticket” showing their questions and answers. Students will also have answered the question, “What was the most informative answer you received that helped you understand more of the past, present, or future?”

Possible interview ideas and questions: http://www.diigo.com/list/joannarose/past-present-future

Final Project A presentation through students' choice of media (PowerPoint,

brochures or pamphlets, Glogster, Prezi, or blogging). Students will also share the “What I’ve learned” portion of their KWL chart.

The presentation will be called “Families: Past, Present, and Future.” Students will use what they learned during the Gateway Activities when they picked from books, online media, video clips, their interview answers, and other resources to discover what life was like in America many years ago, what it is like now, and what it might look like in the future.

Students will be answering the Essential Questions during their presentations. Through all their research and investigating, students will be able to describe how their lives and their families lives would be different if they lived in the past. What their lives look like now, and they should also be able to predict what the future might look like.

Final Project (cont.) Students will look at several concepts such as schools,

transportation, clothes, work, and products (toys).  Students will portray what kind of school their family would have gone to in the past, what kind of transportation they would have had, what their clothes would look like, what kinds of products they would have, and what kinds of jobs they might have. Then they will describe their family in present day, and what they think the future might hold in the same categories.

Students may also choose to bring in props such as clothing, toys, and products from the past and present, and a description of what they think they might have in the future to enhance their presentation.

Resources America on the Move. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2011, from National

Museum of American History: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/games/game2/game2.html

Brezina, Corona. (2010). Indiana: Past and Present. New York, NY. Rosen Central

Center, T. K. (2010). Artsedge. Retrieved from A Lens into the Past: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Lens_Into_The_Past.aspx

Famous People. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2011, from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/famouspeople/standard/timeline/1509/family.shtml#focus

Innovation, L. C. (n.d.). Invention at Play. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.inventionatplay.org/playhouse_main.html

IRA. (2006). Tell Me About It! Retrieved July 14, 2011, from Readwritethink: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson947/interview.pdf

Resources (cont.) Library, A. (n.d.). Jump Back in Time. Retrieved July 14, 2011,

from America's Story: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/index.php

Miller, J. (n.d.). The Pilgrims and Me: A First Grade WebQuest. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from Quest Garden: http://questgarden.com/23/25/5/070203132230/index.htm

Shones, M. (2011, June 17). The Past in the Present. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from National Geographic: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/news/past-present

Society, N. G. (2005). Interviewing Guide. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from National Geographic: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/09/gk2/interviewingguidestudent.pdf

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. (2007). Engaging readers and writers with inquiry. New York, NY: Scholastic.