Neighborhoods are the backbone of everyone’s way of life, no matter where or when you grew up. While history books have found new and different thematic methods to explore and explain what has come before, asking students to look inside their families and their neighborhoods to find for themselves how they got to where they are today can help provide depth of understanding for gifted students in their social studies classes.
The basics behind this project are to choose a number of local neighborhoods, and then assign the gifted students to work with partners to research these neighborhoods in the role of a student who lived years before, so they can learn how living in different neighborhoods at different times makes them stronger as a classroom team. Then, to take that information and create a technology-based presentation that includes a video of 100 year-old students talking about their neighborhoods (in a website is best) to share with everyone.
Project Cyber-City
This is a long-term classroom project, and there needs to be a real commitment from all involved that everyone will stay focused and on-task throughout the entire process. However, if everyone does stay involved and makes it to the end, this can be one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences any teacher could hope for in a classroom!
There are several elements of Project Cyber-City to consider. These are offered as suggestions from a successful project for consideration: Project Outline and Expectations, the Procedures, the Neighborhoods that the students come from, a strict Timeline, your Resources, Expected Outcomes and Final Products , how the Grading/Assessment works, and the presentation of the Project Cyber-City Web Site.
Project Outlines and Expectations
Cooperatively group teams of students who will assume the identity of students from your community’s neighborhoods circa 1908.
Begin the role-playing aspect of this project right from the beginning. Each team will “become” a student from a hundred years back. This means the teams will have to research the families and names from back then, and put some thought into developing a persona for this fictional boy or girl. This kind of abstract thinking will appeal greatly to gifted students!
Lesson Plan Procedures
As noted above, students will be split into cooperative teams and be asked to create a “student” to research that lived in your area circa 1908. Each team will be responsible for researching and presenting their “student,” as a class production. Each student will maintain a journal chronicling all of his or her project work, and this journal will be evaluated at the conclusion of the Project. To add an interdisciplinary note, subject area teachers from English, Math, Social Studies, the Arts, and Foreign Language can work with teams to develop, assess and approve their curricular components.
When the teams are putting together a composite sketch of their “student,” there are numerous elements of the neighborhoods for the teams to consider as they begin to research their communities. Students should be asked to make observations regarding the following neighborhood social aspects from 1908 to help the shape their student and create their reports: Women’s Roles, Children’s Roles, Family Life and Roles, Local Politics, Government, Crime, What will you be when you grow up? (aspirations), Education, Dress, Religion, Food, Sports, Famous people from neighborhood, Location and natural land forms, Jobs, Transportation (private and public), Play/Entertainment, Homes/ Architecture, Ethnic Make-Up, Arts, Music, Books, Theater, Healthcare, Prices of Items, Technology (plumbing, electricity, furnaces, etc.), and Social clubs (Ex. Moose, Stuben, Elks, etc.).
Planning for visiting the neighborhoods and preparing the information for inclusion in a technologically supported display are the next issues to consider.
