Social Studies – Lesson Activity Planner: Austin Past and Present
Austin Independent School District
Grade: 8
Lesson Length (Number of class periods): 3
Course: U.S. History
Topic: History
Required Technology: Austin Past/Present DVD, DVD Player or DVD compatible computer(s), Internet Explorer
Optional Technology: Timeliner 5.0 software from Tom Snyder, Epson projector
Concept: Time
Overarching question: How can the perspective we have about our own life
experiences be viewed as part of the larger human story across time?
Lesson Understandings:
Lesson Questions(s):
Each and every day we are living history. The things on the news tonight are
the ideas that students 100 years from now will study in their history books.
Even the things we do on a daily basis…making our beds, playing soccer,
watching TV will become part of the historical record one day. As we set off
this year to study the history of the United States, it’s important to remember
that history doesn’t only happen to people like George Washington and Ben
Franklin. It happens to normal, ordinary people too. By getting a sense of our
places and roles in history, we can better understand the past and predict the
future.
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How am I connected to the past?
How are local events connected to major historical events?
What are the defining characteristics of historical eras?
What can we learn by studying timelines?
TEKS/TAKS :
(1A) Identify major eras in U.S. history through 1877 and describe their defining characteristics
(1B) Apply absolute and relative chronology through the sequencing of significant individuals, events, and time periods;
(30B) Analyze information by sequencing, categorizing…and drawing inferences and conclusions
(30C) Organize and interpret information from outlines, reports, databases, and visuals including graphs, charts, timelines and maps
(31C) Transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and statistical to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate
(31D) Create written, oral, and visual presentation of social studies information
Austin Independent School District
Social Studies Curriculum Department
June, 2006
Social Studies – Lesson Activity Planner: Austin Past and Present
Austin Independent School District
Materials:
Austin Past & Present DVD – Time Tour and all timelines included in Time Tour.
Recent newspapers
Creating America textbook, especially the timelines located on pages 25, 49, 67, 91, 117, 141, 175, 203, 260, 275, 295, 323, 351, 375, 405, 439, 463, 485, 515, 537 & 567
Historical Memory Quiz (attached)
Creating a Timeline Handout (attached)
Preview:
1. Have students fill out the brief historical memory quiz (see attached). Have students share and discuss their answers.
2. Direct students to look at the timeline on page 25 of their textbook. Ask them what the purpose of a timeline is and what we can learn from it. Ask students why the
textbook writers thought it was important to show what was going on the world as well as in the U.S.
3. If you haven’t already, introduce the students to the Time-Tour function of the Austin Past & Present DVD. Important features to point out are:
a. Clicking on a Time Period on the master Time-Tour bar
b. The movies that set the stage for each historical period
c. The time-period and timeline choosers at the top of the screen
d. How to use the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen
Student activities that support the TEKS/TAKS :
1. Have students create their own timelines showing events in U.S. History, Austin History and their own personal history. Students can use the Creating a Timeline handout
(see attached). Basic steps include having students identify key events from their own lives and then using the Austin Past & Present DVD as well as the Internet to
find out what was happening in local and U.S. history at the same time. Because their lives are so recent, the handout encourages them to find out things about their
parents and grandparents so that more connections can be made using the resources on the DVD. Please note that some of the questions on the handout may be sensitive to
some students (for example, asking for the year of a father’s graduation if the father is not part of the students’ life). Tell students that they are not required to completely
fill out the chart and may substitute guardians or other relatives if the need arises.
2. The student handout also contains a writing activity for students (Answer this question in paragraph form: How did events in the United States and Austin
influence your personal history? How do you continue to be influenced by events happening around you?) . You may want to put students in small groups to share their
timelines and to discuss these questions before they write.
3. There is also an extension activity on the handout that could be assigned to GT students. Take a look at the Austin Past & Present Time Tour. Notice how Austin’s history
has been divided into eras. Check out your textbook table of contents. See how that is divided as well. Pretend that you are an historian in the future either creating a
DVD or writing a textbook. What would you call the era we are currently in? Why would you call it that? Create an icon to illustrate this era (like the ones on the DVD
TimeTour).
Austin Independent School District
Social Studies Curriculum Department
June, 2006
Social Studies – Lesson Activity Planner: Austin Past and Present
Austin Independent School District
Assessment(s):
Completed timeline
Paragraph
Class discussion
Extension activity
Austin Independent School District
Social Studies Curriculum Department
June, 2006