West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan
Lesson
Title:
Author(s):
Content
Area(s):
Synopsis:
Grade
Level(s):
Basic Information
Learning to Ask Questions About the Past
Mark Swiger
Social Studies
Today your teacher
announced a field trip to the
“new and improved” state
museum. She/he is really
into how you do research.
She/he says, “learn to ask
thicker questions instead of
just thin ones”.
She/he also said a room
would be designated,
Discovery Room #4, to do
artifact research. She/he said
that there will be a few
questions, but that your
group should generate your
own questions to guide your
research. She/he also
instructed your group to be
ready to bring your journals
and folders with you as you
do research.
When you return to your
class after the trip, you will
research your artifacts based
on the teacher (and your)
questions about the artifacts.
8th Grade
Subject(s):
Background
& Student
Relevance
West Virginia History
Frontier
Historical Inquiry should abound in a
museum, and in a classroom. For that matter,
it should abound in every community, in
every family, and in every mind of every
student in West Virginia.
Nothing is more relevant than our families,
our homes, and us individually. In this lesson,
built around a visit to the state museum,
students will develop their questioning skills
in the classroom before they go on their field
trip.
While in the museum students will practice
asking questions, and once they arrive back at
school, they will ask questions concerning the
artifact that their group has chosen and then
address their questions through research. The
teacher should start the engagement with a
teacher driven question(s) and students’ own
driving questions.
Museum
Correlation:
Standards
FrontierDiscovery Room 4
Standard 5: History (SS.S.5)
use the processes and resources of historical inquiry to gather, examine, compare, analyze and interpret
historical data
21st Century
Skills:
SS.8.5.15
identify and explain the significance of historical experience and of geographical,
social and economic factors that have helped to shape both West Virginian and American society
At the very core of the Project and Problem-Based Learning are the 21st Century Skills. All three areas
are covered to some degree in every module included in these PBLS:
21C.S.5-8.1
Standard 1: Information and Communication Skills; The student will access, analyze, manage,
integrate, evaluate, and create information in a variety of forms using appropriate technology skills and
communicate that information in an appropriate oral, written, or multimedia format.
Learning to Ask Questions About the Past, Page 1
West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan
21C.S.5-8.2
Standard 2: Thinking and Reasoning Skills; The student will demonstrate the ability to explore and
develop new ideas, to intentionally apply sound reasoning processes and to frame, analyze and solve
complex problems using appropriate technology tools.
21C.S.5-8.3
Standard 3: Personal and Workplace Skills; The student will exhibit leadership, ethical behavior,
respect for others; accept responsibility for personal actions considering the impact on others; take the
initiative to plan and execute tasks; and interact productively as a member of a group.
Implementation Plan
Essential Question: What story does an artifact tell about a person, a different time and a place?
Pre-Visit:
Distribute folders with Individual Project Checklists taped to the front. This is where they will save their data
and notes.
Have students pose a series of questions that help them begin their exploration and record them in their
journals. An example that could be written on the board to prompt students on how to do this might be:
 What immediate events led to West Virginia statehood? (THIN)
 What issues at the time of the Civil War contributed to West Virginia statehood? (THICK)
Teachers should practice this skill, so give it shot and write more examples on the board.
During Visit:
Students should generate thick questions about artifacts that they see in the frontier cabin and the Showpath as
they progress through it. They should take their folders with them and start a journal for their Post Visit project
at this point. That journal is to be placed in their individual project folder. If text devices are available in the
museum for text messaging, that would be an option in place of the writing in a folder and could be transferred
at a later time.
Post Visit PBL:
Project Based Learning requires the same process each time it is utilized. Refer to curriculum overview at the
beginning of this guide for more information and to see a detailed process for implementation. Upon your
return from either a virtual or actual visit to the museum, follow these steps:
Preparation for PBL is the most time consuming part of the teacher’s role. Once students are engaged and
you’ve distributed rubrics, project checklists, scenarios, project ideas, and as well as Internet resources, the
teacher becomes facilitator.
Put students into groups that you know will work well within your classroom
It is recommended that you place the project checklist form on student folders so that individual assessment
can take place. On that sheet students will self-assess and the teacher assesses student checklist and packet
contents.
 Write on the board the following Driving Question: How can you get more information by asking
better, “thicker” questions about your artifacts so that you can research it (them) and deliver a wellinformed presentation on its value to history?
Additional Questions for Students:
Learning to Ask Questions About the Past, Page 2
West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan


How might the artifact(s) that your group has chosen to research helped people in the frontier
confront their daily challenges?
Is there something that is relatively useful in the same ways today as your artifact(s) were at the time
that they were being used?
You should encourage students to create their own authentic questions about their artifacts.
Students, in their groups, will then go into the PBL Process:
Project-Based Learning Process
(Following the chart, look for the KWHL chart and directions on how to complete it based on this step-bystep process.)
1. Read and discuss the scenario and driving question together. Both are somewhat tied to the content
standard in the lesson plan.
The situation described in the scenario should be understood by all members of the class. After reading the
scenario on the screen, if projected and on the paper if used as a handout, students will them break into small
groups to begin to brainstorm.
2. Brainstorm known facts on the KWHL Chart.
Students will list what they bring to the situation, given materials presented in the scenario and background
statement on the KWHL concept map, into any of a number of graphic organizer software templates or on a
handout. All students bring something special to the group. During this process, it is encouraged to list as
many things as people know about the situation and the driving question.
3. Develop a problem statement.
After careful review of the scenario and driving question, student groups should write a brief statement about
what it is they are attempting to do. All groups will interpret this differently.
Clues to help construct this statement are embedded in the scenario and driving question, along with the
mixture of “knowns”. As new information is found, this statement will change. It is encouraged to edit, revise,
renew the problem statement as many times as needed to come up with a solution.
4. Brainstorm what is needed to be known in order to solve the problem on the KWHL Chart.
List what is needed to be known in question form in order to solve the problem on the concept map. At this
point each member should identify a role to play and gather information on the topics on the list in order to
move forward. It is encouraged to revisit the problem statement in order to reaffirm that the process should
move forward at this point.
5. List possible solutions.
Information gathering continues. If time permits, consulting outside sources, investigating other options, etc.
may be pursued. The teacher has final input as to how much time is allowed. PBL can take a few days to a
couple of weeks depending on how integral a teacher wants to be. It is recommended that the teacher finds
power standards in order to justify more time to deal with this project/problem.
6. Revisiting Solutions.
As time permits, the group may entertain revisiting their problem, view optional alternatives to the ones
Learning to Ask Questions About the Past, Page 3
West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan
examined, or move toward reporting to the group.
7. Offer solutions through Culminating Products. These can be websites, presentations, or movies from
Movie Maker to name a few options. Individual packets should be evaluated before team products are
presented so that the teacher can see if certain groups need more time based on individual students not
completing tasks, or other issues arise.
Report to the whole group an action plan that seems viable given all the options entertained by the group. It is
encouraged to present in ways that show uniqueness, but are encouraged to refer to the teacher rubric.
Product Description
Every teacher has their preference in regard to assignments, but it is recommended that you allow students to
guide their own learning through producing culminating projects. You should use formative assessment
strategies such as periodic checklists, rubrics, and other performance based assessments throughout the project.
It is highly recommended to keep the projects cooperative and collaborative.
Students should produce the following items both individually and as a group:
Concept Maps
Individual Portfolio folders that includes a journal
Knowledge Maps (KWHL Chart)
Additional reflection journals, writing projects within the project.
Group presentations options are:
Digital Storytelling
PowerPoint
Concept Maps
Windows Movie Maker / iMovies
Students may wish to write and perform songs, lyrics, and other projects that reflect a great understanding of
the concepts in their problem.
Material’s List
One folder with pockets for each student
Internet access
Presentation Software
Concept Mapping software (some free versions are available online)
Cheap folders for keeping journals and notes
Some students do posters in addition to presentations
Digital cameras, flip cameras, camcorders can be utilized
Assessment
Learning to Ask Questions About the Past, Page 4
West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan
PBL Rubric
Criteria
Historical Inquiry
Content
Drawing
Conclusions
Cooperative
Learning
Product
21st Century Skills
4
The student
demonstrates a
thorough and effective
application of the
processes and resources
of historical inquiry to
develop appropriate
questions, gather and
examine evidence,
compare, analyze and
interpret historical data.
3
The student
demonstrates consistent
and accurate application
of the processes and
resources of historical
inquiry to develop
appropriate questions,
gather and examine
evidence, compare,
analyze and interpret
historical data.
2
The student
demonstrates basic but
inconsistent application
of the processes and
resources of historical
inquiry to develop
appropriate questions,
gather and examine
evidence, compare,
analyze and interpret
historical data.
1
The student demonstrates
fragmented and incomplete
application of the processes
and resources of historical
inquiry to develop
appropriate questions,
gather and examine
evidence, compare, analyze
and interpret historical data.
Draws a conclusion that
is supported by the data
and gives supporting
evidence for the
conclusion
Draws a conclusion that
is supported by data,
but fails to show any
evidence for the
conclusion
Draws a conclusion that
is not supported by data
Fails to reach a conclusion,
but turns in work
The student actively
listens to and values the
opinion of others
The student actively
listens to but it is not
evident that he/she
values the opinion of
others
The student listens to
but does not value the
opinion of others. OR
The student values the
opinion of others but
does not listen to them
The student does not listen
to and does not value the
opinion of others, but turns
in work
The product shows
evidence that the
student reached valid
conclusions based on
data analysis and
displayed the results of
the analysis in
appropriate formats.
The product shows
evidence that the
student reached valid
conclusions based on
data analysis but
displayed the results of
the analysis in
inappropriate formats
The product shows
evidence that the
student reached
conclusions not based
on data analysis and
displayed the results of
the analysis in
appropriate formats.
The product shows no
evidence of analysis, but
turns in work
Communication,
Critical Thinking, and
Workplace skills were
understood and applied
at an exemplary level at
all points in the group
problem-solving
process.
Most of the
Communication,
Critical Thinking, and
Workplace skills were
understood and applied
at acceptable levels at
all points in the group
problem-solving
process.
Some of the
Communication,
Critical Thinking, and
Workplace skills were
understood and applied
at times during the
problem-solving
process.
Few to none of the
Communication, Critical
Thinking, and Workplace
skills were understood and
applied during the group
problem-solving process.
Learning to Ask Questions About the Past, Page 5
West Virginia State Museum Lesson Plan
Name__________________________
Project_________________________
Team Members in your group
_________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Project Checklist for PBL Lessons
*Place the date that the task was completed or covered in the space in front of the task. All members of
each group are responsible for keeping a checklist on the front of your folder.
__________Read Scenario Driving Question
__________Recorded Daily Discussions in Notes
__________Worked on Concept Mapping Activity
__________Develop a Problem Statement
__________Completed Concept Map
__________Role Play Various Groups in the Scenario
__________Revisit and Revise the Problem Statement
__________Produce Portfolio Project
__________Present Findings through Presentation
__________Turn in Completed Project
___________Student Self-Assessment
Comments:____________________________________________________
___________Teacher Assessment/Grade
Comments:____________________________________________________
Technology Integration
Students should be allowed to be as creative as they can be in presenting their findings. Project Based and
Problem Based Learning work best in technology rich environments.
Additional Notes
Learning to Ask Questions About the Past, Page 6