Historian in Residence
 
Ms. Christy
Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.
The History of Old Seattle with Ms. Christy
The unit on The History of Old Seattle emphasizes the geographic and demographic changes that made Seattle the city it is today. Students will learn about the place they live and how its changing diversity affected all the people in the city. Creating a book of writing, drawing, a timeline and maps, students will finish the unit with a complete book on early Seattle history. In addition, students will be prepared, by the end of the unit to successfully complete the WA State CBA, Humans and the Environment.
LESSON

INTEREST BUILDING

 ACTIVITY

REVIEW/ASSESSMENT

Oregon Trail Introduction
(Add-on)

 Students hear stories about The Oregon Trail, leading to an investigation of what a family on The Trail would have to pack to survive. LOAD YOUR WAGON! Using found objects as items in wagons, students work in groups to load a cardboard wagon and fill out a spreadsheet to show what they would take on The Oregon Trail. The worksheets are scored and analyzed to see if the imaginary family would have survived.
Oregon Trail Dangers
(Add-on)		 Students learn about the dangers of the Oregon Trail, both real and exaggerated. After learning how well (or poorly) they packed the groups re-pack their wagons more carefully. Again, the worksheets are scored and analyzed.
Chief Seattle and The Coastal Salish Students learn about the life of Chief Seattle and the people who lived in Seattle before Americans came. Class creates a Dot map in the classroom of the population of Puget Sound at the time of Chief Seattle's life. Students draw Djidjilaletch and a longhouse to demonstrate their understanding of Salish life.
Land of Many Waters Students imagine themselves approaching the unoccupied coastline of Puget Sound, 10's of thousands of years ago. Class learns map-reading skills as they investigate through an Inquiry Lesson, "What's the best place to put our Longhouse?" Students practice writing topic sentences with supporting details on the decision they made about where to put their Longhouse on Puget Sound.
The Denny Party's Journey The story of the Denny Party's trip across the Oregon Trail, landing one of them at Smaquamox. Oregon Trail Survival Game, in which table groups try to pick the top ten items in an Oregon Trail wagon. Together, the class draws a map of Seattle in the years before the Denny Party arrived.
Land of Many Waters II Students imagine themselves approaching the occupied coastline of Puget Sound, just as The Denny Party did. Class practices map-reading skills as they investigate through an Inquiry Lesson, "What's the best place to put our Log Cabin?" Students practice writing topic sentences with supporting details on the decision they made about where to put their Longhouse on Puget Sound.
Smaquamox to Duwamps The story of the birth of the city of Seattle, starting at Smaquamox and ending at Duwamps. Class creates a graphic organizer that illustrates the racial and gender breakdown of Seattle in 1852. Together the class draws a map of Northwest Washington in the years before the Treaties were signed.
The Treaties


 An examination of the events that led to the writing of the Medicine Creek (and other) treaties. Students hypothesize, gather data, reflect and re-hypothesize to answer the Inquiry: "Why did so many of the Native Peoples sign Isaac Stevens' treaties?" The class makes necessary changes to the map of NW Washington to reflect the changes brought by The Treaties.
Lumbertown
(two days)		 The story of Duwamps continues as the town becomes Seattle and we examine the lumber industry here. Students learn the concept of "Common Good" as it relates to the lumber industry and environmental issues. As a part of learning about 19th century lumberjacking, we draw the Life of a Spar.
Anti-Chinese Riots Class creates a graphic organizer that illustrates the racial and gender breakdown of Seattle in 1886. Students answer the question: "Why did the Chinese Riots happen?" by using primary documents. The class makes necessary changes to the drawing of Djidjilaletch to reflect the changes in the city.
The Railroads
(Add-on)		 The story how the Trans-continental railroad almost didn't come to Seattle. Groups represent one of the seven cities that wanted to be the terminus of the railroad in a presentation to the a Northern Pacific Fat Cat. Students pick one event in the story of the coming of the Railroads to make into a class mural of the story.
The Great Fire

 

 The story of the Great Fire that burned much of downtown Seattle in 1889 then spurred its reconstruction, told as a Play created on the spot in the classroom. Students begin the Inquiry in preparation for the Humans and the Environment CBA by discussing what they know about the changes in Seattle's environment.
Regrading Seattle Students make a pop-up to illustrate Seattle's underground downtown. Students research the regrade using primary documents and photographs from the time. Students update their Seattle maps in preparation for the CBA.
Klondike Gold Rush
(Add-on)		 The story of the Klondike Gold Rush, from the point of view of the miners and merchants of Seattle. Students act out real ads from the time of the Klondike Gold Rush. Students begin to outline their CBA notes and ideas.
Immigration Stories of 6 different immigrants, from Sweden, Mexico, China, Vietnam, Kenya and Russia. Students create posters in groups on each of those countries using primary source information from census data, immigration data, photographs and books written by and about immigrants from those countries.
Development Deliberation Students learn about the issues of development as they affect the Viaduct. Students deliberate both sides of the issue of The Deep Bore Tunnel intended to replace the Viaduct downtown in a Structured Academic Controversy.
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Click here to read about Objectives and Social Studies GLEs for the unit.
Historian in Residence © 2010 Mary Anne Christy