Connecticut Then & Now

CT State Social Studies Standards:

Hist 3.2 Compare life in historical time periods to life today.

Hist 3.8 Infer the intended audience and purpose of a historical source from information within the source itself.

Hist 3.10 Use information about a historical source, including the maker, date, place of origin, intended audience and purpose to judge the extent to which the source is useful for studying a particular topic.

Additional CT CORE Standards

CCSS.ELA‐LITERACY.SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one‐on‐one, in groups, and teacher‐led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts , building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA‐LITERACY.SL.3.1.D Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

CCSS.ELA‐LITERACY.SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

Compelling Questions Engaged:

• In what ways has our town stayed the same? In what ways has our town changed?
• How has Connecticut changed over time?
• Has it stayed the same in any way?

Lesson’s Content Objectives:

• I can ask and answer questions.
• I can ask and answer questions about paintings and pictures.
• I can use evidence from the images to compare life in the past to present day.
• I can explain why an image is important to understanding the past.

Lesson’s Collaborative/Social Objectives:

• Participate fully
• Listen attentively
• Express appreciation of others’ ideas
• Reflect on group interaction
• Think constructively
• Make group decisions
• Respect and value different skills and opinions
• Other:

Briefly, show Seven Miles to Farmington on the SmartBoard or as a picture. Give students ~30 seconds to look at the painting.

Have students turn and share with a small group. What did they notice? What observations can they make?

Show Seven Miles to Farmington again. This time, have students focus on looking for objects that are not something we see today. Again, show the painting for a short period.

Have students turn and share again. What objects did they notice? What do they think the objects might have been used for?

Share out as a whole class any observations students have.

Introduce the question that will guide student learning over the next few lessons. In what ways has Connecticut changed and/or stayed the same over time?

Day 1

20 minutes
Split your class into small groups. Distribute two large Venn Diagrams to each group. Distribute one copy of Worksheet 1 – Pictures for Venn Diagram to each group. As a small group, students will discuss where each picture should be placed. When they have placed all pictures, students should be able to explain how they made their decision to an adult.

5 minutes
As a closing activity have groups share out where they placed a picture and why, to the whole class.

5 minutes
Content: What did we learn about as a result of today’s activity?

Collaborative: What did we do as collaborative groups, and how did that go?

Personal: What did I personally contribute? What do I still want to know about?

5 minutes
What did you notice about our work together today? Was there anything you liked/appreciated?

Day 1 Notes:
We used hula hoops and laid them on the floor for groups to utilize. It would help if the pictures were already cut and placed into baggies prior to using them in the lesson. We laminated them for future use. As students are sorting, use their conversations to formatively assess their understanding of how Connecticut differs from past to present and has stayed the same.

Day 2

7 minutes
Begin by posing a question for partnerships to discuss. Why is it important for us to learn about Connecticut?

Their answers can reflect that it’s important to learn about Connecticut because:

• they live in Connecticut,
• Connecticut was one of the original colonies
• it’s important to see how the state started
• we can see how Connecticut has changed over time
• we can see how technology has changed over time

Have students turn & talk with a partner, then share out as a whole class.

20 minutes
Prior to beginning the independent piece of the lesson, remind students that we are looking to see in what ways has Connecticut changed and/or stayed the same? Distribute Worksheet 2 to students. On this worksheet, there are pictures of places in Connecticut from the past and present. Encourage students to work together to discuss the differences between the images. They can record their thinking on Worksheet 2.

7 minutes
Have students jigsaw to share their findings. They should focus on sharing how they believe Connecticut has changed and how Connecticut has stayed the same.

5 minutes
Content: What did we learn about as a result of today’s activity?

Collaborative: What did we do as collaborative partners, and how did that go?

Personal: What did I personally contribute? What do I still want to know about?

5 minutes
What did you notice about our work together today? Was there anything you liked/appreciated?

Day 2 Notes:
We used the same pictures from day 1. Students were familiar with the images and were able to talk about them in greater detail. We also added pictures that were specific to our town in today’s lesson. Students discussed changes to Connecticut, but also to their town and viewed images from the past and present. We found that students benefitted from working in partnerships, but this can also be an independent activity. Use student discussions during the hook, as well as during the partnership/independent task time as part of your formative assessment.

Day 3

Culminating activity. Students will explain in what ways has Connecticut changed and/or stayed the same. In order to do so, they can choose a project of their choice.

• Create and present a slideshow showing the ways that Connecticut (or their town) has changed or stayed the same.
• Write a skit or puppet show to perform with a member of your class
• Create a Kahoot quiz (kahoot.com)
• Create ‘footprints’ with information on each footprint to post around the school to inform the school community
• Create a poster
• Create a ThingLink

Students should a variety of resources as they start to put together a project. A great resource is the SEE/change website. Students can research more about the everyday life of George Durrie, or others who lived in his time period. They can delve more deeply into what a typical tavern was like if they would like to compare food, clothing or jobs that could be found at a tavern to modern day occupations, types of food served at restaurants or types of clothes that are in style today.

Have students present their project to the class! Encourage positive feedback to presenters from the audience.