A School-Wide Effort for Learning History Via a Time Capsule

C. Glennon Rowell, M. Gail Hickey, Kendall Gecsei, and Stacy Klein

The time is early fall of 2004. For thousands of elementary school students of “memory books” that have been cre- throughout the country, routines for beginning a new school year are similar. Students ated by students through the years? are getting to know their teachers and anticipating the activities ahead in subjects from As in any school-wide project, interest reading to social studies. They are getting acquainted with new content area books grows daily; the entire school popula- and materials and new media center library books. And across the nation, students tion is focused on one event—closing are catching up with classmates they have not seen during the summer months and down the older building and moving to getting acquainted with new classmates. a newer one. And in this context, in the fall of 2004, students, teachers, admin- For the 370 students in kindergar- the 10 principals who have served the istrators, and staff respond to a unique ten through fifth grade at Ridgedale school since its opening in 1954. call to develop a time capsule that (1) Elementary School in Knoxville, The current principal is puzzling gives a history of Ridgedale Elementary Tennessee, there is a special buzz in the over what she should say in a letter that School (1954–2005) and (2) reflects the air that makes this school year unique. expresses her thoughts about the unique- uniqueness of 50 years of education in Students are busy writing down the rea- ness of Ridgedale and the challenges of a building now outgrown for the com- sons they love Ridgedale Elementary. moving to a larger, more modern, school munities it serves. They are contemplating the most memo- building. In addition, the principal and One of the authors of this paper rable events they have experienced at her staff are strategically planning how (Rowell) worked with 15 pre-service Ridgedale. Meanwhile, teachers, in best to make the move while carrying on teachers in a yearlong elementary grade-level meetings, are pondering with the all-important task of provid- school internship with an accompany- what messages they would like to pass ing the best instruction possible during ing methodology course that included on to those who will be teaching 50 years the 2004–2005 school year. Students’ social studies. These interns, placed in from now (in 2055), in the new building learning must go forward even as the three other schools and Ridgedale, were that the school will move into the follow- community prepared for the future big asked to complete the following assign- ing year. Teachers are also reflecting on change. The staff and students are con- ment designed to help them focus on changes that have taken place in teaching sidering what memorabilia best depict instruction that targeted individuals and during the past 50 years. what Ridgedale Elementary School families as makers of history: Parents who are leaders in Ridgedale has stood for and for which it should Time lines and time capsules are Elementary’s Parent-Teachers be remembered during its 50 years of in Chapter 6 of Hickey’s Bringing Association (PTA) are culling through existence in its present building. Is it a History Home. Read this chap- historical accounts of Ridgedale’s past picture of the school’s mascot that wel- ter carefully, but then go back in newspaper clippings, minutes of the comes students as they walk through the to pages 14 and 15 in Chapter 1 many meetings held during the school’s entrance each morning? Is it a banner (“Family History”), where time history, and accounts of interactions with with the school’s colors? Is it a collection lines for a week in school or an

S e p t e m b e r 2007 261 These pictures illustrate materials packaged for Ridgedale Elementary School’s Time Capsule.

individual student’s young life to students in their respective classes. photographs to place in the time capsule. to date are explained. Select an The survey would ask each student to Items that were eventually placed in the appropriate approach to using a identify favorites such as books, movies, time capsule are listed below: time line with students in the class subjects in school, and television shows. where you are interning and have The last question on the survey would • a 2004-2005 yearbook of the students develop a time line. call for the student’s favorite memory of Ridgedale Elementary School Relate the use of a time line to the current year in school. Students were • a PTA scrapbook containing how history can be viewed when also invited to write an essay on “Why I minutes of meetings, photographs, teaching your students, after they Love Ridgedale Elementary School.” and newspaper stories from 1958, have done the time-line assign- Students at Ridgedale were told that 1964, 1975, 1980, 1995, and ment above. Create a time-line their contributions would be placed 2000. assignment or lesson on a segment in the time capsule so that when the of history from another part of capsule was opened 50 years from • a Reading Book Record from 1978, the regular social studies cur- now at the new building site (renamed telling about books students were riculum (Here students may work Amherst Elementary School because of reading most and how students with a partner or in small groups). its location on Amherst Road), students were encouraged to read Write a report of both the initial could read about the thoughts of the last • three newspaper articles about the teaching of a time line and the one group of students to attend Ridgedale new school done in the extended segment of Elementary. There was an overwhelm- • a file containing past newspaper the social studies curriculum for ing response, sparking the special buzz clippings your grade. in the air that set the beginning of this Two of the pre-service interns at school year apart from other school • a 2004-2005 school-wide photo- Ridgedale Elementary School asked years. graph to create or make a time capsule for • a flag of the current school, the new school in lieu of the time-line Students’ Roles in the Time Ridgedale assignment, because the year was espe- Capsule • a list of past awards given to stu- cially unique in the history of the school. Perceiving themselves as a part of history dents These interns had already spoken to was new to many students as they began the school’s principal and their respec- in earnest writing their essays on why • old photographs, some in scrap- tive mentoring teachers and received they loved Ridgedale Elementary School. books enthusiastic endorsements. Since it was (Figure 1 is a representative essay by an • Time for Kids magazine for current early in the school year, the two interns upper elementary school student. Figure 2 events had almost eight months to complete highlights the work of two primary-grade • a Ridgedale Elementary School the project. students.) Students also eagerly gave sug- bumper sticker After obtaining permission to gestions in several of the classrooms and develop a time capsule for the school, to the two interns about what should • a shaker depicting the school's col- the two interns sent out letters to vari- go into the time capsule. Photographs, ors ous individuals and groups, explain- school emblems, yearbooks, and the ing plans for the time capsule and how school flag were just a few of the items that By writing essays about their school they could help with the project. A letter students suggested to their teachers or to and being able to suggest what artifacts was written to the teachers requesting a the two interns. Students especially liked should be placed in the time capsule, stu- time that a survey could be administered helping decide which scrapbooks of old dents observed how history embraces

S o c i a l Ed u c a t i o n 262 Figure 1. both written accounts as well as artifacts students, give your all, keep the fun in The current principal, who would left by a group of people—in this case learning, and challenge your students be the last principal at the Ridgedale students of a school that spanned the to do their best. Always!” One group location and the first principal at the years between 1954-2005. of teachers (the kindergarten teachers) new, much larger school, was asked to described the school day at Ridgedale submit a letter giving her thoughts on Teachers/Other School in terms of starting and closing times, the transition from the old to the new Associates’ Roles in the what students wear to school, the ratio of building. She told about the excitement Time Capsule students to teacher, and lunch prices. in watching the new building being con- Teachers, by grade level, wrote a letter The president of the PTA wrote a his- structed (about five miles away from the about the current conditions of teach- tory of Ridgedale’s PTA, telling about current school). She also enclosed a book ing in general, and about teaching at the various PTA-sponsored projects (What Principals Do When No One is Ridgedale, in particular. One group such as the provision of playground Looking) for the time capsule. wrote about the national requirements equipment, the purchase of additional All written accounts by grade level embedded in the No Child Left Behind books and computers for the school’s were placed in booklets. Illustrations legislation and about state tests that must media center, and the procurement of of these and other packaged materials, be given each year, contrasting both volunteers to help in each classroom, including the artifacts, were placed in a national requirements and state testing among other projects. For the time cap- plastic tub used for the time capsule (see with teaching conditions 50 years ago sule, the PTA provided a list of each photos of materials on page 262). (1955). Another group wrote about the of the 10 principals who had served warmth and support among teachers and Ridgedale and the years of each prin- What Students Learned staff at Ridgedale, advising teachers in cipal’s time in that role, PTA presidents The time capsule served as a catalyst for 2055 to “remember the legacy passed and the years they served, and winners various social studies experiences dur- on to you by Ridgedale,” closing with of the PTA-sponsored citizen-of-the- ing the 2004–05 school year. The time the statement to “Work hard, love your year award. capsule preparation propelled students

S e p t e m b e r 2007 263 community.1 Teachers who supplement textbook content with local history projects, personalize history and help young students comprehend that they are a part of history.2 Through the time capsule developed at Ridgedale, students learned about their school, their community, and their history. A number of individuals and organizations recommend that students’ personal sense of the past be a springboard for learning what history is and why it is important.3 The study of local history is a powerful motivational strategy, inspiring children to think differently about history and social studies. However, teachers need to help young students make the connections necessary for placing local history in meaningful contexts.4 Such contexts are as important to historical understanding as contextual understanding is to reading comprehension. Simply memorizing important dates and events fails to produce historical understanding, just as simply knowing words and sounds fails to produce comprehension of what is read. Appropriately planned, local history projects help children place facts, dates, and events in a context that makes sense to them as citizens of the community. The collection of memorabilia in the time capsule at Ridgedale Elementary School and discussions about the new school (Amherst Elementary School) helped students see history being made. The National Center for History in the Schools’ Standards in Historical Thinking suggests that K-4 teachers pro- vide learning opportunities for analyzing Figure 2. and comprehending history via activities that “Draw on the visual data presented to hypothesize about important events history for their school and their com- in photographs, paintings, cartoons, and and significant artifacts of their local munity. Students became involved in architectural drawings” and “Compare culture and predict what future students the process of change by participating and contrast differing sets of ideas, would like to know about the old school in discussions about the move to a new, values, personalities, behaviors, and and life itself in 2004–05. Students also bigger and more modern school building institutions.”5 Well-planned local his- learned about significant school events as that in the first year would have almost tory projects engage young students with the history of the school was discussed twice the number of students enrolled learning experiences and instructional in various classrooms throughout the at Ridgedale. strategies that build standards-based year. By completing a survey and writing understandings and skills. And if in an essay about their current school that Learning History Begins Locally the process, teachers portray history as would be passed down through history, The history that most interests children experience instead of simply facts, chil- students contributed to the making of is the history of themselves and their dren learn to value the personal aspects

S o cA i ap l r iE ld 2007 u c a t i o n 264 of history—an attitude that should help aspect” of time. Organizing time infor- munity such as businesses, governmental increase their abilities to make sense of mation in concrete fashion, rather than agencies, churches, and charitable groups, the world around them.6 linear fashion, helps children “better often move to new, more modern head- Interactive local history projects that understand time and how it relates to the quarters. Teachers can take advantage of include hands-on and active experiences development of human events.”10 such moves by asking appropriate officials serve to extend children’s historical under- Time capsules and similar “contain- at these establishments to let their stu- standing beyond self and family.7 Local ers” of the passage of time offer instruc- dents (especially students in the upper history involves much more than learning tional aids to help children understand elementary school grades) help develop about how one’s community was started the sequence of events, relationships a time capsule that would call for (1) or taking a field trip to view a historical among events, and how these events fit interviewing some of the employees who marker that commemorates a significant into the overall scheme of historical time. know the history of the establishment or person or event. While these activities are Shoe boxes, crates, egg cartons, coffee institution, (2) collecting memorabilia of important, the study of local history must cans, oatmeal boxes, and other similar the establishment for a time capsule, (3) start at a more personal level such as with containers can be used to collect and store asking employees to write about their an individual or an individual’s family.8 materials and memorabilia related to a years at the establishment, and (4) devel- As students begin to learn that they have specific event or era. oping time lines and graphs to show the a history, events (history) of their com- growth of the establishment and why munity, their state, and the nation start to Time Capsules in Other Contexts new headquarters are needed. The better take on meaningful interpretations. This While the time capsule project at known the establishment in the commu- approach complements the expanding Ridgedale Elementary School came about nity where a school is located, the easier horizon curriculum model developed as a result of a social studies assignment it will be for students to see the personal years ago by Hanna and found in most that called for reading about time lines aspects of history. schools today, while also honoring the and time capsules (and teaching time Students, in assisting organizations constructivist learning framework.9 Since lines) and the creative thinking of two in the development of a time capsule, children have fewer experiences than very alert interns, time capsules (and time would gain valuable experiences not only adults, they have fewer reference points lines) can be utilized in other contexts. in social studies but also in the various to help them comprehend the “change Institutions or establishments in the com- continued on page 271 CENTER FOR CIVIC EDUCATION / NCSS - SOCIAL EDUCATION / HORIZONTAL HALF PAGE AD / 7.25 X 4.75

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S o c i a l Ed u c a t i o n 266 2. Nancy Carolyn Whiting, “Archaeology and Intercultural Education in the Elementary Grades: Time Capsule from page 266 any school while teaching students the An Example from Minnesota,” Social Studies 89 real meaning of history. no. 6 (1998): 256. language arts. Students would be called 3. Rachel Hallett, “They Dig It!” Science and Children 42 no. 8 (2005): 23. on to read about the history of the orga- Notes 1. David Elkind, The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too 4. Mary Black, “Using Archaeology to Explore nization, to interview employees and take Fast, Too Soon, (Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley, Cultures of North America through Time,” Social accurate notes, to write narratives about 1981). Studies and the Young Learner 11 no. 1 (1998): 11. various aspects of the establishment, and 2. M. Gail Hickey, Personalizing Social Studies for Young Children, Professional Development Monograph 5. Gail William Brown, “Teaching Archaeology,” to hold discussions on what to include in Series (Glenview, Ill.: Scott Foresman, 2001); Linda (ED440920 ERIC Digest, 2000): 2. the time capsule. Just as the Ridgedale Levstik and Keith Barton, Doing History, 2nd ed. 6. The Society for American Archaeology, www.saa. (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001). org. students were asked to reflect on their 3. National Council for the Social Studies, Expectations 7. Connie Nobles, Adventures in Classroom school and community, helping build a of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Archaeology (Baton Rouge, La.: Division of time capsule about a local business would Studies, Bulletin no. 89 (Washington, D.C.: National Archaeology, 1992): 10-12. Task Force for Standards in Social Studies, 1994:); 8. Nancy Hawkins, Classroom Archaeology (Baton call for reflection and decision making. National Center for History in the Schools, National Rouge, La.: Division of Archaeology, 1999): 5-6. Students can also develop time capsules Standards for History: Exploring Children’s World in 9. Jane McIntosh, Archaeology: Eyewitness Book after interviewing older members of the Time and Space. (Los Angeles: University of California (Dorling Kendersley, 1998): 12. Press, 1994); National Center for History in the 10. Hallett, 22. family, perhaps beginning with grandpar- Schools, National Standards for History, basic edition, (1996); National Council for the Social Studies (1994), 11. Poverty Point Earthworks: Evolutionary Milestones ents (or parents, if grandparents are not 22. of the Americas, Louisiana Public Broadcasting alive) and collect narratives and artifacts documentary,www.lpb.org/programs/povertypoint/ 4. Karen L. Jorgensen, History Workshop: Reconstructing pp_transcript.html. from “Grandma and Grandpa’s younger the Past with Elementary Students (Portsmouth, N. H.: Heinemann, 1993). 12. Greg Grambo, “Digging into Archaeology Projects,” days” down through the current generation. 5. National Center for History in the Schools (1996). Gifted Child Today 19 no. 3 (1996): 12. Students can also develop time capsules 13. Richard Panchyk, Archaeology for Kids: Uncovering 6. Cynthia S. Sunal and Mary E. Haas, Social Studies the Mysteries of our Past, (Chicago: Chicago of their own lives, collecting information for the Elementary and Middle School Grades: A Review Press, 2003): 30. such as magazine cut-outs of different Constructivist Approach. (Boston, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon, 2005). 14. The National Association of State hairstyles over a 10- or 12-year period, Archaeologists,www.uiowa.edu/~osa/nasa. 7. A. T. Leigh and T. O. Reynolds, “Little Windows to the Past,” Social Education 61, no. 1 (1997): 45-47; 15. Grambo, 12. pictures of their favorite athletes, pictures Jere Brophy and Janet Alleman, Powerful Social 16. Hallett, 23. of pets owned, photographs of automo- Studies for Elementary Students (Fort Worth, Tex.: 17. Ibid., 23, 24. biles during a time-capsule period, and Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996); Levstik 18. Cathy Welsh, “Digging through History,” Gifted other memorabilia that represent a distinct and Barton, 2001; Dorothy Hennings, Grant Hennings Child Today 17, no. 1 (1994): 18-20, 42. and S. F. Bannich, Today’s Elementary Social Studies, 19. Alice Robinson, “Can You Dig It?” School Library period of time in the life of a student. One 2nd ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1989); Linda Journal 51, no. 3 (2005): 2. Indiana teacher buried her personal time Levstik, “Teaching History: A Definitional and Developmental Dilemma” in Elementary School 20. Hawkins, 33. capsule developed for a reunion of her Social Studies: Research as a Guide to Practice, 21. Panchyk, 12. 1960s graduating class and assigned her Bulletin no. 79, ed. Virginia Atwood (Washington, 22. Grambo, 13. D.C.: National Task Force for Standards in Social 23. Jared Berrett and Jennifer Bjornstead, “We’re students, equipped with maps, to find it in Studies, 1986); D. Shemilt, Evaluation Study: Schools Diggin It: Setting up Your Own Archeological Dig the schoolyard. Imagination on the part of Council History 13-16 Project. (Edinburgh: Holmes for the Classroom,” Technology and Children, teachers can lead to any number of ideas McDougall, 1980). (2005): 4, 5. 8. Hickey, Bringing History Home (Boston, Mass.: Allyn 24. Ibid. for encouraging students to develop time & Bacon, 1999), 15, 29, 64. 25. Meg Greene, Buttons, Bones, and the Organ capsules.11 9. See, for example, Walter C. Parker, Social Studies in Grinder’s Monkey: Tales of Historical Archaeology, Elementary Education, 12th ed. (Prentice Hall, 2005), (North Haven, Conn.: Linnet Books, 2001): 9- and George W. Maxim, Dynamic Social Studies for 12. Conclusion Constructivist Classrooms, 8th ed. (Upper Saddle 26. Kate Duke, Archaeologists Dig for Clues (New Time capsules help students understand River, N.J.: Merrill, 2006). York: HarperCollins Children’s Books, 1997). the nature of events and the relationships 10. Thomas N. Turner, “Putting Time in a Bottle—Or a 27. Jackie Posner, Magic School Bus Shows and Tells: Box!” The Social Studies (1989): 124-125. A Book about Archaeology (New York: Scholastic of events in a segment of history. It is up 11. Hickey, Bringing History Home, 81-82. Inc, 1997). to teachers to find ways to make time 28. Judith Cochran, Archaeology: Digging Deeper to C. Glennon Rowell is a professor of theory and Learn About the Past, (Nashville, Tenn.: Incentive capsule projects meaningful to students. Publications, Inc., 1999): 97. Teachers must help students see (1) that practice in teacher education at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He can be reached at 29. Black, 13. history is personal, (2) that history affects [email protected]. M. Gail Hickey is a professor real people, and (3) that history is about of educational studies at Indiana University-Pur- events in students’ lives as well as the due University in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She can S. Kay Gandy is an assistant professor in the lives of others. The time capsule project be reached at [email protected]. Kendall Gecsei Department of Curriculum and Instruction at described in this article embraces these is a fourth grade teacher at Green Magnet Math Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. and Science Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee. She She taught elementary school for 27 years in concepts relating to history and integrates can be reached at [email protected]. Stacy Louisiana before moving to Kentucky four years them in an interactive, engaging learning Klein is a second grade teacher at A. Z. Kelley ago. She can be reached at [email protected]. experience. Developing time capsules can Elementary School in Antioch, Tennessee. She can indeed put a “special buzz in the air” at be reached at [email protected].

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