University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Graduate Research Papers Student Work 2010 Sheldon community history traveling trunk project Jan M. Kinderknecht University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2010 Jan M. Kinderknecht Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp Part of the Education Commons, and the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Kinderknecht, Jan M., "Sheldon community history traveling trunk project" (2010). Graduate Research Papers. 29. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/29 This Open Access Graduate Research Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Research Papers by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sheldon community history traveling trunk project Find Additional Related Research in UNI ScholarWorks To find elatedr research in UNI ScholarWorks, go to the collection of School Library Studies Graduate Research Papers written by students in the Division of School Library Studies, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, at the University of Northern Iowa. Abstract National, state, and local standards guide education in what is taught in the classrooms today. A lack of resources is often a problem in teaching these standards, especially at the local level. The Sheldon third grade teachers needed resources to fulfill the teaching expectations about their local community. The purpose of this project was to develop a traveling trunk filled with primary and secondary resources to be used in the teaching of a social studies unit on the community of Sheldon. Deciding what people, places, and events to include in these resources is often a concern. Another concern was what primary sources to use and where to locate them. Finally, the researcher questioned if a hands-on project would meet the differentiated learning needs of students and the instructional needs of different teachers. The Sheldon Community Traveling Trunk is a 32 gallon plastic storage tub filled with eight separate plastic boxes containing the following units about Sheldon, Iowa: geography, history, family life, people, government, agricultural and industry, schools, and churches. Included inside the trunk are lesson plans, activities, and artifacts for each unit. The information for the trunk was gathered with the assistance of the Sheldon Historical Society. The type of information determined its availability through local sources. Through an evaluation survey completed by the Sheldon third grade teachers, it was determined the traveling trunk was successful in meeting both the students’ differentiated learning needs and the teachers’ instructional needs. This open access graduate research paper is available at UNI ScholarWorks: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/29 SHELDON COMMUNITY HISTORY TRAVELING TRUNK PROJECT A Graduate Research Project Submitted to the Division of School Library Studies Department of Curriculum and Instruction In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Arts UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA by Jan M. Kinderknecht August 2010 ii This Research Project by: Jan M. Kinderknecht Titled: Sheldon Community History: Traveling Trunk Project has been approved as meeting the research requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts. __________________ __________________________________________ Date Approved Graduate Faculty Reader __________________ __________________________________________ Date Approved Graduate Faculty Reader __________________ __________________________________________ Date Approved Head, Department of Curriculum and Instruction iii Abstract National, state, and local standards guide education in what is taught in the classrooms today. A lack of resources is often a problem in teaching these standards, especially at the local level. The Sheldon third grade teachers needed resources to fulfill the teaching expectations about their local community. The purpose of this project was to develop a traveling trunk filled with primary and secondary resources to be used in the teaching of a social studies unit on the community of Sheldon. Deciding what people, places, and events to include in these resources is often a concern. Another concern was what primary sources to use and where to locate them. Finally, the researcher questioned if a hands-on project would meet the differentiated learning needs of students and the instructional needs of different teachers. The Sheldon Community Traveling Trunk is a 32 gallon plastic storage tub filled with eight separate plastic boxes containing the following units about Sheldon, Iowa: geography, history, family life, people, government, agricultural and industry, schools, and churches. Included inside the trunk are lesson plans, activities, and artifacts for each unit. The information for the trunk was gathered with the assistance of the Sheldon Historical Society. The type of information determined its availability through local sources. Through an evaluation survey completed by the Sheldon third grade teachers, it was determined the traveling trunk was successful in meeting both the students’ differentiated learning needs and the teachers’ instructional needs. iv Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................1 History of Sheldon ........................................................................................................1 Justification...................................................................................................................4 Standards and Benchmarks....................................................................................4 Limited Resources .................................................................................................6 Significance...................................................................................................................7 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................7 Purpose Statement .........................................................................................................7 Research Questions .......................................................................................................7 Audience........................................................................................................................8 Assumptions..................................................................................................................8 Limitations ....................................................................................................................9 Definitions.....................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE................................................11 Introduction.................................................................................................................11 Teaching Local Community History..........................................................................11 Using Different Instructional Methods.......................................................................15 Utilizing Primary Resources.......................................................................................24 Summary.....................................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 3 PROCEDURES ........................................................................................34 Project Parameters......................................................................................................34 Project Format ............................................................................................................37 Procedures ..................................................................................................................38 CHAPTER 4 PROJECT .................................................................................................41 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................42 Summary.....................................................................................................................42 Conclusions ................................................................................................................45 Recommendations for Further Study..........................................................................46 v REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................48 APPENDIX A: ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ......................................51 APPENDIX B: RECRUITMENT SCRIPT FOR INTERVIEWS....................................52 APPENDIX C: EVALUATION SURVEY......................................................................53 APPENDIX D: PICTURES OF TRAVELING TRUNK AND CONTENTS..................54 APPENDIX E: TRAVELING TRUNK TEACHER’S GUIDE .......................................56 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION “One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.” Chinese Proverb (Lewis, 2009) As one drives down the tree-lined streets of a community, thoughts often wander to who lived in the grand old homes built years ago? Who planted those stately trees