At the outset of the course, each student will receive a unit packet, containing, among other things, a list of vocabulary or concept words which he or she will be tested on by the end of the unit. Each of these approximately forty “core concept” words will be defined for the students with space for at least one “example” of their own, from class or from another source. For a list of these concepts, see the list below (Appendix A).
Also contained in the packet will be a 1966 map of New Haven and a map of the Hill neighborhood. These maps will be key resources for the students. General map skills (direction, key symbols and colors, orientation) as well as specific locations will be emphasized. As well as plotting locations, each student will be expected to make his or her own map of the immediate neighborhood surrounding his or her place of residence.
Facts about the Hill, its origins, its changing peoples, its strengths over the years will be taught. It is my intention that students will begin to see some cause and effect relationships between economic conditions (demand for laborers for the Farmington River Canal) and shifting tides of people moving in and out of the Hill community. The unit will focus also on the City Point (originally “Oyster Point”) area and emphasize that New Haven Harbor was and is an employment opportunity. The unit will focus attention on the ethnic groups that lived here and on some lasting contributions to the culture and to the building of historic landmarks (churches, homes, stores and restaurant).
How a city operates and serves its people will be evident to students as we have the opportunity to hear from various resource persons involved in and committed to community services and their improvement in the Hill. Services of particular interest to students and their families, e. g., health, employment, recreation, legal, will be highlighted.
Lastly, emphasis will be placed on some unique historical problems the Hill has experienced over the past twenty years (urban removal caused by the Route 34 Connector) and on what is being done now to revitalize the Hill through neighborhood centers, employment opportunities, housing, and education.
In the pages that follow, I map out some lessons and teaching strategies to suggest how a teacher can get all this “stuff” across to students.