To write a journal insert highlighting your task in creating the fence, as outlined in Project Activity 1. Put yourself in the shoes of the craftsperson or artisan. Think about the challenges you may have faced in creating your fence as noted in your recorded responses on your Brainstorming Activity Worksheets #1 and #2. Discuss the type of material you used to create your fence, your occupation, how you felt as you created the structure, and more.
To create a memoir-like journal insert, descriptively highlighting the purpose and reasoning behind creating your fence. The reader should hear, feel, see, and overall experience your effort.
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Lined loose leaf writing paper
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Pencils
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Classical music
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Timer
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Writing storyframe
Using background information gathered from school excursions, Ponder This group brainstorming sessions, and select readings, students will create their journal inserts on an individual basis. Provide students with paper, pencils, and storyframe.
Set a relaxing atmosphere by playing classical or soft contemporary music
in the background. Set your timer for 45-minutes, informing students that they will have an opportunity to complete this work during another session if it is not completed within the 45-minute time frame. The first two sessions will be used to create and edit the journal insert. The third session will allow extended time for those students have not completed the written portion of their project and/or to mount completed work.
Culminating Activity:
Hold an “Author’s Tea” where students will read aloud and showcase their literary creations before an audience of invited parents and school visitors. (Showcasing of student work at community-based venues, i.e., the children’s section of the Mitchell and Main Elm Street Branch Libraries, New Alliance Bank, and Board of Education headquarters at Gateway Center, will be scheduled.)
Related Excursion:
Visit to Yale Campus, Grove Street Cemetery, side streets along Dwight, Chapel, and Howe. With camera in hand, students will take snapshots of various ironwork fences. Children will zero in on fence-work design within the outlying community as compared to wrought iron fence work designs on Yale campus created by Samuel Yellin.
Conclusion
The New Haven colony underwent a major transformation between the 17
th
through 20
th
century. That transformation included a need for fences for myriad reasons and uses by diverse groups of people. By examining fences as material culture, we have obtained an up-close-and-personal view of New Haven history.
New transformations are taking place in 21
st
century, as populations and economic conditions shift and new New Haven communities develop. Centuries from now, others interested in knowing the history of our great city may use our research approach to evaluate
OUR
past. You-young researchers-may be the future historians and specialists to bring this study to the forefront through the use of fences as material culture!
Related Activity
:
Extend the unit study to encompass modern-day fences as they relate to the New Haven community. Have students brainstorm, record, and write about their observations, using the same activities and research format noted herein.
