Our Western Town of 1878: Lesson 3
This will be a two day lesson, but the project will last a week.

Grade 4

1. Theme/Title of the day’s lesson with a brief description:
~ Creation of Our Town- Day 1/Characters: Today the students will begin to make their “Western Town of 1878” come to life by creating their characters two dimensionally, with the “About Me” worksheet.

2. Materials/resources needed:
~ Notebooks, revised notes from the “About Me” worksheet, pencil/pen, the “About Me” worksheet, markers/crayons/colored pencils, 2 pieces of blank drawing paper per student, tape and overhead pictures of western town’s people and Winona town’s people from 1878.

3. Goal(s) for today’s lesson:
~ The students will be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge required to logically create a realistic character that mimics the Western lifestyles of people from 1878.

4. Objectives for today’s lesson:
~The students will demonstrate their abilities to write neatly, with little or no grammar, spelling or handwriting mistakes.
~ The students will demonstrate their skills in creative thinking, decision making and coloring of two dimensional pictures of people.

5. Procedures
a. introductory experiences
~ The students will be asked to recall what they remember, from their prior research, about people from the western United States in 1878. More specifically they will be asked to brainstorm their physical features, interests and mannerisms. As they are brainstorming they should be jotting down little notes to remind themselves of what they are remembering. (5 minutes)
~The student will then be introduced to more people from 1878. (on an overhead, show some pictures of Winona towns people in 1878, just do not tell them yet) These people are actually from the Midwest, in fact they lived right here in Winona! Have the students start naming off some things that are similar between people of Winona and the people of the west that they have studied? Ask them what is different? Help direct their thinking, by pointing out similarities and differences. Also, have some pictures of people from the west in 1878 available on another overhead for the students reference when trying to make connections. (5 minutes)

b. developmental experiences:
1. Have the students take out the rough draft of “About Me” and the actual clean, unmarked “About Me” worksheet. This is the moment they have all been waiting for; they get to fill out the “About Me” worksheet. Sternly, remind them that this is to be done in their best cursive handwriting- not only will they be graded on them but, they will be displayed in the hall for all to see. Inform the students that all they are to be doing is copying their rough draft carefully to their final sheet, avoiding any eraser marks and mess ups. (the first drafts should already be corrected, there should be little to no grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes.) (15 minutes)
2. Once the students are done filling out the “About Me” worksheets, begin handing out two pieces of blank drawing paper to the students. (2 minutes)
3. Explain to them that now they will be creating a realistic drawing of what their character looks like. Using one piece of paper as scrap paper and putting the other piece of paper in their folders, they should construct a rough drawing of their character, while taking many things into account: their occupation, economic status, gender, age and obviously the location and year their town exists. Suggest that it may be wise for them to brainstorm around the border of the paper, while coming up with some ideas on what to draw. After all questions are answers, instruct them to begin. Suggest starting with a pencil and them embellishing from there. Inform the students that embellishing does not only mean adding color to the drawings, but also adding a background that accurately portrays what they have see through their research.(15 minutes)
4. As the students are finishing up with their rough drawings, have them take out their second piece of paper and begin to copy their drawing over to the blank sheet. Suggest that they may want to try tracing the outline of their person and fill in the details afterwards, if they think it would help, otherwise they can attempt if freestyle as well. Inform the students if they do not finish that it will be homework due the next day in class. Remind them to take their time and work neatly, because these, too, will be graded-not for artistic ability, but neatness and accuracy-and will also be hung in the hall. (Remainder of time- 2-3 minutes)

c. culminating experiences
6. Thank the students for their hard work brainstorming when discussing similarities and differences between the people of Winona and the people from Western America. (1 min)

6. Assessments used during lesson:
~ The assessments that were conducted by the teacher were mostly done observationally in today’s lesson. The teacher will also grade the students on their accuracy and neatness in handwriting on the “About Me” worksheet and the same in the drawings of their characters and backgrounds.

Citizens of Winona in the late 1870s: Look at the way they dress. What do you notice? How is it different from how we dress today?

Winona Citizens Continued…
A historical fact from 1878, the first bicycle is made in America; as you can see in the photos, Winona was no exception to jumping on this craze.

Winona Citizens Continued…

Western American Dress of the late 1870s: Notice how they dressed. How is it different from Winona citizens of this time? How is it the same?

http://www.skyways.org/orgs/fordco/photographs.html


Western American Dress of the Late 1870s Continued…

http://www.skyways.org/orgs/fordco/photographs.html





About Me

My name is ______________________.
I am __________ years old.
I am __’__” and weigh _______.
Personal Traits: (hair color, facial features, eye color, skin color, birthmarks etc. *It is understood that each character will be draw, but a description of each character will help us create a better image.)



My position/occupation in the town is _____________. (ie: child, doctor, miner, teacher)
- If I am a child my parents’ position/occupation is _____________. (ie: farmer, inn keeper)

Family Background: (Where did my family come from? What are my parents’ and siblings’ names? What is my role in the family? What are some family traditions? Etc.)



What is a typical day in the life of ________________, in the western town of _________? (speaking as the character) What are my hobbies? What do I do for entertainment? Who are my friends?