Synthesize and Share

Relevant Standards: This lesson meets Michigan Content and Benchmark Standards for Social Studies:

I:2 Analyzing and Interpreting the Past, I:3 Judging Decisions from the Past, V: 2 Conducting Investigations

And Literacy: V: 4 Culture and Common Heritage

The following two sections, “Putting it all Together” and “Sharing Your Story with Others” help the students to synthesize what they have learned by looking at primary sources and compile the information to share it with others.

Objective: Students will cull what they have learned from looking at documents, oral histories, artifacts, and other primary sources. They will synthesize the information gained about the past to create a narrative history. Students will practice reading comprehension, and utilize informed judgment to interpret, organize, and report their research about the past.

Activity 1: Putting it all Together

1. Explain to students that once they have gathered the necessary information to answer their questions about the Fruit Belt, they need to organize what they have learned and put the information together to form a narrative about the past.

2. Students should complete the worksheet “Putting it all together." (View Teacher’s Version; also available when downloading this entire lesson as PDF) We have also included a handout that provides some more sample research paths for students. It poses several possible research questions and outlines the types of resources that would help students investigate local history, providing useful tips for research.

3. Advanced Students– Extension Research Project: Distribute the extension research project questions on the handout "Putting it all together" (available when downloading entire lesson as PDF). Have students complete written research reports (2-5 pages) that answer the questions posed and attempt to utilize the sources suggested.

Activity 2: Sharing Your Story with Others

1. Distribute the hand-out “Sharing Your Story with Others” and have students complete the worksheet. This reading comprehension activity explains the various methods historians use to share their research with the public: arts and crafts, literature, music, museum exhibits, and preservation.

2. Have students complete a “Share Your Story” project. “Create a Fruit Belt Scroll” can be completed in groups or individually. “Write a Fruit Belt Play” and “Create your own Fruit Belt exhibit” work best as team or whole-class projects.

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Michigan Curriculum Framework (PDF) / CURRICULUM GUIDE MATERIALS

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY / FT. MIAMI HERITAGE SOCIETY OF MICHIGAN