Postcard Exploration Stragegy

Benefit: This activity allows students to learn about the past from authentic pieces of history. Students will learn to develop empathy and a deeper understanding of the past from narratives written in firstperson. They learn why postcards are a valuable primary resource and can be used to support ideas. Materials: Collection of written postcards To incorporate technology, provide websites which students can use to find and read postcards Textbook: Integrating Language Arts and Social Studies Pages postcard exploration (118-121) Postcard data sheet for every student (127,128) Procedure: Explain to students that one way to learn about the past is by studying artifacts like postcards from long ago. Postcards can provide answers about people, events, and personal thoughts from a person of that time period. Modeling: Place a postcard image up on the board and ask guided questions: What does the image tell about when it was sent? What do you find most interesting about the image? Does any of this seem similar to your own experiences? What is the message about? How are the sender and the recipient related? Small Group Work: Students will be placed in a group to discuss their particular postcard found on the website or with physical samples. After ten minutes of discussion, students will complete their discovery data sheet. Individual Work: Have students create a postcard and write a response to the sender as if they were the addressee. The students will use the details from their discovery sheet to ensure they stay true to the ideas, events, and time period as they are corresponding.