Intermediate
GRADE 5 LESSON PLAN
Lesson: Mystery of The Old Suitcase
A participatory, in-school historical education program
designed to teach grades three to six about the history
of the O'Reilly family and Point Ellice House through
the use of objects, documents and photographs. The program
provides both an in depth experience of the O'Reilly family,
and a broader knowledge of 19th century upper class Victorian
life in British Columbia.
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Society and Culture
It is expected that students will:
- Demonstrate understanding of Canadian culture
- Explain ways people preserve and transmit culture
Organization & Scheduling
Suggested time: 1 hour class
Materials & Resources
Suggested Procedure
1. The teacher should print out the three clue
sheets, copies of the ten photographs, the eight letters
and the five pages of diary notes in this section of the
web site.
2. The teacher explains to the class that a curator's
job is to take care of all the rare objects (or "artifacts"
as curators call them) in a museum or historic site. Artifacts
include furnishings, clothing, china, cutlery, carpets,
photo, letters, diaries, tools, etc. Curators also undertake
research on artifacts to uncover clues and information
about the people who made or used the artifacts and about
their lifestyle, history etc. These clues are used to
design exhibits.
3. Today the class is going to do some historical
detective work (otherwise known as research) with some
"artifacts" in this suitcase. These "artifacts"
are copies or replicas of real things at Point Ellice
House. It's the job of the class to find clues from the
artifacts in order to figure out whose objects these were.
4. Write the following questions on the blackboard
and review with the students as they begin their "sleuthing"
or researching.
Q: Whose things were these?
A: The O'Reilly family - Kathleen, Peter, Caroline,
Mary Augusta, Frank and Jack.
Q: What do these objects tell you about their
owner?
A: They tell us where they lived - at Point Ellice
House. They tell us they were wealthy.
Q: What relation did these people have with each
other?
A: There was a mother, a father, two sisters
and two brothers.
Q: What happened to these people?
A: Mary Augusta died; Kathleen grew up and was
presented to Royalty; Peter was a Government Agent; etc.
Q: Is there any other interesting information
about the family?
A: List of nicknames: 'Pop', 'Kitty', 'Pussy'.
5. Divide the class into groups of four to six,
which should average approximately five groups.
6. Give each of the groups four or five pieces
of "evidence" (artifacts such as two or three
photographs, two or three letters, or diary notes). All
the "artifacts" should be distributed. Give
each group enough clue sheets for each piece of "evidence".
7. Ask them to study the "evidence"
and write the answers to the questions on the clue sheets.
Let them work quietly in their groups studying the artifacts
and writing notes.
8. After they have finished figuring out the meaning
of their group's artifacts, ask them to interview the
other groups to figure out the following information.
They may begin to do this without the teacher's prompting
as they grow more curious about whose objects these were.
9. Then have the students sit at their desks to
answer the blackboard questions.
10. Have the class summarize what they learned
from this detective work. Discuss how this is the kind
of work historians and curators do in museums all the
time.
Possible Assessment
- Mark the answers that students give to the questions
on the blackboard. The answers are provided. Students
should give answers that are similar to the ones provided.
These answers will show that they are thinking 'deeper'
about the artefacts and the exercise that they are completing
- You may also want to make anecdotal comments on the
group productivity. Look for things like: are they on
track? How do they approach the task? How do they attempt
to answer the questions on the clue sheets?
Extensions
- Suggest the students interview their families (grandparents,
etc) about ancestors and their lives. Prepare a story
about a grandparent's childhood. Focus the research
on where the grandparent lived (photo of thehouse),
a favourite toy (drawing ?), a special memory (family
celebration). Bring in a family artifact with a 'label'
explaining its significance. Display these in the classroom.
...[submit to this website for display]
- Another personal research topic which could have the
students produce a collage or storyboard exhibit would
be to research where and how one ancestor lived around
1850.
- A group research topic would be to interview and prepare
an exhibit on an 'elder' in the community. Questions
which might gather good information could include: (be
prepared with notepad or tape recorder; visit the person
at least once before interviewing; make sure they know
you are interviewing them...)
Aural History Interview
-suggested questions:
1.Where were you born?
2.When did you come to Canada? Where did you
come from?
3.When did you come to our country? Where did
you come from?
4.How did you travel?
5.Can you tell us a story about your first impression
of our country? A story about your trip from there to
here?
6.Where did you live when you first came here?
Where did you live as a child?
7.Tell us about the house(s) you grew up in.
8.Tell us about your family. What did your Dad
do? What was he like? What did your Mom do? What was she
like?
9.Tell us about one particular memory/story
about your childhood.
10.Where did you go to school? Tell us a story
about school.
11.Tell us a story about your first job?
- Generate class discussion around the following questions:
1.what is a museum?
2.what is a Repository?
3.what is an acquisition?
4.what is research?
5.what does it mean to educate/exhibit?
6.what does "rare" mean?
As the children answer, write the relevant words down
in order, and introduce vocabulary.
For example:
Student: "A museum stores old things"
Teacher: "Yes, a museum does store a lot
of things. Another word for a store house is a 'repository'
- a
museum is a repository for old objects"
OR
Student: "A museum collects things"
Teacher: "Yes, a museum collects 'artifacts'"
And so the exercise proceeds until you have the following
vocabulary words written down on the
blackboard:
Repository
Acquisition
Research
Educate
Teacher: "What do the first letters of the
four words spell?"
Answer: "RARE!"
Teacher: "You can always remember that objects
in a museum are rare -- special, unique and important.
- Have the students write a short story or draw a picture
of the sisters' activities on an afternoon in 1876.
- Print out a Point Ellice House poster, brochure and
invite the class to visit Point Ellice House, when in
Victoria.
- If possible, visit the grave of Mary Augusta and Kathleen
at the Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria.
Click here to
download a printable version of this lesson.
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