Lesson 6: The Daily Experience of the Laurel Grove School, 1925

Objectives

Students will:

1.    Analyze primary source photographs, artifacts, and documents to appreciate the daily experience of being a student at the Laurel Grove School.

2.    Read, listen to, and discuss oral history (excerpts) from Laurel Grove School students to understand the daily experience of being a student at the Laurel Grove School.

3.    Put their observations from primary sources into historical context by consulting secondary sources.

4.    Use what they have learned in this and previous Laurel Grove School lessons to create a visual exhibit or and oral presentation to share with students from another class.

High school students will:

1.    Read excerpts from Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, and discuss the relative merits of the their views on educating African Americans during the Jim Crow era.

Grade Level

4, 6 or 7, and 11

Duration

Estimated time is 2, 45-60 minute periods, but feel free to adapt this lesson to your needs.

Standards

Grade 4: Virginia Studies

VS.1 The student will develop skills for historical and geographical analysis and rsponsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) identify and interpret artifacts and primary and secondary source documents to understand events in history; (c) compare and contrast historical events; (e) make connections between the past and the present; (g) interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives; (h) evaluate and discusses issues orally and in writing.

VS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the reconstruction of Virginia following the Civil War by:  (b) identifying the effects of segregation and "Jim Crow" on life in Virginia.

Grade 6 or 7: United States History II – 1865 to the Present

USII.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) analyze and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history from 1865 to the present.

USII.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how life changed after the Civil War by: (c) describing racial segregation, the rise of "Jim Crow," and other constraints faced by African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South.

Grade 11: Virginia and United States History 

VUS.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary source documents, records, and data, including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals, newspapers, historical accounts, and art to increase understanding of events and life in the United States.

VUS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by: (c) analyzing prejudice and discrimination during this time period, with emphasis on "Jim Crow."