A Living History of Old Salem

This lesson plan was created by the classroom teacher, the resource teacher and the media coordinator to include all students and every learning style. Prior to the trip, students will be trained and will practice their skills with the Flip video and digital cameras by the media coordinator. Each study partner will research a house, the owner, and their Moravian trade prior to their visit. They create personal diaries based on their research of the Moravian diary at www.learnnc.org. The students also use the "Dear America" series as a resource for understanding diary entries while completing their own. The inclusion class, as taught by the resource teacher, will be trained to use the digital cameras to create present history of our class with captions while at Old Salem. This will be used to compare our present day experience with our new knowledge of historical Old Salem.

During the field trip, students will take Flip video of the tradesmen (living history characters) and writers, or scribes, will record historical information. Together they will compile a living history diary video. The photographers will take pictures of our class as they experience Old Salem and create captions for each picture. These students will also interview their classmates to gather more information about the field trip.

Upon returning, the students will begin to compile the Power Point presentation with the help of the Technology Specialist. Students must include video, digital pictures, diary entries, and the audio for each entry. The final product will be attached to the classroom teacher's school website for students and parents to enjoy.