Constructing Historical Narratives:
Lake Norman as a case study of social, geopolitical, economic and historical change in the Charlotte region
Grade Levels:
7-9
Standards:
North Carolina Essential Standards
8.H.1 Apply historical thinking to understand the creation and development of North Carolina and the United States.
8.H.3 Understand the factors that contribute to change and continuity in North Carolina and the United States.
Objective:
Students will use primary sources from the Davidson College Library’s Archive and Special Collection “Under Lake Norman” to examine various manifestations of change across time in the Piedmont region of North Carolina and use these documents to construct a historical narrative that illustrates change over time.
Background:
Due to the transient nature of the Charlotte-area population, there are fewer and fewer Charlotte locals. Though this impermanent characteristic contributes to a more diverse population, often what is lost in exchange is a strong sense of local history. In an effort to provide students with fundamental knowledge about local history, the eighth grade Social Studies curriculum requires students to examine American history through the lens of North Carolina. The lesson below requires students to think like a historian by utilizing historical and archival data to construct a larger narrative about how Charlotte and its surrounding communities have evolved over time. Modifications and extensions will be provided for in class differentiation.
Essential Questions:
How do historians use data/documents to construct historical narratives?
How has Charlotte changed over time?
Lesson Materials:
- Teacher computer with projector
- Student computers
- Student access to Davidson College Archival Page “Under Lake Norman”
- Under Lake Norman Graphic Organizer
- Assessment Materials: Timeline, Cartoon, Short Answer Response
Lesson Activities:
- Warm Up: How do historians find out about the past? (project the question for students to respond in their notebooks). Provide approximately five minutes for students to think and brainstorm how it is that historians learn about events that occurred in the past. Students will commonly speculate that historians learn by reading in books. Extend their thinking beyond this by prompting students to consider how do historians discover new information about things that occurred in the past. Introduce students to the data collected on the Davidson College Archival Page “Under Lake Norman” to explain that historians use artifacts and archives like this to construct stories about the past. Explain to students that for this lesson they will be required to think and work like a historian by first reviewing the information provided in the database and then using it to construct their own narrative about how the Charlotte area has changed or evolved over time.
- Research: Using the Davidson College Archival Page, students will preview the various events, locations, and historic sites that are documented. Have students complete the Under Lake Norman graphic organizer to catalog the historical events and locations lost when Lake Norman was constructed.
- Constructing a historical narrative: Explain to students that they will use their graphic organizer to tell a story about how the Charlotte region has changed over time.
First, each student must select three events from their research to construct this historical narrative. Recommend that they select three events that share a common theme such as economy, settlers, culture. Identifying a theme will help them build a more fluid story of how Charlotte has changed over time.
Next, students will illustrate what they have learned about how Charlotte has changed by constructing their historical narrative. Student products will vary depending on student readiness. Multiple options are provided below:
- Timeline: have students use their graphic organizer to create an annotated timeline of how Charlotte has changed over time. Use the template to help students build a “first, then , then “ sequence. Reference the example for further detail.
- Cartoon: have students use their graphic organizer to create an illustrated narrative of how Charlotte has changed over time.
- Short Answer Response: have students use their graphic organizer to write a mini-essay on how Charlotte has changed over time. Student responses must reference the documents on the graphic organizer directly as evidence of research.