Federal Writers' Project lesson plan - Tobacco bag stringing: Secondary activity six

This is one of a series of activities that will help educators use the Tobacco Bag Stringing project materials in their classrooms. Throughout the series students will learn about tobacco stringing, study primary source documents and visuals, and practice critical thinking and analysis skills.

This activity should be done after activity one, which is the introductory activity about tobacco bag stringing.

Learning outcomes

Students will read and evaluate primary source documents.
Students will experience historical empathy as they read of the lives of people who lived in North Carolina during the Depression.
Students will make connections between the biographical data they have examined and the stories from the Federal Writers’ Project.

Teacher planning

Materials needed

Computer(s) to access the American Life Histories site from the Library of Congress’ American Memory.
Copies of the four stories from the Federal Writers’ Project that include tobacco bag stringing: The Dunnes, East Durham Mill Village, The Haithcocks, and Mary Smith. If these are going to be assigned as homework, then you will need one copy for each student in the reading group.

Time required for lesson

One class period (or 1/2 class if stories are assigned the night before).

Procedure

If assigning the reading as homework, put students into four groups and give each group enough copies of one of the life histories. Each student is to read one of these stories as homework.
Using the computer, access the American Life Histories site from American Memory.
Introduce the students to American Memory.
Click on the special presentation, “Voices from the Thirties: An Introduction to the WPA Life Histories Collection” halfway down the webpage.
Show the introduction presentation. Particularly on pages 11, 13, and 16, discuss with the class that these stories, while primary source material, still are not as accurate as tape-recorded interviews. Ask them why that is so. You should also ask them if bias could affect either the interviewer or the interviewee. Is it possible that some of the writers took liberties to make their stories more readable?
Put the students into four groups. If the students have read the stories as homework, reconvene students in their original groups.
If they haven’t read the stories as homework, give each group a copy of one of the life histories. Have students read the history aloud to their group and discuss the story. If they have read the stories as homework, give them time to discuss the stories.
Move around to each of the groups to listen to discussion. If students have read the stories as homework use this time to be sure that the students have done the reading.
Using the jigsaw method, have the students get into new groups that have at least one student from each of the stories included.
Allow time for the students to tell their new group the story they read and discussed.
As a whole class, ask if these stories have made an impact on the way the students understand the lives of the workers. Allow the students to discuss portions of the life histories that have affected them.