Acadian Memorial Foundation, Inc. - Save Our History Grant 2005 -2006

1. Access The Mural titled “The Arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana” and have students view it. Ask them to describe what they can tell about the people, environment, historical era, and emotions portrayed. What can they infer? How many children can they find?

2. Read the Mission statement on the Acadian Memorial Home page to the students. Ask them to share what they know about the Acadians. Then access The Wall of Names and discuss the number of names on it. Do they know of any other Memorials? Why are they usually built?

3. Have students complete the “K - What Do I Know” section of the KWL worksheet, then the “W - What Do I Want to Learn?” section.

4. Explain that “Cajun” refers to the same group of people. Ask students if they know any Acadians. Do they know if they are related to any? Distribute the Family Tree worksheet and have students complete as much as they can. Have them complete it at home by asking parents and other relatives for help. Ask them to choose one of the persons on their Family Tree to interview.

5. Follow the Save Our History Oral History lesson plan to help students prepare and conduct the interviews. If possible, have students use tape recorders to tape the interview, and take either video or digital pictures of the interviews for their records, then publish the histories in classroom or school newspapers. You may want them to use the worksheet Spoken History on page 9 for reporting their interviews.

6. Access the Ensemble Encore webpage and click on Life Lines. Have students search for any Acadian surnames they found in their Family Trees by typing them in the “Surname” box. Have them choose one name on the page they access, click on it, then print out the results, if possible. Ask them to discuss the information they found. Point out how they can find the same type of information as that needed for their own Family Trees, plus more on other life events. Discuss the “Sources” section, and have them name some of the places that biographical and genealogical information can be found.

7. Choose one of the activities on page 26 of the Save Our History Oral History lesson plan to complete the project. Worksheets that you might also want to use: Biopoems or Found Poems Worksheets. For Directions for the Biopoems Worksheet Click here.

Evaluation

1. Have students add new questions to the K and W sections of the KWL worksheet if they have any.

Extensions

1. Print out Response Journals and have students write about their interviews by responding to the statements. Have them work in groups to share their feelings about things they found out about their own families and the Acadians.

2. For more intense instruction and practice in interviewing, see Louisiana Voices, Unit 2. Students can learn how to plan research collaboratively, design research instruments, develop schedules and checklists, practice interviewing, and archiving materials.

Louisiana Content Standards

H-1A-M6 Conducting research in efforts to answer historical questions. (1, 2, 3, 4)

H-1D-M6 Examining folklore and describing how cultural elements have shaped our state and local heritage. (1, 3, 4)

H-1D-M1 Describing the contributions of people, events, movements, and ideas that have been significant in the history of Louisiana. (1, 3, 4)

ELA-1-M3 Reading, comprehending, and responding to written, spoken, and visual texts in extended passages. (1, 3, 4)

ELA-1-M5 Using purposes for reading (e.g., enjoying, learning, researching, problem solving) to achieve a variety of objectives. (1, 2, 4, 5)

ELA-2-M6 Writing as a response to texts and life experiences (e.g., letters, journals, lists). (1, 2, 4)

ELA-5-M3 Locating, gathering, and selecting information using graphic organizers, outlining, note taking, summarizing, interviewing, and surveying to produce documented texts and graphics. (1, 3, 4)