Life Wasn't ALL Work!
by Amy Reed
Dennis Mellang
Grade Level: 8
Duration: One-week thematic unit
Introduction:
One might gain the impression--and rightly so--that making a living
from the land on a 19th-century cattle
ranch was nearly continuous work. However, there were chances for leisure.
The true irony of it all is that
the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Park Site, once a fully "working"
cattle ranch, is now a place where 30,000 visitors each year spend "leisure"
time. Within this lesson students will learn how people of various ages
and positions on the ranch entertained themselves in the era of Western
settlement.
Subject: Social Studies, Ranch Life
Theme: People on an open-range cattle ranch had time for play as well
as work.
National Standard (from the National Council for the Social
Studies):
II--Time, Continuity, and Change
III--People, Places, and Environments
State Standard (Montana):
I--Students access, synthesize, and evaluate information to communicate
and apply Social Studies knowledge to real world situations.
IV--Students demonstrate an understanding of the effects of time, continuity,
and change on historical and future perspectives and relationships.
VI--Students demonstrate an understanding of the impact of human interaction
and cultural diversity on societies.
Museum Objects from Grant-Kohrs NPS:
Cowboy Family Adult Children
Activities:
Bring to class and examine (using one or both worksheets, listed below) examples of parents' and grandparents' entertainment, related to earlier eras when they were children.
Examine (using one or both worksheets, listed below) archival
photos and artifacts from the Grant-Kohrs NPS
website gallery.
Compare and contrast the above photos and artifacts.
Cowboy Legacy, Fiddlin' Johnny (CD or cassette)
Listen to examples of folk music, for example:
Folk Songs of North America, by Alan Lomax (book of music)
Selected readings:
from Overland to the Gold Fields of California in 1852, by John Hawkins
Clark, May 6, 1852 entry
from The Montana Frontier 1852-1864, by Granville Stuart, pages 193-194
from Letters of a Woman Homesteader, by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, pages
54-59
from We Pointed Them North, by E.C. (Teddy Blue) Abbott, pages 220-232
Include:
Vocabulary the word and concept of "leisure," past and present
Worksheets (download from website) "How to Read an Object"
and "Learning from Museum Objects and Other Sources"
Students' artifacts collected and brought to class
Books and music resources listed above
Oral histories as feasible
Site Visit--Grant-Kohrs National Park Site, Deer Lodge, Montana (http://www.nps.gov/grko)
Extension Activities:
Teach students games (with which they are not already familiar), songs,
and stories of the period
Assessment/Objectives:
Students are able to explain (in a chosen or assigned format-discussion,
participation, oral, written) how people of various ages and roles spent
leisure time.
Students are able to explain the importance of leisure time during the
era of Western settlement.
Students are able to explain the difference.