Brandi Jackson
Historical Research Project
July 22, 2011
Overarching Title: The Invention of the Telephone
Narrative: The topic of this unit is the invention of the telephone within the concept of then and now. Students will learn about the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell, how it has evolved over time, and its impact on our lives today. This unit has been developed for primary elementary grade levels with a focus on first grade. The unit length is approximately four weeks.
Title: Telephones Then and Now
Primary Concepts: Then and Now, Creation
Outcome Statements:
- Students will learn about the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.
- Students will learn how the telephone evolved throughout time.
- Students will learn how peoples’ creative use of tools continually impacts society.
Unit Organization:
Learning Outcome 1: Students will learn about the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.- Comprehension Strategy—R.A.N. (Reading and Analyzing Non-Fiction) Chart
Resources
Assessments
- Social Studies Strategy—Custom Boxes
Resources
Assessments
- Social Studies Strategy—Interactive Bulletin Board/Timeline
Resources
Assessments
- Vocabulary Strategy— Word Bank
Resources
Assessments
- Activity—Make a telephone with cups and string and talk to your partner.
Resources
Assessments
- Writing Strategy—Whole class R.A.F.T. (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) prompt
Resources
Assessments
Learning Outcome 2: Students will learn how the telephone evolved throughout time.
- Field Trip to the Wayne County Historical Museum
Resources
Assessments
- Writing Strategy—List
Resources
Assessments
- Comprehension Strategy—Graphic Organizers: Venn Diagram
Resources
Assessments
- Comprehension Strategy—Compare and Contrast
Resources
Assessments
- Math Strategy—Weight and Measurement
Resources
Assessments
- Social Studies Strategy—Economics
Resources
Assessments
Learning Outcome 3: Students will learn how peoples’ creative use of tools continually impacts society.
- Comprehension Strategy—Think, Pair, Share
Resources
Assessments
- Writing Strategy—Using technology to inform others
Resources
Assessments
- Social Studies Strategy—Guest Speaker
Resources
Assessments
- Final Project & Presentation—Be an inventor
Resources
Assessments
Hook:Borrow the most original example(19th century) of a telephone from the Wayne County Historical Museum.Show it to the students and tell them to begin thinking about what it is, what its purpose is, and their reasoning. Group students and let them discuss. Each group can have a few minutes to examine it. Once the groups have shared their ideas, allow the students to generate questions about it themselves.
Overview:
Learning Outcome 1: Students will learn about the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.
Listed below is a collection of strategies that can be used to achieve Learning Outcome 1. The strategies are listed in the order in which they should be taught to assess pre and post learning. If children’s books are listed below the strategy as a resource, they should be used as a read aloud to give students more information. There are additional children’s books listed in final Resources that are directly related to the topic and some that provide additional information about the 19th century.
- Comprehension Strategy—R.A.N.(Reading and Analyzing Non-Fiction) Chart (on-going throughout the unit)— Students will generate a list of things they think they know about the first telephones. Teacher will write these ideas on post-it notes to place in the “What we think we know…” column. As the unit progresses, ideas will be moved to the “Confirmed Learning…” or the “Misconceptions…” . New ideas that were not on the original list will be written on post-it notes and place in the “New Learning…”.
What we think we know… / Confirmed Learning… / Misconceptions… / New Learning…
Indiana Academic Standards
English/Language Arts
1.2.7 Relate prior knowledge to what is read.
1.4.5 Identify a variety of sources of information and document the sources.
1.4.6 Organize and classify information by constructing categories on the basis of observation.
1.7.5 Use descriptive words when speaking about people, places and things.
Social Studies
1.1.9 Use the library and other information resources to find information that answers questions about history.
Resources—
Reality Checks, by Tony Stead
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Social Studies Strategy—Custom Boxes—The teacher will prepare multiple boxes for students to investigate in groups. The boxes will include items from the 19th century such as photographs, newspaper clippings, letters, miniatures of items, toys, etc. Students will explore the boxes in groups and become familiar with what life looked like in the 1800’s.
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
1.1.1 Compare the way individuals in the community lived in the past with the way they live in the present.
1.1.9Use the library and other information resources* to find information that answers questions about history.
Resources—
50 Social Studies Strategies for K-8 Classrooms, by Kathryn M. Obenchain & Ronald V. Morris
Bell’s Patent for the Telephone
Civil War era replicas of posters, currency, etc.
“Using Bell’s Original Telephone Apparatus [Photograph].”
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Social Studies Strategy—Interactive Bulletin Board/Timeline(on-going throughout the unit)—Students help create a bulletin board/mural with information learned throughout the unit. It will be represented in the form of a timeline with student generated writing and drawings about events. Photographs and other artifacts can also be added.
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
1.2.4Describe ways that individual actions can contribute to the common good of the community.
Resources—
50 Social Studies Strategies for K-8 Classrooms, by Kathryn M. Obenchain & Ronald V. Morris
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Vocabulary Strategy— Word Bank (on going throughout the unit)—Students will write vocabulary words relating to the unit and display the words on the Interactive Bulletin Board/Timeline.
Indiana Academic Standards
English/Language Arts
1.2.5 Use context to understand word and sentence meanings
1.7.5Use descriptive words when speaking about people, places, things, and events.
Resources—Use words that students will be introduced to throughout the unit by looking through children’s books and websites that you will be using to teach.
Assessment (s)—Multiple choice or matching test to assess vocabulary learned throughout the unit.
- Activity—Make a telephone with cups and string and talk to your partner. Then discuss if it worked and how.
Indiana Academic Standards
Science
1.1.2Investigate and make observations to seek answers to questions about the world, such as “In what ways do animals move?”
Resources—
How to make a cup and string phone
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Writing Strategy—Whole class R.A.F.T. (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) prompt—Students will be given the following writing prompt: As a reporter, write a newspaper article about the invention of the telephone and Alexander Graham Bell, for readers in the 1870’s.
R / A / F / T
Reporter / Readers in the 1870’s / Newspaper / Invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell
Indiana Academic Standards
English/Language Arts
1.5.5 Write for different purposes and to a specific audience.
1.6.2 Write in complete sentences.
1.6.6 Correctly use periods.
1.6.7 Capitalize the first word of a sentence, names of people and the pronoun I.
Resources—
Newspaper articles to use as examples
Assessment—6+1 writing traits rubric
Learning Outcome 2: Students will learn how the telephone evolved throughout time.
Listed below is a collection of strategies that can be used to achieve Learning Outcome 2. The strategies are listed in no specific order and can be used in their entirety or substituted/enhanced with additional strategies listed in final Resources. If children’s books are listed below the strategy as a resource, they should be used as a read aloud to give students more information. There are additional children’s books listed in final Resources that are directly related to the topic and some that provide additional information about the 19th century.
- Field Trip to the Wayne County Historical Museum to see examples of how telephones have changed over the years. Students will also observe other artifacts from the 19th century to gain an understanding of how life was for people living during that time. This will include automobiles and the connection to telephones in the 20th century.
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
1.1.1 Compare the way individuals in the community lived in the past with the way they live in the present.
1.1.9Use the library and other information resources* to find information that answers questions about history.
Resources—Museum director, Jim Harlan, has a lot of stories to share about our history.
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Writing Strategy—List—Asa class, list ways to communicate with friends and family in the 1800’s, then have groups of students list ways to communicate now. You may have students browse websites about 19th century life.
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
1.1.1 Compare the way individuals in the community lived in the past with the way they live in the present.
English/Language Arts
1.4.6Organize and classify information by constructing categories on the basis of observation.
1.5.5Write for different purposes and to a specific audience or person.
Resources—Your choice of children’s books listed in final Resources and/or websites that your students investigate.
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Comprehension Strategy—Graphic Organizers: Venn Diagram—compare and contrast telephones then and now
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
1.1.1 Compare the way individuals in the community lived in the past with the way they live in the present.
Resources—
Wayne County Historical Museum examples
“Using Bell’s Original Telephone Apparatus [Photograph].”
video with pictures of evolution of phones
video with more pictures of telephones accompanied with dates (years) of progression
video with pictures along with some descriptions
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Comprehension Strategy—Compare and Contrast—Take a look at the difference between 19th century phone books and current phone books. Talk about similarities and differences within a group. Notice the number of telephone numbers in the books as the years progress and how the numbers change.
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
1.1.9Use the library and other information resources* to find information that answers questions about history.
Resources—
Photographs of 19th century telephone books from Morrison Reeves Library
Current telephone books
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Math Strategy—Weight and Measurement—Borrowtelephones and cell phones from the Wayne County Historical Museum (several different styles and forms) and have students compare them based on size, length, weight. Students can measure using inches and centimeters.
Indiana Academic Standards
Math
1.5.1 Measure the length of objects by repeating a nonstandard unit or a standard unit.
1.5.4Measure and estimate the length of an object to the nearest inch and centimeter.
1.5.5Compare and order objects according to area, capacity, weight, and temperature, using direct comparison or a nonstandard unit
Resources—
Telephones from Wayne County Historical Museum
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Social Studies Strategy—Economics—Lookat ads in the telephone books, newspaper articles, and ads from the 19th century to locate the costs of phones, telephone lines, and the services available for that price. Then students will look in current magazines, ads, websites to locate the costs of phones, land lines, cell phone packages, and the services available today. Finally compare the differences in the cost and services provided then and now. Groups can create a graph to represent their findings.
Indiana Academic Standards
Social Studies
1.1.1 Compare the way individuals in the community lived in the past with the way they live in the present.
Math
1.1.10Represent, compare, and interpret data using pictures and picture graphs.
Resources—
Photographs of 19th century telephone books from Morrison Reeves Library
Current telephone books
Newspaper/Cellular phone ads
Magazines
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
Learning Outcome 3: Students will learn how peoples’ creative use of tools continually impacts society.
Listed below is a collection of strategies that can be used to achieve Learning Outcome 3. The strategies are listed in no specific order and can be used in their entirety or substituted/enhanced with additional strategies listed in final Resources. If children’s books are listed below the strategy as a resource, they should be used as a read aloud to give students more information. There are additional children’s books listed in final Resources that are directly related to the topic and some that provide additional information about the 19th century.
- Comprehension Strategy—Think, Pair, Share—Why do you think there was a need for cell phones? What other ways do we communicate electronically? While sharing, help students make the connection between cell phones and e-mail, chatting on the internet, etc.
Indiana Academic Standards
English/Language Arts
1.2.3Respond to who, what, when, where, why, and how questions and recognize the main idea of what is read.
1.2.7Relate prior knowledge to what is read.
1.7.3Give, restate, and follow simple two-step directions.
Resources—
Inside a Telephone By John Bassett
TURNING POINT INVENTIONS: TELEPHONEby Sarah Gearhart
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
- Writing Strategy—Using technology to inform others—Writeletters/ e-mails to family members about how the invention of the telephone has changed our lives.
Indiana Academic Standards
Writing
1.5.5 Write for different purposes and to a specific audience.
1.6.2 Write in complete sentences.
1.6.6 Correctly use periods.
1.6.7 Capitalize the first word of a sentence, names of people and the pronoun I.
Resources—
Examples of letters
Assessment (s)—6+1 Writing Traits Rubric
- Social Studies Strategy—Guest Speaker—Invite a local entrepreneur into your classroom to talk to students about their experiences.
Indiana Academic Standards
English/Language Arts
1.7.1Listen attentively.
1.7.2Ask questions for clarification and understanding.
Resources—
Assessment (s)—Teacher observation, checklists, anecdotal notes
Final Project & Presentation—Be an inventor—What would you change to make better? What new ideas do you have that no one has thought of before? Teacher will discuss project expectations with students and post in the classroom. Students can work individually or in groups to create a product and they will present their invention to the class.
Indiana Academic Standards
English/Language Arts
1.7.4Stay on the topic when speaking.
1.7.5 Use descriptive words when speaking about people, places, things, and events.
1.7.9Provide descriptions with careful attention to sensory detail.
1.7.10Use visual aids, such as pictures and objects, to present oral information.
Resources—
The Kids' Invention Book (Kids' Ventures)by Arlene Erlbach
Three Cheers for Inventorsby Marcia Williams
So You Want to Be An Inventor?by Judith St. George and David Small
Assessment (s)—Common Assessment Rubric of Student Products
Unit Resources
*Resources labeled with T=Transportation, L=Local, S=State, R=Regional. All other resources are National and most are directly related to Communication. All strategies listed were used in unit.
Writing Strategies
- Letters/e-mails to family members
- Create a phone book and/or address book
- List of ways to communicate then and now
- RAFT prompt for whole class
Vocabulary Strategies
- Balderdash
- Jeopardy
- Word Wizard
Comprehension Strategies
- R.A.N. (Reading and Analyzing Non-fiction)
- Visualizing
- Questioning
- Beginning, Middle, End Chart
- Sequencing
Math Strategies
- Graph phones in home/family
- Measure and/or weigh styles of telephones from different time periods
Social Studies Strategies
- Museum Exhibit: Examples of how phones changed over time
- Time Lines: Plot the invention of the telephone, first call, etc.
- Graphic Organizers: Venn Diagram
- Guest Speakers: Experts on how telephones work visit class
- Interactive Bulletin Board: Students research in groups and record/create
- Field Trips of Distinction: Visit local telephone company
- Custom Boxes: Introduce students to “then” through photos, newspapers, etc.
Experiment
- Build a cup and string phone and try with a partner
Role Play
- Reader’s Theater—first telephone call
- Simulation—before the telephone was invented
Field Trips
- Train Depot—Visiting old tracks and hearing historical stories from local citizens such as Roger Richert or Jim Harlan
- Wayne County Historical Museum
- Visit a local telephone company or invite someone from the company to visit the class and explain how telephones work and how that technology has changed since its invention.
Children’s Books directly connected to this unit
Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone: The Invention That Changed Communication (Milestones in American History)by Samuel Willard Crompton
This book is about Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone.
Did You Invent The Phone All Alone, Alexander Graham Bell? (Scholastic Science Supergiants)by Melvin Berger