Lesson Plan: Rockford History Bingo
Amanda Becker
Grades: 5-12
Content Area:Rockford History
Illinois Learning Standards:
16.D.1 (US)- Describe key figures and organizations in the social history of the local community
16.D.1(W)- Identify how custonms and traditions from around the world influence the local community.
16.D.2b (US)- Describe the ways in which participation in the westward movement affected families and communities.
18.B.2a- Describe interactions of individuals, groups, and institutions in situations drawn from the local community.
Lesson Objective: The students will be able to define and recall important events, people, and places in Rockford history.
Motivational set: Candy for the winners is a great motivational set for all grade levels.
Procedure:
- The teacher writes all of the Bingo words on the board. Then pass out the blank Bingo cards to all of the students.
- The students take a few moments to write all of the Bingo words in the empty boxes of their Bingo cards.
- When all of the students have completed their Bingo cards, the teacher reads the Bingo word twice, states the definition, and then repeats the Bingo word twice again. The process in repeated until there is a winner.
- Advanced Bingo- If your class has studied Rockford history for the past few days, use this activity as a review for a test/quiz. How? Just read the definitions to the Bingo words, and see if the students can get Bingo by just knowing the definitions.
Closure: The teacher can use Socratic Method in order to review the key concepts of Rockford History, or the students can write a paragraph on Rockford history using the words they learned from the Bingo game.
Student Assessments:
Formative Assessment: The student will fill in their Bingo cards, and can use them as studying tools.
Summative Assessment: The students will be given a Rockford History Quiz or test over their Rockford History content knowledge.
Materials: Blank Bingo Cards, Rockford History Bingo Cards (on index cards), and a bag of candy for the winners.
Rockford Bingo Cards
(Note: for each definition, write the vocabulary word on one side of the index car, and the definition on the backside).
- Rockford- Name given to our city because of the “Rock ford” that early settlers used to cross the river.
- Blackhawk- Native American leader who fought against white settlement in Northwestern Illinois.
- Winnebago- Tribe that lived around the Rockford area, means “fish eater.”
- Sinnissippi- Means “rock river” and is now known as a park area along the Rock River.
- Germanicus Kent- settled in the Rockford area in 1833. He constructed a sawmill on Kent creek and sold land to settlers.
- Daniel Shaw Haight- Settled on the east side of the Rock River and was a rival to Kent’s settlement on the west side.
- Lewis Lemon- Kent’s slave for 10 years, was freed by paying Kent double the amount Kent originally paid for him.
- Barber shops- Early free African-American settlers to Rockford were prominate barber shop owners along State Street.
- WaterPowerDistrict- The Rock River provided power to all of the early factories in Rockford.
- RockfordCollege- Founded in 1847 as the Rockford Female Seminary, this institution for high learning taught prairie women art, music, history, literature, and classical studies.
- Reaper Machine- John Manny invented a reaper machine (harvester) in the 1850s. Most Rockford companies helped make them.
- Robert Tinker- Married John Manny’s widow, went on a trip to the Swiss Alps, (which inspired him to build his Swiss Cottage) and became mayor of Rockford.
- Swedes- After a crop failure in Sweden, mandatory military service, and religious unrest, many Swedes came to America. Rockford’s population of Swedes at its height was at 44 percent.
- Railroad- Came to Rockford in 1852 and brought the Swedes to Rockford because a pastor in Chicago told them to take it until the end of the line.
- Furniture- The Swedes developed lots of these factories in Rockford because they came from a part of Sweden where furniture making was a tradition.
- Sock Monkey- John Nelson’s Knitting Company made seamless “red-heel” socks. The employees made stuffed animals from them.
- CampFuller- A Civil War Training Camp that was located along North Main and Auburn Streets. It trained 3 Illinois regiments.
- CampGrant- A World War I and II training camp that was located where the RockfordAirport is now, it trained thousands of soldiers from across the country.
- Booker T WashingtonCenter- Was created as a place for African-American soldiers from CampGrant to relax and receive services. It now serves the community.
- MemorialHall- Located across from the main library, this building was constructed in honor of Winnebago veterans in 1903. President Theodore Roosevelt made a speech on its steps on its inaugural day.
- HarlemPark- Was Rockford’s AmusmentPark along the Rock River during the late 1800s to the 1920s. The park had a roller coaster, a picture palace, amusement rides, and a “lover’s lane.”
- Peaches Softball- Made famous by the 1992 movie, “A League of Their Own,” The All-American Girls Ball League team played at Beyer Stadium during the 1940s-50s.
- Gloria Cardenas Cudia- One of Rockford’s leading Hispanic Community Leaders, she served as the Rockford Park District Commissioner until 1990, and as a board member of the Rockford Public Schools.
- Fastener Industry- The machine tool industry grew s rapidly in Rockford during the 20th century, that Rockford earned the nickname, “Screw Capitol of the World.”