American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > The Times They Are a Changing

The Times They Are a Changing

Details

Author
Jerry Hoyt
Topic/Subject Area
Gender, Gender Roles, Women; Immigration; Manners, Morals, Ethics; Military, Wars, Battles; Organizations, Associations, Societies, Clubs; Science, Technology; Transportation, Travel, Tourism
Historical Era
Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928
Grade Level
High School (9–12)
Creation Date
2004
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

This activity uses local primary documents from the early 1900s to focus on changes that gave rise to Ku Klux Klan activity in the late 1920s in the Pioneer Valley region of western Massachusetts. The goals of this activity are to strengthen student analytical skills. From this activity, students will understand that threats to traditional values and lifestyles can produce extreme responses.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
Websites

Teaching Plan

  1. Students are to brainstorm major developments that had a possible impact on life in the early 1900s and 1920s. These developments could include: automobiles, World War I, Prohibition, women’s rights, immigration, electrification, the Red Scare and movies and music.
  2. Model the process of analyzing a primary resource for local evidence of changes by discussing as a class one of the online collection items included in the Materials & Resources section. Ask students to identify local changes documented by this resource.
  3. Students are then to search the American Centuries web site for local evidence of the developments they brainstormed. Students will download 2 to 5 items and analyze them with respect to their meaning and impact on the local area. At least one of the items must be a written document or statistical data.
  4. Students will present their findings and their analysis to the class.
  5. Students will keep a list of the possible impact of the national developments in their area.
  6. Students will read and analyze the Official Bulletin of the Mohawk Klan and seek to explain it as a response to changes caused by the above national developments.