Seeing Through Lyddie's Eyes ~
A Historical Career Search

Overview Why is it important to study history and plan for a career? Students study the Industrial Revolution in order to make connections between historical events and their contemporary lives. Students visit the Lowell Mills and observe first-hand the experiences of working men and women during the Industrial Revolution. They relate this to Lyddie, which they read in class, and to two theatrical presentations. They participate in a Career Fair and a Job Shadowing trip to Sovereign Bank to observe and experience hands-on job skills. Classes also visit The Boston Globe to view the production of a newspaper. During these visits students observe first hand a variety of careers and the impact of technology on these careers. Finally, students write, edit and produce a Then and Now historical newspaper for community distribution.

Classroom Activities
Community Activities
Career Activities
• Read Lyddie, a work of historical fiction.
• Analyze the use of language, including non-standard written & oral English, by the characters in Lyddie.
• Write persuasive, descriptive, narrative &/or evaluative pieces in response to Lyddie.
• Attend performance by Young Audiences of Three Mill Girls
• Keep reflection journals.
• Complete Newspaper Prewriting Worksheet.
• Scan photos, drawings, advertisements & political cartoons into computer for newspaper.
• Create & publish Then and Now a historical newspaper featuring articles, article editorials & graphics.
• Visit Lowell Mills at the Tsongas Industrial Center
• Participate in a Career Fair focusing on how new technologies have created & reshaped careers today.
• Attend performance of Sojourner Truth A Woman Ain't I! at a local elementary school.
• Participate in Job Shadowing trip to Sovereign Bank.
• Write persuasive letter to The Boston Globe about child labor & sweat shops.
• Distribute Then and Now to middle school students, local elementary school students & neighborhood public libraries.
• Research child labor online & demonstrate how the Lowell mills exploited & altered the environment & then later on converted to technology.
• Interview Career Fair guests & students for their impressions of the day.
• Write thank you letters to career visitors.
• Interview guest artist from Young Audiences performance group.
• Role-play appropriate service techniques for Job Shadowing.
• Write thank you letters to job mentors.
• Read The Boston Globe .
• Take field trip to Boston Globe site.
• Use Globe's columnists as models for Then and Now.


Learning Standards English Language Arts & Social Studies
• Plan, draft, edit & publish three articles in a class produced Then and Now historical newspaper.
• Read, comprehend & analyze a variety of narrative expository & descriptive texts, videos & dramatic performances from primary & secondary sources.
• Explain how the development of new technologies changed women's economic & social opportunities in the first half of the nineteenth century, & compare that historical transition to contemporary technological, economic, & social developments.
• Convey the contributions made & hardships faced by immigrants to Massachusetts through writing fictional & non-fictional texts & drama.
• Compare the dialect, tone, & position of primary & secondary texts written from a variety of perspectives.
• Use graphical, mathematical, scientific, & written explanations to demonstrate how the mills exploited & altered the natural environment in New England.

School to Career Competencies
• Develop Communication & Literacy Skills.
• Organize & Analyze Information.
• Interact with Others.
•
Use Technology.
• Complete Entire Activities.
•
Act Professionally.
• Take Responsibility for Career & Life Choices.

Assessment Formative evaluation methods include journal reflection entries, other pieces of written work, class discussions, essays, webs, and quizzes. Summative evaluation methods include the MCAS ELA rubric (for key question essay), a rubric for the newspaper assignment ,self-evaluations, written & oral comments from recipients of our newspaper, and oral feedback on students' presentations from Career Fair guests.

Software or Materials Used Lyddie by Katherine Patterson 1994: Puffin; The Lowell Mill Girls Life in the Factory (Perspectives on History Series) edited by Joanne Weisman Deitch 1998: Discovery Enterprises Ltd; Microsoft Office; The Boston Globe

Web Sites Child Labour in the Nineteenth Century; Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution; Young Audiences a Bright Idea in Education (National); Young Audiences of Massachusetts; Boston Women's Heritage Trail

Keywords Career Education, School to Career, Industrial Revolution, Lyddie, Lowell, Boott Mills, Child Labor, Historical Newspaper, Humanities, English Language Arts, Social Studies; Young Audiences

Final Words Seeing Through Lyddie's Eyes helps students develop a number of skills, including: writing, conducting historical research using primary documents, integrating reading with experiential activities, recognizing the community as a resource for academic and career-oriented learning, and building competency with web-based, presentation, and word-processing software. It also enables students to share their learning with others through production of a historical newspaper, participation in a career fair, and discussion with others.

Teacher Tip I find it useful to have a colleague next door who reliably stays after school and types quickly. I am able to zoom through documentation of our project and development of activity sheets because I can work with a speedy- fingered friend. Find one for yourself!

E-mail contact Patricia Ouellet pouellet@boston.k12.ma.us

Teacher Bio Patricia Ouellet, a Boston Public School teacher, has taught elementary and high school classes for thirty-three years. As Job Shadowing Coordinator at John W. McCormack Middle School a School to Career school, she coordinates a career program with Sovereign Bank for eighth graders. Patricia has received awards from Emerson College for her work with Kids to College and from UMass Boston for her work in the Upward Bound Program. She has been a Chapter One Reading Specialist in the elementary and middle school, taught in grades 1 through 8 and is presently teaching Humanities. For the past ten years she has also taught writing to pre-freshmen at UMass Boston.

Subject Areas Humanities; English Language Arts; American History

Grade Levels 8 - 9

Students Bilingual, Special Education, Regular Education all programs

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