To many, history is something that happened in the past--always to someone else--and usually to someone famous. What many fail to realize is that the persons in the history books were real people, and that history is just a story of someone's journey in a given time, and in a given place. Within these pages we hope to present the evidence of those who made this journey in the Pace area.

This is a page in progress. It will contain some tips for taking the journey, and also lesson plans for teachers. Here are a few questions and ideas to get you started. Use the Web Site Search to find the information. You will also need to use a search engine like Google, or others, to find some of the data.

• Read some of the stories in the book section. Write a story of one of the characters, or make up a character, and use the material to help you visualize how he or she would have acted, dressed, lived. Your story might be humorous, or solemn.

• Look up data about the population of the Pace area since 1900. Make a graph showing the change.

• Look at how the environment was affected by changes in population and industry in the Pace area since 1900. Read what E. F. Skinner had to say about the pine forests. How can we protect the environment in a period of growth?

• See what you can find out about the health of residents in the Pace area since 1900. Find out what health organizations are available today.

• Make a table of good quotes about families, people, and life in the Pace area since 1900.

• Look at some of the pictures on the web site, for example, the picture of the Pace Mill. About how many workers can you count? How many are white, how many are black? Are there any boys? Women? Any men wearing ties? What do your answers tell you about working at a lumber mill? Students, make up your own questions about other pictures. (A great site for developing questions about what photographs tell us can be found at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/collections/pmap/thinking.html.)

• Look at pictures of homes in the Floridatown/Pace area. Tips for using these pictures may be found at http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/socialstd/grade1/Houses_Homes.html

  Lesson Plan for Grades 4-8

  Objective: To perform a community service project that will strengthen the communities in the Pace area.

  Activities:

  1. Oral History: Make a copy of the questions for the Oral History Interview. Write a letter of introduction to the potential interviewee, requesting the opportunity to interview, and include the list of questions. Use a tape recorder to record your interview. Use a camera to photograph any items the person you interview has collected.

  2. Write a brief biography of the person you interviewed. Add the most interesting part of the stories you recorded in your interview. Use the computer to write your biography. Add photographs where appropriate.

  3. Publish the biographies and stories in a class volume. Share the volume with the Friends of the Pace Area Library for inclusion in the Pace Area History Online.

   

  Bibliography

  Here are four excellent books that discuss in more detail interview techniques, problems, and ethics:

  • Robert A. Georges and Michael Owen Jones. People Studying People: The Human Element in Fieldwork. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1980.

  • Edward D. Ives. The Tape-Recorded Interview: A Manual for Field Workers in Folklore and Oral History. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1980.

  • Donald Ritchie. Doing Oral History. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1995.

  • Valerie Raleigh Yow. Recording Oral History: A Practical Guide for Social Scientists. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1994.

   

  Oral History Interview Questions

  This set of questions was developed to help students in making oral history interviews. Click here for a copy.

  The Steps to the Research Plan

A survey and analysis of the literature reveals common steps to take in doing research. These steps are listed below.

Step 1: Questioning

The student clarifies what new insight is required, or what problem needs solving. Thoughts on what data and insight are required to shed light on the main question and the smaller questions. What does the student already know? What is missing? What does the student not know?

Step 2: Planning

The student takes the questioning and begins to develop information-seeking strategies. Where might the best information lie? What information will provide insight? Which resources are reliable? How might technology (database? word processing file?) be employed to collect and organize findings once the gathering begins?

Step 3: Gathering

Begin to examine the various sources, one of which might be the Internet. If the planning has proceeded well, the time on the Net may be limited by careful selection of good information sites. It is essential that a wide range of data types (books, magazines, photographs, electronic text, etc.) be used. Students should save good information as they gather, since the next stage is to set aside the best insights in a database or word processing file.

Step 4: Sorting

This stage in the cycle requires systematic scanning of data to set aside that which will contribute to insight. One way to do this is to enter the title of the data into a database, then to add 3-5 main points brought out in this data. The student is looking for information which contributes to understanding.

Step 5: Synthesizing

The student arranges and rearranges the information fragments until patterns and some kind of picture begin to emerge. Synthesis is fueled by the tension of a powerful research question. The database may be rearranged by topic, pros and cons, etc.

Step 6: Evaluating

Early attempts at synthesis usually produce some frustration and a sense that the researcher needs to return for more information. The early shape of the puzzle suggests missing pieces which the researcher could not have pictured when originally planning the research. The student asks what more is needed. The cycle kicks in once more as questioning intensifies and leads to planning and more gathering. After several cycles, if the picture is reasonably complete, the evaluation stage suggests an end to the research cycle. It then becomes time for the reporting and sharing of insights - a related but somewhat separate stage.

After the initial gathering and evaluation of your information, it is usually necessary to repeat the cycle to gather more information and complete the investigation.

Repeat Process!

questioning (before)
planning (before)
gathering
sorting & sifting (after)
synthesizing (after)
evaluating (after)
reporting


Activity:

Group discussion of how these stages might work for a team of students trying to decide which area in Santa Rosa County their families might select as a new home.