Historians Hunt For Clues

Inspired by the book Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson, our class has started to investigate how to be historians.We are following Nelson through his journey, paying close attention to how he finds his way through his research. We notice the types of documents he looks at, where he gets new information and the type of thinking he does to piece it all together. And to add to the excitement, Richmond is a key place in his research.

   

 

To put our new understandings of the work of historians to practice, the children look over copies of documents from a certain time period in American history. The period remains a mystery. The children are looking for any information that will help them to identify the time and significant events. They are also trying to figure out what life was like for the people contained in these documents. But first, we need to figure out what the documents are. 

"Why does this one say the same words over an over?"

"I think these typed parts at the top are the question and these words are the answers"

"This has a date of 16/9/25! There is no 16th month!"

"This cursive is hard to read."

"I think this one is from someone who is going to Italy."

"No, I think it is the other way around. Someone is leaving Italy and coming to America."

 

"These names are weird, Carr William?"

"I think they are listing them with the last name first."

"These two were probably married because, look, 

they have the same last name."

"I think these strange letters are a different language."