Cemetery+Studies+Strategy

Cemetery Studies Strategies GRADE LEVELS V' 3-5 V' 6-8 I CuLture II Time, Continuity, and Change IV IndividuaL DeveLopment and Identity Students visit cemeteries to look for patterns that allow them to explore population trends, conflicts, the influence of technology, and other social and cultural attributes. Patterns can be evidenced in birth dates, death dates, fraternal groups, military service, families, or social class. Students examine the layouts, headstones, and inscriptions in a cemetery to gather information about the life of a community. They then map these patterns for display when they return to the classroom. For example, if the cemetery includes a large plot dedicated to World War II casualties, but only a few headstones indicate World War I casualties, older students explore reasons for this discrepancy. Younger students take rubbings from building plaques or cemeteries back to the classroom. A tombstone rubbing is a primary source, and students use the rubbings as a springboard for research. PROCEDURAL RECOMMENDATIONS • Have students brainstorm questions for which they want to find answers when they are in the cemetery. These questions could involve patterns in dates, social or political groups, families, or class. Students write these questions on notebook paper to take with them into the field. • Arrange for students to receive basic instruction in using a digital camera; also instruct them in how to create a tombstone rubbing. Students will use both of these tools to gather data. Obtain permission from the community or church before doing tombstone rubbings. • Making a tombstone or metal plaque rubbing requires a large piece of blank light-colored paper and either a partner to stabilize the paper and keep it from moving or a quantity of masking tape to secure the paper to the stone. • It is best to go to the cemetery after the dew has burned off in the morning and when it is has not recently rained because water will soak through the paper and prevent the tape from sticking. • Use a dark-colored crayon (or a light-colored crayon on dark paper). Remove the paper from around the crayon, and rub the flat side of the crayon across the surface of the paper using a -- circular motion. • Deeply incised or raised lettering works best, but some folk art on tombstones can also be copied in this manner. • Be careful not to get any crayon wax on tl1e tombstone or to leave any tape or paper behind. • Have students carry graph paper into the field and draw a map to record where they gatl1er information. . • Direct students to check local ordinances related to cemeteries. Discuss witl1 them appropriate behavior in cemeteries. If another party is using tl1e cemetery, it is best to stay a significant distance away from tlut party or leave the cemetery and come back at another time. Voices carry in tl1e parklike expanse of the burial ground. Most of the time, school groups have cemeteries to themselves. Care does need to be exercised to make sure monuments are not inadvertently damaged. Students should refrain from stepping on flat stones and leaning or resting on raised stones because they may move slightly or topple off their base. Any items such as flags, stuffed animals, small toys, flowers, or wreaths left by the markers in a cemetery need _~ostay there. • In th-e cemetery, have students look for the answers to their questions; they should document evidence they believe relates to their questions and plot the position of this evidence on their map. • In the classroom, have students share their evidence with the class concerning the patterns they found and tell the class how they think they will answers their questions. Students can then compare the evidence they collected and assist one another in answering their questions. -0:::: group of third-grade students took pictures of seven tombstones in the parish cemetery of 0:-...1 on Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. They searched the graveyard for monuments witl1 _user:aarth521 Ie inscriptions from the colonial period. Students had to read the inscriptions and place =.:;' oros in chronological order; they created a time line from their work that they could sort
 * -:-= b\- binh date and then by death date. By recording distribution patterns on their map,

__':'~:l-determined that legible stone locations did not have a recognizable pattern. ==-_':'.:. - collected multiple photos, maps, and tombstone rubbings to share with other students in -= .:-. _-_":othergroup of third-grade students took a series of 10 photos of raised monuments. - --_~=one monument stood over 20 inches off the ground; they were a variety of shapes-ovals, -~-=-=;l . and spires. The students asked their peers to examine the monuments for common -:--:.=::::::s and to speculate why the colonial parishioners used the practice of elevated monuments. _£...= at the patterns they produced on their maps, students discovered that the elevated - _--'~:l-\\"ere located closer to the church. Students then formed hypotheses about why Capelle, J., & Smith, M. (1998). Using cemetery data to teach population biology and local history. American Biology Teacher; 60,690-693. Kincade, L. (1996). Resurrecting history in the high school classroom. Social Studies Review) 35(3), 10-11. Smith, S. (1998). Making German-American connections through culture projects. Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German) 31(1),55-58.