Students in Sherry Woods’ social studies resource class moved from table-to-table Tuesday, lifting up and closely examining artifacts from the Kansas Territory in the 1800s.
Some discussed what they thought the items were with their classmates, some kept their thoughts to themselves.
They then wrote down on a piece of paper what they believed each artifact to be or what it was used for.
Some of the artifacts were genuine, and some replicas, like old flags. All were from the most recent Traveling Resource Trunk sent to Parsons Middle School from the Kansas State Historical Society.
“We get the trunks about once a month. Mrs. Hope Smith orders the traveling trunks to go along with our standards-based lessons and she shares them with the resource social studies classes as well,” Woods said.
After all the students turned their sheets in, Mrs. Woods told the students what each item was.
Students had a pretty firm grasp of what some items were used for or were in close proximity, like old wooden and metal blocks with letters, used in printing newspapers, and an old shackle and chain. Others were more elusive, like an antique wooden corn husking peg.
One item that captured the students by surprise was a petticoat, in how it was used beyond an apparel item. They had guessed it was some kind of skirt, or slip. They thought the weighted items they felt in the hem were probably to hold the skirts down so the wind wouldn’t blow them up. Students learned the weights were actually ammunition women would sew into their petticoats during the Civil War to secretly get bullets to the troops.
“I think it’s really cool for the kids. I think it is great for the kids to actually be able to see it and touch it, actually experience the different artifacts and they get to use that higher level of thinking and think about what they were used for and how they were used,” Woods said.
Other Traveling Trunks students have the opportunity to examine include: Cattle Trail Cowboys, Corps of Discovery: Lewis and Clark in Kansas: Indian Homes in Kansas; Kansas Settlers; Kansas Symbols; The Life of a Civil War Soldier; Puzzles From the Past: Problem Solving Through Archeology; Trading on the Sante Fe Trail; and Uses of Buffalo.
Woods said she is new to the Traveling Trunks and is excited for her students to enjoy future Kansas Artifacts as they arrive.
“The Traveling Trunks are new to me. I really like them,” Woods said. “They are very interesting, and help students experience pieces of history.”
