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Patchtowns: Big Industry, Little Towns
Procedures

Day 1


1. The class will form groups of no more than five students.


2. Each group will be given two pictures to interpret:



3. For each picture, the students will answer the following questions:



  • By observing the exteriors of the building, what materials were used to construct the building?

  • How substantial does the construction appear to be? Give details to support the answer.

  • Was the structure built simply for function, or was it also built for an aesthetic purpose?

  • What appears to be the present function of the building? What are the main clues to its present function?

  • Guess what the inside plan of the building is. Try to sketch the plan.

  • What kind of people originally used this building? Explain your answer.

  • Is the building being used for its original purpose? Explain.

  • Describe the area around the building.

  • What does the surrounding area tell you about the function of the building?

  • Was the building designed by a professional architect? Explain.

  • When was the building built? What are the clues?

  • What clues indicate that the building's appearance changed over time?



Day 2


1. Each group will write a general statement about structure, function, and people who used the buildings.


2. Each group will present their findings to the class.


3. The class will then synthesize the observations on the two buildings.



Day 3


1. The class will be separated into three groups. Each group will read one of the following (See Student Resources page for links to sources):



2. Each group will present their observations to the class dealing with communities in coal company patch towns, relating to living conditions for the coal workers and their families.



Day 4


1. The students will be told the true identity of the two buildings that they previously observed. (The one being the house of coal workers and the other being the house of a coal company owner.)


2. Using the information from the various readings, the students will now review their previous conclusions about the pictures of the two buildings.


3. Reassembling in the previous work groups, the students will make value judgments about the quality of the structure and the quality of the lifestyle of the occupants of both buildings.


4. The findings of the various groups will be presented to the class.



Day 5


1. Using the results of the various class discussions, each student will write a fictional first person narrative, using the point of view of a person living in a patch town in the later part of the 19th century or early part of the 20th century.



  • The narrator may be a miner, a miner's laborer, a miner's wife or child, or any other person whose life was controlled by the coal company.

  • The narrator should show both the good and bad aspects of life in a patch town.

  • The narrator should comment on how the residents of the town feel about the coal company's treatment of the people.

  • The narrative should be at least 500 words in length.


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