Activity 4: Story following in city neighborhoods

Setting: City neighborhoods

Estimated time: 90 minutes

Resources needed: Access to a story line authored by another group; device such as a smartphone or tablet to view and listen to media

Organization: Participants work in small groups (between 3 and 6) with adult supervision where necessary

Purpose: Teams to experience following a story line. Groups should ideally be visiting an area or following a theme which presents a different route and materials to those they have already worked with.

Activity structure: Participants work in their groups to follow a story line authored by another team. If possible, the groups should be visiting an area or exploring content that they have not already worked with. This allows for the comparing and contrasting historical material and may facilitate conversations about counternarratives in the same period of history.

Facilitators should ensure adequate access to the digital story lines on smartphone devices or tablets and may wish to provide headphones to ensure all audio content is accessible to participants. After returning to the classroom, groups may offer feedback on the story line to the authors.

Example: Students following a story line using an iPad. Both participants are listening to an oral history clip of a local resident describing an urban renewal project in the city to construct a new section of interstate across an African American neighborhood. The area was a key location for R&B and jazz music during the 1960’s.