Students investigate how stories, objects, and places reveal the history of their community by analyzing local primary and secondary sources and connecting them to lived experiences in their families, neighborhoods, and school. Through the History Hunters Kickoff, research stations supported by the public library’s local history archivist, peer feedback, and brief reflections, students practice questioning, sourcing, corroboration, collaboration, and evidence-based discussion. The learning experience culminates in a Then and Now Storywalk and mini gallery walk where students present annotated documents, a timeline, and a claim about how the past still shapes the present.

Students will investigate how local stories, objects, and places reveal community history by analyzing primary and secondary sources, including photographs, maps, newspapers, and records from the public library archivist. They will conduct a short research investigation, generate focused questions, evaluate source credibility, and gather evidence to build a claim that connects the past to a present-day family, neighborhood, or school story. Students will collaborate in discussions, use peer feedback to revise annotations and timelines, and communicate their findings through a mini gallery walk and a Then and Now Storywalk for visitors. They will also reflect on how evidence from community sources shapes their understanding of local history and their own connection to it.

Students create investigation artifacts across the four days, including source annotation sheets, evidence notes from the mystery object/photo/map launch, a collaborative local history timeline, and a short audio or written reflection linking one source to a family, neighborhood, or school story. Midway through, they produce annotated documents and a draft claim poster, then use peer feedback check-ins to revise with one stronger piece of evidence or one new research question. The culminating product is a Then and Now Storywalk for the classroom or hallway, featuring student-made signs that connect a local place, object, or person from the past to the present using images, captions, and cited evidence from primary and secondary sources. Students also prepare a mini gallery walk display with their timeline, annotated sources, and final claim poster to guide visitors and invite responses on a shared reflection board.

Open with a “History Hunters Kickoff” in which students rotate through three fast stations: a mystery object table, a photo clue corner, and a map prompt featuring local places, artifacts, and people. At each station, students record what they notice, what they wonder, and how the clue might connect to the question of what stories around us reveal about community history. Bring in digitized newspapers, city records, and family history images from the public library’s local history archivist so students immediately experience real sources and begin comparing evidence across stations. Close with a whole-class debrief that surfaces possible investigation topics and ends with a quick written prediction about one family, neighborhood, or school story they want to explore.

Host a Then and Now Storywalk in the classroom or hallway where students display their signs, annotated documents, timelines, and final claim posters in a sequence that answers the essential question. Invite families, school staff, classmates, and the public library local history archivist to join a timed gallery walk, with students stationed as guides to explain how a place, object, or person from the past connects to the present through evidence from primary and secondary sources. End the exhibition at a shared reflection board where visitors add memories, questions, or connections to neighborhood, family, or school stories. If in-person attendance is limited, create a simple digital version with photos of each display and student audio reflections linked by QR codes.