Goals and Objectives--Grades 9 - 12
Voices and Choices--Arthur Turner
Note: It is a good idea to print
Level Three for easy reference.
Arthur Turner is a successful Chicagoan who has
decided to move his family of three from their modest apartment
above his wife's clothing store to larger quarters. He is choosing
between restoring an old Victorian mansion in his neighborhood or
moving his family to the suburbs.
These themes can be explored with either a social studies or
language arts curriculum. Use these themes to tie in other
resources to your class discussion, i.e., other books, other
cultures, students' own lives.
- Urban homesteading-- the rehabilitation of declining
urban neighborhoods during a time of middle class flight to the
These questions, which come at the end of each story (minus "the
answer"), can be used to start class discussions or be assigned as
According to Arthur Turner, why do people leave the city for
According to Arthur Turner, people who can afford a home in the
suburbs are moving because they feel that the schools and services
are better and that they don't have to worry as much about
Would you prefer to live in a city, the suburbs, or a rural
You might take a poll to see which living space is most popular
among students. Ask students to list aspects of the urban
lifestyle, the suburban lifestyle, and the rural lifestyle.
From your perspective, what are the pros and cons of moving
from a city like Chicago to the suburbs? Would you prefer to live
in a city or the suburbs? Why?
Public schools and services may be better in the suburbs and
crime may be less apparent. There are disadvantages to leaving a
city. One has less exposure to people from different ethnic
backgrounds in suburbs, which can become enclaves of only one or
two races. Living in the suburbs one is dependent on a car for
daily activities whereas most cities have public transportation.
Suburbs may lack the history and vitality of city
How many times have you moved in your lifetime?
Some students may have moved many times and others few. You may
have the rare student who grows up in the same house as their
mother or father. You might discuss with students how mobile our
society is with regard to other countries where families live in
the same area for generations.
Do you have a sense of roots or a commitment to a place? Where
is this place?
Help students identify what rootedness means to them. To feel
rooted is important for the growth of the ego. Rootedness doesn't
necessarily have to be associated with a physical place. Some
students may feel a sense of rootedness through music, art, or
being with a certain group of friends or family members.
If you moved away, list several things that you would miss
about your home and neighborhood.
To help students with this question, ask them to imagine leaving
their home for a new place. What would they remember about their
home? How would their daily routine change?
Do you think you will own a home one day? Why or why not? And
would you consider "urban homesteading" in Chicago or in another
city like Chicago?
Answers to this question will vary widely depending on where
your school is located and if you live in a rural or urban
These are suggested classroom activities and student projects
that you may want to use with your students or as models to create
1. Oral interviews
The purpose of this interview is to compare and contrast the
experiences of living in the city vs. living in the suburbs.
Think of friends or relatives that you know who have lived in
either the city or the suburbs. You may have classmates who live in
the city or the suburbs, depending on where your school is
Ask the person you are interviewing the following kinds of
- Describe your house or apartment.
- What does your surrounding neighborhood look like?
- Where do you go grocery shopping?
- How do you get to school?
- What do you like most and what do you like least about where
Make sure you take notes during your interview. You may even
want to record the interview using a tape recorder. Notes or a tape
recording will give you a "record" of your subject's memories and
thoughts. Your subject is the person you have interviewed.
2. Creating A Class Exhibit: The Teenager's Room
As a class, collaborate and invent what you think is
representative of the typical teenager's room. Design an exhibit
space based on this room, and invite other classes to come and view
As a class:
- Think about what your room means to you.
- Write an essay about your room.
- Look at Side by Side for an
idea of the types of essays other teenagers have written about
- Read each other's essays.
- Choose the best essays to serve as didactive materials for your
- Generate a list of typical items or objects found in most
- Volunteer to bring in an object from this list for the
- Create a museum label for your object. Look at the objects in this section for ideas
on how to write an object label.
As you prepare to assemble your exhibit, make a check list of
the different components in an exhibit. You can use this website
for ideas or visit a museum near your school.
Other exhibit ideas:
- Interview people from different generations and create an
exhibit that compares and contrasts teenagers' bedrooms over the
- Imagine what the typical teenager's room might look like in the
3. Completing the Timeline
Write a timeline from 1990 to the present. In your timeline, don't
forget to include:
- Significant political, economic, and social events that have
taken place in Illinois, America, and the world.
- Happenings in the music and entertainment industries.
- Cultural and artistic events with great popular appeal.
Create a specialized timeline that relates to your specific
interests--arts & entertainment, music, sports, politics,
economics, social affairs, international affairs,
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