Plainville Historical Society

Grade 3 students visited the Plainville Historical Society for an interactive tour to learn about the history of the town. This learning experience was based on the inquiry model of education which promotes questioning. Prior to the trip, students completed an interest study so they could be grouped according to their interest in either transportation, tools, food, school, home life or mills. They compared their lives with the lives of Plainville citizens of the past. For example, in the barn, they saw how people in the past had to shear sheep and card wool rather than going to the store to buy their clothes. An interactive segment on early African Americans that lived in Plainville was a whole group activity that was held in the meeting room. Students took on the role of prominent citizens including the following: Adeline Woods the first African American female principal in Connecticut, Francis Hobson who was the first person to attend Plainville schools K-12 and become a doctor and James Halsted who was member of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment which was portrayed in the movie "Glory" with Denzel Washington. All third graders enjoyed investigating Plainville's past.