Our third graders have been studying Oklahoma history and geography lately. One of their teachers, Ms. Hicks, asked me if I would portray an Oklahoma Land Run woman for the third graders. I borrowed the Pioneer Tools trunk from the Oklahoma History Center, put together a simple costume, and read the materials accompanying the trunk prior to the program in order to come up with a good story for my character portrayal.
I decided to go with mixing up true stories of my grandmother, Myrtis, and her family (including my mom). I "set" the story about 30 years before my grandma's real birth and told a rambling story of how she and her husband, Don, and three children, Carol, Jimmy, and Janie, rode in a covered wagon in the Cherokee Land Run of 1889. I used all of the items in the Pioneer Tools trunk and told what they were used for. I also told the students that my family had ordered from the Sears & Roebuck catalog and that we were expecting our stove and plow to be delivered "any day now" by wagon from the nearest train station.
The students were able to ask me questions while I was still in character and then when I took off my hat and came back to being Mrs. Moody. They asked really good questions about how we traveled, where we lived (in a dugout), how we cooked (over a fire until our stove got here - then with buffalo chips), and how much money things cost. They were pretty much grossed out by what buffalo chips contained!
I think they enjoyed the portrayal as much as I enjoyed doing it. Maybe this could be another "job" for my retirement!
If you are in Oklahoma, I highly recommend using the free materials from the Oklahoma History Center. Here is a link to their website!
I decided to go with mixing up true stories of my grandmother, Myrtis, and her family (including my mom). I "set" the story about 30 years before my grandma's real birth and told a rambling story of how she and her husband, Don, and three children, Carol, Jimmy, and Janie, rode in a covered wagon in the Cherokee Land Run of 1889. I used all of the items in the Pioneer Tools trunk and told what they were used for. I also told the students that my family had ordered from the Sears & Roebuck catalog and that we were expecting our stove and plow to be delivered "any day now" by wagon from the nearest train station.
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| Lantern and washboard in hand! |
I think they enjoyed the portrayal as much as I enjoyed doing it. Maybe this could be another "job" for my retirement!
If you are in Oklahoma, I highly recommend using the free materials from the Oklahoma History Center. Here is a link to their website!
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