Orwell Corner brings history to life for P.E.I. students

Students across P.E.I. are being invited to Orwell Corner historic village to experience their social studies curriculum brought to life.

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"We've been getting school groups as long as the place has been open but there's never really been anything that targeted specifically each grade level and the social studies outcomes that they're doing," said Jason MacNeil, site director at Orwell.

"It makes it more relevant, more engaging, more practical for the schools to actually come out too."

For example, Orwell offers an experience called Forge, Farm and Fiddle that connects directly to what Grade 6 students study in social studies.

"The forge to show change in industry, the farm to show change in transportation," MacNeil said. "The fiddling to show how Scottish heritage impacted at the time and how that has trickled into modern day."

Curriculum connections

MacNeil says the Grade 7 curriculum talks about empowerment, equality and gender issues.

"We're going to set up some chores for them and we're going to divide them by male and female and then we're going to have the guys do the female chores and the girls do the male chores," MacNeil said.

"It will hit home on how things actually were for the opposite gender."

The new experiences have grown out of MacNeil's classroom visits, where he brings items from the P.E.I. artifact collectionto show students.

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"As soon as you start passing around things that they can touch and feel and manipulate, they are completely engaged and they love it," MacNeil said. "The questions that come up are amazing."

Hands-on learning

Amanda MacIntosh and her Grade 6 students from St. Jean Elementary School are a test class for the new program.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to get some experiential learning," MacIntoshsaid."To see hands-on what it was like back in the olden days."

The St. Jeanclass has students from a diverse range of backgrounds.

"I have refugees, I have immigrants, I have students who were born and raised on the Island," MacIntosh said. "For them to be able to come together for a shared experience like this, it's just been such a wonderful bonding experience."

"I think it's good that children can see how it was actually done back then and how it all worked," said student Jordan Costello.

"I think this is pretty cool because we actually get to do most of the stuff," said Jerek Ulvstal.

"If you're reading a book for social studies, you don't get to see it in real life and actually try it."

Orwell has 15 schools booked for 19 days in June and is already planning for more school visits in the fall. They are also partnering with nearby Macphail Woods where students do activities connected to grade-specific science outcomes.

'Best day ever'

MacNeil says the main obstacle to getting more students to the site is the cost of school buses. Orwell charges around $5 per student to cover the cost ofthe experiences.

"I'd like to see kids coming every year and have that kind of integrated into their social studies curriculum in kindergarten right straight through to Grade 7," MacNeilsaid.

One St. Jean student told MacNeil it was the "best day ever."

"It shows that we're making the connections and we're making the links and we're doing it right," MacNeil said.

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