Child of the Mills

The Industrial Revolution had a large impact on Massachusetts. Many towns were formed when companies built mills along the rivers and then built housing for their workers. This assignment will take a look at what it was like to be a child that worked in those mills; it will also utilize the Ellis Island website to research the student’s family.

You have come over from Ireland to work in the mills in Woonsocket, RI. You need to find out where you will be living, where and what kind of work you will be doing, what the work conditions in the mills were and what the mills were producing. You will also be asked to research one member of your family and will use the Ellis Island website to answer questions about their arrival.

1. You are a thirteen you old girl that is working in a mill. Let's figure out what day of the week you were born on. Using your real birth month and day (ex - December 18) and the year 1834, determine the day at the Once Upon A Time website.

2. The Mill Village was central in a mill town. Let's take a look at what life would be like living in Woonsocket.

a )	Where would you live? You will use the information from the Lowell National Historical Park (http://www.nps.gov/lowe/millgirls.htm) page for this answer.
b )	Where would you live? You will use the information from the Lowell National Historical Park (http://www.nps.gov/lowe/millgirls.htm) page for this answer.
c )	The Lowell site states that the keepers of the boardinghouses enforced strict curfews. What is a curfew? Use Merriam Webster/Word Central (http://www.wordcentral.com/)
d)	Describe a typical boardinghouse – The Working People Exhibit and Boardinghouse System (http://www.nps.gov/lowe/boardinghouses.htm)
e )	Who were the “mill girls”? The Working People Exhibit and Boardinghouse System (http://www.nps.gov/lowe/boardinghouses.htm )
f )	If you grew up in Hopedale (up until the mid 1970’s), the bells in the factory in the middle of town would chime during the day – and could be heard all around time. This system was used by mills – why? Lowell Mill Strikes -(http://www.jiskha.com/social_studies/us_history/lowell_mill_strikes.html) Use information from The Mill Village (http://www.woonsocket.org/villagelife.html) for the following questions.
g )	How would you get to work each day?
h )	Where would you shop for food, clothes and other essentials?
i )	Samuel Slater paid his workers in credit. Using Merriam Webster/Word Central (http://www.wordcentral.com/), look up the word "credit" and write down the definition that makes the most sense. Ask the teacher if you don't understand!!
j )	Slater was responsible for devising an organizational method termed the “Rhode Island System”. What three things did this system determine for the workers?
k )	What disease was most prominent in the mills?
l )	What caused this disease?

a) Where would you live? You will use the information from the Lowell National Historical Park (http://www.nps.gov/lowe/millgirls.htm) page for this answer.

b) The Lowell site states that the keepers of the boardinghouses enforced strict curfews. What is a curfew? Use Merriam Webster/Word Central (http://www.wordcentral.com/)

e) If you grew up in Hopedale (up until the mid 1970’s), the bells in the factory in the middle of town would chime during the day – and could be heard all around time. This system was used by mills – why? Lowell Mill Strikes -(http://www.jiskha.com/social_studies/us_history/lowell_mill_strikes.html)

h) Samuel Slater paid his workers in credit. Using Merriam Webster/Word Central (http://www.wordcentral.com/), look up the word "credit" and write down the definition that makes the most sense. Ask the teacher if you don't understand!!

i) Slater was responsible for devising an organizational method termed the “Rhode Island System”. What three things did this system determine for the workers?

3. Answer the following questions using information from Woonsocket: Child Labor

c) Was this the first time children had to work hard? If no, what did they do before they worked in the mills?

e) “Corporal punishment by overseers was a common practice” is a statement that is made in describing working conditions for the children. What does corporal mean? Use a dictionary from the reference section to look this up.

4. View the pictures at “The History Place: Child Labor in America 1908 – 1912 (http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html). Be sure to click on the pictures and enlarge them – these children were actually working in mills and were probably younger then you are now. Take a good look at their faces.

5. Your last task! You are going to research your heritage. You will have to ask a parent, grandparent or aunt/uncle about their relatives. You will need to find out this information:

a) A relative that immigrated here after 1900 (as close to that year as possible)

b) The full name – first, last and middle if possible – of that relative. Spelling is important!

· Pick out the passenger that most closely matches your relative’s information

· The Manifest is the ship’s log that has all the names of the passengers. The top has different categories that were noted; if the passenger was sick, they were not allowed in to the country.

Did you find your relative? What was their destination – Woonsocket, Lowell, Bellingham? Do you think they might have worked in a mill?

Rubric: Mill Child

Criteria

Points

	4	3	2	1
Introduction	All questions were answered completely and rationales for the answers were clearly stated.	All questions were answered completely, but rationales for the all the answers were not clearly stated.	Not all questions were answered completely, or greater than 2 rationales for the all answers were not clearly stated.	All questions were not answered completely.	____
Task	All areas of the task were addressed and handled with a high degree of sophistication. The student demonstrated a great deal of attention to detail.	At least one area of the task was not addressed. The student demonstrated a great deal of attention to detail.	At least two areas of the task were not addressed. The student demonstrated a moderate level of attention to detail	The task is incomplete and/or it is apparent that little effort went into the development of the task.	____
Process: Poem Originality	The ideas expressed by the body of work demonstrate a high degree of originality.	The ideas expressed by the body of work are mostly original. The student may have improved upon a previous idea.	The ideas expressed by the body of work demonstrate a low degree of originality.	There were no original ideas expressed in this project.
Grammar, Format , and Spelling	The final body of work was free of grammar, spelling, and formatting errors.	The final body of work had 1 error related to either grammar, spelling, and formatting errors.	The final body of work had 3-5 grammar, spelling, and formatting errors.	The final body of work had major grammar, spelling, and formatting errors.
	A	B	C	D	Total:____ Out of 20

Teacher Resources

http://www.fi.edu/time/Journey/OnceUponATime/dayofweekbirth.htm

http://www.nps.gov/lowe/planyourvisit/upload/mill%20girls.pdf

http://www.wordcentral.com/

http://www.nps.gov/lowe/photosmultimedia/boardinghouses.htm

http://www.woonsocket.org/villagelife.html

http://www.jiskha.com/social_studies/us_history/lowell_mill_strikes.html

http://www.woonsocket.org/childlabor.html

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html

http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp

Adapted from webquest by Merideth Ekwall
by Ann Kampersal, Library Media Specialist
Ben Roy, 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Bellingham Memorial Middle School

May 1, 2008