[Teachers: The premise of this worksheet is that it would serve as a first-step individual or group assignment for students building their own time capsules. Teachers have to be concerned with assessing the work of their students, and this worksheet is one suggestion for both the kinds of questions to start with and the kinds of answers that students might be expected to give.]

Assessment Sheet

(Mythical Student Time Capsule)

1. Describe this time capsule artifact, how you found it, and why you find it interesting. (20 points)

   In 1892 President Benjamin Harrison asked teachers to mark the 400th anniversary of the "discovery" of American by engaging their students in patriotic exercises in school. The September 8, 1892, issue of The Youth's Companion contained The Pledge of Allegiance. We found this artifact of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 by browsing in the Dictionary of American History. We were looking for something else. We found it interesting because we have been saying the Pledge of Allegiance for years without really knowing anything about who wrote it or how old it was or how it came into being.

2. Why is it that you think that your person/s would have found this text or artifact interesting, too? (20 points)

   Kids who were in school during the Columbian Exposition would have found this Pledge interesting because it was something new. It changed the way they began their school day. They also may have wondered why there were being asked and/or required to engage in such a patriotic act at that particular point in history.

3. In what ways is this artifact a limited or narrow source of insight into the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893? (20 points)

   We haven't been able to turn up any evidence to suggest that anyone, let alone kids, actually recited the Pledge at the Fair. It was written on the occasion of the Fair and it is certainly in keeping with the patriotic celebration side of the Fair. But it does not tell us anything about what actually happened at the Fair.

4. How has this artifact changed, expanded, confused or complicated your assumptions and conclusions about the topic your time capsule is addressing? In other words, how does the "big picture" look different as a result of working with this artifact? (20 points).

   By studying the Pledge and its history, we began to change our assumptions about how big a deal the Fair actually was. We had been thinking that it was mostly an event that was put on by adults for adults. The creation and popularity of the Pledge made us realize how intent the nation's leaders were to rouse the entire country into a frenzy of patriotic celebration--including kids.

5. What don't you know about this artifact and would like to find out? (20 points)

   When and why did they change the words of the Pledge? Did somebody actually make up the rules for putting your right hand over your heart while reciting the pledge? Who added the words "under God" to the original Pledge and why did they do that and when?