Purpose:

Our goal is to have each content area in our school create, organize, and implement an event which utilizes the ward Hall mansion in Georgetown, KY.

Possible activities for the various content areas:

Arts & Humanities/Fine Arts:

Staff Professional Development on Ward Hall

As principals of an elementary school, wanting to implement community resources into the school curriculum, we would design a staff professional development workshop concentrating on Ward Hall. Through this professional development activity, teachers would plan various classroom activities correlating with the Kentucky Core Content. These lessons will enable teachers to build units of study for each curriculum area.

Prior to teachers touring Ward Hall, we would formulate groups to focus on specific areas of core content. After returning to school, groups of staff members would design lessons for each curriculum area. Below are examples of activities pertaining to each content area:

Music
Using music/songs that might have been played/sung at Ward Hall by slave owners/slaves, identify and define elements of music (rhythm, tempo, Melody, etc.) Recognize and be able to distinguish families of instruments from antebellum time period.

Dance
With a partner of in a small group, perform a dance from antebellum time period using the elements of dance (space, time, force) with locomotor and non-locomotor movements.
Use appropriate terminology to describe how two examples of dance are similar or different. Compare antebellum time period to modern.
Use appropriate terminology to describe differences and commonalities in dances of different cultures. Compare slave owners to slaves.

Drama
Create a performance (play) using the elements of production representing an antebellum event at Ward Hall. (Create a calendar of events to help students choose and event.)
Identify and discuss elements of production (scenery, costumes, props, music, etc.) that would be appropriate for the antebellum time period.

Visual Arts
Learn about art elements and media through texture rubbings of Ward Hall's building materials. Learn about art elements through photo journals collected by students from Ward Hall.

Social Studies Curriculum Integrating the Ward Hall
Students observe, analyze, and interpret human behaviors, social groupings, and institutions to better understand people and the relationships among individuals and among groups.
Students will compare people and culture of the occupants of the Ward House and then reflect on how the culture has changed over time.

Students interact effectively and work cooperatively with the many ethnic and cultural groups of our nation and world
Students will study Greek architecture and see how Ward Hall is "the most imposing Greek rural residence in Kentucky." Students will then study the history and culture of Greece. Then students will chat with Greek students via e-mail. The unit will culminate with a Greek meal.

Students understand economic principles and are able to make economic decisions that have consequences in daily living.
Students will compare the economy of the late 1850s in Kentucky to the economy today. Afterwards, students will study the costs of renovating ward Hall and find various ways to raise funds. Students will also study the opportunity costs of the renovations.

Students recognize and understand the relationship between people and geography and apply their knowledge in real-life situations.
Students will conduct an oral history interview with a member of the community, family member, or someone involved with the history of the Ward House.

Students understand, analyze and interpret historical events, conditions, trends and issues to develop historical perspective.
After taking field trips to the Ward House and Handy House, students will construct a Venn diagram to compare the two structures and how each needs to be renovated.

Ward Hall Scavenger Hunt
Research gathered from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program - www.arkansaspreservation.org

Objectives:

Students will explore the history of ward Hall, by studying the architecture and period in which it was built and the years it was lived in.

Students will develop and understanding of past generations and their effect on the community.

Students will gain an appreciation of historic buildings through field studies.

Procedure:

After reading about and studying ward Hall, students will visit the site and will be divided into groups and given one of the following Scavenger Hunt Questions. If students have Polariod cameras, they may want to take pictures of the area that their question involves.

Scavenger Hunt Questions:

Walk all over the grounds and look at the topography--the lay of the land. Why do you think this site was chosen for ward Hall? Describe the buildings you see. What do you think they were used for? (Geography.)

After studying the architecture of Greek Revival homes, find evidence that displays different levels of wealth. How does the structure indicate economic levels (how much money the family had?) (Social Studies/Economics.)

Look for wildlife or signs of wildlife on the grounds. What do you see? Is this land a good or bad place for an animal habitat? Why or why not? (Science.)

Look for geometric shapes. Sketch them, identify them, and write down where you found them. (Math/Art.)

Determine family relationships by examining the rooms of the house. Is there any indication as to the family's ethnicity or religion? (Social Studies.)

Find rooms in the house for children, adults and slaves. Sketch the rooms as they may have looked. Write about how you think they were used. (Art/Language Arts.)

Locate different types of vegetation on the grounds. Find different types of plants, flowers, a bush, or a tree. Can you identify these plants? Name them and write about how long you think they may have been on the grounds. (Science.)

Sit quietly for a moment. Look around you carefully. Write about how being in this house makes you feel. Do you think your community values historic site? Why or why not? (Language Arts/Writing.)

Math Comparing - price to build in 1850's compared to today's prices. Find out the cost per square foot compared to today's cost of a brick home at about $100.00 per square foot.

Area/Comparing - on grid paper have students draw the area for a home costing $50.000 (estimated cost of Ward mansion) at $100.00. Compare Ward home in the 1850's to a $50,000 home of today.

Symmetry - give students a picture of 1/2 of the Ward home printed on grid paper. Have students draw the other half of home using symmetry. Discuss how symmetry is used in architecture.

Angles - Compare and contrast angles in relationship to right angles. Have students find acute, obtuse, and right angles that the architect used when designing and constructing the home.

Similar/Congruent - compare and contrast properties of similar and/or congruent shapes. Students are to give examples of similar shapes and/or congruent shapes.

Lines - Compare and contrast parallel, intersecting, and perpendicular lines used in construction.

The Ward House offers many opportunities for curriculum development. Many core content areas can be addressed. Included in the following are areas for curriculum development for projects on the Ward House.

English
In an English class there are many opportunities for writing assignments. One example would be to allow students to write a personal narrative based on their life. Students can be directed to place themselves in the time period. Students could break up in the house and sit in specified rooms and write about their life during the time period. Questions they could think about as they write: "What would my life be like if I lived in this house?" "What types of people would I see?" "What would I do on a daily basis?" "What role would I play either from a male or female perspective?" This type of perspective would allow for a very interesting and well-developed personal narrative.

Agriculture The agriculture classes would have a wonderful opportunity to help develop the grounds around the Ward House. They could have an actual hands opportunity to help develop the grounds like they were during the period time. Students could design and plan the areas around the house. They could make plans and develop the agricultural base that was possibly there at the time. Students could develop the livestock and an agricultural base for: tobacco, crops like corn, wheat, etc. In addition to the agriculture bases, they could landscape from old pictures what the house may have looked like during the time. Were there gardens, flower gardens, or carriage areas at the side of the house? this would allow students to research, design, and implement real hands-on agricultural activities.

United States History
A United States History class could have many opportunities at Ward House. Students could research from old newspapers and documents what life was like during the time. Students could create a timeline of the purchase, development, and sales of the house. Using primary resources in Scott County, would allow students an opportunity to research and create their own historical background of the area. Students could use the primary sources to also develop an idea of what was happening historically, economically, and politically during the time in Scott County.
Also, students could create a geographical development of Scott County. Using primary sources, students could recreate geographical maps. While creating the maps, students could create what Scott County looked like during the time. What areas were developed? Who owned areas of land in Scott County? Where was the development of the center of town? The maps could be used to depict the geographical layout of Scott County.

Arts and Humanities
The Arts and Humanities classes would have many wonderful opportunities to use the Ward House in their curriculum. The study of the architecture alone in the house would be a wonderful opportunity for the students. Students could create portfolio pieces by taking pictures and analyzing the various designs in the house. By creating their own portfolio or scrapbook of pictures, students could create analysis of why certain designs were used. Every room of the house could be analyzed. Why were certain designs used? What did the architecture say about the house or the period of time?
In addition to the architecture, students could recreate the music and dance of the period. What type of music did they listen to? What type of dance would they have had if they were entertaining/ Students could research and develop a night of entertaining at the house. They could recreate their own night at the Ward House.

Math
Math classes could do an activity to help recreate the size and shapes that were used to create the design of the house. Students could take one particular area of the house and calculate the measurements used in its design. Also, students could estimate or come up with theories on how the columns in the front of the house were put into place. What plans could they have developed to put the columns into place? What materials would have been used? Students could also determine how many gallons of paint were needed for each room. Students could also find the percentage ofmoney needed to run the farm versus the household. Students could also use proportions to determine the costs of livestock with the cost of today's prices to see how much inflation has increased.

Science
The science classes would have many wonderful opportunities. They could gather soil samples and test them for alkalinity and etc. They could test paint sample to determine what was in the paint used during that time period and compare their findings to what is used today. Students could further study the type of rock used for the steps versus what is used throughout the rest of the buildings. Students could also research why marble is better suited to fireplaces than the limestone used for the outside steps.

It would also be interesting to involve students at the high school level in reenactments of daily life activities in the house and its surroundings for tourists. A schedule could be worked out and posted on the grounds for dates and times of these activities. This could prompt additional visits to the property by tourists. Activities could be designed by classes or clubs. For example, the FFA could, with community involvement and assistance, seek out livestock and horse-drawn implements and plant crops using tools of the time.

Ward Hall is one of the few remaining Greek Revival houses of it's kind in Scott County. People worked very hard to build Ward Hall and it cost $50,000 to build in 1856. That was ten time more money than the average house. In the year 2002, if a house costs $200,000 then that would cost $2 million dollars today. The man that built Ward Hall was Junius Ward. That was why it's called Ward Hall.

Ward Hall is a two-story high house. It has neat columns on it that are huge. I wouldn't want to fall off from the top because it is forty feet high. The house has lots of chimneys, and a lot more than my house. About forty-nine more chimneys than my house. There is a triangle portico on the front of the house. I like the dentils at the top because it looks like teeth.

The inside of the house has faces of Greek Gods and goddesses on the walls. The floors were made from walnut. The 16 feet ceilings are bigger than my house and are about twelve feet above my head. That would be hard to build. There are cupboards and closets on the house, but they look like windows from the outside. They tried to trick you with the blind windows.

The house was sold many times. It was almost the capital of Kentucky. Colonel Milton Hamilton offered the house with 250 acres plus $50,000 to the Kentucky Legislature to adapt the mansion as a capital. The house is now owned by the Jenkins family and Mrs. Jenkins gave me permission to take pictures of it.

I think we should do our best to take care of Ward Hall. If I know of someone trying to tear it down, I would write a letter to ask them to help Ward Hall. If Ward Hall falls down, we can't make another one and it would be extinct. I think it is beautiful and I would like to live in it.