Lesson Plan: Overview

Lesson Plan Three: Letters from a Patient; The Moody and Townes Letters

Grade Level: 8th

  

Academic Standards
No academic standards available for this lesson plan.

Literacy Elements

A. Distinguish between past, present, and future time
B. Establish chronological order in constructing one’s own historical narratives
D. Create and interpret data on time lines

Historical Background Notes
No historical background notes available for this lesson plan.

Materials
  Primary Sources
Bates, W.T.C., letter to R. J. Moody, 25 February 1884.  Moody Family Papers.  Manuscripts Division, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
   
Moody, Jane, letter to Richard J. Moody, 7 August 1884.  Moody Family Papers.  Manuscripts Division, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
   
Townes, Henry, letter to Rachael Townes, 6 May 1835.  Townes Family Papers.  Manuscripts Division, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.

Lesson Plans
No lesson plan available.

Procedures

In Letters from a Patient:  The Moody and Townes Letters students see the patient’s perspective of mental health.  It also allows students to compare and contrast their preconceived notions with historic documents.  The lesson takes one class period.

1. As an introduction activity, have students write a brief one-page letter from a patient at the Asylum.
   
2. Pass out copies of letters of Asylum patients Moody and Townes.  Explain that the first Moody letter was written by a hospital official and the second was written by the patient, Miss Moody.
   
3. In groups, have students transcribe the letters. They will become historians as they “uncover” history in these letters.
   
4. After students finish the transcription, they need to discuss and record their answer to the following question: “What does this letter tell us about life at the Asylum?”
   
5. As a class, have students discuss what was different about their letters and the letters they studied in class.
   
  Back to "Too Large to be a Lunatic Asylum: South Carolina's Mental Health"

Teacher Reflections

No teacher reflections available for this lesson plan.

Student Assessment
No student assessment available for this lesson plan.

Examples of Students Work
No examples available for this lesson plan.

Credit

Provided by the Teaching American History in South Carolina Project