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THE WESTERNIZATION OF MA'EMA'E, HONOLULU

Overview
The students will pursue an inquiry about the Ma'ema'e community's rich history in conjunction with our school's centennial celebration in 1996 - 1997. (FYI - "Ma'ema'e" is the original Hawaiian name of a specific area in Nu'uanu, from which the chapel and school are named.) Ma'ema'e School was founded in 1896, which was also the midst of the economic and government transition of the state of Hawai'i. Many of the "movers and shakers" of this era, lived and worked in the Ma'ema'e area. The emphasis of this project will be on the first settlers of the area and research topics and sites will be initiated by the students. The students will learn about: the original Hawaiian community, the westernization of Hawai'i as it relates to the westernization of other native American communities, missionary-merchant families who made Nu'uanu their home, and the waterfront businesses these families started which greatly impacted Hawai'i's economic growth and governing methods.

Suggested Levels
Grade 5

Time Frame
6-8 weeks

Learner Outcomes
Conduct inquiry-based research about the Ma'ema'e community.

Performance Standard: Speaking and Listening
Adapt communication behaviors to various situations, purposes and audiences . (p. 17)

Performance Standard: Speaking and Listening
Apply strategies of active, critical listening . (p. 18)

Performance Standard: Writing and Composition
Utilize pre-writing activities such as discussion, webbing and brainstorming . (p. 24)

Performance Standard: Writing and Composition
Share writing through various means . (p. 25)

Performance Standard: History
Demonstrate understanding of the roots and foundations of U.S. and Hawai'i History. (p. 127)

Performance Standard: Economics
Describe roles, functions and relationships of the various institutions that make up economic systems . (p. 128)

Learning Processes/Strategies
Have students pursue an inquiry about the school community's rich past. Have students initiate the activities, thus involving them in the learning process and decision making. Through open-ended study, the students will be able to shape their learning and outcomes.

Initiate the project by posing the following question to the students:

What are some 'wonderings' you have about our community?

Web (group) the students' ideas on chart paper. From there, have the class brainstorm topics to investigate.

Have students practice researching and problem-solving strategies to attain their answer to the question, "Who first settled in the school community?"

Make available to them less conventional forms of research such as interviewing, telephone conferencing, video conferencing, lumaphone conferencing, Internet searching, e-mail, etc.

Have students keep a written log of information they learned after each interview or visitation. Have the class discuss and share information gained from the speakers.

Help students make valuable generalizations about the community's past as it relates to Hawai'i's past and present (i.e., Hawaiian roots, missionary-merchant families, overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, establishment of a U.S. Territory, etc.). These generalizations will foster a growing appreciation for the community and school in which they live and learn.

Relate the lesson to social studies curriculum. Relate the history of the area to the westernization of other native American groups which is part of the grade 5 social studies curriculum. Databases will provide information about other westernized communities and other organizations more than 100 years old. Help students understand how Hawai'i's economic system changed from traditional Hawaiian to western.

Incorporate many language arts skills such as critical listening, speaking, interviewing, communicating, interpreting, paraphrasing, writing, organizing information, and making multi-media presentations, etc.

Have students share the results of the research through multi-media presentations on the Internet and in school displays. Have them initiate the means to be used to present the information collected. The research may be presented in various modes (writing, pictures, graphs, songs, multi-media presentations, etc.) and formats (school's home page, visual presentations using the computer for word processing and a video presentation).

Resources
Primary source--community. (The Ma'ema'e study included the Ma'ema'e Chapel, Kaumakapili Church, Girl Scout Hale - former Waterhouse residence, former Hawaiian families of Ma'ema'e, archives, community organizations, descendants of missionary-merchant families, Ma'ema'e school alumni, etc.)

Books, newspapers, magazines, research books.

CD Roms, Internet, Hawai'i FYI via the LAN to utilize the public library catalog system to search for other relevant resources.

Media consultant (to do video).

Materials
Paper, pencil.
Phone book.

Equipment
Telephone, Lumaphone, telecommunications (video conferencing, e-mail, Internet and CD Roms).

Computers (for data collecting and publications).

QuickTake camera, conventional camera and video camera.

Assessment
Before we begin our inquiry, the students will make predictions in journal form as to who first settled in the area. When we are done with our inquiry, the students will log in another journal entry of the actual first settlers in the area. (written)

Each student will keep a log of information, pictures, etc. at each step of the inquiry. (written)

Students will be able to make generalizations, comparisons and contrasts about the school area/community's past as it relates and influences Hawai'i's present and future. (written)

An appreciation of the community and school will grow as students discover more and more facts about the school's roots. (written, observation, anecdotal records)

A pre- and post- teacher-made test will be administered before and after the investigation. The test will measure basic knowledge of the history of the area and will be scored by percentage. Each student will improve his/her pretest score at the end of this investigation. (written)

The teacher will assess how well the students are able to communicate their ideas by observing their questioning of speakers and resource personnel. Students will know how well they communicated by the answers given by the speakers and by their success in making proper arrangements. The class will evaluate and discuss different situations and appropriate communication strategies.

The teacher will observe students as they listen to the speakers and read their journal entries to determine whether or not they understood the information given.

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