One of my classes watched an episode of the Frontier House today as part of a lesson about the Homestead Act and life in the 19th century. If you teach US History, the Frontier House series and the accompanying website provide some good lessons that get students to compare life in the 19th century with life in the modern world (one of my students referred to it as “old-school Survivor). Coincidentally, this morning on the MSN homepage there was a link to an article written for Slate about life as a historical re-enactor. The article is written by Emily Yoffee about her experience re-enacting in an 18th century setting. A short video accompanies the article. I’ve embedded the video below.

Applications for Education
The article by Emily Yoffee, the video connected to her article, and the Frontier House lesson plans are all good resources for students to use in making comparisons between life in the 21st century and life in the 18th and 19th centuries.