FORT ROSS
ENVIRONMENTAL LIVING PROGRAM
WEB SITE RESOURCE
MANUAL
Welcome to the Environmental Living Program (ELP). Environmental
Living, as the name implies, is an actual living, overnight experience for
children that takes place at any cultural, historic, prehistoric, or natural
site where the interaction and interdependency of people and their
environment are represented. It relies heavily on pre-site explorations and
preparations, role-playing, and problem solving. The ELP is an experience
that the children will remember throughout their lives.
This Manual has been developed through years of experience. The WEB MANUAL is not a complete manual. Some graphics and photos have been removed for ease of downloading. The materials that follow may be photocopied. You can use them as is or choose those elements that fit into your own program. The ELP Interpretive Specialist is available for phone calls or e-mails from teachers and parent participants. On-site you will have one Interpretive Specialist to help you when you arrive.
To view more photos of the role groups please click on the title of the role group you wish to visit. Cooks, Militia, Hunters, Gardeners or Artisans.
The Manual follows a logical sequence of preparations for the Fort Ross Environmental Living Program. It starts with the Teacher’s Section, followed by Costumes. Next is basic Role Group Information for Cooks, Militia, Hunters, Gardeners or Artisans. And next is Classroom Curriculum material. And finally, the Appendix has extra materials your students and parents may be interested in using. The Teacher’s Section has general information, rules and regulations, reservation procedures, handouts you need for getting your parents ready, sample schedules, and much more. The Role Group Sections have two parts to them and has everything a participating parent should know about our program. The first part of each role group packet is for the parent to work on in class with the students. The second part of the packet is for the parents to bring with them on site. Parents must have a copy of the role group section they are leading, e.g. Cooks, Militia, Hunters, Gardeners or Artisans. The teacher is the “Manager” or the “Commandant”, the parents are the “Officers” and the students are the “Employees”. Fort Ross is sometimes referred to as Settlement Ross or Colony Ross and the entire group may be called the “Company”.
More costume ideas are here
Costumes from other ELP groups
Costumes
We do ask that you only assign characters who truly were at Fort Ross. For example, the teacher should choose a manager who worked at Fort Ross, not Baranov whose duty was in Alaska. A parent should be in an officer role, a student should be a labor class employee. We understand there are historical figures who lived in California, e.g. Vallejo and his family, but truly never visited Fort Ross. Please avoid these characters.
The Classroom Curriculum Section has Historical Overview, Chronology and Primary Documents that you will need when teaching the history of Fort Ross. It is followed by Student Activity pages with Historical Overview questions and other fun activities.
The Interpretive Specialists would like to thank all the teachers whose experiences and ideas helped us tremendously in creating this Manual. We appreciate your input and await your comments.