Okay, you probably didn’t work in a mine or roll cigars as a child  but now consider your own history.  Share some interesting detail about your family or your own childhood with your class. Be sure not to include any details that you don’t want to be public knowledge!  This also serves as our icebreaker to get to know more about each other. Here’s an example from my own life:

I grew up on a farm near the shores of Lake Erie in Western New York state.  One of my fondest memories was when the delivery of large rectangular bales of straw arrived in the fall.  We’d get off the school bus to find this huge stack of what in this day and age might appear to be gigantic straw Legos sitting in our apple orchard and for the next few days this stack became my castle and my brother’s fort!  Inevitably, a week or so later we’d arrive home to find it gone, now covering the strawberries that we would enjoy the next spring.  I have to admit that I never, ever toiled on the farm.  Spending the first weeks of summer vacation in the strawberry fields (reading or coloring) was the extent of it.  However, growing up on a farm was a unique experience and I suspect you’ve got something to share as well!

In addition, think about my earlier question: what if the average lifespan was 45 as it was in 1900? How would you have lived your life differently?