Use a timeline to explore history

It is important for children to learn about history. Often students do not want to learn about history because they find it . . . boring. I have always found history to be fascinating but I might be in the minority. I know that when I am in a classroom I might have to work extra hard to get my students interested in history. To get students excited about history often takes some effort. Students struggle with the work if it is too long, too wordy, and too much time spent in their seat. Recently I taught a lesson about the history of South Bend, Indiana. I taught this lesson to third graders. Your first thought might be that I bored them to tears, but that was not the case. In an effort to cut down on the wordiness and the length I used a timeline. Timelines are useful because they focus on the big events and they give concise explanations for the events. Students can organize dates in chronological order, which allows them to strengthen their sequencing skills, while also learning information about the history of a person, place, or event. In my lesson I put students in small groups and then had each small group organize five to six dates/events. Giving students a small number of dates/events helped the activity not be so overwhelming. Once the groups organized their dates/events they put the dates onto a big class timeline. Groups were then responsible for explaining the events that corresponded to those dates when it came time to review the large class timeline. This activity got the students out of their seats, allowed them to collaborate, and exposed them to the history of their city. This was a lesson that the students responded well to and allowed them to learn a bit of history in an engaging manner.

If you had to pick something to represent you, what would you pick?

My Social Studies methods professor asked everyone in the class to bring five items that represent them. The items could be anything as long as they represented the individual. The above picture has the items my classmates and I brought in. No one brought in an electronic device, well one or two brought in a digital photo frame, but rather brought in items that held a lot of sentiment for them. The items ranged from pictures to books to diplomas. They were pieces of everyone's life that had a story behind them. Many of the items were irreplaceable, items that may not have cost a great deal of money but had a lifetime of memories attached to them. It was interesting to see what everyone brought in. It gave us all a peek into each other's life and what everyone held near and dear. It showed me that when it comes down to it, often what is most important to people are those items that a dollar amount cannot be placed on.

This is a lesson that can be done with students of all ages. Probably every student has something or somethings that he/she believes to be priceless. These item(s) mean the world to the student and have a story behind each one of them. Allowing the students to bring in their items allows them to share a piece of themselves with their classmates. Just as I got a better understanding of my classmates from their items, young students can gain a better understanding of their classmates by sharing the items that mean the most to them. This is another way to build a classroom community. Again it allows students the chance to see how they are similar and how they are different.

Neighborhood pictures - what is the same and what is different

One of the most important ideas to establish in a classroom is the belief that the classroom is a community. Students need to feel connected to each other and to the teacher. This helps everyone in the classroom get along and try harder to understand each other. One way to make a classroom feel like a community is to have students develop classroom rules with their teacher. This makes students feel like their voices are being heard and that they have some control and responsibility within the classroom. Another way to make students feel like a community, and the way I am focusing my blog post on, is for students to bring in pictures of their neighborhood. Each student brings in a picture of what he/she believes represents his/her neighborhood. It can be a picture of where he/she lives, a picture of the street he/she lives on, a picture of the neighborhood park. Whatever the picture is of, it is meant to represent what the student believes to be his/her neighborhood. Once all students have brought in a picture of their neighborhood, they tape the pictures to the wall so everyone can see them. This is meant to spark a discussion about what is similar and what is different. How many students live in a house? How many students live in an apartment? Does anyone live on a farm? Do students live near each other? How many students see their neighborhood as just their home? How many students see their neighborhood as more than their home? All of the questions can be asked by or posed to students? The important thing to remember when trying to build a community in a classroom is that students need to recognize how they are the same and how they are different. Both similarities and differences should be celebrated. Similarities help students connect to one another and differences help students learn from one another. Neighborhood pictures are often a good way to show students that in many ways they are alike and when they are different that is not a bad thing but rather makes their classroom community more interesting.

Remember, lest we forget and repeat

An important date occurs in two weeks. Holocaust Remembrance Day is on May 1st this year. The date is set by the Hebrew calendar and corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan. It also marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Holocaust was a time in history that represents just how depraved human beings can act towards one another. By the time the Holocaust was over in 1945, 11 million people had lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis. Six million of those people were Jewish. The other five million people who died were Soviet POWs, Non-Jewish Poles, Romanis (Gypsies), people with disabilities, homosexual people, and Jehovah's Witnesses. In the span of a few years, 11 million people died. That is mind-boggling.

The Holocaust is a topic that many people find hard to talk about and especially to teach. Some history books gloss over it, dedicating maybe a paragraph or two to the tragedy. It deserves more than a paragraph or two. 11 million lives deserve more than a paragraph or two. This is a topic that students need to learn about. Genocides are still being committed around the world - look at what happened in Rwanda, the Sudan, and northern Iraq. Students need to learn about what hate has done to people in the past so they can be informed about how to make changes in the future. Students need to have a solid understanding of the past if they are destined to have solid footing when they walk into the future. The Holocaust is a hard topic to teach because it is not a pretty topic, but history is seldom filled with pretty topics. The Holocaust is heart-wrenching and emotional. The images are disturbing and shocking. The reason students need to hear about the events and need to see the pictures are so they understand what happened and why it happened. They need to see what can happen when hatred spins out of control and becomes acceptable.

A good resource to use when teaching about the Holocaust is the book "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" by Hana Volavkova. This book is a compilation of poems and drawings done by the children who were housed at the Terezin concentration camp during the Holocaust. The poems and drawings express the children's desires, fears, longings, and beliefs. This book allows the reader a glimpse into what the children were thinking during this horrific episode in history. Fifteen thousand children entered Terezin but only 100 lived to tell the tale. This book gives a voice to many of the children who did not make it out. It is a book that allows students today to connect to the past because it is told by children.

Which decade was the best?

Looking back on history it is hard to decide which time period was truly the best. Recently in my Social Studies class we tried to determine this by having a living museum. There were groups that represented the 1900's, the 1920's, the 1940's, the 1950's, the 1960's, and the 1970's. Each group wore costumes that represented the fashion and people of their decade. Groups also had props, pictures, music, and information that reflected their assigned time period. It was then the job of each group to "sell" their decade and convince voters why this decade was truly the best and deserved their vote. This was a fun activity for my classmates and me. We did not just report on history but acted it out. My partner, Jillian, and I had the 1940's and we fully embraced it. Jillian dressed up as the classic feminine of the 1940's while I portrayed the iconic woman in the workplace, Rosie the Riveter. We informed voters about what was important about our decade, such as the war, rationing, and major inventions. This project allowed everyone to escape the stuffiness of writing a paper and explore the information in a more engaging way. The project is something that I will remember because I was not simply spouting out facts but had an active role in portraying the time period and why it was important. Simply put the activity was meaningful to me and it will stay with me far longer than I had I written a stuffy paper. This activity would be incredible in an elementary classroom because it would allow the students to research, create, and present all while being engaged in the act of learning. Students need to be engaged in learning and that is done by making activities meaningful and trust me this activity was definitely meaningful.

Resources, Resources

I am currently in my second group of methods classes for elementary education. We have to create a thematic unit as our final project for the semester. My partner and I are doing our unit on the voices of the Civil Rights Movement. One of the first steps we did when starting our unit was to compile a list of resources, books and websites, that we could use for our unit. We created an annotated bibliography, both because it helped with our unit and it was a required assignment. The following is our annotated bibliography. It has a number of resources, both books and websites, to use when teaching about the Civil Rights Movement. It also has websites that can be used for teaching a variety of topics.

Annotated Bibliography:
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http://www.abookintime.com/index.html

A Book in Time has a large, well-organized list of history books for both U.S. and world history. Most of the books have a short description and recommended grade level. There are also links to teacher worksheets, activities, and materials for each time period. Additionally, this website provides history-related crafts ideas, online games for students, maps, and timelines.
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Adler, D.A. (2009). Heroes for civil rights. New York: Scholastic Inc.
Non-Fiction Picture Book
The lives and contributions of heroes of the Civil Rights Movement are discussed in this beautifully illustrated book. The stories of fifteen individuals are detailed in this book in a manner that is understandable for young children. Each story is accompanied by a portrait of the individual or individuals discussed. The individual’s life and death (if applicable) are discussed with the focus of each synopsis on the contributions the individual made toward the advancement of civil rights and equality.
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www.archives.gov/education/

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration has a section for teachers, which provides many resources. There are links for lesson plans, teaching with technology, educational training and continuing education programs, and information related to summer workshops for teachers. The main page highlights a featured activity, featured exhibit, which can be seen online or in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. and professional development seminars. Other resources include links to teaching with primary sources, state and regional information, and school tours and activities.
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Benson, K, & Haskins, J. (2006). John Lewis in the lead, a story of the civil rights movement. New York: Lee and Low Books Inc.
Non-Fiction Picture Book
John Lewis was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. His story is told in picture book format, starting with his childhood as the son of sharecroppers in Georgia. The story continues with John’s efforts to further the movement, including contacting and helping Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. John Lewis organized events, including sit-ins and Freedom Rides, designed to help get the movement’s message out to the public. The March from Selma-to-Montgomery was largely John’s idea and he helped spearhead the event, despite threats and injury. John Lewis continued to push for equal rights, despite losing Dr. King to an assassin’s bullet. His push for change and equality paid off in many ways, but in a show of ultimate change John Lewis was elected to represent the people of Georgia as a congressman in the House of Representatives where he continues to serve as of the publish date.
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Bertland, l. (2011). Social studies websites for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.sldirectory.com/teachf/socsci.html

This website is maintained by a retired school librarian and is an archive of social studies related websites for educators, parents, and students. The websites are grouped in the categories of general sites, current events, geography, government, and history. For each category there are several websites, the majority of which are updated regularly with current information.
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Bridges, R. (2000). Through my eyes. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
Non-Fiction
This book tells the story of Ruby Bridges, an African-American girl who was one of the first African-American children to integrate the public schools of New Orleans. The story is told by Ruby herself. It also has comments and anecdotes from people who were involved in the process, including the woman who was Ruby’s teacher, Mrs. Henry. The book is a good firsthand account of what a child encountered and endured during the tumultuous time of integration and the Civil Rights Movement.
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Brimner, L.D. (2010). Birmingham sunday. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek.
Non-Fiction
This book ultimately discusses the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that took the lives of six young African-American children. The book begins with the back story about Birmingham, which was home to heated clashes between those for and against the Civil Rights Movement. The book goes on to explore integration, Jim Crow and the influence of the Ku Klux Klan which all led to the bombing of the church. Details about the bombing, including obituaries for each of the six children who died, are discussed and explored in depth. It also tells how justice was sought and found for the victims, including the arrests and convictions of some of the bombers. This is an insightful book that sheds light on what led up to the bombing and the aftermath.
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Duncan, A.F. (1995). Everyday people. Canada: Troll Medallion.
Non-Fiction Informational Text
Tells the story of the National Civil Rights Museum, housed in Lorraine motel, the motel in Memphis, Tennessee where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot by an assassin’s bullet in April, 1968. The motel became the National Civil Rights Museum in August, 1991. The book describes the exhibits visitors will encounter when they walk through the doors of the museum. The exhibits are meant to transport individuals back to the time of 1954 to 1968 when the Civil Rights Movement pushed for equality for all in the United States. The book details exhibits, such as the Freedom Bus Rides, Sit-Ins, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat which led to the successful bus boycott in Montgomery, the March on Washington and the March from Selma to Montgomery just to name a few. Stories of individuals, both famous and everyday citizens, who helped and contributed to the Civil Rights Movement, are interspersed throughout the text.
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Giovanni, N. (2006). Rosa. New York: Scholastic Inc.
Non-Fiction Picture Book
Tells the story of how Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama led to boycott of city buses by African-Americans. This boycott led to a Supreme Court decision that segregation on city buses was illegal. The story begins by describing Mrs. Parks’ day, her morning and afternoon spent caring for her family and working, all of which had an impact on her refusal to move from her bus seat. The book goes on to tell of how her arrest motivated the Women’s Political council, the NAACP, and churches in the area to start the bus boycott with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as the movement’s spokesperson. The book concludes by telling that the boycott has a large impact on the city of Montgomery and the case makes it to the Supreme Court which determines that segregation on busses is illegal.
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www.mywonderfulworld.org

This website was created by National Geographic to expand geographical learning at home, in schools, and in communities. The website has resources for parents, teachers, and students to use to expand their knowledge of geography. The parent section has “10 Ways to Give Your Kids the World,” which is a list of ideas with links to online resources for parents to use to create activities to do with their children. “10 Ways to Give Your Students the World” is a similar resource list for educators, and also includes ways to be an advocate for geography education in the classroom. In the kids and teens section a list titled, “Geography is 10 Cool Things,” explains the different concepts related to geography with links to more information and activities.
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Partridge, E. (2010). Marching for freedom: walk together, children, and don't you grow weary. New York: Scholastic Inc.
Non-Fiction
This book discusses the march from Selma to Montgomery that was meant to raise awareness about the lack of voting rights for African-Americans in the South. The book starts with a discussion about how efforts were made to register African-Americans to vote but were continuously blocked by both the government and private citizens. The book then details how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Selma to help secure voting rights for African-Americans and over time this led to the idea of a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. There is much discussion about children and teenagers who protested and took part in the events. There is a great deal of coverage about Bloody Sunday, the first attempt at completing the Selma to Montgomery march. Then the book discusses the successful Selma to Montgomery march by breaking the march down by days. Finally, the book discusses the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which was influenced by the events that occurred in Selma.

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PBS. (2005, February). The civil rights movement in american literature: activity ideas. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/teachers/thismonth/civilrights/index1.html
Educational Website
This website has nine activities that educators can use in the classroom to help teach students about the Civil Rights Movement. Five of the activities are for grades 3-5 and four of the activities are for grades 6-8 and 9-12. Each activity is explained with target subjects listed and books that can be used to accompany the lesson as well as online and print resources teachers can access to support the lesson. Many of the activities are integrated, incorporating reading, social studies, language arts, and/or art. The activities are free of charge; all a teacher has to do is access the site to get the information. The activities are also engaging and target higher-level thinking for students in the target grades.
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Teaching Tolerance. (n.d.) Civil rights movement: classroom activities. Retrieved from http://www.tolerance.org/activities?keys=civil+rights+movement&level=All&subject=All
Website: Educational Resources
The Teaching Tolerance website discusses a variety of topics aimed at improving the treatment of all people. Connected to these topics are a number of resources, including educational resources for use in the classroom. This particular web page has a number of classroom activities that can be accessed by any teacher for free that supports instruction about the Civil Rights Movement. There are two pages of activities with about half of the activities directed at the Civil Rights Movement. All a teacher has to do is click on the activity he/she would like to do and they are directed to a page that describes the activity in detail. The target grade(s) and subject(s) are listed as well as the objectives, time and materials, and each step/part of the activity.
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www.timeforkids.com/TFK/

Time for Kids is a website produced by Time Inc. It has a collection of national and international current events, much like Time Magazine, but it is focused toward elementary-aged readers. The website is divided into sections by grade levels; Kindergarten through grade one, grade two, grades three and four, and grades five and six. Each section has links to current and past issues, and there are teacher resources for each grade level grouping. The teacher resources include worksheets, printable quizzes, and graphic organizers.
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Every coin has two sides, every story has two or three or maybe even more sides

Awhile back in my Social Studies class we talked about historical perspective. Every event that has happened in history has more than one story because every party that participated in the event has a different perspective on what really happened. For instance, American rebels swore that the British fired the first shot at the Boston Massacre but British troops said they were fired upon first. Both sides had a different perspective of the events that unfolded and both sides used their perspective to justify their actions. Students need to be taught to look at issues from all perspectives. It is human nature to have an opinion about certain events and issues but students need to be given the option to form their own opinions. Teachers need to be as objective as possible when it comes to teaching about historical events. They need to show students all sides, even sides that are not of the popular opinion, because it allows students the chance to form their own opinions and own understandings of how events in history played out and how people felt about them. Perspective is an important concept and students need to understand that all sides are allowed to have one.

A biography does not have to be in paper format

While reading my Language Arts textbook, Language Arts: Patterns of Practice by Gail E. Tompkins, I came across a really neat activity. Instead of having students write a long paper discussing a influential person's life they can create a biography box. A biography box contains items that represent the person and has been decorated by the student. The student then does a write-up for each item in the box, explaining how and why the item represents the individual. I thought this was a great project because it allows students to think outside the box (no pun intended) and be creative. Students have to still do the research because they have to explain how the items relate to the individual they are doing the biography box on, but they can present the information in a more engaging way. Learning can be done while having "fun".

It's a good day to bring a ware, let's have a trade fair

Recently in my social studies methods class we had a trade fair. All of my classmates brought an item or items to trade. The purpose was to expose us to what it was like to barter and trade for goods. It is meant as an opening for teaching students about a trade economy such as Native Americans and Europeans. Our trade fair was a success. People bartered and traded for baked goods, coupons, pictures, bracelets, lotions, and mystery items. The trades were interesting to say the least. A tin of gum bought a lanyard. Five bags of gummy candies bought a cake. A cupcake and some candy bought a bracelet.

This activity was enjoyable. I can only imagine how it would work in a classroom of young students. This will likely get them out of their comfort zone. They will have to think about what items their classmates will like. They will have to figure out how to trade for what they really want while also accepting that what they want may be unobtainable. This activity not only teaches students about the economy of yesteryear but also about communication skills, supply and demand, persuasion, and need vs. want.

This activity can be done in almost any classroom grade three and up but there are some things to keep in mind:

1. Make sure every student has an item for the trade fair.

2. Know what each student is bringing beforehand so you can decide if it is appropriate.

3. If a student does not have an item or an appropriate item then get them an item. Talk to the parents and ask them if their is an item the student can bring. If the parents cannot provide an item either have the student make something or bring the student something to trade.

4. Make sure students understand that common courtesies should be used while trading. Bullying can easily occur during the trade fair and this must be avoided.

5. Make sure every student makes at least one trade. A trade fair is not fun if you do not get to trade with anyone.

6. Remind students to use their communication skills and talk about problems should they come up.

7. Give students plenty of time to trade but do not let it drag on forever because chaos will very likely ensue.

Is North America a country or a continent? Is a gerbil a reptile?

It appears that there is a very sad trend happening in education today. I cannot speak for every teacher and every school but from what I know and have seen the subjects of social studies and science are going the way of the poor dodo bird at the elementary level. These subjects are being left out of the classroom while all attention is focused on English/language arts and mathematics. Why is this happening? Well, to be perfectly honest, it is because of those little bubble tests. In the state of Indiana, that means ISTEP tests. Starting in third grade public school and many private school students have to take these tests. These tests compare students across the state thus comparing schools. This means if a majority of a school's students do not pass the ISTEP tests then the school fails. If a school fails that means the staff is failing. If the failing continues to happen then it becomes a trend and when it is a trend the state may very well step in. Schools do not want the state to step in. Lots of people lose their jobs, schools close, students get shuffled around. No one likes take overs. This fear of take overs is what drives many schools to push instruction of English/language arts and mathematics. This fear is also what seems to be driving social studies and science out of the curriculum. Let me say this before I go any farther: social studies and science are getting some room in the curriculum because they are being assessed in fifth grade but often there is just a push of those subjects in that grade.

It seems that many teachers would love to teach social studies and science. What is stopping them? Please go back and read the last paragraph. Standardized tests are now driving the curriculum in classrooms. The need to pass the test has started to consume administrators, teachers, and students. Standardized tests do have their place in education but they should not be the end all be all for students and teachers. There is more to life than what can be assessed on a test. This is where the need for subjects like social studies and science come in. These subjects teach students about their past and the world around them. If they do not have a basic understanding of how people interact with one another and have been doing so for many, many years or how Earth is one planet in the solar system and sunlight is needed to keep living things alive than how will they ever understand more complex topics. Understanding human interaction and what it means to be a citizen leads to understanding how wars start and political parties. Understanding the need for sunlight leads to the understanding of photosynthesis and chemical interactions. There needs to be a foundation to build upon when it comes to teaching and the foundation for social studies and science should happen in elementary school. By the time students enter the upper grades they are expected to know this information and if the current trend continues they will not know the information because they will not have been taught it.

Teachers should be allowed to teach all subjects. They should not have to "teach to the test". This limits the education students get as well as the opportunity for teachers to impart knowledge to their students. I am not pointing the fingers at any teachers and saying, "You fail" because they are not teaching social studies and science. I have been in enough classrooms and have been around education long enough to know that it is not easy to incorporate these subjects nor is it easy to allow for time when a standardized test is looming over their heads. Integration of subjects should be happening but I know it is easier said than done. I have written enough lesson plans to realize that bringing in standards from multiple subjects can get messy and murky and the purpose of the lesson gets lost on everyone. There should be time for all subjects.

I should probably wrap this up because I have gone on quite a bit. I guess the purpose of my post is to say that "teaching to the test" hurts everyone involved. I fear that students are getting a limited education because so much focus has been placed on certain subjects. I fear that teachers are not getting to impart their full knowledge because they have been told to narrow their focus. I fear that one day I might hear an adult ask the questions in the title of this post because they did not get the foundation for social studies and science that they needed when they were in elementary school.