Through a Different Lens Film Series

This year the Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History Teaching American History grant offered its first film series with partner organization Primary Source. The film series, titled Through a Different Lens: Immigration and Migration in U.S. History, brought together more than forty teachers from our partner districts of Danvers, Lowell, North Reading and Reading.

The film series included viewing and discussion of the following films:

Prince Among Slaves

The Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo

Sacco and Vanzetti

Made in L.A.

During each session the teachers came together with historians, scholars and lead teachers to view and discuss the films. Teachers received a copy of each film for possible use in the classroom.

Election '08

Would love to hear all the thoughts of my colleagues about how you are all approaching this fine election with your students? My first year of teaching was 2000, and I learned a whole lot about teaching about the election that year. (There was nothing more priceless than my exasperated students coming in that morning and requesting new electoral maps because theirs that they had colored the night before, needed to be fixed because Florida had changed colors so many times! It was funny to tell them- no one knows what color it should be!)

I would especially like to hear the thoughts of any younger grade teachers. How much detail are you going into? Are you talking specifics about the candidates or sticking with just the process? I'm jealous slightly of those of you teaching high school because I would think/hope that you are able to have some really great discussions with your kids. My biggest problem is that the kids just repeat all that they hear at home. (I'm sure others at all levels run into this problem too.)

Anybody? Anybody?

Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History - Year Three

I am happy to announce that the Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History Teaching American History Grant Professional Development project is entering its third successful year.

To see a description of our theme and program offerings for Year Three click here.

The Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History website also provides information about programming, selected U.S. History website resources, and lesson plans.

Transnationalism - A new Historiographical View

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Organization of American Historians New York City conference in March, 2008. I participated in many excellent workshops and roundtable discussions. The majority of the presenters and participants, in my estimation, were college professors and/or secondary level administrators. I truly enjoyed the level of academic dialogue. Sessions I attended included “Rethinking Race in the American West”, “The Grand Canyon in History”, “Islam in the United States”, “Improving Early American History Instruction” and “State of the Field: History Teaching and Learning”. Considering the range of topics, it was interesting that one term kept popping up in discussions --- transnationalism. I must confess that I was unfamiliar with the term. Apparently, it is a buzz word in the higher echelons of historical thinking and teaching. Transnationalism is part of the growing argument in American History to gravitate towards a more international or global history.

As this is my last blog for the year, I can’t resist tying this into the Book Discussion Group. In our first meeting Dean Bergeron introduced us to the Turner Thesis, which argues that the “Frontier Experience” makes American exceptional. During the year, we had fun discussing/debating this theory while applying it to all the titles we read.

This new trend toward transnationalism completely opposes the idea of American Exceptionalism. I spoke at length with one of the professors, who recommended a book titled: Rethinking American History in a Global Age, edited by Thomas Bender, who is a major proponent for internationalizing the study of American History. This type of approach would have a huge impact upon historiography. The implications regarding European contact in the Americas would be overwhelming. Transnationalism promotes multiracial history and the study of what happens when cultures collide, which culture dominates, and who maintains material resources and whose voice is heard in history. Having read Hampton Sides’ Blood and Thunder, in our Book Discussion Group, I can see an argument for transnationalism; Sides illustrates how the American West was a cultural crossroads between the Americans, the Mexicans, and the Native Americans, and we know whose historical voice has been heard for the last two centuries.

I haven’t yet read Rethinking American History in a Global Age, but it’s on my summer list. I am intrigued by many aspects of this theory. I have always been a proponent of Human History, incorporating a global view with multicultural contributions.

For a sampling of Bender's ideas and the idea of Transnationalism:

http://books.google.com/books?id=GDXXGjR9fgAC&dq=Bender++%2B+%22rethinking+american+history%22&pg=PP1&ots=qxtiqcEZ2g&sig=uPO9zMocbJnVxQl7hHSwbBfvRYQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPP1,M1

Historiography in the High School Classroom

My historiography professor introduced me to a valuable source in teaching historiography to high school students that is worth sharing. Kyle Ward's History in the Making: An Absorbing Look at how American History has Changed in the Telling Over the Last 200 Years, (NY: New Press, 2006), illustrates the changes in history presented in textbooks over intervals of time. The topics are numerous and begin with Columbus, through Reconstruction, to the conflict in the Middle East. This source provided the opportunity for my classes to move beyond the importance of content and explore the importance of the historian and the impact of the political and social atmosphere in which the history was written. As one of the American Historical Association's historical thinking benchmarks utilized by Teaching American History, studying historiography with high school students takes their thinking one step further in acknowledging and analyzing the developing and differing interpretations in history.

I chose to utilize the chapter on Reconstruction in my US History I classroom. Before starting, I needed to introduce the concept of historiography. I told the students that they were going to read seven brief histories of reconstruction that were written between the years 1878 and 1995. Putting the onus on them, I asked them why they thought I would create such an assignment, given that they just read about reconstruction in their textbook that was published in 2007. What did they think that I expected them to learn? The common response of, "how history has changed over the years," set up a class discussion on how and why history changes, if history is based on facts and truth. Students were able to recognize the factors that influence history, specifically, the time period and background influences of the historian. The assignment, as it was probably their first introduction to historiography, was simple, I asked students to keep track of the content, what new information was added to the history of reconstruction throughout the different publications and to keep track of the historians' bias.

I was surprised by how involved and seriously students took this assignment. Not only did it reinforce the content, students generated questions about bias and perspective regarding the impact of race in this particular vein of history. The only improvement I would make would be to thoroughly address the concept of bias, how to identify it, and what could cause it.

MCAS, TAH reflection, and it's already June-oh my!

First off, I want to say that totally agree with Dan. TAH has definitely improved my teaching of American History as an elementary school teacher. I was really fortunate to be one of a small group of elementary school teachers who have a degree in content. I was a History major in college and that has been a huge asset to me as an intermediate elementary school teacher.

My concentration as a history major was in two broad areas; Ancient History and Post World War I and II Eastern Europe. Guess what I teach to fifth graders? Early American History! I've had to do a lot of self-exploration to inform my teaching of this topic. After 8 years, I think I've become a pretty good expert (at least in the eyes of my 70 ten and eleven year olds), but TAH has opened my eyes up to a lot of different things.

What I was curious to talk about with all of you is MCAS. It now seems like a blur, but just a couple weeks ago, I was up to my neck in all that stress. Fifth graders take a total of 9 sessions of MCAS. Awful! We take three in March, and six in May.

I am very curious to hear about the high school and middle school tests. I'm not entirely sure what grades they are in anymore- 7th? 11th? What are people's reactions to this push to a more of a "primary source" based test? I thought the fifth grade test was a mixed bag. I thought the material I had to cover in fifth grade, only 32 ridiculously detailed standards, wasn't too bad. I still find it hard to watch kids answer very specific questions. What I would call, "button, button, who's got the button". It can be heart wrenching to watch as students say that Lord Baltimore was the founder of Rhode Island, when you very specifically taught the difference between Roger Williams and the insignificant Lord Baltimore. Many of the questions aren't difficult, but lean towards more of what I would describe to be "common sense" type questions, and these to prove to be daunting for fifth graders. Why did most of the colonists in the colonies speak English? Some of my kids think it is because the Indians spoke English. No joke- that was one of the answers and I watched kids pick it. I think I shouldn't be allowed to proctor this test for my own mental welfare.

What do you all think? Do you find it painful to watch MCAS? Are we teaching too much- too much breadth and not enough depth? What can we expect our kids to learn and retain?

TAH Grant Has Greatly Improved My Teaching

With the closing of year two of the TAH Grant, I thought that I would reflect on some of the tools and techniques I’ve gained from the grant, and how they’ve improved my teaching of American history at the high school level.

I am a tremendous fan of the TAH Grant. I have gained extremely useful teaching skills, enriched my breadth of knowledge of American history, and incorporated these new found skills into almost every day of my teaching.

In an earlier blog, I wrote about my use of a series of primary sources, which are published by the Teaching American History Professional Development Project, a Partnership of the Fall River Public Schools and Bristol Community College. This collection still is a part of my teaching at least twice a week. With them, I’ve been able to give my students the opportunity to explore documents from American history and analyze them.

In a later blog, I took the opportunity to highlight my incorporation of Windows Movie Maker into my high school classroom. This exciting addition to my teaching has greatly improved the research and presentation aspects of my lessons, and my assessment of my students’ learning. With Windows Movie Maker training I was not only able to create movies for my students to view, but more importantly, my students were able to research and create their own movies. If you are interested in movie making with your students please see my earlier blog on the subject or email me a question at danhanlon@lhs.lowell.k12.ma.us.

This year, we were educated in a simple way to create websites through “Freshpond.net”. This organization has taken the requirement of learning to become a web designer out of web design. This means that a teacher, with all that we have to do, can create a web page with little effort that is easy to design and navigate.

Using my Freshpond.net account, I’ve created a very basic page. In fact I call it my “Basics” page. On it, I’ve been posting assignments and other class information for my students to use for class. As this system worked well, I succeeded in kicking the page up a notch. Using a secondary skill that I obtained from the grant, I’ve been taking audio CDs of our text and “ripping” then into files that can be put on the web. Now, as I give assignments, I can also assign my students to listen to the reading as well. This has been a great help to my students who have IEPs, and especially useful to my very many bilingual students.

Lastly, but certainly not least, there are the books that I’ve read and discussed with the book group. Although I haven’t been able to purchase a class set of my favorites, I have used many of the titles in my classes. Mostly, so that the readings match well with what I am covering at the time, I’ve copied excerpts from chapters and made them available to the class. Because the writing of these books is of high quality, and the writing perspective is different from both our textbook and primary sources, students have found them a refreshing, informative and interesting assignment. Interestingly, I’ve found that following an assigned excerpt from one of these titles; my classes have much more lively and thoughtful class discussions. Proving when everyone enjoys what they have read, they learn a great deal, and become anxious to share what they’ve learned.

In all, the TAH grant has given me many tools to expand my breadth of knowledge in American history, produce intriguing lessons, and provide my students with primary sources that are succinct and approachable. I am greatly looking forward to participating in the grant next year.

Kit Carson Strikes Again!

When I picked up the books for this year's book discussion group, I knew I would love 2 immediately. Call it my macabre taste, but I knew that Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Outrage in Early Industrial New England and Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West would be my favorites. While I am excited to apply the Fall River text to next year, I had a great opportunity to utilize the Blood and Thunder text this year.

Here's what I did, feel free to use all or part!

Divide the class into 3 groups- Dine, Mexican Americans, and the Federal Government.

Each group gets this background explanation:"This activity centers around a debate over the ancestral land of the Dine, or Navajo, in present day New Mexico. The area was gained by the United States after the Mexican American War, and currently is controlled by the Dine people. They are primarily sheep herders, the blankets they weave are prized possessions, often worth a lot of money. There are Mexican Americans who have lived on the borders of the Dine's territory who have been plagued by Dine attacks for decades, since the area was still a part of Mexico. The Dine attack the Mexican Americans to add to their own population by taking captives, or to replace sheep that have been taken or slaughtered by outsiders. There are also American citizens and new immigrants who wish to settle the area. Not only is the land beautiful, the Dine have amended and irrigated the soil for crops which make it ideal ranch/farm land. "

Have the Mexican American group write a petition to the Federal government that outlines their grievances and what they wish the government to do about it.

Have the Federal Government group write a treaty proposal to the Dine that outlines the grievances of their citizens.

Have the Dine group read the passage in Blood and Thunder that outlines the problems that the Dine have with signing treaties (they don't understand the authority of the Fed. government, they think that the white men might be witches, they don't understand the language, etc.)

Have the Dine respond to the other groups with this information in mind (they will come up with some interesting responses!)

I capped this off with a discussion, then had the students predict what the final outcome would be. Next, we watched Kit Carson, American Experience- a PBS documentary that overviews Carson's actions in the Canyon de Chelly and the 'Long Walk'. It is available at online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carson/ and the chapters that apply are 6 and 7.

Kit Carson Strikes Again!

When I picked up the books for this year's book discussion group, I knew I would love 2 immediately. Call it my macarbe taste, but I knew that Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Outrage in Early Industrial New England and Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West would be my favorites. While I am excited to apply the Fall River text to next year, I had a great oppurtunity to utilize the Blood and Thunder text this year. Here's what I did, feel free to use all or part!

Divide the class into 3 groups- Dine, Mexican Americans, and the Federal Government.

Each group gets this background explaination:

"This activity centers around a debate over the ancestral land of the Dine, or Navajo, in present day New Mexico. The area was gained by the United States after the Mexican American War, and currently is controlled by the Dine people. They are primarily sheep herders, the blankets they weave are prized possessions, often worth a lot of money. There are Mexican Americans who have lived on the borders of the Dine’s territory who have been plagued by Dine attacks for decades, since the area was still a part of Mexico. The Dine attack the Mexican Americans to add to their own population by taking captives, or to replace sheep that have been taken or slaughtered by outsiders. There are also American citizens and new immigrants who wish to settle the area. Not only is the land beautiful, the Dine have amended and irrigated the soil for crops which make it ideal ranch/farm land. "

Have the Mexican American group write a petition to the Federal government that outlines thier greviences and what they wish the government to do about it.

Have the Federal Government group write a treaty proposal to the Dine that outlines the grievences of thier citizens.

Have the Dine group read the passage in Blood and Thunder that outlines the problems that the Dine have with signing treaties (they don't understand the authority of the Fed. government, they think that the white men might be witches, they don't understand the language, etc.)

Have the Dine respond to the other groups with this information in mind (they will come up with some interesting responses!)

I capped this off with a discussion, then had the students predict what the final outcome would be. Next, we watched Kit Carson, American Experience- a PBS documentanry that overviews Carson's actions in the Canyon de Chelly and the 'Long Walk'. It is available at online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carson/ and the chapters that apply are 6 and 7.

Making Historical Movies in Class

I’m pleased to share with you my discovery and use of a tool that was introduced to me through the TAH grant. For years, my computer has been running Windows XP, little did I know that hidden under the accessories menu was a wonderful movie-making program called Windows Movie Maker.

After an extremely informative workshop on Windows Movie Maker, I was able to take this program, which is on almost every computer in my high school’s computer room, and teach my students how to make creative and informative historical movies of about 3 minutes long.

In this article, I hope to coax you to look into your computer’s “Applications” (or under “Accessories” as it’s found on my personal computer) and open Window’s Movie Maker and experiment with its capabilities. I think that you’ll will find that Windows Movie Maker will “kick” your PowerPoint lessons “up a notch” into a higher multi-media experience for your students.

If you click the icon below this blog you will be able to view a movie that I made for my students using pictures that I retrieved from the internet and music that was provide to me from the TAH grant. For those of you who are familiar with PowerPoint, you will notice that this movie is really just a fancy slide show. However, I hope that you will agree that as a motion picture, the slides and music become extremely attention getting and engaging.

If you plan to give Windows Movie Maker in your classes there are several important points that you must be aware of.

The first is the most important. Everything that you save as you are working with your movie must be saved to one place on a computer or USB drive and cannot be moved until you are finished creating the movie. If you move files from this designated place at anytime during the process, the program will not be able to access your files.

Secondly, when you open up the program, you will be creating a “project” or a .mswmm file. In this form, your on-going project can be saved, closed, reopened and continued (but don’t move it). When you are satisfied with your project and you are ready to turn it into a Windows movie, you will have to navigate to the “Finish Movie” button and go through the guided steps to make this project into a Window Movie or .wmv file.

Once your movie has been transformed from a “project” or .mswmm file and into a finished “windows movie” or .wmv file, you can move it anywhere you like. Also, it can be opened by Windows Media Player and other movie players.

Below are some links that I hope will help you.

From Steven Mintz - strong focus on digital history as a means of transforming history education: His Website: http://www.class.uh.edu/mintz/
-and-

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/resources5.html Click on “Windows Movie” Maker at the bottom of the page and you will view a step-by-step manual on how to create a movie using this program.

Digital History Website:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

A Sample Course Syllabus:
http://www.class.uh.edu/mintz/digital.htm

Digital Stories of American History (made by teachers):
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/digital_stories.cfm

Center for Teaching with Technology
Why Teach with Technology:
http://thwt.org/gettingstarted.html#whyteach


Digital Storytelling
http://www.coe.uh.edu/digital-storytelling/evaluation.htm

Teacher Interview about Student Movie Making
http://www.primarysource.org/newsroom/story.php?sectionPage=Primary%20Source%20News&sequence=95&storyFormat=Full

Biographies in the US HIstory Classroom

As the second year of Encounters and Exchanges draws to a close, the continuous theme of using biographies to teach history has inspired many of my lesson plans. From books focusing on the exciting lives of Kit Carson, and Harriet Jacobs (to name a few), field trips highlighting the lives of renown Massachusetts transcendentalists Henry David Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott, to Julie Winch’s book and presentation on James Forten and Gwedolyn Quezaire-Presutti’s performance as Maria W. Stewart at the Teaching American History annual conference, one can easily acknowledge the benefits of teaching history through biographies. Biographies have the ability to draw students into the history for the enjoyment of the narrative and appreciation for the significance of one man or woman’s actions, as opposed to an often cold and remote textbook.

After reading Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, for the book discussion group, I immediately recognized the compelling appeal of Jacobs’ life, and presented the first four chapters to my students. As time is high demand for all classrooms, however, even one of Jacobs’ chapters reveals an interesting and informative story to supplement the textbook. Take chapter one, for example: in order to guide reading and develop an understanding about the vast complexities of slavery, especially in regards to a young slave girl, students created Jacobs’ family tree through her recollections of her relatives. Once students attained this basic understanding of Jacobs’ life, they recorded examples of how Jacobs’ family impacted her life, which would help connect the events and unique circumstances of Jacobs’ trialed life. Finally, students made practical connections between Jacobs’ life and the broader history we studied as well as personal reflections on the impact of slavery on an individual’s life.

US History I teachers have no need to wait for a classroom set of Harriet Jacobs’ autobiography to utilize a slave biography in the classroom. Research and oral history projects have made enormous headway in documenting the lives of former slaves. The Library of Congress: American Memory’s “Voices from the Days of Slavery” collection contains the narratives of former slaves, available in audio and text form. Design generic, guiding questions that can be applied to all narratives. Have students make basic observation about the person’s life (family life, skills, living conditions), integrate their life into the broader history of the US, and finally, reflect what one can learn from an individual’s story.

The link for The Library of Congress: American Memory’s “Voices from the Days of Slavery,” is: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/vfssp.html

Great Sources for Slavery, Slave Narratives, Abolition and More!

The Book Discussion Groups and its books have certainly had quite a few plugs in these blogs. I know I've already written an entry with my praises for Hampton Sides' Blood and Thunder. Quite a few of the books in Year II of the grant have dealt with various themes related to African Americans, Slavery, Abolition, and the coming of the Civil War. Black Jacks by W. Jeffrey Bolster, The Approaching Fury, by Stephen B. Oates, and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, were all excellent. I have been working on my final project for the Book Group, and have been utilizing some great sources.

One source is the PBS site Africans in America. (see link below) It has a collection of images, documents, stories, biographies and commentaries depicting America's journey through slavery. The site compliments the PBS documentary Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery. The 2 DVD set was a Peabody Award Winner, and was given to all participants of the Book Discussion Goup. Using the chapter search function, you can focus on certain topics quite easily. Since there are participants from all of the systems in the book groups, find a colleague and ask them to share this treasure!

Another great resource for slavery topics is a site with a series of slave narratives published by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (see link below) It is rich with primary sources to compliment many units of study.

SlaveryInAmerica.org also is a useful site.(see link below) It has an image gallery, lesson plans, and narratives. Likewise, the Lost Museum (see link below) is a good find, too. It has a database of archived primary sources. You can search by key words or themes. This site was created by the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning with the Graduate Center, City University of New York and George Mason University.

My greatest find was the site The Valley of the Shadow, which contained three excellent primary sources illustrating the Southern defense of slaveholding. These documents would really spark interesting discussions and help students of the 21st Century see the arguments and values of Southern whites.

I hope you find these sites useful. There's so much great stuff out there. Enjoy!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html Africans in America site by PBS.

http://docsouth.unc.eud/neh/texts.html University of North Carolina Slave Narratives

http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/resources/resources_gateway.htm Slavery in America There is an image gallery, lesson plans, and narratives

http://www.lostmuseum.cuny.edu/home.html Lost Museum archives

http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/teaching/vclassroom/proslaveinst.html Primary sources for the Southern defense of slavery

Photograph Activity

I recently participated in a workshop on Reconstruction at Primary Source, an organization that I was introduced to as a grant participant last year. A fantastic teacher at the workshop presented an activity on analyzing photographs, and since I am always looking for new ways to analyze primary sources, I really latched on. The steps are as follows, and this activity could also work well with paintings.

1. Choose a person in the photograph to 'be'.

2. As that person, think about the following questions:

• What do you see?


• What do you think?


• What do you feel?

This forces the students to not only place themselves into the source, but to also to identify with different groups or people. The teacher at the workshop used a photograph taken at a lynching, and asked us to step inside the photograph and take the role of the men that had committed the murder, the man who was lynched, and the children that had been watching. You may even ask your students to take on the role of the photographer.

What would your students say about the image in this post?

Second Annual Encounters and Exchanges Conference

What a great opportunity many of us had the Friday before vacation to participate in the Encounters and Exchanges Annual Conference. It is a very satisfying feeling to participate in a day that you know enriches you both as a classroom teacher and as a professional.

The day began with an excellent presentation by Julie Winch, a professor of History at UMass Boston. Dr. Winch introduced the group to several biographies of Free African-Americans. Dr. Winch used many common primary sources to open up our minds to people who might have been otherwise lost to History. One of the most important goals of this conference/grant is to help improve content knowledge and pedagogy of history teachers. Dr. Winch's presentation did indeed cause me to rethink about my various approaches to teaching. I would love the chance to teach my fifth graders about history through the eyes of more everyday people. (So often I think we as teachers are bogged down with "covering" those famous people that the state of Massachusetts tells us that students must know.)

After Julie's presentation, I had the excellent opportunity to give my own presentation to other elementary colleagues. Over the last couple of years, I have had the chance to give a handful of presentations to adults, which is something that I have found that I really enjoy doing. Although it can be nerve-racking at first, sharing ideas with colleagues in this kind of format has been excellent.

Lunchtime proved to be another great part of the day! The weather was beautiful and I was able to go outside with a handful of other history teachers, some from Reading and some from other places. This kind of informal opportunities can prove to be some of the best times for networking and sharing of resource ideas.

My second session of the day was an excellent presentation by the Museum of Fine Arts. This presentation ended up being rather ironic for me. Last summer, I spent a great deal of time on the Internet attempting to find works of art that could be included in a series of lessons that I was creating for the Content Institute that I was taking through the grant. I found myself totally lost in the MFA website, and unable to get the images that I needed. Low and behold, the MFA has created a fabulous tool for teachers. www.educators.mfa.org Not only are you able to get access to almost their entire collection, but they also have a fabulous curriculum called VTS, Visual Thinking Strategies. Check it out! It will be worth your time.

The last section of the day saw a performance by Gwendolyn Quezaire-Presutti as Maria W. Stewart, a female African-American abolitionist from Massachusetts. I always find performers like Ms. Quezaire-Presutti to be fascinating. The amount of time that she has dedicated to perfecting her craft is impressive. Check her out at www.woventales.com

If you weren't able to join us last year, I hope that you will consider joining us and encouraging all of your colleagues to do the same!

Hi all,

The last time I posted, I wrote about how I was looking forward to starting to study the relationship between the Pilgrims and Wampanoags in my class.  Now, we have moved forward in history to the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and are studying every day life in a Puritan colonial town.   This transition has brought up some interesting discussions in my class, as students begin to understand the continuity of history.  Despite having "finished" studying the Pilgrims (in their interpretation), I am trying to have them understand that people were still living in Plymouth, and the community continued, even though our focus is now on Salem and Boston.  One way I have tried to encourage this continuity is to have students create a timeline of colonial history in Massachusetts.  Using a program called Timeliner, which is available in our computer lab, students are creating timelines showing various events.

As we have transitioned into the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, my class has been able to make several interesting connections.  Suprisingly, one connection is to a field trip we took in October to Salem Pioneer Village, in Salem.  The village is a recreation of the original colony set up in 1630, and in many respects is very similar (though much smaller in scale) to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth.  The extraordinary thing about this field trip was that the entire day was an interactive experience for the students, with live actors allowing them to participate in various aspects of a "typical" day, including a prayer meeting, daily chores, lessons, and games.  This program was set up especially for our school, with the help of some theater students and actors from Gordon College.  During the visit, students had conversations with village elders, saw artifacts from the time period and_____.  Six months later, my students can recall this information, and it has 

Making History Relevant for Kids

Hi All-

I am in the midst of beginning my unit on the American Revolution. This is a topic that is often one of the most favorite for my students! They have some background information from their studies of third grade, but I find too that they also come in with many prejudices and misconceptions that I need to fix. Right away we begin with the meaning of the word, "revolution". Without fail, I am told by every class, every year, that the world "revolution" means "war". It makes for a great class conversation when we talk about the true meaning to be, "a sudden, and complete change". The students readily realize other revolutions that they are aware of that were not in fact wars (Artistic, Musical, and even the Industrial Revolution)

As adult historians, we recognize the significance of the role of taxation in the American Revolution. One of my favorite activities is to have students do a tax interview at home with an adult. The students need to ask someone to name three different taxes, where the money goes that is collected, and how they feel about the tax. This activity always has fascinating results. (It is frightening to see how many adults are unclear about the taxes that they pay.) Undoubtedly, at least one adult says that "taxation is a necessary evil", which also leads to an excellent conversation. It is also a great extension to encourage kids to read local papers and discover articles or letters to the editor about the topic of taxation. This is a beginning to helping kids understand that these issues that affected colonists long ago, still affect us even today.

It is extremely important to not teach a topic like the American Revolutin with bias. It could be very easy to play up the taxation by the British as completely unfair. I have learned over the years the importance of showing students all points of view on this important debate. I have read that approximately 1/3 of the colonists during the revolution were Patriots, 1/3 were Loyalists, and the other 1/3 tried to remain neutral in the middle. I am fortunate to use a fabulous resource that comes from the Old South Meeting House Education department. The Old South Meeting House was of course the site of the Tea Party Debate in Boston on the night of December 16, 1773. This resource is like a play or a readers' theater, with characters who range from real, famous Bostonians of the day to average Bostonians, both Patriot and Loyalist. No other resource has helped me express to my students the range of feelings during this time, and how both sides had valid points. This experience of being able to act out this debate and listen to each other's points, sticks in the students' minds. Kids will often refer to their classmates' points and how they relate to the different aspects of the revolution we are talking about. I have found that this debate isn't perfect historically (due to "Founding Myths") however it is fabulous resource that could be used well up through 8th grade! Visit http://www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org/

Breathing Life Back Into History

A common misconception about history that I've encounter and struggle to correct is that history is static, an "it-happened-it's-over-who-cares" attitude. One method to disprove this dangerous syndrome and breathe life back into high school history classes is to create lessons that focus on decisions, conflicts, and conversations, even going so far as to have students role play scenarios highlighting these topics.

The TAH February discussion book, "The Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm 1820-1861," allows for numerous life giving possibilities for your classroom. Author Stephen B. Oates crafts the story of the coming Civil War through thirteen key perspectives. Its first person narrative creates 'passion, freshness and immediacy'. The conflict of differing realities, each identity believing their perspective to be truth, as well their personal conflicts and friendships, embraces the reader intellectually and emotionally.

Within Oates' book, I traced several themes that will be of use in my classroom. One theme, in particular, that I'd like to share is the debated meaning of Jefferson's "all men are created equal" phrase from the Declaration of Independence. Key identities, such as Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Jefferson Davis, and George Fitzhugh, all have defendable interpretations of Jefferson's famous words, as well as critiques of others' interpretations. This theme alone can be managed through a varity of methods in the classroom addressing content and skills, as well as several of the American Historical Association's historical thinking benchmarks: understanding historical debate and controversy, analysis of how historians use evidence, understanding bias and points of view.

The first issue at hand would be to have the students organize the different interpretations on a spectrum or with a complex graphic organizer, that illustrates agreements, disagreements, and unique ideas. Once the interpretations are organized and understood, teachers can address the issue of compromise in light of several well-formed, yet opposing, arguments. A debate or Socratic Seminar would best facilitate this discussion with the hopes that students could come to life applicable and relevant solutions. On an individual level, students can write a reflective piece analyzing the arguments, whose they agree with most, whose they disagree with most, and, of course, why. Students can also use the debates and speeches in the book to analyze the qualities and structure of effective and ineffective arguments. This activity will help them form better arugments in their own history writing. Furthermore, with students who are capable of thinking about historiography, teachers can introduce a discussion based on Oates' creation of a first person narrative history; for example, answering the question, "What are its advantages and disadvantages to using Oates' book as a historical source?".

I highly recommend Oates' book, "The Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm 1820-1861," to teachers of Antebellum American history. While remaining mindful that Oates created the first person narrative, the details into the conflict, debate, and discussion concerning race, liberty, and power will excite and renew your enjoyment of history. The possibilities of how this book can be used to bring life and action into a passive high school history classroom are abundant and sure to be challenging, meaningful, and rewarding.

Connections to Current Events and the Constitution

Hi all! I've been amazed at the student interest shown in the primary elections this year- many of my students watched the televised debate between Clinton and Obama this week and were excited to comment on it. It also comes at a great time in my curriculum- Reconstruction. The issue of civil rights and the Constitution's protection of them is a great way to connect today's election with the long battle to gain and enforce the protection of our civil rights. The National Records and Archives Administration has chosen 100 important 'founding' documents to highlight in a book and a website titled "Our Documents". This is a great source to find both the original 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments but also a short secondary source that describes both the passage of the Amendment and what the passage of that amendment meant on a practical basis.

I've also been using the CNN Election Center website every few days with the students; they have a great graphic representation of the success of each candidate, as well as good definitions of terms that students may be unfamiliar with, such as Superdelegates. As History educators, we have a lot of curriculum to get through in not much time, but it is certainly worthwhile to pause and discuss some history in the making!

A Review of Hampton Sides' Blood and Thunder, the Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West

Hampton Sides: Blood and Thunder, the Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West, New York: Anchor Books, 2006. 496 pp., soft cover, $15.99.

Hampton Sides’ Blood and Thunder, the Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West is an expertly written result of an extraordinary amount of research on the American West during America’s antebellum period. Sides’ work is based on Kit Carson as the American west’s central character. Expertly recounted, Sides highlights most of Christopher Carson’s adult life as a trapper, guide, soldier and husband. Moreover, Sides uses Carson’s endeavors in the west to recount the acquisition of the territories of California and New Mexico, the relationship between the American government and the Spanish-speaking colonials, and the uniqueness of the Native American tribes of the area and how colonials and natives interacted on the western frontier.

Throughout the far west during the early 19th century, Kit Carson is simply omnipresent. Sides’ chronological account of Carson’s life shows the reader what a pivotal role he played in America’s Manifest Destiny in the region.

Sides’ introduces Carson as a young “Mountain Man” and trapper throughout the mountains of the west. Gaining experience on the trails and outposts of the west, and building an understanding and relationship with the Native American tribes in the area, it was not long before Carson found himself guiding official American government expeditions into what was then Mexican territory. Carson’s first major expedition of this nature was with John C. Freemont. Together, Carson and Freemont explored what would become the Oregon Trail south to California and back east again. It was Freemont’s crediting written accounts of Carson’s bravery and cunning during California’s Bear Flag rebellion and his skills as a guide that elevated this rather quiet, man-of-few-words into a national hero. In the “Blood and Thunder” stories of the time Kit Carson was immortalized, however, Carson could never read these adventure stories about himself due to his illiteracy.

Adventures that fuel Carson’s fame continued as he later accepted other guiding missions. During the Mexican War, Carson was pressed into service by General Stephen Kearney. While patrolling in eastern California their unit of dragoons were attacked and pinned-down by a superior force of Mexicans. Sides vividly recounts how Carson with two others snuck through the Mexican lines at night, traveled briskly to San Diego, brought reinforcements to Kearney, and essentially saved the unit from destruction.

Other adventures of Carson’s did not end-up with the same heroic results. On one voluntary mission Carson sets-out with a group of troops to rescue a young woman who had been kidnapped, which was a common practice among many native tribes of the area. Carson’s attitude of harsh punishment against native people who attack white settlers is well illustrated. This harsh, punitive policy toward Native Americans who resisted Carson’s further official American business in the Southwest would manifest its-self a number of time is his future. As a Lieutenant and later as a Colonel in the US Army, Carson dealt harshly with native resistance to relocation, first with the Navajo and later with the Comanche. Consequently, however, Sides reports that Carson’s later position as superintend of the relocation site for the Navajo on the Pecos River forced him to realize the error in a harsh Indian policy and the relocation of native peoples far from their ancestral homeland.

Sides does not leave out how connected Carson was with the native people of the Southwest as well as his intimacy with the Mexican culture. Carson was fist married to a young native girl named Singing Grass. They had two children before Singing Grass’ death. Throughout his first marriage, Sides paints Carson as being self-conscious of his native wife and worried about the half-breed status of his children. Later, Carson was remarried to a considerably younger Mexican girl. This marriage brings more children, a large extended family and a great deal of absenteeism from his wife.

In addition to the immense biographical information on Kit Carson, Sides highlights a number of influential individuals of the time and the region. One of these is Narbona, of the Navajo Nation. Narbona is best described as a highly respected Navajo elder, as their culture of the time did not bear individual leaders. However, to the Americans, Narbona is regarded to be a leader by both Carson and his commander Col. Washington. In a divisive instance, Narbona, was summoned by Carson to negotiate the end of raids which involved stealing of livestock. As he was in his advanced years, Narbona found it challenging to dismount his horse for the meeting, however both Carson and Narbona constructively negotiated the issue before a calamity occurred. Washington became angry over the fleeing of a suspected horse thief among the Navajos who accompanied Narbona. When a replacement horse would not be returned to Washington, he ordered the firing of the company howitzer into the Navajos, which killed Narbona.

Tragedies similar in nature to the one that led to Narbona’s death were ubiquitous when the US Army encountered many native tribes. Another such tragedy involving a Col. John Shivington and the comparatively cooperative Cheyenne. This instance brought out a raging reaction which allows us today to understand how Carson understood his relationship with the Native American tribes during this period of Manifest Destiny. Simply, Col. John Shivington slaughtered more than 150 Cheyenne men, women and children. In reaction, Carson was quoted by Col. James Rusling, dialect and all.

His men shot down squaws, and blew the brains out of little innocent children.
You call sich soldiers Christians, do ye? And Indians savages? ….I don’t like hostile red skin any more than you do. And never yet drew a bead on a squaw or a papoose, and I despise the man who would. I’ve seen much of ‘em as any man livin’, and I can’t help but pity ‘em, right or wrong. They once owned all this country yes, Plains and Mountains, buffalo and every thing. But now they own next door to nuthin, and will soon be gone. (Sides p.471)

In Blood and Thunder, the Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West, Sides treats Christopher Carson well, illustrating how profoundly Carson’s actions determined American history in the Southwest. Additionally, Sides has researched and documented an exquisite chronological summary of how the Southwest of America was conquered by the United States, and how it was lost by the Native Americans. I highly recommend this work by Hampton Sides.

A great read for American History Teachers and/or anyone interested in the American West!

I must agree with Helen Sellers that the TAH book discussions are an excellent resource. I enjoy reading the books, but I truly look forward to meeting with peers and hearing what others have to say. Over the past two years there has been a tremendous amount of scholarly debate and collegial dialogues. I, too, recommend these discussion groups for next year.

After reading Helen’s blog, I decided to promote the most recent read at the secondary level. The Reading/North Reading book discussion group met last month to discuss “Blood and Thunder; The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West” by Hampton Sides.

The book was a unanimous hit. Middle School teachers and High School teachers alike were praising this book. It is well written and brings this period of American history to life. Anyone teaching or interested in this era should consider reading it. Sides will hook you after the first few pages. It is over 500 pages, but I found it hard to put down!

As teachers, it is easy to discuss Manifest Destiny, the U.S.- Mexican War, Western Expansion, and the fate of Native Americans sandwiched in somewhere between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Sides not only brings these topics to life, but to the forefront. Sides shows the readers Kit Carson as an unparalleled scout, a soldier of the American West, and as a family man. We see a Carson marrying a Native American woman and understanding and respecting their culture. We also see his role in the Long Walk, the relocation of thousands of Navajos. His treatment of Kit Carson forces readers to confront the contradictions of his life. Is he an American Hero? Is he a vicious killer? Is he racist?

Our group had a lively discussion. In our assessment of Kit Carson, we found ourselves assessing the role of the United States in its quest for western expansion. Where we were uncomfortable and disturbed by many actions in the book, we were forced to recognize the realities of current policies and global issues today.

There are many resources available to teachers who are discussing this period of U.S. History. PBS is currently running two programs. One on Kit Carson, and the other on Buffalo Bill. Their website has teacher plans, video clips online, interactive maps, and much, much more.

Again, I highly recommend “Blood and Thunder”. I will never look at Manifest Destiny the same way.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/west/ PBS American Experience: Kit Carson
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/cody/ PBS American Experience: Buffalo Billhttp://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/index_flash.html PBS U.S. Mexican War

A Fantastic Series of Books Containing Useable Primary Sources for Secondary Students

For my first blog regarding the Teaching American History Grant, as well as my first blog ever, I would like to highlight a fantastic series of books containing useable primary sources. This collection, which was given to me at 2007’s Teaching American History Grant Conference, which was held at Reading Memorial High School, is organized into 5 soft cover books. Each book in the collection contains one to two page excerpts of primary sources which address significant events in American History. Each book, approximately sixty pages long, are titled based on their overall theme. Titles include The Bill of Rights, The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address, and “I have a Dream”.

So, why do I think that these resources are so fantastic? Because they have changed the way I teach American History at the High School level. Since obtaining the series, I can safely say that I use a primary source in my classes at least twice a week. Many weeks I’ll use primary sources even more often. And now, I don’t limit the primary sources I use to the ones in this series. Now that my students are used to reading, interpreting and responding to primary sources in class, I find that I regularly search for primary sources to incorporate into my lessons regularly, and my students have become quite accustomed to utilizing their skills in interpreting them. Just the other day, one of my students asked me, “Mr. Hanlon, when are we going to read the textbook again?”

One effective week of primary source use was one where I focused on the formation of the constitution. For this unit of study, I utilized the book titled The Constitution. From it I selected the excerpts from the “Albany Plan of Union”, “The Articles of Confederation”, “The Northwest Ordinance”, “The Massachusetts Constitution”, and of course, the US Constitution in its entirety. Additionally, this issue contains excerpts from Federalist No. 1, Federalist No. 10, Letter from a Federal Farmer No. 17 by Richard Henry Lee, as well as an Anti-federalist excerpt from Patrick Henry. In all cases, I asked students to read the documents (or I read the documents with them) and then fill out a Written Document Analysis Worksheet (this worksheet and others can be obtained from the US National Archives website: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/document.html
From these worksheets, I used the students’ written responses as topics for discussion in class. I have been very impress with the depth of understanding both my honors and college level students have gained from reading these primary sources excerpts.

The collection was put together by the American History Professional Development Project. Photo copying for student use is encouraged as this project was funded by the United States Department of Education.

If you are interested in obtaining these books to use with your classes:

Unfortunately there is not an email or website contact for the project, however the books are published by the Teaching American History Professional Development Project, A Partnership of the Fall River Public Schools and Bristol Community College.

If I discover better contact information, I will update this blog.

Already 18 days into January, impossible!

Hi All-

Sorry that I missed you all at the meeting in December. I am really excited to be part of this group and have enjoyed reading all of your thoughts so far.

The first week in December, I had the opportunity to visit Charleston, South Carolina and visit a huge elementary school. I was struck by many differences while visiting down there, and one included any social studies related information displayed in their hallways.

As it was South Carolina, when I passed a bulletin board about the Revolutionary War, I was interested to see that Francis Marion ("The Swamp Fox") was prominently displayed as an important figure. Francis Marion is someone that I don't even talk about anymore since the revision of the Frameworks. He might only come up in conversation with students who have seen the movie, "The Patriot". That got me thinking about the true importance of some people, and mistakes and myths often associated with famous figures in history.

I would love to recommend to you, two excellent books that I had the opportunity to read in the TAH bookclubs. The first book club was read last year and was titled "Founding Myths". It was written by Ray Raphael. As a teacher of American History at any level, this book will blow your mind. Raphael uses tons of evidence to dispel many of the things that we teach, and proclaims them myth. There are specific chapters on beloved figures such as Paul Revere and "Molly Pitcher" , and even places and battles like Valley Forge and Bunker Hill.

I would also recommend to people the book that we just completed for our most recent TAH read. This book ,"Revolutionary Mothers, also focused on somewhat mythical women of the Revolution, but also gave excellent background information on little discussed female groups, like African-American and Native American perspectives. In just one year, both of these books have reshaped my thoughts and approaches to the teaching of the American Revolution.

The opportunity to be part of these book clubs has been phenomenal. Last year, the group was comprised of teachers in grades 3-12. It was an amazing privilege to spend time with, and get to know my colleagues at middle school and high school. Such amazing conversations of students and history was had (and a lot of laughs too).

If people have not had the chance to be part of these groups, I encourage all to participate next year.

Teacher Fellows

Recently some of the Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History Teacher Fellows have posted to the Encounters and Exchanges Blog.

With an emphasis on supporting and sharing TAH Grant related content and activities, during Years Two and Three, the project intends to utilize a few select Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History Teacher Fellows from each participating district.

Teacher Fellows' responsibilities include a commitment to Encounters and Exchanges Grant programming, informal in-house guidance and support to American history teachers in their school/district, the posting of four blog entries that highlight how they are utilizing TAH content and strategies with students or other teachers, and a presentation of a lesson plan/instructional strategy for teaching American history at the Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History Annual Conference on April 18, 2008.

Look for Teacher Fellows' blog postings in February, March, and June.

PowerPoints with Art/Photos as Primary Sources

Happy New Year!

As teachers, we are always pressed for time. Here’s a tip with a lot of bang for the buck. It combines a great teacher created site containing excellent PowerPoints with another site that has countless ways to not only incorporate but analyze primary sources, especially photographs.

During one of the technology workshops from Year One of the Encounters and Exchanges in U.S. History grant, I was introduced to Historyteacher.net. (see link below) This site was created and is meticulously maintained by Ms. Susan M. Pojer, a High School AP History teacher at the Horace Greely High School in Chappaqua, New York. This home page offers thousands of links to newspapers, writing guides, government information, online references, and more. I have found her online collection of PowerPoints extremely useful. She has titled it PowerPoint Palooza. (see link below) She has hundreds of PowerPoints already created. I have contacted her and asked for permission to use them. She graciously emailed back and simply asked to be credited as the creator. I teach at the Middle School level, so I usually edit her PowerPoints to suit my needs.

One of my favorite PowerPoints from Ms. Pojer’s collection focuses on the Italian Renaissance. I often use art and pictures in my class as teaching tools, as they are great ways to utilize primary sources. There are many methods and templates for using and analyzing primary sources. I was introduced to a new site recently by Pat Fontaine, Professor of Education at UMass Lowell, who is working with the TAH grant. PrimarySourceLearning.org offers an online primary source handbook. (see link below) The handbook has useful links for teachers just beginning to use primary sources, while also offering new ideas and templates for teachers who are already familiar with primary sources. The handbook contains lesson ideas, best practices, teaching materials, LibraryQuests, and a host of other gems. I found the most useful teaching materials on the site to be analysis worksheets including: Photograph Analysis Worksheet, Map Analysis Worksheet and Music Analysis Worksheet.






HistoryTeacher.net http://www.historyteacher.net/
PowerPointPalooza.net http://www.pptpalooza.net/
PrimarySourceLearning Handbook http://www.primarysourcelearning.org/handbook/