I am in Washington D.C. participating in the James Madison Graduate Fellowship (JMGF) and I have a little time before today’s lecture so I wanted to take the time to let you know what is going on. The JMGF is being held at the campus of Georgetown University near Washington D.C. The primary purpose of the summer institute is to study the formative period of our country’s history to include of course the Constitution. So far it has been very illuminating but challenging at the same time. I will be honest, the reading load is intence and it has taken a concentrated effort to keep up. We are reading, with few exceptions, primary source documents which present their own set of challenges inregards to understanding the content, what is the saying…”that which does not kill me will only make me stronger.” I am caustiously optimistic of the outcome.
At the beginning of the week fellows had the opportunity to speak with Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas at the Supreme Court. That was a very special event in that the Justice was very personable and in his talk stressed the importance of an educated citizenery in regards to the nation’s democractic health. The Justice was very moving in his recalection of his early teachers, which brough some of the fellows visibly to tears. Fellows have a paper due this coming Tuesdy so I will be busy with that but, non the less I will go into Washington to begin seeing the sights.
One of the ways that I try to make history come alive is through the use of video production. It may not always be practicle to take students on field trips to places of local history so through the use of video I bring the local history to the students. While companies like the History Channel produce great videos concerning topics of national history they fall short in terms of local history, creating mini docs (mini documentaries) is also a great way to capitalize on the expertise of local historians and preservationists. For example in the creation of “Rhyolite A Whisper From the Past” I worked closely with Rhyolite historian and author Suzy McCoy to learn more about this interestig ghost town. In addition to the video I also engage students with primary source documents which you can view and download at http://www.mrhinton.org/local%20history.htm
This post doesn’t have to do with teaching American history so much as it does about living it, as I am sure you all know Nevada’s Democratic and Republican caucuses took place Saturday January 19th, putting Nevada on the political map as an early caucus state. You also probably know that Hilary Clinton won the caucus with 51% while Obama came in at 45% I am an unapologetic Obama supporter and believe he is the best candidate for Nevada and the country but because this blog is not a bully pulpit for my political views I will leave that topic alone. As a Nevadan we have much to celebrate in regards to the caucus but we also faced challenges that will need to be worked out before we do this again. The number of caucus participants surprised even our most elucidated political pundants including our own Senate Majority Leader Harry Read, I have to admit I was a little worried that our turnout would not be what it should and with the nation’s eyes upon us it could have been a disaster. As far as the caucus I feel that in general things were very unorganized nobody seemed to know what they were doing and many caucus goers became impatient as a result. Parking was a problem as was access for disabled folks, participants were required to know which precinct they were from to sign in and I noticed that this became an issue for many as they had no idea which precinct they belonged to. The lack of a PA system also made the process difficult to understand as instructions were almost impossible to hear. Despite the problems I was very excited to participate in the early caucus, I believe as many Nevadan’s do that our opinion matters, I also take pride in the fact that as a community we came together to do something I feel is very important.
I did bring my digital camera along as well as my mp3 recorder I did manage to give commentary as to what I observed at the caucus the intention was to share this experience with my students as I believe that as teachers we are role models and community leaders and as such we must demonstrate what it is to be an “effective citizen” by participating in the political process, it wasn’t until I got home that I realized that I should have interviewed fellow caucus goers to get opinions and impressions of the event, but o’well I am new to all of this and i suppose with practice I will get better. I have created links to my commentary if you would like to listen.
In vlog #3 I discuss how to implement primary source document analysis into your curriculum, as well as a book review of Slavery and the Making of America and a product review of Teacher Created Materials primary source documents kits.
As our culture becomes more visual I think it is increasingly important that teachers make an effort to appeal to learners of various learning styles. I try and do this by using music and video in the classroom. You might remember the great educational tunes on School House Rock (that’s how I learned about conjunctions) an updated approach to this idea is a book and CD set called Hip Hop U.S. History by Flocabulary. One of the raps I particularly like from the CD is called the Bill of Rights, I challenged my students to learn the lyrics to this song and despite passive resistance many of them did and at the same time have memorized the first ten amendments to the Constitution. I created a rap video for fun and to show my students that being silly and having fun with history is OK, I like to take risks in the classroom and despite my deplorable rapping ability and cheesy rap video clichés this was a lot of fun to make, my students love it and I have managed to reach reluctant learners at the same time a win win situation.
Several years ago I came across a book, Sam Wineburg’s Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past, which significantly changed the way I thought about teaching history. Historical Thinking challenges many common conventions about how history is taught in school. Wineburg posits that instead of asking what do students know about history, we should be asking how do students think about the past? At the 2007 Northern Nevada Council of the Social Studies Symposium I had the opportunity to attend a talk given by Dr. Wineburg and, in addition to being a dynamic thinker and writer, he is also a captivating and entertaining speaker. The following observations came from that talk and serves as an introduction to Wineburg’s research, which focuses on the concept that history teachers should engage their students with sources of historical information other than the textbook, and that wrote memorization of trivial historic facts is counterproductive to history education. In my first year of teaching I found a copy of quiz at my social studies department’s photocopier left by a U.S. history teacher. Always eager to learn from my more experienced colleagues, I examined it only to discover, more often than not, that the teacher’s assessment involved questions that asked students to recall through wrote memorization obscure names, dates and other minutiae of history. Being a new teacher I believed that was how we should be teaching the subject. While standards certainly hold students accountable for knowing certain facts of American history, I believe that instructors make the mistake of substituting trivial details for larger themes in the quest to teach their students “factual history.” For example, the quiz asked the following: “At the Boston Tea Party how many chests of tea did the colonists throw into the harbor?” A student should not have to memorize such pointless facts, what is important is the idea that defiant colonists dumped tea into the harbor in protest of English taxation, and was another step towards American independence. “Memorization and regurgitation” is the traditional approach to learning history. In many classrooms the history textbook is used exclusively to drive the curriculum, with lessons focusing on reading the textbook and assessment consisting of chapter review questions. It is no wonder that many students hate history. Teaching in this manner robs historical events of their interest and excitement; historical figures become remote and impersonal, void of emotion resulting in the perception that history is boring and irrelevant.
Wineburg’s research concludes that the textbook is one of the worst ways to transmit historical knowledge in that it presents history as a declarative narrative, an omnipotent voice that relates events of history void of alternative outcomes. He goes on to add that this method is short-sighted because it fails to take into account that history is a process and that historical events have to be contextualized. That is, we must understand who is writing the history why they are writing it and what is the temporal-political-regional-ethnic-cultural-religious framework of the historical interpretation (historians call this historiography, how history is written and interpreted). While using the textbook may be inevitable it is best used as a resource much like an encyclopedia rather than as a historical narrative. In stark contrast to “memorization and regurgitation”, Wineburg believes that students should be taught “historical thinking”- how to process, evaluate, and critically analyze historical documents and events. Wineburg’s research suggests that the most effective way to engage students with “historical thinking” is Document Based Questions or DBQ.
Wineburg also points out that history is an ongoing argument, unlike the declarative statements of fact found in textbooks; history is constantly changing in light of new evidence and changing social norms. As historian Frederick Jackson Turner reminds us, “Each age tries to form its own conception of the past. Each age writes the history of the past anew with reference to the conditions uppermost in its own time.” The present and the past are connected by the thread of continuity where past events are played out in the contemporary. Students must be taught to challenge the dogmas of tradition inherent in history textbooks; historical claims need not be blindly accepted but substantiated. Once students begin to question and critically analyze historical events through the use of primary source documents they will finally be engaged in the unnatural act of historical thinking.
The following is my adaptation of an exercise presented by Dr. Wineburg in his talk. This lesson can be used to interpret historical documents and encourage critical thinking and analysis skills; the exercise is also useful in bringing a human element into history instruction. When student’s read personal letters and documents they may bring historical figures to life.
Lexington and Concord Exercise
First have students brainstorm what they know about the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord. Confrontation between minutemen and redcoats; Opening volley of the American Revolution; and “Shot heard around the world.”
Have students evaluate painting #1. What does the painting tell us about the battle at Lexington?[1]
Now have students examine Painting #2. Have them evaluate the painting.[2]
Painting #2, Colonists can clearly be seen fleeing the field of battle
Have students compare and contrast the two paintings. How can they account for the discrepancies? Have students read the order given to Lt Colonial Francis Smith from Thomas Gage[3] Prompt students to answer whether or not Smith was to attack the Colonists. Read an account of the events from the point of view of the British Lt Colonial John Barker[4] Now have students read an account of the battle from the point of view of American colonist John Robbins [5] Again ask students how we can explain the discrepancies of the two eye witness accounts given this new information? Who is right? What might be their motivation for the account given? Wrap up the lesson by asking why the battles of Lexington and Concord have traditionally been depicted as a few brave colonists bravely facing off against an overwhelming number of redcoats? This common depiction is best expressed in a 1925 postage stamp the minutemen are seen in brave defiance of the British (notice one has his arm raised in a clenched fist) see image # 3. Lexington and Concord have become creation myths from which American principles and character have sprouted. American ideals of bravery and self-sufficiency are clearly illustrated in depictions of these battles and speak to the intransigence and commitment to liberty held by early Americans.
Have students pick out an event from history and do research using primary source documents. Make sure they have found several accounts of the event preferably representing various points of view. Have students identify the source as well as the when, where, and why of the document. Have students look for corroboration of events, do all parties agree on the way the event happened? If not why? Do the varying accounts of the event change the way the student’s understand the event? How?
In this vlog I discuss strategies to implement primary source documents into your curriculum. Using primary source documents requires students to think at higher levels using skills such as analysis and interpretation, I find this to be much more engaging than the old way of teaching history through wrote memorization. In addition to documents primary sources can also be photographs, paintings and other images and there use can be a great way to engage learners of all levels. A great place on the web for lesson plans based on primary sources is the National Archives . I also like to use historical documents printed on parchmnet paper as they have that “authentic” look, I get a lot of my reproduction at the Liberty Bell Museum gift shop. If you would like to read more about the research behind primary source document analysis read Sam Wineburg’s Historical Thinking and Other Unnatiral Acts . Here is a list of sites I found useful for primary source document analysis as well as products discussed in my vlog.
In my first vlog (vlog#1) I explain how I use video recording in the classroom and include an example of a skit students produced concerning the arguments of the federalists and anti-federalists, the range of topics for this activity are unlimited let your students’ imaginations run wild. Kids love doing things that are “different” and I really think they got a lot out of this activity both in terms of content and creativity. Much to my surprise I had students who hadn’t said much all year become animated and excited. Here you see the camcorder I use in class a Panasonic Mini DV and lighting hardware.
