From Town Hall to Brand New Law (Or Not)

 Are you ready to engage in debate in your classroom? Check out this presentation from the 2016 Georgia Council of the Social Studies Conference.

Active Citizen: Make It So!

This lesson is about how to engage students by modeling a town hall debate using current controversial topics and character roles. Debates can be used to facilitate topic learning in the classroom. Students both debate and plan strategy to bring a successful initiative to the ballot. The conclusion of the debate will require students to reflect and vote via secret ballot as to the best argument presented.

Engagement: Researching Government & the People

As part of the research process, students will evaluate sources and use evidence to craft arguments that reflect democratic principles.  Students will develop questions and plan inquiries for their debate opponents. Students will evaluate public policies in terms of outcomes and consequences to prepare position statements. To craft adequate statements, students will analyze the impact of civic virtues, democratic principles, and rights. The debate will require students to examine historical, contemporary, and emerging views of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights. At the finish of debates, students will communicate their conclusions and encourage informed action.

Debate Questions:

• What is the historical process or foundation used for/against this topic?
• What rights or responsibilities does this topic address in today’s society or evolution of the American democracy?
• How does this topic engage citizens into a larger understanding of society and/or history?
• How do citizens decide to accept or change their position on this topic?
• How can this topic allow individuals to make choices to amend or change their position?

The Great Debate

•  Each side gets a 2 minute opening statement
• One person speaks for 3 minutes and then is questioned by BOTH people from the opposing side for a total of 4 minutes.  During this time the one person who spoke is “on their own” to defend what they said while being questioned by the two who oppose them.
• Then one person from the other side speaks for 3 minutes and is questioned for 4 minutes.  This continues with the 2nd person from the first team speaking for 3 minutes and then being questioned for 4 minutes and finally the 2nd person from the final team speaking for 3 minutes and being questioned for 4 minutes.
• After each side gives their closing statement a vote is taken from the class.
• Vote via secret ballot on which side presented the best argument & answered the arguments of the opposing side.

Engagement Examples: Government and the People

• Twitter Town Hall @ THE WHITE HOUSE  Petition the White House
• Big Block of Cheese Day

A photo posted by Histocrats (@histocrats) on Jan 7, 2016 at 11:09am PST

Resources for Current Information

• The Leading Source For Pros & Cons Of Controversial Issues   
• Pew Research Center: Fact Tank, News in Numbers   
• Federal Reserve Economic Data   
• You Are Why We're Here    
• United States Census Bureau    

Electronic Debate in Class -Media Options for the Classroom

• Google Classroom (comments enabled)   
• Padlet
  Edmodo (comments enabled)    
• TodaysMeet
• Poll Everywhere    

Resources for Hispanic Heritage and History

By Nina Kendall

Hispanic Heritage Month is here.  The annual  celebration of Hispanic heritage is organized around historical anniversaries. Now is a great time to reflect on how you include Hispanic heritage and history in your classroom. As a history and geography teacher, I approach this topic from multiple perspectives.  If you are still looking for a few options for your social studies classroom, check out our suggestions.

The Hispanic Heritage Month site hosted by the Library of Congress has a collection of art, literature, and history that will help you  design engaging lessons.

A section of the Veterans History Project is dedicated to oral history records of Hispanic American Servicemen since World War II.

The Smithsonian Hispanic Heritage Teaching Resources explore the art of textiles in the southwest, provide historic resources about the Bracero Program, and examine the development of cowboy culture.

The Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum is a unique way to experience Latino culture. Explore a virtual landscape hyperlinked to related resources and YouTube videos.  Set your students to explore the site or check out the teacher resources for ways to incorporate it in your classroom.

The PBS Hispanic Heritage Month site will provide you with links to the Latino Americans documentary and Latin Music USA documentary. The Latin Music USA documentary is a fascinating look at immigration and musical syncretism.

Edsitement has put together a collection of resources for the study of art, language, culture, and history. The 14^th colony site provides resources for Teachers to use in teaching about the California Mission system.

The state of California has lesson plans and student friendly biographies about César E. Chávez for K-12 students.

Check out these resources and pick what works best for you. A new resource may be just the thing for a lesson you are planning.

History’s Canvas: Using Art in the History Classroom

By Jeff Burns

My love of history has always gone hand in hand with a love for art, so I was excited when I was recently asked to present a couple of professional learning sessions for my districts history teachers.

I have always incorporated art in my units and lessons whenever I can, and I use artworks as bulletin board and room decoration, and I think it is an important aspect of human history that cannot be overlooked.  Art is a cultural hallmark that allows us to distinguish cultures, periods, and places.  Art tells us much of what we need to know about particular periods and places, intentionally or unintentionally providing important economic, social, and political details.    Art is both primary and secondary source material. Art reflects both a contemporary perspective of the periods and events of history and how perceptions of earlier periods have changed. The study of art promotes analytical and critical thinking skills. Finally, appeals to a variety of student interests and learning styles.

So what do you with art in the classroom?  Often, I use an artwork as a hook or a warm-up to get students’ interest and attention.  Choose a work that relates to your lesson.  It could be one that students would be familiar with or something they would not.  Sometimes the unfamiliar leads to great discussions since students are all analyzing something fresh.  For this activity, I practice a spiral questioning technique, moving from most basic to advanced, scaffolding to get to high order thinking.  Start with “What do you see?  No interpretations, no analysis.  Just what do you see in the work?”  Then gradually move into interpretation:  “What does this element mean? What was going on at the time this painting was done?  How does this relate to ….?  Etc.”

Another tool that can be a lot of fun is the act-it-out, a strategy that I learned from Teachers Curriculum Institute (TCI) or History Alive.  Project a painting, poster, or photograph and ask volunteers to stand in front and assume the roles of characters in the work.  They assume their postures, maybe even use simple props, and create a backstory for the character.  Then, the teacher (or another student) interviews them as if he/she is a reporter on the scene.  This can be done either to introduce or review a topic they’ve read or studied about.  Students have fun in the process, and usually some historical connections are made.

If you have several works for them to consider, do a gallery walk.  Post copies of the work around the room or in the halls.  Divide the class into small groups and rotate them through, allowing them to see and discuss each work and take notes.  You can guide the notetaking as you see fit, but there are at least three big questions:  1)  Description. What do you see? What is it?  2) Context.  How does this work reflect the time and place of its creation?  3) Synthesis.  Can you relate this work, the theme, the ideas behind it, to any other place and time?

Small groups might also look at works chosen by the teacher or brought in by students to reflect a particular period, for example the Renaissance.  You might have 4 or 5 works.  Each group has to determine why their assigned work is the quintessential Renaissance work.  If you were in charge of curating an exhibit and had to choose one and only one work to represent the characteristics and ideals of the Renaissance, why should it be your assigned work? They then have to make their case to their peers and convince their classmates in order to reach a class consensus.

After looking at an iconic work in class, you might ask students “How would this work be different if it were painted today or in another period and place?”  For example, what would Mona Lisa look like today?  What would a Mona Lisa of the Songhai Empire look like? 

Some resources for American History:

•      Smarthistory (Khan Academy) https://www.youtube.com/user/smarthistoryvideos

•      Art 1010 (Khan) https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history-basics/Art-1010

•      AP Art History https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/ap-art-history

•      Google Art Project https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE3E0B87FB1D9A3D6

•      Art History Lessons http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/about/

•      Artcyclopedia http://www.artcyclopedia.com/

•      Using Art in American History http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/war-for-independence/resources/using-works-art-teaching-american-history

•      Art History Timeline http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/art-history-timeline.html

•       Digital History Art http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/topic.cfm?topicID=3

•      Seeing American History through Art http://mag.rochester.edu/seeingAmerica/

•      Art History Websites http://besthistorysites.net/art-history/

•      Robert Hughes American Visions series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTeDUqlasCw&list=PLDF4A4CCB9DB13FEF

Sources for World History:

•      Art History Lessons http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/about/

•      Artcyclopedia http://www.artcyclopedia.com/

•      Using Art in World History http://www.phschool.com/eteach/social_studies/2000_10/essay.html

•      Art History Timeline http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/art-history-timeline.html

•      Sister Wendy videos https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sister+wendy

•      Simon Schama’s Power of Art series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP8Wkjs0P1o&list=PLhVnATSukg2H47jGXi0FjsrBRY_Z13TyP

•      Smarthistory (Khan Academy) https://www.youtube.com/user/smarthistoryvideos

•      Art 1010 (Khan) https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history-basics/Art-1010

•      AP Art History https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/ap-art-history

•      Google Art Project https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE3E0B87FB1D9A3D6

•      Art History Websites http://besthistorysites.net/art-history/

•      www.Renaissance-in-art.org

Resources for Learning and Teaching on Constitution Day

By Nina Kendall

Constitution Day will soon be upon us. The annual observation of the adoption of the United States Constitution is a chance for teachers to share with students the importance of America’s founding documents. It is never too early to start showing students the rights they have as citizens and the role the government plays in their lives. What do you plan to do? If you are still looking for a few options for your social studies classroom, check out our suggestions.

Tests of  Enduring Principles

Explore Abraham Lincoln’s Crossroads

Use the flash-based exhibit at the National Constitution Center to explore the political decisions of Abraham Lincoln. Compare your decisions with this talking Lincoln and deeply examine his struggles.

A More Perfect Union

Learn about Japanese Internment and the struggle for Civil Rights at the Smithsonian’s A More Perfect Union Web exhibit. Here you can explore the crisis surrounding the constitutional conflict and citizens of Japanese descent with primary sources, text, and film.

Knowledge of  United States Government

Ben’s Guide to Government

Ben’s Guide is a website with activities for students from K-12 to learn about government with Ben Franklin as the guide. A new beta version is being tested and promises to have games and more.

iCivics

            Use iCivics to engage student conversations about citizenship and government. Teachers can use their digital resources to teach a lesson or have students plan an interactive game. In Do I have a Right?, students demonstrate their knowledge of the rights of citizens. In Supreme Decision, students explore how the Supreme Court works. In Branches of Power, students show what they understand about the government.

Assorted Activities

            Visit the National Constitution Center for more activities related to the Constitution Day. You can monitor the countdown to Constitution Day or download a lesson plan. Other activities to choose from include video lessons and live chats in the days prior to the celebration. You can even take a quiz to find out what founding father you are most like.

            The National Archives also have lots of Constitution Day options. Use their plan for a Constitutional Convention Simulation or just take the time to learn more about the Founding Fathers.

            Check out these resources and pick what works best for you. We can certainly enjoy every opportunity we get to talk about the United States Constitution.

Teaching Military History

By Nina Kendall

Military history is a specialized field with many different facets.  This field has even found a place in popular culture with many amateur historians. When teaching military history you can focus on the experience of soldiers on the battlefield, military strategy, or significant leaders. Another option is to focus on the impact of war by examining economic production, life on the home front, technologies introduced or deaths and causalities. With each war, I focus on different components of military history.

Here are a selection of websites that can be used to incorporate military history into your lessons.

·         This Revolutionary War Interactive website lets you follow the battles of the Revolutionary War as they happen. The maps provide clear opportunities to illustrate the progress of the war and the strategy of both sides.

·         This article is a great description of George Washington as a Military Leader.  The focus is often on Washington as a political leader and this article provides the reader with a different prospective

·         This Mexican American War site has a short animated introduction of the Mexican American War and an interactive timeline to aid in teaching this conflict.

·         This interactive website allows the viewer to follow the fighting on the Civil War battlefield.

·         The Price of Freedom: Americans at War  is a virtual exhibit hosted by the Smithsonian. Each section has an introductory video and artifacts to examine. This exhibit spans conflict in American history into this century.

·         The Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress is also a great source for oral histories interviews.

One facet that has been a challenge teaching to students is military strategy. Finding ways to help students connect to this material was a difficult. Either they were very knowledgeable about the subject or had little interest in it at all.  What could be done to engage students across the spectrum? Was there a hook for the disinterested and a challenge for the enthusiast? I found one. I created an activity entitled, “If the Civil War Was a football Game.”

This activity was based on comparing the events of the Civil War to aspects of a football. It worked surprisingly well.  Students had to make comparisons and justify their comparisons. Students could identify teams and began to see military strategy as competition for territory and control.  Even students who struggled were arguing over what battles made the biggest difference in the war and what leader’s decision changed the course of the war.

To introduce this activity and way of thinking, I begin with a whole class activity modeling this effort.  To do this activity well students must use historical evidence to complete their simile. I have tried this assignment as both a writing assignment and as a project. It has worked with students at every ability level. To differentiate I simply increased the complexity requirements and decreased supports as needed.

Here is the writing assignment variation I used one year:

If the Civil War was a Football Game…….

Task: Write a paragraph using the sentence below as a main idea to complete the comparison. You must choose from one of the topics in this unit and include at least 3 supporting sentences, 3 detail sentences, and a conclusion. You must choose a topic we have not already compared.

 

If the Civil War was a football game then _____________ was ________________ .

Resources for Teaching Women's History

By Nina Kendall

March is Women’s History Month.  Celebrating Women’s History Month reminds Educators of the painful truth that including the history of women in classrooms is still a challenge. Here are a few digital tools and unique resources you can use to put more women’s history in your lessons.

Interactive: Progressive Era Women

The Progressive Era Women Interactive at the National Women’s History  Museum website combines group artifacts and classifying items with the examination of events in movements in the Progressive era. A unique way to interact with text this activity could be used to help student test their knowledge and understanding of the era.

 

 Woman Suffrage Centennial Web Exhibit

The Oregon Blue Book is sponsored by the Oregon Secretary of State. The Web Exhibit about Women’s Suffrage celebrates the centennial of suffrage in Oregon. The collection of digital artifacts provides students with the opportunity to interact with primary sources as individual or as a class. These sources are applicable at the state levels or as exemplars at the national level.

 Setting the Precedent: Women who excelled in Business interactive

This interactive is hosted by the Smithsonian and illustrates the growing role of women in the 20^th century. This would be a fun and empowering choice activity to add to a unit about Modern America. Learn about 4 women who made the move from the home to the boardroom expanding on traditional roles.

 

 Failure is Impossible

The Teaching with Documents: Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment webpage features the Failure Is Impossible script created for the 75^th anniversary of women’s suffrage. Now you can download this story to dramatize it in your own classroom. Bring the struggle for suffrage alive.

 

Cult of Domesticity

How did the cult of domesticity oppress and empower women in the nineteenth century? Use these carefully selected primary sources and graphic organizer to learn more about the Cult of Domesticity.  Later in your year follow up with the lesson Women, Temperance Reform, and the Cult of Domesticity.

 

Discovering American Women’s History Online

Looking for a source for a specific topic? Try this database. Search by topic, keyword, or state.

 

Rachel Carson

See footage from the period and learn more about Rachel Carson and her work from Bill Moyers Journal. Find the roots of the environmentalist movement.

All photos in this blog were taken at the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space.