Local History in the Classroom

Backyard History - Teaching History With a Local Flavor Jeremy Potter Ida Middle School

What do our kids think of history? It's boring because there are too many dates and events to remember. Adam S. I don't like to sit around and just talk. We need to get more involved. Alex C. I don't like learning about old people that have died. Tabatha L. I don't like learning about places far away from me that don't involve me. Mara H.

Why is local history so important to teach/learn? "Students can benefit in several ways from researching their school history. . . This is history that is near at hand and that has a direct connection to their lives." --Larry J. Hackman, New York State Archivist, 1985 “ Forget the generals and the queens and the kings. Small-town studies can add up to something that has important implications.” -- Dr Alfred N. Hunt, Dean of College of Arts/Letters SUNY

Why is local history so important to teach/learn? “ Local history may be of greater ethical value than national or world history, for by it the work of obscure men and women of whom the world at large can never hear, may be noticed and remembered.” James E. Le Rossignol, Nebraska State Hist. Soc. “ This is way better than study hall.” Stephanie Kipp, IMS 7th Grade

Where do you go to find history? Gettysburg? Greenfield Village? Michigan Historical Museum?

You can find history in your own backyard

Local history needs to be preserved

Original Purpose To catalogue and archive Ida Public School information and artifacts 31 students initially signed up

By the numbers Spring 2005 - 78 out of 130 6th graders signed up to take the class the following fall. 2007-2008 - 47 7th and 8th graders in the class. Over 90 signed up in the spring, 1/3 of students in grades 7 and 8

Make Local History Fun Make Local History Meaningful

Tailgater / Buzzer Beater 6-8 P4.2.3 Football/basketball program handed out at all Varsity home games Focuses on historical matchup vs. that opponent http://www.michigan-football.com/ Great PR

Yearbook 6-8 P4.2.3 A yearbook is a slice of your school’s history Kids take pride in the idea of producing something for their peers

Ida History Night 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 8 U6.2.1 Get with local library to put this on Sharpens research, presentation skills Great PR for your group or class Sports, schools, railroad, businesses, famous people, general history, etc.

Websites 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Unlimited space, zero $$ resources. Kids love technology, if it’s done right . More PR Host with your school or city/township

Town Tours 6-8 P4.2.3 Walking tour of your town Open to the public Another great chance for students to sharpen research/presentation skills

Field Trips Through Town No cost Kids love getting out of class History in the least obvious places

Genealogy 6/7 H1.2.1 Family history is important to the students. Do as little or as much as you want

Easy-to-use Websites for Genealogy Research http://genealogy.about.com/od/lesson_plans/ http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/persi http://ancestrylibrary.proquest.com/aleweb/ale/do/login

Documentaries 6-8 P4.2.3 8 U6.2.1 Tales of the River Raisin Check with local P.A. studio, college, ISD for video capabilities i-movie

Local Historical Re-enactments 6-8 P4.2.3 Lantern Tours Battle at River Raisin Niagra

Map Activities 6/7 H1.2.1 6/7 G4.3.2 Maps can usually be obtained from local museums Memory mapping Plat maps Butcher paper mapping

School History 6/7 H1.2.1 Kids love to learn about their school - It’s important to them Bring in former teachers/students

One-Room Schools 6/7 H1.2.1 8 U6.2.1 Locals can provide much of this info The Bess Britton Michigan One-Room Schoolhouse Collection (Van Buren Library) http://www.one-roomschool.org/

Oral History 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Interviews of local residents CDs can be made for libraries, museums, etc. Library of Congress Project - http://www.loc.gov/vets Great community service project

Sports Projects 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Tailgater Websites Archiving sports articles

Murals 6-8 P4.2.3 History Murals Work with art teachers to create these Study halls, 4’x8’ boards

Calendars 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Old photos make great calendar pages Great for PR Can work with school, township, local business and get it funded, as well

History Room 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Work with local library to maintain/create history room Access to local history widens greatly

Library Pictures 6-8 P4.2.3 Another great research tool $6,000 fully funded project More great PR - community and recruiting tool

Census Projects 6/7 H1.2.1 8 U5.2.5 8 U6.2.1 You can do entire units using local census info We use census for homesteading project Civil War project

Phone Book Articles 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Working with local phone book company to publish Ida History Another great ownership tool PR

Ida History Week 6/7 H1.2.1 I spend a week with 6th grade students studying Ida History Use as a recruiting tool Bring along trustworthy BHC students to help recruit

Community Projects 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 P3.1.1 Historical Plaques Flowers, landscaping Clean up days

Float Building 6-8 P4.2.3 More great PR for your group Get involved with local museums, organizations Fun!

Textbook Publishing 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 New 2nd grade GLCEs - local community/history emphasis Why not publish a book for your district’s 2nd graders? www.lulu.com

Homestead Project 8 U4.2.3 Replace simulations with real people from local history Redraw maps Compare their history to actual history

And the kids like it because … It's fun imagining that you're early settlers of 1837 in Ida. Zach H. It shows us what Ida was like in 1837. Henry H. We get to see how it was in our town and how it started. Bailey P.

Newspaper Articles 6-8 P4.2.3 Get with local newspaper Publish once a month More great PR Ownership/ Authentic

Wikipedia 6-8 P4.2.3 Instant Publishing Ownership of the informaiton Betty Whiting

School Showcases 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Pick a theme (ex: 1940s in Ida) Change display every 1-2 months Instant recognition amongst peers

Demographics Lesson 6/7 P3.1.1 Can be done in 1-2 days Gives instant demographics info to your students Sperling’s Best Places

Archiving 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 Schools produce rich historical records Two purposes: repository teaching research-related skills

Items to collect in your archives handbooks newspapers yearbooks menus textbooks term papers (school and community related) artifacts newspaper articles programs oral histories scrapbooks videos

Local Timelines 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 8 U6.2.1 History of your hometown History of your School Dual timelines

Working with Elementary Students 6-8 P4.2.3 6/7 H1.2.1 2nd grade - local history/community GLCE requirements Districts love inter-building partnerships

How do you start your own BHC program? Find allies Superintendent, school board members, principal, business leaders, museum officials, library officials, town/township officials, curriculum director

How do you start your own BHC program? Accentuate the Positive Research; project-based Enrichment Reduces number of study hall students Bringing in experts Research librarians, Archivists, Museum officials

Tie Into your School Improvement Plan Literacy Problem Solving Technology Character Education

Budget Small Keep your costs low - most districts tell us they are strapped for cash. Our expenses are approximately $200 per year. Any extra money we need, we fundraise or get community donations

What students do you involve? Self-motivated students Students with strong interest in local town These may not all be the honor students Keep class size small, if possible. No more than 20.

How Do You Recruit? Let your class and the projects your students work on do the recruiting for you. This helps you recruit all year Take a few minutes to talk to students in the grade below yours. Take students in the class with you to answer questions.

How do you recruit? Talk to social studies, English teachers in the grade below you. Find good writers, creative people, students w/ interest in social studies. Single out locals to fill some of your slots. Insist that you be given the power to make decisions on how to fill class. As the class grows and becomes more popular, you may want to initiate an application process.

What do my kids say about the BHC? I think it’s so cool that that we had a well-known baseball player and a famous Little Golden Book author. Sarah O. It was interesting to learn things about town history that I didn’t know before. Most of the things I probably never would have learned if I wasn’t in BHC. Kyle R.

I thought learning about the events in how Ida started was pretty neat. Doug V. We worked on so many projects that will help the rest of Ida learn about the events and people that shaped our history. Melanie H.

Sources worth noting http://genealogy.about.com/od/lesson_plans/ http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/persi http://ancestrylibrary.proquest.com/aleweb/ale/do/login http://www.lulu.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page http://www.archives.gov/about/history/building-an-archives/school-archives.html http://www.one-roomschool.org/ http://www.monroeccc.edu/monroehistory/civil_war_letters/letters.htm http://www.bestplaces.net/ http://www.houseofnames.com/ http://woodlands.lib.mi.us/van/britton.htm http://www.backyard-history.com/ http://www.aaslh.org/

Questions/Comments Jeremy Potter Ida Middle School (734) 790-0918 h/c (734) 269-9003 x2318 w [email_address]

Local History in the Classroom

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