tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523147403803590661.post5729341434246398410..comments2023-05-26T04:59:34.008-07:00Comments on Teaching United States History: Groundhog Day, AgainKevin M. Schultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10983890538804950630noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523147403803590661.post-82147058969599123882013-08-05T21:31:09.026-07:002013-08-05T21:31:09.026-07:00Dr. Hangen,
The page does not currently exist for...Dr. Hangen,<br /><br />The page does not currently exist for the link to the documents you use for your "Uncoverage" lesson. I teach U.S. history to high school students and would love to incorporate this activity.<br /><br />Thank you.Michelle Gurrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00259529042952295287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523147403803590661.post-68385059808798948992013-08-05T21:28:35.064-07:002013-08-05T21:28:35.064-07:00Dr. Hangen,
The documents page you linked to does...Dr. Hangen,<br /><br />The documents page you linked to does not currently exist. Would you mind mentioning the documents you have your students analyze? <br /><br />Thank you.Michelle Gurrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00259529042952295287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523147403803590661.post-51868842964194941812013-01-24T09:13:55.614-08:002013-01-24T09:13:55.614-08:00Tona,
I like the detective group exercise, and i...Tona, <br /><br />I like the detective group exercise, and it has me thinking of ways of conducting a similar activity into a lesson sometime this semester. For various reasons, I confess that I am rather negligent in building group activities into a course. <br /><br />I thought I would share an detective exercise idea that I devised a couple of years ago. It required students to search for newspaper articles on public reaction to "Birth of a Nation" when it came out in 1915. Since the university subscribed to Proquest and America's Historical Newspapers, they became the default databases. Students had to bring 4 articles to discuss. This exercise provided them with some familiarity in working with historical databases. It also provided me an opportunity to discuss what argument could be constructed from the evidence they brought to class. Moreover, students in general enjoyed the discovery process. Some of them were excited to share the articles they found. <br /><br />I started teaching the 1945 to Present survey this week. For the introductory class period, I started with the question "What is history and why study it?" In responding to the first part of that question, someone stated that history consisted of documents from the past. I replied that I did research at the National Archives and once got an inside look at the stacks, which I compared to the last scene in the original Indiana Jones film. Most of those documents will never see the light of day. Yet, I stated, they are documents of the past. I then pointed out that my purpose in going there was to find a select few documents and give them meaning. <br /><br />On the "why study history?" part, I talked a little about the recent history wars (The OAH's Magazine of History examines these battles in its newest issue) and asked them why these battles were important. After all, this stuff happened in the past and the future is what we should be concerned about, right? I then read a passage on Reconstruction from an 1894 history textbook. Like most textbooks of the period, it espoused a Dunning interpretation. I repeated the question again: Why was history important? That exercise also provided me with an opportunity to preview the Civil Rights movement that we will study next month.<br />Wayne Ratzlaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02075202487480678986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523147403803590661.post-67705148697029802022013-01-21T14:44:47.946-08:002013-01-21T14:44:47.946-08:00I use the index card trick, asking them to put the...I use the index card trick, asking them to put the names of their home towns on there to help with recall. Instead of taking pics in class, I have had the department student assistant download the image of each student from the online student directory (affectionately known as "stalker net" and then glue stick them on the backs of the cards. Then I'll play a little flash card memory game with them. The problem, of course, is some students in the classroom don't look even remotely like the mugshot they took when they first arrived on campus.<br /><br />Also, thanks for the link to the primary source analysis worksheet. I have used one of my own invention with categories of analysis that include provenance, perspective, bias, and historical perspective, but I might mix it up and try this form once or twice this semester.<br /><br />Bil Kerrigan<br />Muskingum UniversityAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com