Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Table of Contents Introduction

Lesson Plans 1. Time Capsules of History 2. Creating an Epic Poem 3. Reading Critically 4. The Power of Print: Newspapers 5. Change Over Time: Timelines of History 6. Change over Place and Time: Mapping Movements 7. My Neighborhood Photo‐Essay Challenge 8. Memory Trunks: Family History Memorials 9. A People’s Guide to Your City 10. Change over Time: Mapping Movement through Laws and Community 11. Landmarks, Then & Now 12. Creating A Walking Tour for a Local Neighborhood 13. An Oral History Project 14. Public Monument or History Exhibit

Case Studies & the LA History Archive

Glossary

1 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Introduction: This book is intended to integrate local history into different classroom exercises, using traditional historical methodologies. This book includes Lessons Plans, Case Studies and a Glossary of terms but is also supplemented by an online component: the LA History Archive (Archive) at www.lahistoryarchive.org. The Archive provides primary sources, links for further research and sets of history resources developed by the Studio for Southern California History (Studio), a nonprofit a nonprofit resource center dedicated to critically chronicling and disseminating the region’s social history. These Lessons Plans, with the Archive, originated as ways for residents to access, question and gather local history and for interested educators to integrate local history into the classroom.

A central tenet of this textbook is that it is beneficial for residents of a place to share local history stories and information and builds from Dolores Hayden’s The Power of Place (1995) which documents different public history projects in Los Angeles that use social history as the basis of its approach. Hayden shows that it is not just the dissemination of history information that is powerful in public history projects; but the sharing of information between human beings provides a transformative context for one’s relationship to place. This axiom holds true in the classroom setting; Lesson Plans here require the sharing of all work and often include assignments where students may work collaboratively. Depending upon the abilities of different schools, some assignments may be conducted outside of the classroom, though all may be conducted in the classroom. In the spirit of Hayden’s model of collaborative learning and in the development of connection to a place, all assignments require presentation of student work both to provide these moments of learning and to build a broader body of knowledge related to local history.

Lesson Plans The Lessons are organized to be chronologically specific and begin with Grade 6 and end with Grade 12 with two Lessons per grade. The Lesson Plans are organized to use a chronological framework beginning with ancient history and continuing to the present following the state standards described by the California Board of Education, see detailed list below, but may be set to different periods as needed by the class. The Lessons used as a group provide recursive strategies at developing critical readers and authors of all history. Individually each Lesson may be adapted to correspond to any specific period or place in history, following a central axiom of the discipline of history—that it is source driven. As a result, effective Lesson Plans will have multiple history sources to draw from provided by the instructor.

Lesson Plans: Grade 6: Time Capsules of History (World History and Geography, Ancient Civilizations) Grade 6: Creating an Epic Poem (World History and Geography, Ancient Civilizations) Grade 7: Reading Critically (World History and Geography, Medieval and Early Modern Times) Grade 7: The Power of Print (Newspapers: World History and Geography, Medieval and Early Modern Times) Grade 8: Timelines of History (United States History and Geography, Growth and Conflict) Grade 8: Mapping Migration (United States History and Geography, Growth and Conflict) Grade 9: My Neighborhood Photo Essay Challenge (Open Year) Grade 9: Memory Trunks: Family History Memorials (Open Year)

2 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Grade 10: A People’s Guide to Your City: (World History, Culture, and Geography, The Modern World) Grade 10: Mapping Movement through Laws and Community (World History, Culture, and Geography, The Modern World) Grade 11: Landmarks, Then & Now (United States History and Geography, Continuity and Change in the Twentieth Century) Great 11: Creating A Walking Tour for a Local Neighborhood (United States History and Geography, Continuity and Change in the Twentieth Century) Grade 12: An Oral History Project (Principles of American Democracy and Economics) Grade 12: Public Monument or History Exhibit (Principles of American Democracy and Economics)

Case Studies and the LA History Archive The Lesson Plans are written for no specific region of the United States and follow the national standards in focus of chronological content and skill sets. However, as a product of the Studio for Southern California History, we include Case Studies that may be considered as examples to build upon or to contrast from in the integration of the Lesson Plans. This chapter includes excerpts of projects that may be explored in their entirety online through the Archive under its Resource section. The Archive is a catalog of downloadable historical documents and a repository for educator resources that serves educators, students and the general public who are interested in Southern California.

This textbook would not have been possible without the help of many people who worked in a collaborative spirit in the writing of this textbook including the oversight of the Board of Directors for the Studio for Southern California History, other dedicated educators and scholars including Jose Alamillo, Sherna Berger Gluck, Adam Bush, Bob Drwila, Catherine Gudis, Alexis Moreno, Hynda Rudd, Chamara Russo, George J. Sanchez and Linda Vallejo. The Director of the Studio for Southern California History Sharon Sekhon edited and oversaw the creation of this text and its online counterpart, the Archive. Julia Ornelas‐Higdon Monica Pelayo and co‐authored Lesson Plan 10 “Mapping Movement through Laws and Community” which asks students to trace larger immigration and migration patterns through legislation and the movement of people and connect what they have learned to their personal experience. Both of these scholars assisted in preparing this text for its ultimate audience: teachers and those interested in learning local history. Nancy Bautista the development of the Case Studies in this text. Kristin Hargrove co‐authored Lesson Plan Four “The Power of Print” and diligently ensured each lesson adhered to national standards in measureable ways. Fiorella Cotrina and Hillary Jenks assisted in reading different versions of the text and ensuring its clarity. Christian Lainez and Rosa Mazon built and populated the online database on the Archive to provide primary sources and online versions of each Case Study for instructors who have classrooms with multimedia and internet capabilities.

Finally, this textbook is indebted to the different teachers who are integrating local history in the classroom and have used or are using these methods. The Archive provides a Forum for teachers and students of all levels who are doing this valuable work to share their observations and evaluate these Lesson Plans in order to provide the best practices for everyone.

3 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Lesson Plan 1: Time Capsules of History Introduction: This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient American civilization that they will explore in class or from information inspired by another history resource. Drawing on the knowledge of the World History they have studied this year, students will create two time capsules: one focusing on a selected ancient American indigenous civilization and one representing contemporary society. Students will share their time capsules and contents through group display.

A time capsule is a historic collection of objects and/or information, intended as a way to communicate with people in the future. There are two types of time capsules: intentional and unintentional. Intentional time capsules are placed on purpose and are intended to be opened in the future. Intentional time capsules are sometimes created and buried during community celebrations and placed in the cornerstone of a new building. Unintentional time capsules are usually archaeological in nature and may include gravesites, cave paintings, or buried civilizations that have been unearthed in an archaeological dig. What are examples of ancient time capsules? Do you know examples of more recent time capsules?

There are numerous examples of ancient time capsules from different civilizations. For example, when Egyptian King Tutankhamen’s burial tomb was exposed by British archaeologists in 1922, the discovery revealed an unintentional time capsule from 1346 B.C. When King Tutankhamen was placed in this underground tomb, he was expected to remain there untouched and protected. However, its discovery revealed treasures in gold and new information about this civilization. Since its discovery, researchers have debated whether or not his tomb should have been opened.

Glossary: Time Capsule

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 2 – 3 weeks.

You will need: Information on ancient local indigenous culture. Paper. Pens/Pencils/Markers/Crayons. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: poster board for each group to draw a diagram of their capsules. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to potentially post on the classroom website.

Pre‐Assessment: Instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms and the following standards and guidelines. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. These include guides, tour books, history books, and even guest speakers who may come in to discuss the importance of a place in the community. Instructors should consider integrating a local tribe’s history and sources if they are available, as well as analyze the area’s natural resources for authentic capsule item selection.

Lesson Hypothesis: Instructors should place this lesson within the class’ examination of ancient world history and Geography. For example, what parallels may be found between ancient and modern societies? Are there similar sources for different groups throughout time? What are the differences in

4 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 civilizations? What is the role of material sources passed down throughout history from generation to generation?

This Lesson plan is designed for students in sixth grade. Students in grade six expand their understanding of history by studying the people and events that ushered in the dawn of the major Western and non‐ Western ancient civilizations. Geography is of special significance in the development of the human story. Continued emphasis is placed on the everyday lives, problems, and accomplishments of people, their role in developing social, economic, and political structures, as well as in establishing and spreading ideas that helped transform the world forever. Students develop higher levels of critical thinking by considering why civilizations developed where and when they did, why they became dominant, and why they declined. Students analyze the interactions among the various cultures, emphasizing their enduring contributions and the link, despite time, between the contemporary and ancient worlds.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Examine ancient local civilizations. • Assess how the local environment and geography played an important role in the lives of the region’s indigenous populations. • Evaluate various aspects of daily life in multiple, autonomous societies of history. • Determine shared experiences between numerous cultures of both the past and the present. • Construct various time lines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying. • Use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems. • Frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research. • Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories. • Explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place. • Explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns. • Recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history. • Recognize that interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered. • Use vocabulary related to life in ancient America. • Learn about everyday life for a specific tribe in ancient America. • Speculate about what ancient Indian historical objects might reveal about its people. • Appreciate the contributions of ancient Native Americans to our modern world. • Learn to the role of history in creating community. • Use historical methods that include interpreting sources, analyzing change over time and evaluating different ways of doing history. • Create a time capsule for the chosen ancient civilization. • Create a second time capsule—this one for their contemporary society using the same questions. • Share time capsules with the class.

Exercise 1: Instructors should introduce the lesson plan, go over glossary terms and provide information on local Native American history. In addition to employing the course’s textbook, instructors should seek out

5 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 other sources from other books and object, to inviting a guest speaker to the class. In respect for indigenous peoples, please consider how the ancient group might want to be represented when deciding upon artifacts to incorporate into the “Time Capsule” lesson plan.

Instructors should dedicate one week to covering information on a local ancient tribe. Because history is source‐driven this is a way to introduce the different ways groups have communicated, such as through storytelling and the oral traditions of many civilizations. Next, instructors assign the two time capsules. Students must create two time capsules: one for the group they are investigating and one to represent contemporary society. In creating the two time capsules students should answer the following questions: Is this an intentional time capsule? Why are you making it? What will the time capsule be made of, its size, etc? Include any details about the container itself. What will be inside the time capsule? How did you choose each item? Where will the time capsule be placed/buried? Why? Is the time capsule to be opened on a specific date? When and why?

Sharing: Students should share completed time capsules with the class and discuss again the issue of intentionality in the discovery and use of time capsules.

Wrap‐Up: Ask the class what they have learned about the process of picking items for this ancient group and then picking objects to represent themselves. How did they want to be remembered? Did they enjoy it? How does this activity make history live on? For example, does it contribute to the understanding of a contemporary group of Indians? What other information might help in creating a time capsule for an ancient tribe? Do they have suggestions for the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 2: Creating an Epic Poem Introduction: This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient local civilization that they will explore in class or from the supporting documents provided here. Drawing on the knowledge of the World History they have studied this year, students will write an epic poem about their selected indigenous civilization following the format of traditional epic poems such as the Greek works the Illiad and the Odyssey. Students will then share their poem through group readings.

Glossary: Creation Myth Epic Poem In Medias Res

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 2 – 3 weeks.

You will need: Paper. Pens/Pencils/Markers. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: poster board for each group to write out poem for display in classroom. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the classroom website.

6 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Pre‐Assessment: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading and glossary terms. Do not have students author ‘creation legends’ of different groups; rather, follow the established creation myth for the specific group when incorporating the “Epic Poem” lesson plan. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. These include guides, tour books, history books, and even guest speakers who may come in to discuss the importance of a place in the community. Instructors should consider integrating a local tribe’s history and sources if they are available.

Lesson Hypothesis: This Lesson should be placed within the class’s examination of Ancient World History and Geography. For example, what parallels may be found between Ancient Egyptian and Ancient American societies? Are there similar sources for different groups across the globe? What are the differences between civilizations? What is the role of the oral tradition in passing history down from generation to generation?

This Lesson is designed for students in sixth grade. Students in grade six expand their understanding of history by studying the people and events that ushered in the dawn of the major Western and non‐ Western ancient civilizations. Geography is of special significance in the development of the human story. Continued emphasis is placed on the everyday lives, problems, and accomplishments of people, their role in developing social, economic, and political structures, as well as in establishing and spreading ideas that helped transform the world forever. Students develop higher levels of critical thinking by considering why civilizations developed where and when they did, why they became dominant, and why they declined. Students analyze the interactions among the various cultures, emphasizing their enduring contributions and the link, despite time, between the contemporary and ancient worlds.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Examine local ancient civilizations. • Assess how the local environment and geography played an important role in the lives of the region’s indigenous populations. • Evaluate various aspects of daily life in multiple, autonomous societies over history. • Determine shared experiences between numerous cultures of both the past and the present. • Explain how major events are related to one another in time. • Construct various timelines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying. • Use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems. • Frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research. • Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories. • Assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them. • Detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author’s perspectives). • Explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place. • Understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long‐ and short‐term causal relations.

7 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns. • Familiarize themselves with an ancient civilization in class discussion and/or by visiting the library or a local museum related to a particular group. • Learn the format of an epic poem, the definition of a creation myth, the importance of this story to a community, and the concept of in medias res. • Learn the cosmology or creation myth of an ancient Native American tribe. • Explore how non‐literate groups communicate across ancient civilizations. Consider how oral traditions in storytelling have been one of the primary ways people have learned about the past, particularly for Native American Indians. • Write an epic poem. • Share the poem with the class and consider how sharing the poem out loud alters its reading.

Exercise 1: Instructors should begin by introducing the assignment and going over glossary terms. Instructors should refer to epic poems that students may have covered in class already and briefly evaluate it. Epic poems are relevant for the exploration of history in that they structurally center upon the past, using the convention of In Medias Res: this is Latin for “in the middle of.”

Students should begin the poem in the middle of an important historic event or creation myth, a supernatural story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, earth, life, and the universe. Epic poems use this poetic convention and have earlier events retold throughout the poem in flashbacks. The past is the framework, centering on the initial main action. Epic poems begin with a brief statement on the poem's purpose that outlines the action of the poem. Epic poems then begin telling the story of the poem.

Next, instructors should introduce information on the cosmology of an ancient local Indian tribe or refer back to information already covered in class. Students will then begin working on an epic poem that integrates this history.

Students should choose a particularly important event in the hero's life at which to start. This event will be the main action of the poem. Students should have the main hero/heroine do ‘epic’ events, such as creating the earth and use vivid description and follow the known details about this ancient civilization.

Example using the 1969 Landing on the Moon “Baby Steps” When his boot touched the lunar crust, Not a sound was heard throughout the depths of Space. And though a hot blaze of jet fuel propelled Apollo 11 to this spot where the Sun beams as bright as on Earth, It is cold here. Neil Armstrong did it first. A flag is there to mark the spot in the human race to the moon. The years of preparation, of hopes & Presidential rhetoric Are achieved in one small step.

8 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Wrap‐Up: Ask class what they learned about process of writing an epic poem based on an ancient group and presenting the poem to the class. Did they enjoy it? How does this activity make history live on? For example, does it contribute to the understanding of a contemporary tribe profiled in the epic poem? What other information might help in writing an epic poem for an ancient local tribe? Suggestions for the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 3: Reading Critically Introduction: This assignment asks students to become critical readers of all texts but particularly news publications. After completing different reading exercises, students will become familiar with the layout and standard features of a newspaper by regularly reading and dissecting a contemporary, local or regional paper. Newspapers, and the information they contain, are organized and presented in very specific ways.

The methods that publishers or editor employ may allow readers to quickly access information or use nontextual data to make a point. Not only did the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johanes Guttenberg in Germany change the development of Christianity and science through the quick communication of information, but the printing press is also linked to the spread of different ideas related to politics, such as democracy and the rights of men (and women). For example, Guttenberg immediately printed a copy of the Bible that allowed everyday people to have a copy of the sacred texts and no longer require a religious figure to interpret it. Guttenberg also printed the “indulgences” of local Catholic priests in order to show corruption in the Church and the need for reform, thus leading to the Protestant Reformation. By 1499, over 15 million texts had been duplicated by printing presses, creating a demand for literacy across Europe. In the Americas and what is now the United States, printed materials assisted in the spread of religion and in the military and colonial goals of England, Spain and Russia.

Glossary: Printing Press Literacy Audience Edit Editorial Headline Credibility Advertisement Objective versus Subjective Point of View

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 2 – 4 weeks. Students will work in groups of 2 – 3.

You will need: Local and regional newspapers. Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities.

9 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 low tech: poster board for each group to write out newspaper for display in class room. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the classroom website.

Pre‐Assessment: Instructor’s role: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms and the following standards and guidelines. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. Instructors should consider integrating local news sources if they are available.

Lesson Hypothesis: Newspapers across history have had an explicit goal of relaying information to its readers. Newspapers reveal how its authors prioritize different types of news and may emphasize some information more than others. Which information is more “important” than other information? How do local newspapers organize information both throughout the issue and in individual articles? What are the requirements of the audience and creators of the printed text?

This Lesson is designed for students in the 7th grade. In completing this Lesson, students will gain an informed perspective of the Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern periods of world history through analytical cultural comparison. Students will survey the spread and impact of cultural values, tenets, and technology between the Eastern and Western worlds. This assignment asks students to trace the origins of modern political thought and discourse. Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Gain an informed perspective of the Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern periods of world history through analytical cultural comparison. • Survey the spread and impact of cultural values, tenets, and technology between the Eastern and Western worlds. • Trace the origins of modern political thought and discourse. • Explain how major events are related to one another in time. • Use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems. • Frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research. • Distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories. • Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories. • Assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them. • Detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author’s perspectives). • Understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long‐ and short‐term causal relations. • Recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history. • Recognize that interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered. • Read all enclosed documents, including “The 3‐Pass Guide to Critical Reading.” • Evaluate contemporary newspapers and the role of information organization in relaying history by completing various critical reading exercises.

10 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Consider the role of literacy in passing information from society to society and its differences from an oral tradition. • Observe and mark change over time in presenting the “news.”

Exercise 1: Part A: Becoming a Critical Reader: Getting to Know the Newspaper Introduce this exercise by handing out copies of “The 3‐Pass Guide to Critical Reading.” Go over the three passes and then apply them to a current local or regional newspaper. Instructors should inform the whole class they will read the newspaper each day as part of the next unit of study. Instructors should use the local paper and assign 20 – 30 minutes each day for one week on this exercise. In the classroom have the newspapers stacked on a table or desk so students can pick one up as they enter the room. This should be routine for the next week.

Instructors should give students 10 – 15 minutes at the beginning of each class to pick up a newspaper and read it. If a newspaper is to be shared with another class, stress the need to put the sections back in order. After reading for the required amount of time, students should complete the “Newspaper Activity Sheet” as a group.

Students should share their findings with the class. Students should then select a spokesperson for each group to present the information the group has learned for the day. Instructors should have students rotate as spokesperson each day.

The 3‐Pass Guide to Critical Reading.5 This exercise is intended to sharpen active reading skills. When people are inexperienced with published works, they often approach them passively—they simply begin reading to understand the meaning of the text. The problem with this approach is that it adheres to a submissive, rather than to a “take‐ charge” model of the reading process. Reading submissively implies that a work exists as a separate, valid, believable entity, worthy of serious consideration simply because it has been published. Moreover, the submissive approach does not include the reader‐initiated activities of reflecting on the subject and context of the work, questioning the motives, agendas, and qualifications of its author, or evaluating the quality of the argument. Using the 3 Pass Method will better prepare you to critically approach a text.

The First Pass: Reflection and Quick Overview Reading a published work is something like entering an ongoing conversation. As a student who is being asked to develop a thoughtful position on a complex topic, he or she must be aware that most of the controversies one may encounter in print have been going on for some time. But it is difficult to enter a conversation that started before one has arrived; it means the reader must listen carefully to figure out what the conversation is all about. One can make the process of figuring out a written conversation easier by paying close attention to clues from the text that will help you to make an informed judgment. The first pass over a published work involves assessing what one may already know about the subject matter, the context, and the author, and then examining the easily detectable surface clues that the work provides. In first examining a work, one should ask the following questions.

5 Irene L. Clark. The Genre of Argument. (Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998). 11 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

What do I already know about this topic? Have I been brought up to have an opinion on this topic? Have I heard discussions on this topic or read anything about it? Is there a controversy associated with this topic?

What is the context of the controversy about this topic? Is there some action or policy associated with it? Was it written in response to another piece of writing? For whom is this work being written? Do I know anything about any groups associated with this controversy?

What do I know about the writer of the book or article? Does the text provide information about the writer? Does the author have a title or position that would indicate his or her qualifications on a particular agenda? Can I speculate on what the motive of the author might be?

Can I gain additional insight from any immediately available clues, such as publishing information (title, type of publication, copyright date, other works cited in the bibliography) and organizational clues (section headings, boldfaced subtitles, chapter headings, and table of contents)?

The Second Pass: Reading for Meaning and Structure During the second pass, one should read the material again reasonably quickly and write a summary of it to refer back to without having to reread the entire text. The summary should give the overall point, as well as record supporting points so that even a reader who has not read the article will understand what it’s about. Also one should take down the publishing information or its citation information in order to be able to find the article or book again.

In reading a text for meaning, it is a good idea to focus on its purpose and structure—that is: Is it a response to another point of view? Can you situate it in a conversation? Is there a controversy associated with it? Does the article or book compare and contrast two or more ideas or recommendations? Does it make a point about cause and effect? Does it pose a question and then answer it? Does it trace the history of something, structuring its information chronologically? Is it developed through the use of many examples?

The Third Pass: Interacting with the Text Once one understands the meaning and structure of the text, it is time to take charge of the reading, which means reading critically with a questioning attitude toward the material. Now is the time to enter the conversation, and to not accept what one reads unless the evidence is convincing.

Is the argument consistent with what you believe is true or possible about the world and human behavior? Does the main point make sense to you according to your own experience and what you believe is likely to be true? (If it is not, you would then attempt to view the issue from the author’s point of view, trying to understand why the author espouses these beliefs.)

Is the argument supported with appropriate and believable subpoints, examples, and facts? Are opinions presented here as if they were facts? Are main points supported with specific, appropriate details and subpoints, or do they consist simply of observations that the author thinks are true? (Remember, unless a writer is an acknowledged expert, you have no reason to accept his or her point of view, and even experts must provide supporting evidence.) What assumptions lie behind the author’s position—i.e., what underlying values or statements about the world provide the foundation for the main idea?

12 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Is the evidence reliable? Are the arguments logical? Are there fallacies in the reasoning? Can the authorities referred to be trusted? Do the statements from an authority really substantiate what the author is arguing? Is the authority quoted out of context? (Remember, don’t believe everything you read just because an alleged “expert” affirms something. Maintain a skeptical attitude and look for other perspectives on the topic before completely accepting a point of view, especially if it does not seem sensible to you.) Do statistics used as evidence clarify the argument? Do they seem realistic or reliable?

Is the text stylistically trustworthy? Can it assess the quality of the argument based on tone, language, and evidence? Be on the lookout for interpretive words (e.g., ugly, elegant, best, etc.); words used for emotional effect (democracy, freedom, family); excessive use of abstract rather than concrete language (inadequately defined terms such as “family values” or “work ethic.”); ambiguity and distortion.

Exercise 2 Reading Texts: What are the 5 W’s of Writing? Using copies of an article from a local newspaper, instructors should introduce the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where & Why?) of standard academic writing and assess the different parts of a news story. Instructors numerically rank the importance of each paragraph in the newspaper with ‘1’ being most important. Next, instructors ask students to select an article from the newspaper and have them assess and rank the sections or paragraphs of the article. Note the patterns that emerge. In groups, instructors have students take turns reading the paragraphs of a news story you have selected.

Instructors write the 5 W’s on the blackboard, leaving space beside each one to record a fact from the news story. Instructors ask students to identify the most important W in the story you have selected (a sample is included). Instructors write the fact or facts beside the correct W and continue until all of the W’s have been identified. Students should answer the following questions: What information has not yet been covered? This information is often background or historical information that adds color or detail to the story.

Instructors next distribute copies of a different story. Following the example presented on the board, ask students to highlight the 5 W’s and write the 5 W’s on a piece of paper. Instructors ask students to share their findings. Students should select a spokesperson for each group to present the information the group has learned for the day. Have students rotate as spokesperson each day.

Exercise 3: Identifying the parts of a newspaper Instructors go over glossary terms with students. Students learn to identify parts of a newspaper in order to show how news is categorized and to prepare them for creating their own newspapers related to local history.

Newspaper Activity Sheet: In groups of 2 – 3 students should go through a current newspaper and find examples of the items below. They should keep track of all answers on a separate sheet of paper and record the page number of where the information was found. Next, students write a brief description of the item. When each group has completed the items, instructors have a spokesperson from each group share the answers with the class. After presentations, recapitulate the different parts of the article. 1. An international dateline. Where is it? When? Why is it important to include this information? 2. An article that expresses an opinion. What is the opinion? Where is the opinion located in the newspaper? Do you agree with the opinion?

13 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

3. Something interesting to do on the weekend. What is the item you choose? Why? Does it cost any money? Where did you find it in the newspaper? Where will it take place? 4. A weird story. What is the story? Who wrote it? Where did it occur? Where was it located in the newspaper? 5. A story that will still be news one month from now. What story did you choose? Why did you choose it? How do you know it will still be happening in one month? 6. A picture that captures your attention. What type of picture is it? Photograph? Cartoon? Does it include a caption or any text? Is the text important to the picture? 7. A story of interest to teenagers. Why does it appeal to teenagers? Where did you find the story? 8. Find a bargain. Where did you find the story in the newspaper? 9. Something good to eat. Where did you find the story? What makes the item appetizing? 10. A product you would buy. What is it? How much does it cost? Where did you locate the product?

Exercise 4: Applying the 5 W’s to Multimedia News This exercise is for classes equipped with multimedia technologies in the classroom, or for classes with access to tools like televisions, dvd players, radio, the internet or related technologies. Instructor will play short segments of the news on the same day from different sources including National Public Radio, local AM news sources, local television reports, and national news reports from television. Ideally the texts used are from the previous day’s news cycle. Students will learn to discern the ways different forms of media make an argument. In so doing, students will see how different news sources prioritize news subjects and explore the role of evidence in creating compelling arguments. Ask students to share their findings. Students should select a spokesperson for each group to present the information the group has learned for the day.

Wrap‐Up: Ask class what they learned about process. Did they enjoy it? How does this activity make students better critical readers? What did they learn about the different types of news and news sources? What other information or activities might be helpful in assisting students? Suggestions for the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 4: Newspapers: In & Out of Context Introduction: This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about an ancient, medieval or early modern local civilization that they will explore in class or from the supporting documents provided here. In so doing, students engage the critical reading skills they have gathered and look at the role of context, or the circumstances in which an event occurred, in reading any text. This lesson asks students to create a newspaper using information from local history.

Newspapers and the information they contain are organized and presented in specific ways. Not only did the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johanes Guttenberg in Germany change the development of Christianity and science through the quick communication of information, but the printing press is also linked to the spread of different ideas related to politics, such as democracy and the rights of men (and women). For example, Guttenberg immediately printed a copy of the Bible that allowed everyday people to have a copy of the sacred texts and no longer require a religious figure to interpret it. Guttenberg also printed the “indulgences” of local Catholic priests in order to show corruption in the Church and the need for reform, thus leading to the Protestant Reformation. By 1499, over 15 million texts had been duplicated by printing presses, creating a demand for literacy across

14 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Europe. In the United States printed materials assisted in the spread of Christianity and in the military and colonial goals of England, Spain, and Russia. Moreover, this lesson plan asks students to grapple with the concept of context or the circumstances surrounding a subject.

Glossary: Context

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 3 weeks. Students may complete this assignment independently or in a group.

You will need: Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities: low tech: poster board for each group to write out information for display in class room. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the classroom website.

Pre‐Assessment: Instructor’s role: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms and ensuring students understand the role of audience in creating a text. Instructors should reiterate the “5 W’s” in newspaper and academic writing. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. Instructors should consider integrating local history and sources if they are available.

Lesson Hypothesis: Newspapers across history have had an explicit goal of relaying information to their readers and through their layouts demonstrate the importance of different types of news—some information is more “important” than other. Which information is more “important” than other information? How do local newspapers organize information throughout the issue and in individual articles? What are the requirements of the audience and creators of the printed text? Apply these factors to a text from local history of the same period. What is different? What is the role of the written word in passing history? How does it differ from the oral traditions that are associated with ancient Native Americans? What has changed over time? This Lesson is designed for students in the 7th grade. In completing this Lesson, students will gain an informed perspective of the Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern periods of world history through analytical cultural comparison. Students will survey the spread and impact of cultural values, tenets, and technology between the Eastern and Western worlds. This assignment asks students to trace the origins of modern political thought and discourse. Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Gain an informed perspective of the Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern periods of world history through analytical cultural comparison. • Survey the spread and impact of cultural values, tenets, and technology between the Eastern and Western worlds. • Trace the origins of modern political thought and discourse.

15 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems. • Frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research. • Distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories. • Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories. • Assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them. • Detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, author’s perspectives). • Explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place. • Explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns. • Recognize that interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered. • Consider the role of literacy in passing information from society to society and its differences from an oral tradition. • Observe and mark change over time in presenting the “news.” • Determine the main parts of a newspaper by examining one in class with instructor guidance. • Study history from the explorations of the Americas, including the contact between the European explorers and the place’s existing peoples. • Determine the “local news” of pre‐determined period to reflect local history. • Create a newspaper telling local history. While the format for this follows contemporary definitions for newspaper writing, the content of this newspaper reflects local history from the period under historical investigation. • Share the completed newspaper with the class (and possibly the school).

Exercise 1: Instructors should begin by introducing the lesson and going over all glossary terms. Instructors will go over the assignment and the integration of local history that has been already covered in the class or will be introduced as part of this lesson. Instructors should gather information sources for the class to assist the students in completing the assignment.

This lesson asks students to create a newspaper using information from local history. The newspaper must be set on a specific date and in a specific place and should reflect what students have learned about critical reading practices over time.

After introducing the assignment, instructors should have the class elect the newspaper’s editor. The editor will next assign the different parts of the newspaper (as defined in the “Newspaper Activity Sheet”) to students or student groups. Next, the class, with instructor oversight, should determine what day, week or period the newspaper will represent in history.

Exercise 2: Over the course of the next two weeks, students work independently on their newspaper assignments and should meet regularly with the student editor. The editor will have the final say in what will be included in the newspaper and where it will be placed.

16 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

The editor determines where each component of the newspaper will be placed in the overall layout and will also include an editorial that explains the position of the paper. The editorial may be about the importance of the news it is reporting, an opinion on a popular issue or feedback on a topic.

Exercise 3: Working with the editor, students should compile the newspaper using a predetermined format. This format may be a cut and pasted newspaper that can be photocopied and shared or a digital project that be disseminated on the class website.

Wrap‐Up: Ask class what they learned about process. Did they enjoy it? What was the most difficult part of putting together a newspaper? What are different ways this assignment may be improved with different sources?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 5: Timelines Introduction: This assignment asks students to create a timeline that reflects the local, national and international events shaping history. A timeline can represent information from many different disciplines, such as science, social studies, mathematics, and language arts. Timelines show changes over time in areas such as war, transportation, technology, and space travel, to name a few fields of history. Timelines also work well when representing people's lives and events throughout history. Here, students will gather evidence to build timelines to create source‐driven arguments that include evidence, a specific description and a justification.

Historians use timelines to display different types of information and to show cause and effect. For example, in tracking Christopher Columbus’ voyages, historians can trace how the Spanish crown spread its influence. Similarly, the evolution of different ideas, like Reason, across historical periods, like the Enlightenment, can have far reaching implications throughout history that may be easily mapped on a timeline. Timelines may reveal a bias in how history is written. Some historians on the East Coast ignore the colonial experience of other places in the United States, like the Southwest or Hawaii, in explaining the development of the United States. Yet, these histories are as relevant as the experience in the Roanoke, Jamestown, or Massachusetts Bay colonies. Indeed, because of its general absence in descriptions of the development of American democracy, many students will never familiarize themselves with other models of history that may shape a multicultural America. Timelines show parallel events and how different civilizations develop over time.

Glossary: Almanac Chronological Map Spatial Timeline

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 2 – 6 Weeks.

You will need: Information on local history to supplement textbooks. An Almanac of American history (suggested).

17 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

A World Atlas (suggested). Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: multiple poster board segments or segments paper for each group for timeline display. high tech: computer generated linkable timeline to post on the class website.

Pre‐Assessment: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms, and local history information. This assignment is excellently combined with a trip to the library and a library tour in order to introduce students to sources like almanacs and atlases. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. Instructors should consider integrating a local history and sources if they are available. These include guides, tour books, history books, and even guest speakers who may come in to discuss the importance of a place in the community. Lesson Hypothesis: The United States’ history begins at different times in different parts of the nation and the world. How does extending our understanding of overall American history to include Spanish and Mexican colonies change our vision of American history? What are the different national and global motivations that change place over time?

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Track the colonial, antebellum, and modern development of the United States through its ongoing political, cultural, demographic, economic, and diplomatic shifts. • Identify the formation of and changes within the nation’s multiple cultures and sub‐cultures. • Gauge the influence America’s past makes on the present, noting occurrences producing almost instantaneous influence and trends that produced more subtle implications for the country. • Explain how major events are related to one another in time. • Construct various time lines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying. • Use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems. • Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories. • Understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the long‐ and short‐term causal relations. • Explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns. • Interpret basic indicators of economic performance and conduct cost‐benefit analyses of economic and political issues. • Evaluate the different ways that timelines may be presented (vertically, horizontally, categories). • Use the 5 W’s of academic writing (Who, What, When, Where, Why) to define 50 timeline entries. • Using group consensus, determine 20 – 25 entries that provide examples from international, national, state and local history to create a timeline to explain the development of local history. • Evaluate the differences in the two timelines. Is one more relevant? Why? • On a rough draft, sketch out how the timeline entries will be mapped across the timeline. • Create the timeline.

18 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Share the final timeline with the class and put it on display somewhere in the school or in the classroom.

Exercise 1: “Gathering Information” Students are encouraged to review what they have learned in Social Studies to date and create timeline entries. Each entry should answer the 5 W’s: Who, What, When, Where & Why? This is a good assignment to use with a library tour in order to highlight different types of resources available for research.

Instructors should create a rough draft of a timeline on the board that reviews the milestones covered in past Social Studies lessons. For example, here is a list of explorers, listed in alphabetical order: Columbus reaches the New World in 1492 Da Gama reaches India in 1498 Drake completes sailing around the world in 1580 Magellan discovers what comes to be called the Strait of Magellan in 1520

A timeline lists items chronologically. 1492 | Christopher Columbus reaches the New World. 1498 | Vasco da Gama reaches India. 1520 | Ferdinand Magellan sails through what will be called the Strait of Magellan 1580 | Sir Francis Drake sails around the world.

Part A. Instructors should divide students into groups of 3‐4 and has a student in each group review past lessons from Social Studies to gather entries from local history. In addition to drawing from the Archive, students may draw from sources in the library or sources that instructors provide. In gathering entries for a timeline, students should pick events that are “important to the development of the United States.”

Part B. Instructors should have students review local history by reviewing the two enclosed Case Studies and important dates in mission history (covered in fifth grade). Students should define each entry using the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Why & Where) and have at least 50 entries in total.

Part C: Mapping It All Together: Using the enclosed map or one that you have prepared for the class, instructors should have students map out where all of their entries take place. Consider making connections using color or lines to show relationships. Students should include a key to interpreting the map. Exercise 2: Editing or “Writing History” To edit is to collect, prepare, and arrange (materials) for publication. For example, a newspaper editor decides where articles are arranged, whether to shorten or lengthen a story, or to remove an item altogether. It is in the editing of information that the writing of history happens. What is included and omitted reveals the subjectivity or position of the author. For example, someone creating a timeline on military history may include battle sites and important peace treaties, while another person focusing on agriculture may not include any of these entries.

Editing. After each group has defined 50 entries, each group must “edit” the list down to only 20 – 25 entries. In general, historians only publish 50% of the information they gather due to a variety of issues:

19 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 from the need to use space effectively, to the attention span of their reader or limitations of the medium; not everything can be included. As a result, historians heavily edit what they include in a book or article and determine the most important or relevant information.

Because students will be working in groups, each person in the group should approve of each timeline entry. This requirement reflects the working environment of many historians—history builds on the writing of past historians and historians work in a community of scholars who will critique or approve of historical methods or publications.

Drafting. After deciding which entries will stay and go, students should sketch a draft of their timeline. In making this draft, students should consider how the information should appear on the timeline. Will it be a vertical or horizontal timeline? Using the justifications they have created, students should produce a title for each entry. Are there any images that may assist in making the timeline? What is the goal of conveying this information? What sources are available to use? When possible students should integrate the maps they created in Exercise 1.

Creating. After completing a draft and having each of the students in the group sign off on the final list and design, students should create their timeline using in class materials or a computer program, depending on the availability in each classroom. Students should account for periods of time in a clear manner. Students should consider who might best represent their group in explaining the focus and choices on the timeline. What images, like maps or artwork, is available to illustrate the timeline. If the group had the choice to include any information on the timeline to best show the event, what would it be? A flag? A political treaty?

Sharing. Share the completed timeline by displaying it in the classroom and through class presentations. Are there any differences between the timelines?

Wrap‐Up: Ask the class what they learned about process. Did they enjoy it? Did everyone agree with the final choices? Were there entries that were left out that some students felt were more important than one of the final choices? How did the group agree upon the final set? Any suggestions for activities to improve this assignment in the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 6: My Neighborhood Photo Essay Challenge Introduction: This assignment asks students to create a photo‐essay about their neighborhood. A deceptively easy exercise to complete, the “My Neighborhood Photo‐Essay Challenge” often results in contemplation about the local using global themes, in this case the role of history on the landscape. In addition to honing their descriptive writing skills, students explore how text and image create different ways of conveying meaning, alone and in combination. Finally, students are asked to judge their environments in ways that help contextualize their communities within a broader experience.

Glossary: Photo essay Caption Public art Landscape

20 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 4 – 6 Weeks.

You will need: A digital camera. Printer or projector for classroom display of photographs. Information on local history to supplement textbooks. Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: poster board for each group to present Photo‐Essay and for display in classroom. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the class website.

Pre‐Assessment: Instructor’s role: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms, and local history information. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. Instructors should consider integrating local history and sources if they are available.

Lesson Hypothesis: Most neighborhoods in the United States are multicultural and may have been so for multiple generations. The influences of different groups are discernible in the landscape, the names of streets, or in public art. How does knowing something about a place change its significance? How do we read the world around us? In unpacking the different ways of disseminating information, this lesson asks students to explore their own neighborhoods and to define what makes it “home” to them.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. • Analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs. • Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations. • Show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values. • Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues. • Explore the role of image in conveying information by adding captions. • Explore the role of text in conveying information through all exercises. • Examine how combining text and image conveys information. • Take 1 – 5 photographs of their neighborhood using a digital camera. • Write captions for each photograph.

21 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Compose a 500 – 1,000 word photo‐essay that explains how the photograph(s) chosen illustrate their ‘home.’ • Share their photo‐essays.

Exercise 1: The Power of the Written Word As a society we are flooded with information in different ways. This exercise asks students to think about how text, photographs and images, and the combination of text with image may alter its meanings. Students explore how information is differently conveyed using images, text, and the combination of the two. In so doing, students begin to gather the tools to critically examine multimedia texts that surround them. The Instructor should go through each section of the Text & Print Evaluation Handout.

If necessary, students may work in groups of two or three. Instructor should go through each line of the first two paragraphs of The Declaration of Independence to ensure clarity. Have students describe the language of the paragraphs. Is it wordy? Flowery? Easy to understand? Next, after students have attempted a summary, instructor should have each student or group present their summaries. Which summary is the most concise? Compare the summaries with the original text. What language, however, is more appropriate to the goals of the text?

Text & Print Evaluation Using 2‐3 sentences, summarize the following paragraphs from The Declaration of Independence (1776). When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self‐evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. ‐‐Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.

22 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Students should write their summary on a separate sheet of paper. After completing the summary, students should answer the following questions: How would you describe the language of The Declaration of Independence? Was this an easy assignment? Was it difficult? Why? Do you think The Declaration of Independence should be re‐written? Why? Why not?

Exercise 2: “A Photograph is Worth A Thousand Words.” Discuss the title of this exercise. Is a photograph worth a thousand words? Using the two images provided, have students list what is conveyed in each one. List all of the information that is conveyed in the images, then provide captions. List:

Title:

23 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

List all of the information that is conveyed in the image below. Next, provide a caption.

List:

Title:

Exercise 3: Creating Captions. Instructors may assign this activity as homework or in groups. In defining terms like ‘photo‐essay’ and ‘caption,’ instructors should show examples from the newspaper and textbooks. Often, an author can use text with an image to convey irony or humor. Create three (3) captions for the two images from Part B and the two images below for a total of nine (9). Special points should be awarded for creativity. Example:

24 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Women perform traditional Japanese dances in full costume at the annual Nisei parade in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo.

It was a family tradition for Kyoko to perform in the Little Tokyo parade.

Kay could not wait to take her socks off.

Fonzi liked to protect the living room by sitting on the back of the couch.

Fonzi’s big ears allowed him to hear everything that happened in the house.

Fonzi is still angry about the new kitten.

Exercise 4: “My Neighborhood Photo‐Essay” 25 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

This assignment asks students to take what they have learned in Part A and apply it to their own neighborhoods. In addition to requiring access to a digital camera, instructors and students must know how to operate a digital camera. Because many cell phones provide digital cameras and the price of digital cameras has dramatically dropped, this assignment is included in the hopes that instructors will have an easy access to this digital technology. Instructors should go over the elements of the standard academic essay and discuss how a photo‐essay is different. Writing teachers agree on the three basic components to the standard essay: introduction, body, and conclusion. However, students should be able to understand the different parts of each component to become effective writers.

Components of the Standard Essay: Many students believe there is one set format to the essay, such as “the 5 paragraph essay.” Nothing can be further from the truth—the length and format of an essay is dependent upon the assignment length, the complexity of the subject or the intended output of the essay.

The Introduction: The introduction section contains the introductory paragraph. This paragraph has at least two parts: the lead and the thesis statement. It has two functions: to attract readers’ attention and to tell them what major points you will discuss in the next section of the essay. A good introduction should contain: 1. The topic, the issue, and the controversy. Readers need to know what subject you are going to write about and why that subject is controversial. 2. Your position or thesis. Readers also should be told where you stand on this controversy. State your position clearly in the introduction or, for longer papers, within the first several paragraphs. 3. The significance of the topic. Readers need to know why a topic is important or significant. This answers the “so what” question a reader may pose to your paper. 4. Background of the topic. Use the introduction to present relevant background material and define important terms. However, more detailed background and definitions should be discussed in the body of the paper. 5. Attracting your reader. The introduction is a good place to interest your reader in what you have to say. Establishing the significance of your topic is a good way of doing this. Another technique is to challenge a prevailing view, present a new piece of information, or use an illustrative example or quotation.

The Body: In the body of the essay, the writer develops the major points stated in the introduction. The number of major points determines the number of paragraphs in the body. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence that is developed with some basic type of support‐‐example, detail, incident, fact, reason or illustration.

The Conclusion: This section contains the concluding paragraph. Depending on the kind of essay, this paragraph serves several functions. It may summarize the information. It may restate the thesis of the essay. It may make a prediction. It may offer the reader an inductive generalization. It may be a genuine deductive conclusion. It may ask the reader to do something or to think in a certain way.

Components of the Standard Photo‐Essay:

26 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

A photo essay is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. Photo essays range from purely photographic works to photographs with captions or small notes to full text essays with a few or many accompanying photographs. Photo essays can be sequential in nature, intended to be viewed in a particular order, or may consist of non‐ordered photographs, which may be viewed all at once or in an order chosen by the viewer.

After becoming familiar with the components of a standard essay and a standard photo‐essay, students should take 1 – 5 photographs and write a 500 – 1,000 word essay to accompany the images that answer the following question: What makes my neighborhood home? After taking 1 – 5 photographs, students should arrange them in conjunction with the essay they have crafted. The photo‐essay may be constructed using poster board or digitally in a PowerPoint or Word presentation, depending upon the technological capabilities of the classroom.

Wrap‐Up: Ask the class what they enjoyed about this assignment. Were there any surprises the students encountered in sharing and documenting their neighborhoods? Do they have any suggestions for sharing the photo essays or ways to improve the assignment?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 7: Memory Trunks: Family History Memorials Introduction: It is often said that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. This assignment asks students to remember by making a memorial to a person who made an impact upon them. In addition to teaching students the importance of remembering those who have passed away, this assignment connects the student’s experience to a broader legacy. Throughout history, different civilizations have erected memorials to show respect and to remember the dead. Indeed, most of the world’s existing antiquities represent memorials, from the Egyptian and Mexican Pyramids, to Greek temples and tombs, to India’s Taj Mahal. In the recent past, scholars have explored the role of memorials and the importance of sharing memories as a group in order to collectively grieve and remember.

Glossary: Legacy. Memorial. Remember.

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 2 – 6 Weeks.

You will need: A box or container that opens and closes. Objects that may serve as memory trunks include donated purses, shoe boxes, inexpensive plasticware and cardboard jewelry boxes big enough to include the assignment components. Items to assist in decorating trunks including craft paint, pens, construction paper, fabric, decals, etc. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: poster board for each group to present Photo‐Essay and for display in classroom. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the classroom website.

27 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Pre‐Assessment: Instructor’s role: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms, and discussing examples. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. Instructors should consider integrating local history whenever possible.

Lesson Hypothesis: This assignment allows students to place themselves within a broader continuum of human experience and teaches the importance of acknowledging loss and of remembering.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values. • Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues. • Work on a memory trunk both at home and in the classroom. • Remember someone from their lives. • Share their memory trunks with the class. • Reflect on each other’s memory trunks and different approaches to making a memorial.

Exercise 1: Remembering to Remember Students are encouraged to review what they have learned in Social Studies to date and explore how and why it is important to remember the past. While this is a relatively simple lesson to complete, its long‐term rewards to students can be immeasurable. As individuals in a rapidly changing world, students are accustomed to new technologies, transformed landscapes and death (often through mediated forms). The importance of acknowledging loss in its varying levels is an important step in remembering the past. This is a good assignment to do around Halloween and Day of the Dead

The Instructor should go over the glossary terms and discuss social history and the concept of remembering with the class. History at its most basic is the study of change over time and the formal analysis of this change.

Why is History important? • To show discovery and lessons learned, as in the case of the history of medicine. • To make meaning of the human condition. • To acknowledge loss. • To advocate reform or change.

According to William Lund: “History is important because WE ARE the past: we are the sum of all the events‐‐good, bad, and indifferent‐‐that have happened to us. This sum product guides our actions in the present…. The only way we can understand who we are and how we got to be that way is by

28 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 studying the past. Similarly, the only way we can understand others is by studying their past. If we don't understand what made them who they are‐‐in terms of how they think and act‐‐we will make all sorts of mistakes in our interactions with them. Think of how you treat people differently based on how you know them. The same is true for countries when it comes to diplomacy. Our failures in Iraq were borne of a limited understanding of who they are (because we haven't taken the time to truly study and understand their past).” 6

Instructors should go over the following questions with the class as a group: What are the different ways that we remember as a society? Why do we remember? Who and what do we choose to remember in our community? Should we include other subjects? Why? Why not? Holidays • Veterans Day: who or what are we remembering? • Presidents Day: who or what are we remembering? • Columbus: who or what are we remembering? • Martin Luther King Jr.: who or what are we remembering? • Cesar Chavez: who or what are we remembering? • Mother’s day, Father’s day: who or what are we remembering? • Day of the Dead: who or what are we remembering?

Memorials Memorials are public markers or monuments to the past and can be for a specific person, place or thing. Memorials are done to honor the dead and the living. Memorials are important recognitions of death and loss. What are examples of memorials from your city? • Flag at half mast • Statues • Murals • Newspaper obituaries • Cemeteries • Stamps • Tattoos • Online memorial pages • Highway and building dedications

Instructors should review local history and determine any memorials in the community.

Exercise 2: Memory Trunk Assignment Sheet For homework, assign the “Memory Trunk Assignment Sheet.” Pick a person who made a significant impact in your life that you want to remember. You will be making a memorial to this person so bring items that will embellish your container in the spirit of the person you are remembering. In addition to gathering items to decorate your memorial like craft paint, fabric, feathers, decals, or copies of photographs, consider what would best represent your subject like poetry, quotes, or songs. Consider what you will put on the inside and what will go on the outside. You will share your completed memorial with the class.

6 William Lund. “Why is history important? – Yahoo! Answers.” Yahoo!. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070910231157AA0WEgW accessed on November 15, 2008. 29 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Describe the person by completing the following questions: 1. Name. 2. Birth date and place (approximations are acceptable). 3. Short story or little known facts about this person. This answer should not be a tribute to the person, but as honest an assessment as possible. 4. Why is this person special?

Exercise 3: Building A Memory Trunk Students should spend time individually and in groups to create their memorials using their containers and the completed “Memory Trunk Assignment Sheets.” Students should share the completed trunks by displaying them in the classroom and through class presentations. Students should answer the four questions from their “Memory Trunk Assignment Sheets” as well as explain their design decisions.

Wrap‐Up: Instructors should reflect on the assignment with the class after it is completed. Did they enjoy the process? Was there anything they learned about in completing the assignment? Were there any stand out examples the class thought worthy of sharing with the school or the local community?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 8: A People’s Guide to Your City Introduction: This assignment asks students to use social history, the experience of every day people, to connect their community to the twentieth century. This lesson plan uses Howard Zinn’s model of social history to inspire students to create guides to their communities. Social history is the study of the past “from the bottom up” with a focus on everyday events and the experience of every day periods. Social history emerged in the late 1950s from the French Annales School and was redefined in the United States as a result of the different civil rights movements that occurred throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1970s social history focused on labor, unionization movements, and allowed for a growing body of histories that used race and ethnicity, as well as gender, sexuality and family as ways of exploring the past. In the United States, Howard Zinn connected the importance of social history to organizing for civil rights. As an historian, Zinn came to believe that the point of view expressed in traditional history books was often limited and wrote the history textbook A People's History of the United States in 1980 with the goal of providing other perspectives of American history including the struggles of oppressed groups to receive justice and equality.

Glossary: Social History Historiography Global Local Chamber of Commerce

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 3 – 8 Weeks.

You will need: Information on local history to supplement textbooks. Access to a local library or online sources. A World Atlas (suggested).

30 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: poster board for each group to write out city guide for display in class room. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the classroom website.

Pre‐Assessment: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms, and local history information. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. Instructors should consider integrating a local history and sources if they are available. This assignment is excellently combined with a trip to the library or to the Chamber of Commerce.

Lesson Hypothesis: In the recent past, scholars have promoted the idea of a “Living Past” in order to show how history may inform the present. Nowhere is this more notable than in the rise of social history and the history of every day people. Creating a guide to one’s community which highlights social history for a foreign group or visitor may give residents a new appreciation for where they live and teach how its history may have broader consequences than originally assumed.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Investigate the evolution of modern international military and economic diplomacy. • Study the trajectory of America’s role as a decision maker in worldwide affairs. • Observe the increased interconnectedness between modern cultures as a result of the globalization fostered by technology. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. • Analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs. • Use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. • Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. • Distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors’ use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications. • Construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations. • Show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values.

31 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues. • Conduct cost‐benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. • Gather information that is place specific from in class texts and the enclosed readings. • List and detail places. • Define each entry using the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why). • Determine the importance of each entry in relation to the development of “America’s democratic institutions.” • Draft an “in progress People’s Guide” that is edited using group consensus and definition. • Create a People’s Guide that reflects the determined classifications on either poster board or in digital format. • Share the Guide with the class.

Exercise 1: Defining a People’s Guide Students are encouraged to review what they have learned in social studies to date and explore how attitudes about a place are created. Instructors should go over the following questions with the class as a group: The news media: what types of stories does the news use to portray the community? The entertainment industry: how is your city used by the entertainment industry? Is it used in movies, television or video games? Textbooks: how does your textbook represent your community? Your family: does your family have stories about where you live? What are they? Do these different outlets (news, entertainment industry, textbooks, etc.) profit from this particular representation of your community. If so, how does each group profit?

The Instructor should review local guides to their city. Go over the choices made by its authors. For Homework, have students pick one of the guides included as a Case Study and answer the following questions: What is the main lens or point of view that each guide uses? Is this an acceptable lens? What are other ways to determine historic sites for a place? Which ways would you use?

Divide students into groups of 3‐4 and have students in each group determine 30 places a visitor must visit in their community to get the real flavor of its social history. Each group should pick a team leader and note taker. Be sure to pick criterion on which to base their choices, for example, race and ethnicity is the lens to view A People’s Guide to LA (www.pgtla.org). Consider places of leisure like restaurants and places for entertainment as well as where people have worked, studied, fought battles, or protested.

Divide the 30 places among the students in each group. Over the next three weeks, students should research each entry assigned to them. The leader of each group should check in with each student to ensure the definitions for each entry follow the 5 W’s of academic writing.

After all of the entries are defined and collected, the group will re‐convene to edit and arrive at a group consensus for the final Guide. ______

32 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

To edit is to collect, prepare, and arrange (materials) for publication. For example, an editor of a newspaper decides where articles are arranged, whether to shorten or lengthen a story, or to remove an item altogether. It is in the editing of information that the writing of history happens. What will be included or not reveals the subjectivity or position of the author. For example, someone creating a timeline on military history may include battle sites and important peace treaties, while another person focusing on agriculture may not include any of these entries.

In general, historians only publish 50% of the information they gather due to a variety of issues: from the need to use space effectively, to the attention span of their reader or limitations of the medium in which they are communicating; not everything can be included. As a result, historians must heavily edit what they include in publication and determine the most important or relevant information.

After each group has defined 30 entries, each group must “edit” the list down to only 20 – 25 entries. Because students will be working in groups, each person in the group should approve each entry. This requirement reflects the working environment of historians—history builds on the writing of past historians and historians work in a community of scholars who will critique or approve of historical methods or publications. After the students have pared down their guides have them answer the following questions and prompts: Compare and contrast the difference between the two groups. What has changed? What has been omitted? Do you agree with the changes? Why or why not?

Exercise 2: Creating Your Guide Drafting. After deciding which entries will stay and which entries will go, students should sketch a draft of their Guide. In making this draft, students should consider how the information should appear. The Guide should include a timeline, introductory essay, and resources to go further. Using the justifications they have created, students should create a rough draft for each Guide. Are there any images that may assist in making it? What is the goal of conveying this information? What sources are available to use?

Creating. After completing a draft and having each of the students in the group sign off on the final list and design, students should then create their Guide using in class material or a computer program, depending on the availability of each in the classroom. Students should account for periods of work time in a clear manner.

Sharing. Share the completed Guide by displaying it in the classroom and through class presentations. Are there any differences between the Guides?

Wrap‐Up: Ask class what they learned about process. Did they enjoy it? How does this activity make students become more cognizant of the role of memory in creating contemporary community? What other information or activities might be helpful in assisting students in completing this assignment? Suggestions for the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

33 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Lesson 9: Mapping Migration: World History, Culture and Geography: The Modern World Introduction: This assignment asks students to design a map that charts the migration of peoples in and out of their community. Maps are important visual representations that can help highlight a region’s community and culture. Scholars use maps in order to illustrate the narrative of a particular region. For example, historians can construct various maps using data from the US Census. Each map shows the distribution of Native Americans throughout the United States during different time periods. This information can then be used to detail the type of relationship that the United States held with Native American tribes, and how the relationship affected land distribution among all the nations involved. Therefore this lesson plan will engage students with the ideas of how legislations, along with local and global events, shape the formation of communities.

Moreover, this Lesson Plan introduces students to the concept of migration. Many factors influence why and how people migrate. Important factors can include employment opportunities, physical environment, perceptions of region, health issues, education, and threats to individual safety. These factors can be classified as economic, social, political, and environmental. These same factors can also be categorized as “push” and “pull” factors. A “push” factor can drive a person away from their native location while a “pull” factor can draw a person to a new location. Therefore, these migration maps will help students initiate an investigation about how local, state, national, and global events played a role in the formation of their communities.

Finally, students will track their personal family migration histories. This exercise asks students to use social history, the experience of every day people, to connect their community to their own family migration histories. Using Howard Zinn’s model of social history,7 students will examine their families’ migration histories and link these histories to that of their communities. Social history is the study of the past “from the bottom up” with a focus on everyday events and the experience of every day periods. Social history emerged in the late 1950s from the French Annales School and was redefined in the United States as a result of the different civil rights movements that occurred throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1970s social history focused on labor, unionization movements, and allowed for a growing body of histories that used race and ethnicity, as well as gender, sexuality and family as ways of exploring the past.

Glossary Terms: Colonialism Emigration Deportation Global Immigration Imperialism In‐migration Indian Reservation Local Map

7 In the United States, Howard Zinn connected the importance of social history to organizing for civil rights. As an historian, Zinn came to believe that the point of view expressed in traditional history books was often limited. He wrote the history textbook A People's History of the United States in 1980 with the goal of providing other perspectives of American history including the struggles of oppressed groups to receive justice and equality.

34 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Migration Political Asylum Pull Factor Push Factor Redlining Repatriation Revolution Segregate Slavery

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 3 ‐ 6 weeks. Students can work in groups of 2 – 3.

You will need: Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Regional Map. Blank world map (provided by www.nationsonline.org). History textbook. World Almanac. Atlas. Information on local history to supplement textbooks. US Census results for the region throughout the 20th century. Access to a local library or online sources. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: poster board, glue, scissors for each group to map out for display in classroom. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the classroom website.

Pre‐Assessment: Instructor’s role: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms and local history information. Also, this assignment and exercise could work well with a trip to a school or local library. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. Instructors should consider integrating a local history and sources if they are available.

Lesson Hypothesis: In the recent past, scholars have promoted the idea of a “Living Past” in order to show how history may inform the present. Most communities have different groups of people living within a number of spaces for different reasons. Creating a migration map teaches residents new appreciation for where they live and how the space’s history may have broader consequences than originally assumed.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Investigate the evolution of modern international military and economic diplomacy. • Study the trajectory of America’s role as a decision maker in worldwide affairs. • Observe the increased interconnectedness between modern cultures as a result of the globalization fostered by technology. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned.

35 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs. • Use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. • Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. • Distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors’ use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications. • Construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations. • Show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values. • Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues. • Conduct cost‐benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. • List and detail migrations that become entries in the “Community Worksheet” and “Family History Worksheet.” • Define each entry using the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why). • Determine the importance of each entry in relation to the development of their community. • Map migrations using group consensus. • Create maps that reflect the determined classifications on either poster board or in digital format. • Share the maps.

Exercise 1: Part A. Instructors should go over the glossary terms and discuss social history and the concepts of community and migration with the class. History at its most basic is the study of change over time and the formal analysis of this change. Make three lists with the class on the classroom board.

The first list should explore the various ways communities can form. The list should at least include the following concepts: race, ethnicity, labor, gender, class, regional connections, language, religion, sexuality, transportation, politics and political asylum.

The second list should include pull and push factors people may face when deciding whether to move or to stay in one location. For instance, many Vietnamese families might have settled in Orange County after the Vietnam War trying to escape persecution, while Vietnamese and Cambodians who are ethnic Chinese would prefer to settle in New Chinatown in order to have the freedom of speaking Cantonese. As a class, explore the connections these two lists have.

36 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Then create the last list which should explore the media representations of the community. This list should include the perceptions of what the space may be. For instance, after the hit television show the O.C., Orange County was called the “O.C.” by many and was perceived as a high‐class community, even though the show was based on small group of people in Newport Beach, California. Through this example, students can explore how the media representations of the community affect the realities, myths, and history of the space.

Part B. Give each student a “Communities Worksheet.” Then discuss with your students the issues that could arise from the U.S. Census, particularly issues of race. For instance, before 1970, U.S. Census used different forms of analysis when viewing race. People were basically classified as white or Negro/non‐ white. In the 1970 U.S. Census, the Census Bureau added the category of other, and in 1980 they finally added more options. Therefore, students should be very careful and not take the documents at face value. Moreover, the census information should be accompanied by a world almanac for the particular years in question. For instance, if working with the 1970 Census, also have a world almanac available for your students. Show students how you would like them to input the required information and have them fill out their worksheet as best as possible. This part of the exercise could be an excellent opportunity to visit a local librarian, as they are incredible sources and most likely well‐versed in local history.

Part C. Instructors divide students into groups of 2‐3 and have them review past information from the class and history textbook in order to gather entries from local history. In addition to obtaining information from the Archive, instructors should provide as many sources from the library or that the Instructor provides, such as the immigrant legislation timeline or various almanacs.

Part D. Instructors give students a fresh new “Communities Worksheet” for revision to include the newly gathered information. Students should define each entry using the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Why & Where). Therefore, in the end, the worksheet should include both the various migrant groups that entered and exited their communities, and the push and pull factors that formulated into people’s movements.

Exercise 2: Make the Connections Part A. Students should sketch a draft of their map. In making this draft, students should consider how the information should appear on the map. What symbols will students use to represent a particular ethnic/racial group, or region? What will they use to demonstrate the movement of people from one region to another? Students should include a key interpreting the map.

Part B. After completing the draft, Instructor should have each student in the group sign off on the final design. Using the “Communities Worksheet” and gathered information, students should create their maps tracing the movement of communities from the world map to the regional map. The maps should be created using the class materials available, be it poster boards or computer programs. Instructor should remind students to include their map key.

Part C. Instructors should share students’ completed maps by displaying them around the classroom or on the class website. Then, as a class, students should discuss what similarities and differences between the maps. Why did various groups move to this particular site? Were there any correlations between where people settled and where they were from (i.e., connections between people from the same

37 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 regions, politics, and/or religion)? How have these migrant communities affected the culture of the students’ neighborhood?

Exercise 3: My Family 50 Years Ago Part A. Students should consult a family member to answer the questions on the Family History Worksheet. This should be completed outside the classroom. Students should use the information outlined by the Family History Worksheet to understand the causes behind their families’ personal migration paths.

Part B. Students should use their Family History Worksheet to create their individual family‐migration maps. Their Family History Worksheet should serve as a justification that explains the movement of their family from the world map to the regional map. Encourage students to critically examine historical world events and consider how they might have influenced their families’ individual migration paths. For example, Armenian families might have immigrated to the United States to escape the Armenian genocide during World War I, and they might have relied on ethnic networks in deciding to settle in Los Angeles. Other students’ families may have moved to Los Angeles to escape Civil War in their home countries, such as El Salvador. The maps should be created on class materials available, be it poster boards or computer programs. In making this draft, students should consider how the information should appear on the map. What symbols will students use to represent a particular ethnic/racial group, or region? What will they use to demonstrate the movement of people from one region to another? Students should include a key interpreting the map.

Part C. Instructors should share students’ completed maps with the class either through oral presentation or by displaying them around the classroom. Then, as a class, students should discuss similarities and differences among individual family migration stories. Students should also discuss the impetus behind their family migration stories in order to justify their family migration map.

Communities Worksheet Using census information, students can use this worksheet to track which communities moved in and out of a space. Census information is important on various levels. First and foremost, the census is a systematic count of population within the United States. This information can be used for research, marketing, surveys, and most importantly electoral representation. Students can use extra paper in order to answer the questions as detailed as possible.

A. Which communities made up this neighborhood in 1910? Who moved out and where did they go? Who moved in? When and why did they move in?

1.______

2. ______

3.______

4. ______

B. Which communities made up this neighborhood in 1930? Who moved out and where did they go? Who moved in? When and why did they move in?

38 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

1.______

2. ______

3.______

4. ______

C. Which communities made up this neighborhood in 1950? Who moved out and where did they go? Who moved in? When and why did they move in?

1.______

2. ______

3.______

4. ______

D. Which communities made up this neighborhood in 1970? Who moved out and where did they go? Who moved in? When and why did they move in?

1.______

2. ______

3.______

4. ______

E. Which communities made up this neighborhood in 1990? Who moved out and where did they go? Who moved in? When and why did they move in?

1.______

2. ______

3.______

4. ______

F. Which communities made up this neighborhood now? Who moved out and where did they go? Who moved in? When and why did they move in?

39 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

1.______

2. ______

3.______

4. ______

Family History Worksheet

Students can use this worksheet to track their families’ personal migration histories. If either the maternal or paternal responses for the questions are the same or unknown, please indicate so on the worksheet. Students can use extra paper in order to answer the questions as detailed as possible.

A. Where did your family live fifty years ago? In what city, state, and/or country did they live?

Maternal:______

______

______

______

Paternal:______

______

______

______

B. Can you describe their neighborhood? What did your family’s house look like? Which communities lived in their neighborhood? How does this differ from your family’s neighborhood today?

Maternal:______

______

______

______

40 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Paternal:______

______

______

______

C. Did your family move? When, where, and why did they move? Who in the family moved, and who stayed?

Maternal:______

______

______

______

Paternal:______

______

______

______

D. Can you trace your family’s migration to your current neighborhood? How were your family’s neighborhoods, cities, and/or countries different? What racial/ethnic communities made up new neighborhoods?

Maternal:______

______

______

______

Paternal:______

______

41 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

______

______

42 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Wrap‐Up:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 10: Landmarks, Then & Now Introduction: This lesson asks students to define change over time within their own communities by recognizing landmarks, or prominent objects in a landscape, whose histories traverse across the twentieth century. In so doing, students define the original context for each landmark and how it may hold historical significance for the community. Throughout history, different civilizations have erected memorials to show respect and to remember the dead. Indeed, most of the world’s existing antiquities represent memorials, from the Egyptian and Mexican Pyramids, to Greek temples and tombs, to India’s Taj Mahal. In the recent past, scholars have explored the role of memorials and the importance of sharing memories as a group in order to collectively grieve and remember. Students will determine ten landmarks that no longer exist and ten that do or are recent additions to their community’s landscape. Each entry will be defined and placed within a timeline of the community’s history to relay its original context and change over time.

Glossary: Landmark Public History Preservation

Pre‐planning: Lesson plan length: 2 – 8 Weeks.

You will need: Information on local history to supplement textbooks. Paper. Pen/Pencils/Markers. Local guidebooks to your community. Presentation tools depending upon class capabilities. low tech: poster board for each group to write out timeline for display in classroom. high tech: computer assisted PowerPoint presentations to post on the class website.

Pre‐Assessment: Instructor’s role: Initially, instructors play a directive role in going over the reading, glossary terms, and discussing examples. As the lesson proceeds, instructors should ensure that students are including well‐founded justifications for each entry and the role of evidence in making a claim. Instructors should evaluate the enclosed resources and determine the relevancy of the samples to their students. These include guides, tour books, history books, and even guest speakers who may come in to discuss the importance of a place in the community.

Lesson Hypothesis: This assignment allows students to place themselves within a broader continuum of human experience and teaches the importance of acknowledging loss and of remembering by recognizing public markers that hold significance due to experience in the place. For example, while the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland in Anaheim may serve as a navigational pointer to local residents, the Matterhorn ride is also a place many residents have visited and therefore holds meaning for its experiential history.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will

43 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Read all enclosed documents and understand the glossary terms included here. • Observe the increased interconnectedness between the United States and other nations as a result of the globalization fostered by technology, using the built environment as a text. • Map the United States’ demographic shift through time through a local examination of space and place. • Chart the contemporary rise of “big government” in the lives of Americans by recounting episodes of civic action in public areas. • Apply the lessons and tenets of the American experience to their own lives as students near legal adulthood and begin to acquire the legal rights afforded United States’ citizens in their own communities, cities/counties, the state of California, and the nation. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. • Analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs. • Use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. • Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors’ use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications. • Construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations. • Show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values. • Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues. • Conduct cost‐benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. • Explore the landmarks from the natural and built environments. • Work collaboratively to determine twenty landmarks. • Research twenty landmarks to determine history and importance to the community or neighborhood. • Map the twenty landmarks both spatially on a map and chronologically on a timeline. • Include landmarks that exist and no longer exist to demonstrate change over time and broader changes in the built environment. • Present the final project to the class.

Exercise 1:

44 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Instructors should go over the glossary terms and the provided questions with the class. The instructor should not exhaust these questions in presenting them. Rather, instructors should introduce the questions and determine 2‐3 examples for each question, as they will be the basis for small group work and then homework.

1. What landmarks can you identify in our community? 2. What places are important to you personally? Why? 3. Do you know of any important landmarks in our community that no longer exist? What happened to them? When? Why?

Exercise 2: Instructors should have the class determine ten existing landmarks and ten landmarks that are no longer in the community that hold special importance. To determine each group of ten, have students break into groups of 3 ‐ 4 to more fully answer the questions. For homework students should ask at least one adult relative or friend to answer the three central questions.

Exercise 3: Student groups should spend the next week researching twenty landmarks in their community in order to fulfill the assignment’s requirements. When was the landmark created? Where? Why is it significant? Why, if applicable, is the landmark no longer in existence? Using one of the local maps provided by the instructor, students should show where the twenty landmarks are located. Students should then place the landmarks on a timeline.

Exercise 4: Students should present the landmarks of their community on a poster, or if digital technologies are present, on a website to the class. The poster or website should include a map of the landmarks, a brief description of each landmark, and a timeline showing the landmark on a broader continuum. Descriptions should include a justification of why the landmark was chosen for the project.

Wrap‐Up: Ask the class what they have learned about process. Did they enjoy it? How does this activity make students better critical readers? What other information or activities might be helpful in assisting students in becoming better critical readers? Suggestions for the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 12: Creating A Walking Tour Introduction: This lesson asks students to map change over time in a local neighborhood. In addition to delineating chronological change, this assignment asks students to explore a specific geographic community. This project requires students and the class as a whole to leave the classroom in exploring and presenting local history.

Glossary: Accessible Public Private Property Sacred Sites

45 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Pre‐planning: This assignment will take 6‐8 weeks, 45 minutes per day, with weekly homework. This is an assignment that should be done as a group, with a division of labor clearly spelled out among students. If instructors can have students conduct walking tours, this should be scheduled on a weekend or on days when students may be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

You will need: Social Science textbook. An almanac (suggested). An atlas (suggested). Information on local history events. Paper. Pen/Pencils.

Pre‐Assessment: This assignment requires significant pre‐planning. Instructors should pre‐determine areas suitable for a walking tour like a local cemetery or a downtown business district. Instructors should gather information and resources that will assist students in compiling information suitable for a walking tour. These include guides, tour books, history books, and even guest speakers who may come in to discuss the importance of a place in the community. Each instructor should design to what extent he or she will integrate the walking tour into the class—from a potential walking tour that includes all aspects of a successful assignment with the exception of actually conducting one, to including the experience of the walking tour as part of the assignment. Instructors should keep in mind that different schools may have restrictions on off‐campus activity.

Lesson Hypothesis: Walking Tours of places reveal how history is visible in the built environment and by showing the spatial and geographic distance between places of historic importance. In this assignment students delineate an area of historic importance, justify its importance through research and evidence and then share the walking tour with the class either in an in‐class presentation or by leading the tour for the class.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Observe the increased interconnectedness between the United States and other nations as a result of the globalization fostered by technology, using the built environment as a text. • Map the United States’ demographic shift through time through a local examination of space and place. • Chart the contemporary rise of “big government” in the lives of Americans by recounting episodes of civic action in public areas. • Apply the lessons and tenets of the American experience to their own lives as students near legal adulthood and begin to acquire the legal rights afforded United States’ citizens in their own communities, cities/counties, the state, and the nation. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. • Analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs. • Use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns,

46 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. • Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors’ use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications. • Construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations. • Show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values. • Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues. • Conduct cost‐benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. • Work in pairs to create a walking tour. • Delineate a neighborhood for a walking tour that is both physically achievable and content driven. • Determine 10‐12 places to include on this walking tour that demonstrate change over time and relevant history to the community at hand. • Research the neighborhood using newspapers, histories of the community and by interviewing people living in the neighborhood. • Share their walking tours with the class by either leading a walking tour or showing the class the different stops on the tour and explaining their historical significance. • Reflect on each other’s walking tours and complete the “Lessons Learned Worksheet.”

Exercise 1: The instructor should introduce the assignment and go over the glossary terms and the following questions with the class. What neighborhoods can you identify in our community? What neighborhoods are important to you personally? Why? The instructor should list these neighborhoods on the board. Next, the instructor should add any other relevant neighborhoods to the board that are relevant for a walking tour. The instructor should explore the importance of each neighborhood with the class and introduce the different resources available in preparation for the assignment. Students should be divided into groups of 3‐4 for each neighborhood.

Exercise 2: Student groups should spend the weeks researching their neighborhoods in preparation for a walking tour. Questions to answer for each of the 10‐12 places on the walking tour: When was it created? Where? Why is it significant? Why, if applicable, is the place no longer in existence? Is it named after anyone or anything? Are their historic places in this neighborhood that are not public? Why? Why not? The walking tour should have detailed descriptions of 10‐12 sites on the tour. Using one of the local maps provided by the instructor, students should map the sites on the walking tour.

Exercise 3:

47 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Students should present the walking tours, depending on the abilities of the class. If an actual walking tour is not possible, student groups should present the walking tour to the class in a presentation with a poster. If digital technologies are present in the class the walking tour may be presented through a website. The poster or website should include a map of the walking tour, a brief description of each site, a timeline showing the history of the neighborhood and a complete bibliography.

Wrap‐Up: Ask class what they learned about process. Did they enjoy it? How does this activity make students better understand the work of historians? Suggestions for the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan: 13: An Oral History Project Introduction: This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about their town in order to conduct an interview with an older local resident who has witnessed change over time in their community. The state standards focus on the history of citizenship in the United States; as a result, this oral history should focus on the subject’s participation in community activities, voting behavior, participation in the military and other forms of public service as they pertain to local history. This assignment literally brings history to life through the discussion of it with someone who experienced it.

Glossary: Index Intake interview Transcription

Pre‐planning: Lesson Plan Length: This lesson will take 4 ‐ 6 weeks.

You will need: A list of potential interviewees. Social Science textbook. An almanac (suggested). An atlas (suggested). Information on local history events. Audio recording devices. Paper. Pen/Pencils.

Pre‐Assessment: Instructors should gather individuals suitable for student interviews in case the students are unable to find interviewees. If schools have multimedia capabilities, instructors should employ technologies that may assist students in conducting the interview, and, if necessary provide students with tape recorders.

Lesson Hypothesis: Oral histories are powerful ways of teaching the process of history. In addition to grappling with the fallibility of human memory, students see first hand how re‐calling the past, sharing it with another person and then the process of presenting this information to outsiders.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included.

48 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Learn the elements that make up a successful oral history. • Explore American history via both a formal study of the country’s political system as well as informal accounts of and incidents from the past, contemplating the relevance and importance of both approaches. • Engage in active history‐making as the student nears legal adulthood and begins to examine his or her capacity as a United States’ citizen and role as a member of a particular generation of the American people. • Incorporate interdisciplinary learning to fashion, budget, execute, and sustain public memory projects that document the past and are accessible to the community at large. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. • Analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs. • Use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. • Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. • Distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors’ use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications. • Construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations. • Show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values. • Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues. • Conduct cost‐benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. • Conduct an intake interview to begin research in preparation for the actual oral history interview. • Undertake research based on the intake interview and connect the individual’s life to local, regional, national and global events across their life span. • Develop questions that relate to their interview subject and history covered in class. • Conduct an oral history. • Review the oral history and create an introduction, index and keyword listing of subjects covered in the interview to serve as a finding aid for future researchers. • Present what they learned from the oral history experience in an in class presentation with the interviewee invited, if possible.

Exercise 1:

49 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

“Pre‐interview Research” Instructors should introduce the assignment and go over glossary terms with the class as a group. After establishing an interviewee, students should look at and selectively read a variety of secondary sources (textbooks, encyclopedias, newspapers, etc) that pertain to interesting topics for discussion during the interview.

The instructor should go over the topics students may consider exploring during the interview including concepts of what it means to be an American, Californian, Southern Californian (or other relevant geographically specific designation)? If the interviewee is an immigrant, what concepts of the United States, the state and local region or community did they have prior to arrival? Did they change? Students should cover civil rights movements that fall under the interviewee’s life and explore any political activity (like voting or volunteering for a campaign) he or she may have done. How has local history influenced their lives? What are the major issues facing the region?

Outline the topics for the pre‐interview, taking into consideration how students may follow up in the actual interview. If a student is nervous about conducting an interview, or would like to prepare more in‐depth, he or she should read basic “how to” books or articles on oral history. The Oral History Association has many online resources and links to books at www.oralhistory.org/.

Exercise 2: “Intake Interview” The intake interview is a short interview the student will do with their interviewee prior to the longer interview session. Explain to the interviewee that the purpose of the intake interview is to plan the actual interview, to construct an outline, to discuss taping session mechanics, explain the legal agreement form, and to get acquainted by establishing a rapport. Before the pre‐interview session, read over the information on the interviewee, create a brief biographical sketch, and prepare a list of general topics to be discussed. The intake interview session should not last much longer than fifteen minutes. Do not tape record this session. This is the opportunity to find out the parameters of the interviewee’s life, so that when preparing the interview questions the student will be better informed as to the interview direction.

Conduct an intake interview, or a short interview to assess the basic parameters of the interviewee’s life, in order to gather more relevant questions for the actual interview. During the intake interview session create an interview outline. Establish the basic facts. “I have your birth year as 1924, is that correct?” and “How do you spell the name?” Prepare the outline along chronological lines, establish the length of activity periods in the person’s life (their childhood, college years, retirement, etc.)

Ask about the possible environments for the actual interview to identify a noise‐free place for taping and an environment in which the interviewee will feel comfortable. Suggest the general areas of question at the taping session in the near future. Decide on a possible date and time for the taped interview. From this outline, develop your interview questions. Ask the interviewee to bring in photographs or personal documents (yearbooks, family albums) to go over with during the interview and to digitally scan after the interview in order to augment the oral history. Be sure to have the interviewee describe each photograph or scanned document on camera.

Exercise 3: “Interview Mechanics”

50 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

For the interview itself students should be sure the technical elements of the interview are sound and should verify supplies.  Tape recorder and microphone with appropriate power source (batteries, if applicable).  Adequate supply of tapes.  Extension cord.  Note pad/Pen/Pencil.  Interview outline and questions.  Release form—two copies (one for student and one for interviewee).

Step‐by‐step instructions for to the interviewer: Try to get the interview environment as free of outside noise as possible. Encourage the interview to be conducted in privacy. Label tape with interviewer’s name, interviewee’s name, the locale of the interview, and date.

Before the interview, test recorder to make sure it is working properly. While setting up and testing the machine, explain to the interviewee that during the taping you will take notes and check occasionally with the earphone. Place recorder near enough to see the tape counter and be able to monitor any technical difficulties. Before beginning or continuing the interview, play a bit of tape to ensure there is no recording on the cassette’s leader. Begin the interview by stating your name, who you are interviewing, where you are interviewing, and the date. Do this directly into the microphone. Then turn the microphone to the interviewee and begin your questions.

Most interviewees get tired after 1 ½ to 2 hours. Reschedule an additional interview if you have not finished covering the material in 2 hours. Make sure to get the interview release form signed. If possible, avoid use of restrictions but when necessary, always include a termination date. Provide a copy of the agreement to your interviewee. Consider bringing a camera to take a picture of the interviewee.

Exercise 4: “Post‐interview Wrap‐Up” After completing the interview students should summarize the interview while it is fresh in their own recollection. Students should write a brief introduction describing the interview and include the names of the interviewer and interviewee, date and place of the interview sessions, purpose of the interview, the interview environment, the characteristics of the interview, important aspects of the discussion, a brief biographical sketch of the interviewee (based on the intake interview), and other pertinent observations made during the taping.

Students will next produce an index of the interview. Listen to the interview and write down specific topics covered and the counter numbers (if applicable) at which those topics are discussed. Also write down the correct spelling of specific names and locations associated with the topic (which you acquired at the end of your interview.)

Students then create a keyword listing of the interview based on names, places, and events. Break down the interview by question and list what keywords are applicable per question; be general and specific in creating your list.

Interviewer and interviewee must sign and date legal agreement forms. Those who participate in the interview own property and use rights to the sound recordings and the finding aids. To vest those rights in a sponsoring project, both interviewee and interviewer must sign and date legal agreement forms.

51 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

The sponsor keeps the signed, original legal forms on file if any questions arise over interview rights. After the project is completed, students must write a thank you note to the interviewee, sending back any loaned material (such as photographs or yearbooks).

Exercise 5: Presenting the interviews. If possible, students should invite the interviewee to class presentations. In presenting the interview, students should use the introduction they have written as part of the “Post‐ Interview Wrap‐Up” and answer the following questions: What expectations, if any, did you have about the interview? What surprised you about the interview? What were the major milestones or experiences in this person’s life? How does it contribute to your understanding of local history?

Wrap‐Up: Ask class what they learned about process. Did they enjoy it? Suggestions for the future? Depending upon the class’ scope, the instructor should consider employing a peer review evaluation form for the interview presentation that is established by the class as a group.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lesson Plan 14: Public Monument or Exhibit Introduction: This assignment asks students to review the history and existing information about a local community and determine a subject worthy of public memorialization. Drawing on the methods of how history is communicated, students consider what subject is most relevant for becoming a public monument that best represents the values and ideals of freedom, tolerance and democracy in a pluralistic society..

Glossary: Audience Democracy Private Pluralism Public Republic

Pre‐planning: This lesson will take 4‐8 weeks or longer, depending upon the instructor; this is an excellent curriculum to extend across one semester. If possible, instructors should integrate a field trip to a local museum for Exercise 1: the Review of a History Project.

You will need: Social Science textbook. An almanac (suggested). An atlas (suggested). Information on local history events. Craft and art materials to make a public history project. Paper. Pen/Pencils.

Pre‐Assessment: The success of this Lesson Plan relies heavily on instructor involvement. In order to keep this interpretative assignment grounded in history, it is essential that justifications for all choices, from aesthetic to specific content, be provided. Instructors are encouraged to combine this assignment

52 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 with a field trip to a local museum to explore the different ways public history may be presented and to partner with this organization in the presentation of final projects.

Lesson Hypothesis: Students grapple with the concepts of public history in a pluralistic, democratic society. In addition to exploring concepts of intended audience and outcomes with public history projects, students include the economic factors shaping the funding of public history. Students begin with a review of a public history exhibit. Next, students create a group project that reflects the history of a group from local history and that will be publicly presented, either in the class itself or in a participating public institution, such as local museums or libraries.

Goals & Objectives: In completing this Lesson Plan, successful students will • Define and understand the glossary terms included. • Learn about local history through a review of an exhibit, event or similar public history program. • Explore American history via both a formal study of the country’s political system as well as informal accounts of and incidents from the past, contemplating the relevance and importance of both approaches. • Engage in active history‐making as the student nears legal adulthood and begins to examine his or her capacity as a United States’ citizen and role as a member of a particular generation of the American people. • Incorporate interdisciplinary learnings to fashion, budget, execute, and sustain public memory projects that document the past and are accessible to the community at large. • Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. • Analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs. • Use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. • Relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions. • Distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations. • Identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. • Evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors’ use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications. • Construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations. • Show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. • Recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. • Interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather than solely in terms of present‐day norms and values. • Understand the meaning, implication, and impact of historical events and recognize that events could have taken other directions. • Analyze human modifications of landscapes and examine the resulting environmental policy issues.

53 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

• Conduct cost‐benefit analyses and apply basic economic indicators to analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. • Critically assess the success of that presentation with a focus on intended audience, clarity of information and relevance to local history. • Learn vocabulary related to public history in tandem with the larger state standards connected to the history of citizenship or access to citizenship rights in the United States. • Explore the presentation of public history project either through the form of an online project, museum exhibit, or public history event like a walking tour review. • Work collaboratively to create a public history installation that matches a specific mission or theme as defined by the group or by the instructor. • Create a public history project that reflects local history and addresses the concerns of intended audience, clarity of information, budget restraints and relevance to local history. • Present the installation to the class in the class or at a local participating organization. • Submit a “Lessons Learned” paper on the process of doing the project that includes unforeseen problems or learning opportunities that arose in doing the project.

Exercise 1: History Project Review Instructors should begin by going over the glossary terms, specifically as they pertain to public history and local history by using specific examples. Instructors next should introduce the assignment: this paper should be 3 – 5 pages and typewritten and is a review of a digital archive, museum, or event, such as a walking tour, that must relate to local history.

This assignment asks students to participate in programming related to local history, summarize the experience, and evaluate it in terms of the project’s mission and their experience as participants. Be sure to evaluate how the project presents its information, its legitimacy as a source, and the project’s success at accomplishing its own mission. Examples of public history projects: Museum exhibits; Walking tours; Public Art; Lecture at local university or library; Online history projects such as those presented on the Archive’s Resources page. Factors to consider in your review: What is the price for access to the project? Is it free? How does this affect access? Finally, if you have constructive criticism of the project, be sure to provide suggestions for improving it.

Exercise 2: Create A Public History Project Instructors should begin with a discussion of the reviews of history projects submitted by students and should include which projects were successful and which were not, according to the reviews. Instructors should then introduce the assignment and include a list of potential subjects as they relate to local history and the broader issues of 20th century United States history and the nation’s ideals of a pluralistic republic. There are several steps to this project that reflect the practices of public history. Instructors may include a list of potential projects and/or allow students to suggest their own subjects for this assignment.

Potential projects may be a community quilt, an exhibit installation, a walking tour, a website dedicated to a local history subject, a timeline for exhibit purposes, or other related public history installations.

54 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Students work in groups of 3 – 4, or as a class, and decide upon a subject and way to represent this history in a public history project. In deciding upon the project itself, students must consider the different factors they used in reviewing the history projects in Part A of this lesson. This work should be done in class and each group should present a short presentation on their proposed project. Over the course of the next few weeks, students should work independently and in allotted class time on the history project. Students should regularly report back on the project.

When the project is ready for presentation, the instructor should assign peer review evaluators on the project to ascertain its success, and to show the role of public opinion in shaping public history projects. Each review must be turned in to the instructor, who will summarize the student comments to the student in a separate document to be returned privately to each student.

Exercise 3: Lessons Learned After each student has received his or her peer review summary, he or she should write a final essay that expounds upon the process of doing public history. Students must address the following questions: What did doing this assignment teach you? What is the role of economics in creating a public history project? Public consensus? What are the benefits to doing collaborative work as opposed to doing independent work on such projects? Did the peer review summary give you any helpful feedback? What would you change if you could do it all over again?

Wrap‐Up: Ask class what they learned about process. Did they enjoy it? How does this activity make students better understand the work of historians? Suggestions for the future?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Glossary:

Accessible: able to access or capable of being reached.

Advertisement: also known as an ‘ad;’ the public promotion of something; within a newspaper may be clearly defined as something supporting the purchase of an item or services such as an announcement for a sale; may be free like a public service announcement put out by the government.

Almanac: invented in the 14th century, intended to be annual publications containing information about the stars, the predicted weather for the year, and other information. Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack is a popular publication throughout the colonial East Coast of the United States and includes some general advice that is still used today.

Ancient Time Capsules: There are numerous examples of ancient time capsules from different civilizations. For example, British archaeologists exposed Egyptian King Tutankhamen’s burial tomb in 1922, and the discovery revealed an unintentional time capsule from 1346 B.C. When King Tutankhamen was placed in this underground tomb, he was expected to remain there untouched and protected. However, its discovery revealed treasures in gold and new information about this civilization. Do you think this capsule should have been opened or should have archaeologists respected its creators’ intentions? Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a time capsule is intentional or unintentional.

55 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Atlas: An atlas is a bound collection of maps often including illustrations, informative tables, or textual matter.

Audience: a group of readers or spectators for a text or performance; the intended group of people or persons who will interact with an authored text; includes those who interact with a text by listening or using any and all of the human senses. For example, the audience for a newspaper is its readers, this group may be further defined by region, age, political orientation, language capabilities, gender, and class.

Caption: a phrase, sentence, or paragraph that describes the contents of an illustration such as a photograph or chart; usually placed directly above, below, or to the side of the object it describes.

Chamber of Commerce: organization that organizes businesses in town. Most chambers of commerce have information that promotes the town, including tourism and sometimes historical information.

Chronological: from the word ‘chronology;” refers to the order in which a series of events may take place.

Colonialism: Colonialism is the extension of a nation’s sovereignty over territory beyond its borders by the establishment of either settlements or the exploitation of local economies.

Context: the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, or subject.

Creation Myth: a supernatural story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, earth, life, and the universe; many share broadly similar themes. Common motifs include land emerging from an infinite and timeless ocean.

Credibility: the capacity to inspire belief or trustworthiness; can the subject be believed?

Democracy: government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

Deportation: Deportation means the eviction or expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country.

Diaspora: originally referred to the history of Judaism and the Jewish people; now applied to any dispersion of people from their original homeland and the community they form.

Edit: the process and/or preparation of putting together the various parts of a document for the purpose of presentation, such as newspapers, television programs, films, or anthologies.

Editorial: an essay or section of a newspaper that reflects the opinions of the editor of the newspaper or a group of writers chosen by the newspaper to explicitly show a point of view.

Emigration: Emigration relates to leaving one’s place of residence of country to live elsewhere.

56 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Epic Poem: The word ‘epic’ can imply heroic or majestic; a long poem narrating the heroic exploits of an individual in a way central to the beliefs and culture of his society. Typical elements are fabulous adventures, superhuman deeds, polyphonic composition, majestic language and a craftsmanship deploying the full range of literary devices, from lyrical to dramatic. Consider the other epic poems that are used in ancient civilizations like The Iliad and The Odyssey. There is a standard format to the organization of epic poems. The length of the poem, however, will depend upon the writer.

Global: referring to the entire earth or worldwide.

Headline: the phrase in larger type at the top of a newspaper or magazine article indicating its subject.

Historiography: the history of history; or the writing of history and the broader trends and paradigms that shaped the writing of history over time.

Immigration: Immigration relates to entering a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence.

Imperialism: Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.

In Medias Res: Latin for “in the middle of;.” a writing convention used in epic poetry but one that we see reproduced in other art forms like film noir, comics and soap operas.

In‐migration: In‐migration is the movement of people into a region or community within the same country.

Index: a list of words or phrases ('headings') and associated pointers ('locators') that lets the reader know where useful material relating to that heading can be found in a document; may be chronological and note where one may find a section on an interview, or it may be alphabetical, as in the back of a book.

Indian Reservation: An Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Intake Interview: a short interview with a subject to prepare for the subject’s oral history. It includes questions that help the interviewer determine relevant questions and a short interview to assess the basic parameters of an interviewee’s life.

Landmark: According to Reginald Golledge of the University of California at Santa Barbara: “Landmarks are key components of the way we organize our knowledge of global, regional, and local environments. In general, landmark status is defined by some combination of features including: dominance of visible, natural, or built form, such as the Eiffel Tower or Niagara Falls; outstanding color, shape, extent, such as the Kremlin; functional significance, as with the Golden Gate Bridge; symbolic significance, as with the Blarney Stone in Ireland; or historical significance, such as the place where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought. Sometimes natural features (e.g., mountains, volcanoes, deep canyons, waterfalls, or reefs) attract enough attention to label phenomena as a landmark. (Note that natural features need not be restricted to a single point in space, as with the Great Barrier Reef). Sometimes it is a part of the built

57 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 environment that catches attention ‐ such as the Kremlin, Notre Dame Cathedral, or the Sydney Opera House.”8

Landscape: an expanse of scenery that can be seen in one view.

Legacy: anything handed down from the past.

Literacy: the ability to read written text. In recent studies, scholars have attempted to expand the term to include the ability to read many different texts and symbols, and to understand the practice of reading in its proper context, or time and place.

Local: to, of or belonging to; characteristic of a particular locality or neighborhood.

Map: a survey or plan that is usually on a flat space represents geographic space or part of an area.

Memorial: An object, often public, designed to preserve the memory of a person, event, place or other subject, as a monument or a holiday. Migration: Migration is the movement from one country, place, or locality to another.

Neighorhood: a spatial designation that may mark an area of a city or place and/or the group of people who form its community.

Objective: unbiased or free from personal opinion or emotion. In the last half of the twentieth century, historians ultimately agreed that total objectivity is impossible in the recording of the past. As a result, different scholars often explain their goals in presenting their research.

Petroglyph: Ancient petroglyphs (drawings that are carved into stone) and cave paintings may have been intentional time capsules—these early Indian tribes may have wanted to communicate their histories and values through paintings and rock carvings. Or, this imagery may have been created for the time in which it was made. Depending on the group, today’s historians simply do not know enough about the civilization to determine the intent. Regardless of intent, cave paintings, petroglyphs and surviving forms of art are time capsules because they communicate information about ancient people to future generations.

Photo essay: a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. Photo essays range from purely photographic works to photographs with captions or small notes to full text essays with a few or many accompanying photographs.

Private: not open or accessible to the general public and pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons.

Pluralism: a condition in which numerous distinct ethnic, religious, or cultural groups are present and tolerated within a society, such a condition is desirable or socially beneficial; the doctrine that reality is

8 Reginald Golledge. “What is a Landmark and What Really Are the Most Significant Landmarks.” Directions Magazine: All Things Location. 2002 at http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=178&trv=1#post_comment accessed on November 15, 2008. 58 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12 composed of many ultimate substances, and the belief that no single explanatory system or view of reality can account for all the phenomena of life.

Point of View: A position from which something is considered or examined.

Political Asylum: Political asylum is the granting of refuge to a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country by another sovereign authority. Asylum may be temporary or permanent.

Preservation: The act of preserving; care to preserve; act of keeping from destruction, decay or any ill treatment.

Printing Press: A machine that integrated moveable type and allows for the mass production of any printed item.

Private: intended for or restricted to the use of a particular person, group, or class.

Property: related to something owned; any tangible or intangible possession that is owned by someone.

Public: the state of being open to the knowledge or view of all; of, pertaining to, or affecting a population or a community as a whole.

Public Art: art that one may find in the public and not subject to restrictions in its viewing, though some argue that the original intent of the artist should be included in this definition—that an artist must have intended the artwork to be presented in the public sphere.

Public History: National Council on Public History Board of Directors, defines it as, "Public history is a movement, methodology, and approach that promotes the collaborative study and practice of history; its practitioners embrace a mission to make their special insights accessible and useful to the public." Public history is history that both engages the public and invites the public to participate in the writing of history.”

Pull Factor: A pull factor can draw a person to a new location.

Push Factor: A push factor can drive a person away from their native location.

Redlining: Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which a mortgage or insurance company refuses to lend money to a person on the basis of race, color, creed, age, gender, sexuality, etc., therefore preventing such person from owning property in certain neighborhoods.

Repatriation: Repatriation is the voluntary and/or the involuntary movement of people back to their country of origin. Repatriation can be involuntary, as is the case of the government raids of undocumented immigrants, or voluntary, as is the case of many Italians who moved back to Italy after finding fortunes during the first part of the twentieth century. However, there are cases of repatriation in which there can be a mixture of both voluntary and involuntary movement. For instance, during the Great Depression, many Mexicans and Mexican‐Americans were sent to Mexico by both Mexican and US government officials; while others left for fear that they too could find the same fate, and/or because of the lack of jobs. Therefore repatriation must always be contextualized in order to be fully understood.

59 Because My History Matters: A Guide to Integrating Local History into the Classroom, Grades 6 ‐ 12

Republic: a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them. Revolution: Revolution is a drastic and far‐reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving. Therefore the American Revolution refers to the political upheaval of British rule in the thirteen colonies of North America, while the industrial revolution defines the drastic change in the way people manufactured their goods and things.

Sacred Sites: a place of religious or spiritual significance. Cemeteries are considered sacred sites, as well as churches, temples, synagogues and other places of worship.

Segregate: To segregate is to separate or isolate a person or community from others or from the rest of society.

Social History: the history of every day people or history from the “bottom up” in contrast to previous historiography that focused on leaders, military events, and economic history. Social historians are concerned with what life was like for the average person within a specific context. The roots of social history are found in the 20th century French Annales School, which reordered the hierarchy of history writing and attempted to decentralize its focus. Social history saw its popularity rise with the Civil Rights Movements and Women’s Movements of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. These movements used the contributions of their groups, and the neglect of this history in traditional accounts, to call for reform in the United States’ democratic society.

Spatial: the size, dimension or area of a subject.

Subjective: personal, or coming from a person, and an opinion or a defined point of view.

Timeline: a chronology of events or and ordering of events based on when they happened. Timelines represent events within a particular historical period, often consisting of illustrative visual material with text.

To Remember: to recall to the mind by an act or effort of memory; think of again.

Transcription: the act of transferring information from one medium to another. Transcription in oral history refers to the transfer of audio information to a text document.

60