Elementary and secondary school teachers interested in developing a local history unit can adapt this fourth grade program created for three school districts in Cortland County, New York. Material is divided into 13 chapters. Chapter 1 charts the New York fourth grade curriculum by concept and content and outlines specific community study…

Completing the trilogy of local Amityville history written entirely by high school students using interviews, local newspapers, and documents, this journal contains 11 articles discussing the social, political, cultural, and educational scene of the community. The articles are: "De Facto Segregation in the Amityville School…

This curriculum offers a comprehensive guide for teaching Iowa's historical and cultural heritage. The book is divided into six sections including: (1) "Using This Book"; (2) "Using Local History"; (3) "Lesson Plans"; (4) "Fun Facts"; (5) "Resources"; and (6) "Timeline." The bulk of the…

This teacher's guide utilizes the subject matter in the 1998-99 Texas Almanac in a variety of interdisciplinary student activities for grades 3-8. The guide includes a grade-by-grade curriculum chart detailing which lessons correspond to specific Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) objectives and Essential Element requirements. The 45…

An elementary school teaching unit uses a visit to a one-room schoolhouse to increase student awareness of what pioneer schools were like. The first section consists of pre-visit activities and teacher preparation suggestions. A description of an early pioneer school is followed by six activities designed to make the visit more authentic.…

Describes a course that approaches concepts of historic preservation from a humanities, rather than an architectural, perspective. The course begins with a questionnaire about the area that uses ideas from perceptual geography and social psychology. Later readings include novels, poems, essays, and songs. (MJP)

Students learn little about some aspects of U.S. history, such as the history of science, technology, art, religion, and everyday life. What they most often learn about are the "big events" of political and military history. This document seeks to address that problem through its 30 lessons. The first two lessons, "There's an Old Trunk in My…

Examines the pitfalls and obstacles of applying a professional historian's standards to the practice of writing and researching local history. These include unreliable and incomplete records as well as sponsoring agencies that prefer sanitized legends to historical accuracy. Nonetheless, praises local history as a rich resource and recommends…