In this timely book, curriculum expert Gerald A. Lieberman provides an innovative guide to creating and implementing a new type of environmental education that combines standards-based lessons on English language arts, math, history, and science with community investigations and service learning projects. By connecting academic content with local…

A museum program in Montreal encourages elementary and secondary school students to examine their surroundings and neighborhoods. Units focus on stained glass windows, houses, history of Montreal, the neighborhood, and architectural heritage. (KC)

This article outlines a conceptual framework for a high school or college level unit on local history and demonstrates use of the framework through a case study of Whitehall, Georgia. Information is presented on planning the unit, selecting a community, teaching methods, collecting data, and identifying likely sources of information on community…

Describes a local history project in which high school students located valuable historic photographs on the local community and reproduced them on 35mm slides. An historic photo archive consisting of the slides accompanied by documentary materials was created. Procedures for creating and suggestions for using a photo archive are included. (KC)

Presents a methodology for providing the historical narrative or context statement which must accompany a town's nomination for inclusion on The National Register of Historic Places. States that the same 14-point outline can function as a starting point for any written community history. (GEA)

This publication contains 44 suggestions for projects which actively involve elementary and secondary students in an individual quest for a personal heritage within the topical frameworks of community, ethnic, and family history. The projects are intended to awaken students to the realization that history is all around them. The projects utilize…

Planning ideas and follow-up activities are described for a reciprocal exchange program between groups of 5th and 6th grade students in Manitoba who are "twinned" with another school in the province. Emphasis is on providing learning experiences which help students become familiar with the economic activity in the area, with the local government…

Advocates teaching history through children's fictional and nonfictional literature in elementary social studies. Offers seven criteria for selecting books for elementary history units. Provides activities for teaching about American Indians, communities, and U.S. history based on award-winning children's books. (CH)

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…

Describes a year-and-a-half-long history project that involved elementary students in exploring their community's past. Students took field trips, interviewed community persons, taped oral histories, painted murals, and produced a dramatic musical based on their community's history. (RM)

Procedures to help intermediate-grade social studies teachers implement a local history unit are provided. Although intended for teachers in Iowa, the guide can easily be used by educators in any state. The procedures are organized around three major generalizations: (1) buildings and artifacts are resources in explaining the history of a…

Intended to engage students in a comparative look at local history in two upper Mississippi river towns (Winona, Minnesota and Dubuque, Iowa), this paper describes the computer-assisted component of an upper-level American Studies course. With emphasis on the 19th century, students examine the transition made by the United States from a…

Essays in this special issue of the "Journal of Family History" focus on the teaching of family history by using artifacts. The articles were written by the staff at Old Sturbridge Village (OSV). The first article discusses how family history is taught at OSV. Students study a real family using demographic information and artifacts such as…

This guide contains activity ideas to help elementary and secondary students celebrate Iowa History Month, October, 1985. There are four major sections. The first section contains an historic calendar for the month of October. Each day focuses on a significant occurrence in Iowa history and provides specific suggestions for discussing the events.…

Three units comprise the New Orleans Ethnic Heritage Program developed for students in grade 8. Objectives are to increase student appreciation of New Orleans cultural heritage, help them understand their own racial and ethnic groups, and build analytical and evaluative decision making skills. The units are entitled "The Ethnic Heritage of…