HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES
Notes from March 2001
Books
The resources listed below were mentioned in our discussion, but perhaps more important were the various approaches to teaching history and social studies that people described. Here is a brief summary.
The Well-Trained Mind approach: A classical education that takes kids from ancient times to the present in three cycles, each one progressively more complex. The book by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer describes a very regimented approach, but it is invaluable as a resource tool, even if you don't use their methods.
The Unit Study approach: Various subjects comingled into a large, comprehensive unit that might include history, religion, science, math, language arts, and art of a single culture or time period. Lots of hands-on learning from a variety of sources.
The Character Development approach: Study of other periods and cultures is organized around specific values, such as honor, trust, commitment, and obedience. Historical events and texts provide exemplars of these values. The Konos Character Curriculum, a Christian curriculum, was recommended.
Ofra raised some important questions that each person will have to answer for himself or herself: Why bother with history? Why choose one culture over any other? What's the goal here? Hmmm. . .
Now to the resources:
Books
Oxford Atlas of World History: From the Origins of Humanity to the Year 2000. (Janet)
Junior and Senior High School level. Contains excellent maps, plus lots of explanatory text.
Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World (Janet)
A huge compendium of information, geared for middle to high school level. This is the history text recommended by the authors of The Well-Trained Mind. It is, regrettably, out of print and very expensive if you do find it.
Connections, by James Burke. (Kate)
Fascinating accounts of how various inventions and discoveries affected history around the world. Companion book to PBS series.
Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America, by James W. Loewen. (Tamah and Kate)
A People's History of the United States, all by Howard Zinn. (Kate)
Zinn demystifies American history, often debunks cherished notions and corrects misinformation.
Smelly Old History series, by Mary Dobson. (Kate) (Oxford University Press [believe it or not!!], available at Borders)
Scratch and sniff books that let kids smell what earlier eras were like. Titles include Mouldy Mummies, Greek Grime, Roman Aromas, Vile Vikings, Medieval Muck, Tudor Odours, and Victorian Vapours.
(all from Tamah)
A Cartoon History of the Universe, by Larry Gonnick.
Let the Authors Speak, by Carolyn Hatcher. (See notes for Language Arts meeting.) Available from Rainbow Resources.
It Happened in America, by Lila Perl
The History of US, by Joy Hakim. Very readable and enjoyable history, and it has a Teacher's Guide. (Available at Borders or Rainbow Resources or 888-841-3456).
Don't Know Much about History: Everything You Need to Know about American History but Never Learned, by Kenneth C. Davis. (Julie)
Humorous and straightforward discussion of well-known moments in American history, focussing on why the events are important and why we should care about them.
Independent Learning Units in the Gifted Learning Series from Good Apple. (Julie)
This series offers activities, games, maps, and workbook-like exercises, along with brief, readable summaries of historical periods and bibliographical references to other histories accessible to children. Books exist for Greece, Rome, China, Vikings, Middle Ages, and probably others. Available at Teachers' Supply store on Crenshaw, near PCH in Torrance.
Critical Thinking in United States History Series, by Kevin O'Reilly. (Tina) (Critical Thinking Press)
Four books that cover Colonies to Constitution, New Republic to Civil War, Reconstruction to Progressivism, and Spanish-American War to Vietnam War. There is a teacher's manual available for each. Grades 7-12. Examines specific events, offering background information, relevant facts, a glossary of terms, maps, time lines, and then several interpretations of the event, often from contemporary documents. Available from the publisher at www.criticalthinking.com or 1-800-458-4849.
Also recommended was historical fiction, especially those books written by Ann Rinaldi (Tina).
Games
Where in Time is Carmen San Diego? CD-ROM (Kate)
Time lines made of string, with pictures or other items clipped on with paper clips at the appropriate spots. (Kate)
My First Amazing History Explorer CD-ROM, by Dorling Kindersley. (Julie)
Interactive game that allows kids to travel to Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Medieval times, the Incas, the Industrial Age, and the 1920s.
Other
Junior Wall Chart of World History, by Christos Kondeatis.
This is a timeline that allows you to compare what was happening at a given moment in time in cultures from around the world. It includes important moments in art, music, science, and other topics.
Fandex Field Guides, by Workman Publishing. (Julie)
These guides are available for composers, mythological figures, the fifty states, explorers, presidents, the body, and the Civil War, among other topics. They are about the size of a large bookmark, and the fifty or so pages are held together at the bottom, so the pages fan out as you wish to read them. (Hard to describe, but lots of fun.) They're usually \\$9.95, but Rainbow Resources has them for $7.95.
Treasure Chests, put out by Running Press. (Julie)
These clever boxes give hands-on resources for various cultures. Each one contains a small booklet about the culture, maps, charts, games, stickers, and craft activities. There are Treasure Chests for Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, the Vikings, the Maya, and perhaps more that I'm not aware of. They're available at Borders for full price (\$19.95), but Costco occasionally has them for half that.
Links
Ed-Site-Ment: Humanities Lesson Plans Lesson plans on art and culture, foreign language, history, social studies, literature.
Active History
School History
National Park Service
Odin's Castle