Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks & Get Students Excited About Doing History

[Catherine]

 

I've only read the Lies book, and not the Teaching book, so that's my general impression from that.

 

For example - in Lies when he talks about the discovery of America he spends good time talking about the theory that African explorers landed in S. America. His implied belief in the authenticity of this theory is a bit generous, I think. He does go on to point out that the US History books take time to mention the Viking explorations, perhaps because the Vikings were white. Yes, but there is actually good archaeological evidence for the Vikings in Newfoundland. Though his point is valid when he points out that some history books even give space to St. Brendan. His overall interest is in why the history books give space to one non-essential theory and not another, and what impact that selective presentation has on students of certain ethnicities. These are sociological questions, not historical questions (historians of American history spend about zero time thinking about either the Vikings or possible Phoenicians/Irish/Africans/Chinese/etc. and that's not because of race).

 

I think his work is interesting, because he is a sociologist he brings a different angle on things. But some of the things that he focuses on in Lies are not necessarily the most important things to study in a history course. But his approach - asking "Is this just the side that the author thinks we want to hear?" is something that can be broadly applied.

 

Focusing on a couple dozen historical events is fine, I think, as long as the major pivotal events aren't skipped (Manifest Destiny should be mentioned as least in passing, for example). You need to have a general understanding of what led up to an event before being able to understand the details and primary sources. But after learning the details and primary sources, when the student reads a general condensed overview they will be able to pick out B.S. a lot easier (how can the author say that people then thought y if I know that before that they were already thinking x?). So detailed and overview build on each other.

 

But the sociological implications should be remembered, even when reading a selection of primary sources (which primary sources? why?). But that counts for a lot of disciplines, not just history.

 

 

Sarah, I think it is true Loewen is asking questions that can be fairly applied to many disciplines of study. I guess what really grabbed me in Lies was the real fabrications that he uncovered in history textbooks that I was simply not aware of. One example is the racism of Woodrow Wilson, and the really chilling effect that had on interrace relations here in the US, or Wilson's imperialist wars in Russia and Mexico. He points out the desire in some quarters, even to this day, to gloss over the real issues of the Civil War, and how history textbooks are complicit in this, in order to sell books, apparently. To me, those are lies, perhaps of omission, because they were SO important to an understanding of events that happened later.

 

As far as choosing which people and events to investigate, I think what matters is that the student is engaged in what they are studying and, most importantly, IMO, they are learning to ASK QUESTIONS. Questioning is so important to an informed study of history.

[Pen]

Thank you for explaining. My comments, questions etc. interspersed below.

 

I've only read the Lies book, and not the Teaching book, so that's my general impression from that.

 

For example - in Lies when he talks about the discovery of America he spends good time talking about the theory that African explorers landed in S. America. His implied belief in the authenticity of this theory is a bit generous, I think.

 

I am not seeing that the same way apparently. On p. 39 he gives a bunch of interesting bits on travel to and from the Americas before 1492.

 

 

 

Then on pages 40-41 he gives a table of some claimed contact or settlement with what we now call the Americas, along with what the apparent source of evidence is. Viking is stated to be "high" quality evidence, oral sagas confirmed by archaeology. My recollection is that till the archaeology confirmed the sagas they were thought by many historians and others to likely be just tales.

 

On page 42, his complaint about the treatment of the Viking expeditions and settlements is "Most textbooks that mention the Viking expeditions minimize them." Since the Vikings were a subject my son delved into in more detail this last year, I would have to agree with that. My only textbook on hand right now, The American Odyssey, does not seem to mention them at all so far as I have seen, and seems to follow the idea that Columbus was the first ever. (though I have ETA that I find Am. Od. boring and have not read it carefully, so it could have something I missed)

 

As for the possible African expeditions he gives that only a "moderate" for the evidence, and writes, "so including the Afro-Phoenicians must be done as a mere possibility--an ongoing controversy."

 

That would seem fine to me, if one wants to include that, then to include it as an ongoing controversy, to discuss the possibility, the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence, and the question of what types of finds, as for the Vikings, might make it more credible.

 

Personally, I think the evidence in Arab historian's records does put it in the "moderate" category. The Islamic world was very advanced at that time with mathematics and astronomy at a comparatively high level. I don't know much about their history, but have no particular reason to discount it.

 

I also think Thor Heyerdahl's voyage(s) was/were interesting to show what could be done with "primitive" craft/boats. Whether the South American heads are Mayan, or African, or resemble what came from Easter Island, are all to me interesting ideas.

 

 

 

 

His overall interest is in why the history books give space to one non-essential theory and not another, and what impact that selective presentation has on students of certain ethnicities. These are sociological questions, not historical questions

 

Okay. I can see that.

 

But isn't there also a question as to what is "essential"? Clearly things changed a great deal in the world after 1492, but is any possible contact between the Americas and elsewhere before that "non-essential"--and if so, why? Is there perhaps importance in contact that did not produce such significant change? Importance perhaps in the history of what was ongoing and fairly stable, as well as the history of the tumultuous? If there was contact, but one presents history as if there were not, doesn't that become false? What would you put for the period between when people apparently travelled by ice bridge or by sea, or both from Siberia and 1492, if anything? ( I am assuming that you would mention 1492 and not skip straight to 1776 or sometime around then.)

 

 

 

 

(historians of American history spend about zero time thinking about either the Vikings or possible Phoenicians/Irish/Africans/Chinese/etc. and that's not because of race).

 

Is that really true? And if they spend zero time on that why not? Presumably the answer is along the lines of that it was not important because it did not leave a major indelible mark--in fact, in some cases we are not sure we can find a mark at all.

 

What do you think American History study should start with, or what year or era?

 

 

I think his work is interesting, because he is a sociologist he brings a different angle on things. But some of the things that he focuses on in Lies are not necessarily the most important things to study in a history course.

 

The Teaching What Really Happened book does not say to do that. I think you might find it more in accord with your own ideas than the Lies book, perhaps.

 

What do you think are the most important 20 or less things in an American History course?

 

 

 

But his approach - asking "Is this just the side that the author thinks we want to hear?" is something that can be broadly applied.

 

Focusing on a couple dozen historical events is fine, I think, as long as the major pivotal events aren't skipped (Manifest Destiny should be mentioned as least in passing, for example). You need to have a general understanding of what led up to an event before being able to understand the details and primary sources.

 

I think that is the point of having a basic short overview book. And trying to find something that can give a good bit of the basics without too terribly much much misinformation. He does also suggest, btw, having at least one college textbook available.

 

 

 

But after learning the details and primary sources, when the student reads a general condensed overview they will be able to pick out B.S. a lot easier (how can the author say that people then thought y if I know that before that they were already thinking x?). So detailed and overview build on each other.

 

Yes, I agree, That is what I am trying to work toward.

 

But the sociological implications should be remembered, even when reading a selection of primary sources (which primary sources? why?). But that counts for a lot of disciplines, not just history.

 

Good point!

[SarahW]

Pen, as a warning, my interest in history hardly extends to the Western Hemisphere, so I interact with Louwen largely on the level of methodology.

 

"American history" is a broad term, but I think most use it to refer to the study of the U.S. Pre-columbian history, north and south American, etc. have different things in their interest. The Africans/Vikings/Chinese connections are of interest to those who study pre-columbian history, but these things have little bearing on the development of the U.S. In an attempt to pare down the 600+ pages of the history books that Louwen criticizes, it is necessary to weed out what is essential and what is not. If you hold up Columbus as some sort of hero, then you need to also set up alternative heroes (no matter how tenuous). If you simply concentrate on Columbus as he was there is no need for the expansion into numerous ethnic heroes. Could a study of these theories be worthwhile? Yes, but I don't see them to be a necessary part of the core of the curriculum to study U.S. history.

 

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any 20 particular events that should make up the core. When Louwen discusses his advice briefly in Lies I got the impression that he expects the teachers to be familiar with the key concepts in U.S. history, and then the 20 events serve as examples of those concepts. For example, the westward expansion, intercontinental railroad, the post office, and antebellum national economics are key concepts. The textbook can explain these things in as much color as sawdust, or the teacher can use something like the California Gold Rush as a platform to explain them all with real-to-life and memorable examples. The teacher could decide that she doesn't care for the California Gold Rush at all, and use cotton plantations or northeastern factories as her platform instead. All of these are valid platforms.

 

I don't have much advice regarding implementation. In my area of interest evidence is so hard to come by, that the concept of having to pick just a narrow slice to work with is mind-boggling to me. I think that if you start with a list of main ideas you can start filling in those ideas with particular events that you and your kid find interesting.

[Pen]

Pen, as a warning, my interest in history hardly extends to the Western Hemisphere, so I interact with Louwen largely on the level of methodology.

 

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any 20 particular events that should make up the core. When Louwen discusses his advice briefly in Lies I got the impression that he expects the teachers to be familiar with the key concepts in U.S. history, and then the 20 events serve as examples of those concepts.

 

 

 

I was wondering because you wrote that you think some of the things discussed in Lies are not necessarily the most important things. He discusses a lot in Lies, obviously many details that one might or might not want to include, and it does not deal much with some subjects I certainly do want to include. However, many of the broad themes he deals with do seem of great importance to me for a history course, racism, antiracism, Native Americans, labor movements, corporations and multinationals, class issues, federal government, recent history.

 

I am not an historian, though, and from your post I was thinking, well, let's see, I guess from an historian point of view maybe much of what I do think is important in a US History course, such as racism, does not count as "history" but only as "sociology." ???? So I was trying to understand what sorts of things you would see as important "history".

 

 

For example, the westward expansion, intercontinental railroad, the post office, and antebellum national economics are key concepts.

 

I would certainly think of Westward Expansion and Economics (not just antebellum) as key concepts also, probably incorporating the railroad into the expansion, or into technological developments. What about the post office makes it a key concept? I would not have thought of that one, I don't think. Maybe I would have touched on it in passing with regard to Freedom of Speech and of the Press issues--how news and information got around before more modern methods could do it faster , but I am not sure how it is a key concept. ???

 

 

 

The textbook can explain these things in as much color as sawdust, or the teacher can use something like the California Gold Rush as a platform to explain them all with real-to-life and memorable examples. The teacher could decide that she doesn't care for the California Gold Rush at all, and use cotton plantations or northeastern factories as her platform instead. All of these are valid platforms.

 

So, basically, you think the textbooks are good in what they cover, just that they are dry and not memorable?

[Pen]

Newest thoughts: Tentatively, I think this summer we will read the overview US history book, plus my son will continue reading Zinn which he was enjoying, plus read the book about Sugar that Ruth mentioned --possibly also some books on CD while doing other things. Also over the summer we will work together on a list of topics to go into more detail on for the fall semester. I tentatively think that I will choose 4 topics and that he will choose 4, probably all from pre-1900, since the next year I plan to have be 20th Century world history. I am not going to worry about whether the topics are "history" or "sociology".

 

The more I have considered the issues raised by Loewen, the more valid they seem to me, whether they are "sociology issues", or "history" issues. As I see it, whatever happened in the past is history. What one chooses to study of it may be a sociology issue, but then how the history is taught today and what is chose, shapes how people think and thus behave, and thus it becomes part of what shapes what will become the history of the future.

 

Any thoughts on this plan from those of you still reading this?

 

 

So far, 2 of my 4 will be 1) US Constitution, and 2) Racism and related issues.

 

 

 

 

BTW, Has anyone started in to the Coursera archaelogy class? I signed up, but cannot see lectures etc. until I get to somewhere with high speed, soon, I hope!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yep, I'm still here! I'm halfway through the book, and working on dd10's history syllabus for next year too. She'll be covering modern history, 1900-present. It's still a work in progress - both content, and the kinds of assignments I'm planning to have her do. But here is my topic list so far, I'm sure this will be refined:

1. Topic: Becoming Americans: Immigration, Labor Unions, Class Struggle
   
2. Topic: The Arts before WWI - Theme: Cultural Change-Modernism
   
3. Topic: Inventions & Exploration - Themes: Technological Development, The Individual
   
4. Topic: World War I - Themes: Total War
   
5. Topic: Art & Culture Between the Wars
   
6. Topic: The Great Depression - Themes: Cultural Change – Post-Modernism; The Quest for Equity; Social class; The Role of the State
   
7. Topics: The Quest for Equality: Women’s Suffrage and Race Relations, Reconstruction-Civil Rights
   
8. Topic: World War II
   Themes: Total War, The Individual vs. the State, Technology
   
9. Topic: The Cold War - Themes: The Individual vs. the State
   
10. Asia & The Middle East
    Themes: The Individual vs. the State; The Quest for Equity
    
11. Topics: Civil Rights, Vietnam, the 1960’s
    Themes: The Quest for Equity, The Individual vs. the State, Cultural Change
    
12. Topic: The End of the 20^th Century – And Beyond
    Themes: Technology & the Environment, The Individual vs. the State, Social Class
    

[Chrysalis Academy]

And here is my basic list of "what to do" for each topic:

 

For Each Topic (~3 weeks per topic)

1. Read the assigned section in the core texts and make a list of important fact about the topic
   
2. Mark important dates in your Timeline; Look up the time period in the History Timelines book and read about what else was happening in the world at that time
   
3. Find the geographical areas referred to on the wall map and in an atlas, and/or fill in the relevant blackline map
   
4. Read the Primary Sources. Choose 1, and write an evaluation answering these questions:
   
   1. 
      
   2. Content: What does this source say?
      
   3. Author: describe the author’s age, religion, profession, social position, politics, etc.
      
   4. Purpose: what is the purpose of this piece? To inform? To persuade? To motivate? Is it propaganda, or are its conclusions supportable?
      
   5. What events led to this piece being written?
      
   6. What happened as a result
       
      

[*]Read the Assigned Nonfiction

1. Choose 1 source and write a summary or a two-level outline of 1-4 pp in the book (at least 7 main points)
   
2. Answer any assigned essay questions
    
   

[*]Read the Assigned Fiction/Literature, discuss with Mom when finished, and then choose 1 of the books for a literary analysis (potential assignements are described at the end of this document).

[*]Special Assignment or Research report: For each topic, either do the assigned special assignment, or choose one subject, event, or historical figure that interests you, do additional reading/research, and write a report as you have learned in WWS. You may choose one or more of the following topos to structure your report: Biographical Sketch, Chronological Narrative of a Past event, Chronological Narrative of a Scientific Discovery

 

Literary Analysis Assignments (heavily borrowed from TWJ)

When you finish a novel, let me know. We’ll discuss it. For each topic you will choose at least one book to write about, and you can choose any one of the following assignments (choose a different assignment for each topic/book, please).

1. Book summary: summarize each day’s reading, then write an introduction, conclusion, analysis, and connecting words/phrases/paragraphs so you have a nice synopsis and analysis of the book.
   
2. Write out a short screenplay for one of the scenes in the book. Include set notations, acting instructions (like “He inquires pensively with a furrowed brow while looking stage right.â€).
   
3. Pretend to be one of the characters and write a journal as that person experiencing the events of the book.
   
4. Describe each of the main characters:
   

—What he/she looks like

—What his/her moral framework is in the book

—What he/she contributes to the plot

—Why you admire him/her or not

1. Describe the setting and its importance to the story. (Time, place, mood)
   
2. Examine the author's purpose in writing the book. What was his or her motivation (sharing a personal experience, to send a message, to give information--combination of the three)?
   
3. Write an alternate ending to this story.
   
4. Fictionalize the story (if non-fiction) or, if it is fiction, write it as a newspaper article (as though it happened).
   
5. Make a book jacket for this book—design a cover, then write a story summary on the front inside flap, then write an author bio blurb on the inside back flap and finally write some "pretend" reviews on the back of the cover. Don't forget the title, author and publisher on the spine of the book.
   
6. Compare & Contrast two of your books that are similar in content or similar in time period—describing related events—like two books from the Great Depression period or the Civil Rights era, or biographies of two different people you’ve studied.
   
7. Write a poem that summarizes the themes or that expresses the feelings of a character from the book.
   
8. Write a letter to or from one of the characters in the book.
   
9. Pretend you are the author of the book. Write a short article explaining why you wrote it, what your intentions were and what you hoped the reader would do after reading this story.
   
10. Imagine you are the main character—tell what you thought of the other characters in the story and why.
    
11. Write ten well-crafted questions that you would ask a reader of this book to test his comprehension.
    
12. Identify four or five of the Literary Terms we have studied in Figuratively Speaking, and provide quotes from the book illustrating how the author used these writing elements.
    

[Pen]

Yep, I'm still here! I'm halfway through the book, and working on dd10's history syllabus for next year too. She'll be covering modern history, 1900-present. It's still a work in progress - both content, and the kinds of assignments I'm planning to have her do. But here is my topic list so far, I'm sure this will be refined:

1. Topic: Becoming Americans: Immigration, Labor Unions, Class Struggle

2. Topic: The Arts before WWI - Theme: Cultural Change-Modernism

3. Topic: Inventions & Exploration - Themes: Technological Development, The Individual

4. Topic: World War I - Themes: Total War

5. Topic: Art & Culture Between the Wars

6. Topic: The Great Depression - Themes: Cultural Change – Post-Modernism; The Quest for Equity; Social class; The Role of the State

7. Topics: The Quest for Equality: Women’s Suffrage and Race Relations, Reconstruction-Civil Rights

8. Topic: World War II

   Themes: Total War, The Individual vs. the State, Technology

9. Topic: The Cold War - Themes: The Individual vs. the State

10. Asia & The Middle East

    Themes: The Individual vs. the State; The Quest for Equity

11. Topics: Civil Rights, Vietnam, the 1960’s

    Themes: The Quest for Equity, The Individual vs. the State, Cultural Change

12. Topic: The End of the 20^th Century – And Beyond

    Themes: Technology & the Environment, The Individual vs. the State, Social Class

 

 

 

 

I like it!

 

The Young Indiana Jones movies + documentary parts, by the way, have some interesting material for the period up to your number 5. Indy meets various persons of the time including Picasso and Tolstoy. Also interesting is "discussion" (the father does not discuss much) between Indy and his father about Woodrow Wilson (as a Princeton professor, the father would have known Wilson, presumably)--when we see it again, I plan to bring up some of the Wilson issues.

 

I like your wordings of The Quest for Equality and The Quest for Equity.

[Pen]

PS on above, also at one point the Young Indiana Jones fiction movie shows Ho Chi Minh trying to talk to Wilson about independence for Viet Nam--I expect we will return to that when we get to Viet Nam.

 

------------------

Meanwhile, also still a work in progress:

 

I decided that I will call "Racism and Related" which sounds very uninspiring

"Muggles and Mudbloods (also Magicians, Purebloods, Elves, Goblins, Giants, Centaurs and Mythical Beasts)"--

and to enter our studies that begin on the 17th via the world of Harry Potter, first by exploring the relations amongst and views of various of these groups about the others, and then to ask whom they might be like in terms of real groups of people now and in the past and to consider that as we enter our first overview reading.

 

We had also an interesting beginning into this subject in the form of the film The Incredible Human Journey, in which an anthropologist/MD Alice Roberts leads a film adventure trying to trace humans out of Africa. It started to make a very persuasive claim that one group of people actually was different--and then presented the DNA evidence as refuting that, and showing: we are all one, we are all humans, and apparently we all did come from Africa.

 

For the Constitution when we get there, we will, of course (or is that of course?) read it.

Read some of the Madison notes from the Constitutional Convention.

Possibly see some of the John Adams documentary film based on the McCullough biography, and try to turn some Madison notes into screenplay format, or at least discuss them (I'll try to choose some days when something was hotly debated, and perhaps seemed at a stalemate, maybe an important vote, perhaps something like the Connecticut Compromise).

And consider at least one Supreme Court case in depth, probably several landmark cases in less depth.

 

I think we may also pay a visit to our state capitol and see a court in session, plus make some historical museum visits where we can do that, maybe plan a hypothetical cross country trip to see places we study about (and maybe someday even take it).

 

I also think I want to add as one of my 4 topics to follow current news and look for antecedents or similar previous situations in history.

 

And the last of my 4 I think will be land/environment/economy.

 

 

I will have my son look up places on maps, and keep notes on a timeline. And there will be some required writing, but I will let him choose what he wants to write about, for a total of probably 2 significant writing projects in the year.

 

I also probably will let him look through a lot of online primary source material himself, and allow him to decide what he finds of interest in many cases, perhaps along with the overview and before he chooses his topics to focus on and his topics to write on.

 

 

 

And I came back to ETA that rather than steer him to Madison's reports on the Constitutional Convention, I think I will instead ask him, how do we know what happened? Where would a filmmaker or writer get material to make it fairly authentic? And where could we find that material nowadays?--both as to where are the originals? and where can we see transcripts? And perhaps drawing in Indiana Jones, to note even given the fictionalization, the difference between the earlier parts of the 20th century when one might have had to travel to a remote library to do research, versus now being able to do a lot via computer.

 

 

 

------------------------

 

 

 

I also thought I should clarify that the book we are using is at least supposed to be by Paul Boyer who is a historian. But maybe it is actually just a name on a cover as Loewen seemed to find for many textbooks. With the criticism that a short, cheap spine would not be good, I had thought to add that, but then I realized that I don't know that the name on the cover actually means he wrote it.

 

I am also wondering in regard to the question of "sociology" vs. "history" what makes someone count as an "historian"? Is it a PhD in that field? Or is it a teaching appointment in that field? Or would being lead writer of the Mississippi history book make Loewen into a historian by the doing of the research work?

Does anyone know?

[Chrysalis Academy]

This is really only very tangentially related to our discussion, but today I received From Then Till Now by Christopher Moore, which I'm thinking about using for dd7's history spine (as a read-aloud). I read the first chapter, and, sensitized by Loewen's book, was struck by how respectfully he discussed hunter-gatherers, how he presented the Berengia hypothesis as a hypothesis and talked about alternatives, and about how he focused on how "we" (homo sapiens) are all fundamentally the same - I like how he handled the development of racial characteristics. And this is just one chapter in a book that covers the whole history of humanity - not just western civ - in only 10 chapter! I think this one is a keeper.

[Pen]

So far (second week into it), so good. The short history book with extras is an excellent strategy for us. Making connections to current events also seems to be helpful.

 

We are doing less of timeline on paper type work than I expected, but more narration, including narrating timeline type material. This is in part because it is summer and we are often doing this outside rather than at a convenient place for writing and drawing.

 

A map copied by hand, albeit very imperfectly, turned out to be extremely useful, particularly to give a sense of the relative size of various places.

[Pen]

I thought I'd report that this still seems to be going well.  And we started the Sugar book and are enjoying it!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Oh good, Pen, keep us posted!  My girls are in theater camp, so we won't start our new approach to history for another couple of weeks, but I'm eager to give it a whirl!

 

[tammyw]

Subbing so I can read this tonight.

[stoverdavid30]

Our son used Omnibus textbooks and we were very pleased with what he learned.

[Catherine]

Hi Pen and everyone,

 

After this thread I read the newer Loewen book (I'm still finishing it, actually) and it helped me to figure out my history plan for this year. My son is 12 and we're doing early modern. I found a beautiful curriculum written by someone on these boards and posted on her blog for Renaissance and Reformation. I culled ideas, particularly for books and readings, and incorporated some of them. I'm still finishing Middle Ages with Renaissance and Reformation. I found that many of the history resources for this age group are very light on enlightment ideas, which I personally consider very important, so I spent some time trying to incorporate work in that area into my plan. I also tried to follow Loewen's pattern of using primary sources but as usual I had trouble finding sources that are short enough and readable for a 12 year old. One unexpected find was a huge number of primary source bits of the right length and complexity in Spielvogel's Western Civilization textbook, a high school level book that I already had. He gives the enlightment thorough treatment so there are many sources for that topic in his textbook.

 

I took Loewen's advice and found 30 topics that we will attempt to get through for the year. I haven't planned for a longer research or writing assignment, but I definitely do want to do that at least once of twice. I still have some work to do on this...

[Pen]

I am finding this interesting: http://www.amazon.com/The-Untold-History-United-States/dp/1451613512/ref=pd_sim_b_1

 

Also in a used bookstore I saw an DK illustrated history of the 20th Century that also looked interesting, but I did not get it, so just a brief perusal.    Lots of good pictures and also some news stories from over the  100 years.

[Kareni]

2) He seems to think there are lots of paperback US history books available in the $12 range, and around 300 pages long that give an overview of US History that one can then supplement with projects and primary sources to flesh out those main areas one wants to focus on. However, I have yet to find such a book. Anyone know?

 

 

They do not all pertain to American History and they aren't typically as long as 300 pages; however, you might find some of Albert Marrin's books to be of interest.

 

 

From his website:

 

Black Gold: The Story of Oil in Our Lives

Little Monsters: The Creatures That Live on Us and in Us

Flesh & Blood so Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy

Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl

Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Modern America

Commander and Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

Oh, Rats! The Story of Rats and People

Saving the Buffalo (Scholastic, 2006)

“Old Hickoryâ€: Andrew Jackson and the American People

Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster: The Search for the Smallpox Vaccine

Sitting Bull and His World

George Washington & the Founding of a Nation

Terror of the Spanish Main: Sir Henry Morgan and His Buccaneers

Plains Warrior: Chief Quanah Parker and the Comanches

Empires Lost and Won: The Spanish Heritage in the Southwest

The Sea King: Sir Frances Drake and his Times

Virginia’s General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War

Secrets From the Rocks: Dinosaur Hunting with Roy Chapman Andrews

Unconditional Surrender: U. S. Grant and the Civil War

Cowboys, Indians, and Gunfighters: The Story of the Cattle Kingdom

America and Vietnam: The Elephant and the Tiger

The Spanish-American War

Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars

Inca & Spaniard: Pizarro and the Conquest of Peru

Mao Tse-Tung and His China

Stalin: Russia’s Man of Steel

The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution

Hitler

Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars 1690-1760

The Yanks Are Coming: The United States in the First World War

Aztecs and Spaniards: Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico

The Secret Armies: Spies, Counterspies, and Saboteurs in World War II

1812: The War Nobody Won

War Clouds in the West: Indians & Cavalrymen- 1860-1890

The Sea Rovers: Pirates, Privateers, and Buccaneers

Victory in the Pacific

The Airman’s War: World War11 in the Sky

Overlord: D-Day and the Invasion of Europe

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chrysalis Academy]

Thanks, Kareni, our library has quite a few of these!

[5LittleMonkeys]

Wish I'd seen this thread over the summer.  I'm STILL trying to flesh out dd14's American History (which I've decided will be a year and a half course and count as her highschool credit).  I've stalled because I just couldn't seem to organize it into something that would fit her.  I do have a lot of documentaries, movies and lectures lined up for her to use and was trying to coalesce them into some order, however, couldn't settle on simply moving through everything chronologically. It seemed to be flat.

 

The ideas in this thread are what I've been missing.  The inquiry element.  Thanks so much to all who contributed. :)

[Chrysalis Academy]

We finished our first Topic, which ended up focusing on American life at the turn of the century.  Main topics were women's suffrage and the lives of immigrants, particularly kids.  We had a variety of book types - two textbook chapters, a couple of primary sources, several nonfiction books, and then a slew of novels.  She read and took notes, including practicing the newly-introduced (in WWS) skill of two-level outlining with the texts and with one of the nonfiction books.  She wrote a biographical sketch of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, She answered an essay question with a nice 5-paragraph essay (intro & conclusion were kinda weak, but 3 solid content paragraphs).  She is now working on her last assignment from the Topic, a literary analysis assignment of one of the novels she read.  It has gone well.  We're really focusing hard on how to take notes, how to use the notes to answer questions, and what kind of note-taking (bullet points vs. outlines, etc.) is appropriate for different situations.  The biggest challenge has been to get her to see the purpose of the assignments - no, it's not just to check off that item on your list that you are done - can you use these notes to reconstruct what you read? Can you write from them? Can you use them to help you give an oral narration that is coherent?  Still a work in progress, but overall I'm pleased - this definitely represents a big step up, in type and quantity of reading, and in written output.  She's handling it very well.  I think it's going to be a good year of history, and I can definitely see her taking steps toward the goal, which is the ability to read to learn a variety of materials, and to express that knowledge coherently in writing.

 

We're starting on our second topic, which is art & culture before WW1.  Slightly less depressing than the last one!  

[5LittleMonkeys]

I don't know if this or parts of this might be of benefit but I'll pass it along. 

 

http://www.learner.org/resources/series123.html

 

I realize it says for highschool and adult but some middle schoolers would definitely be able to utilize this. 

[Pen]

I don't know if this or parts of this might be of benefit but I'll pass it along. 

 

http://www.learner.org/resources/series123.html

 

I realize it says for highschool and adult but some middle schoolers would definitely be able to utilize this. 

 

Thank you!  It looks excellent!

 

I happen to have an 11 year old right now and several others posting on this thread have children of similar age, but I had put it in General instead of one of the Curriculum areas because I thought the subject was germane to both Logic/middle and High School and independent learning stages.

[Pen]

PS As I looked around on the Annenberg Foundation site linked by 5LittleMonkeys, I see that there is a lot more there that might also be of interest, not only in areas beyond American History, but in whole other areas like science and so on.   And it has things that seem to cover from K all the way to adult.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Yep, they have a lot of great material.  My 10th grader is using a lecture series for Western Civ. that is really good and ties in well with Speilvogel's in addition to several lectures from their Invitation to World Literature.  The Gilgamesh lecture (s*xual themes, so definitely high school level) was an excellent introduction prior to reading the poem. 

 

I haven't found too much usable for the lower grades, however, I haven't searched it exhaustively yet either.