Happy Thanksgiving!
As we all hurry off to spend some much deserved downtime with our families, I wanted to share some interesting web sites about the history of Thanksgiving.
From History.com
From Pilmoth Plantation
About the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
From the Library of Congress
Some "food" for thought....ha ha!
Safe travels. See some of you again in December!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Help Us Choose a T Shirt Design
We're in the process of creating the 2008-2009 Ohio History Day t-shirt. Take a look at our options and let me know what you think. Post a comment here on the blog or send an email to historyday@ohiohistory.org.
We're in the process of creating the 2008-2009 Ohio History Day t-shirt. Take a look at our options and let me know what you think. Post a comment here on the blog or send an email to historyday@ohiohistory.org.
Good Times in Columbus
I've been fortunate the last few days to visit schools close to home in Columbus. The History Day Expert loves all parts of the state equally, but waking up after 5am is a nice little break!
On Friday I spent some time with students from Wedgewood High School. They were resplendent in scarlet and grey, and while distracted by Saturday's big game, came up with some interesting ideas for History Day projects.
One student asked if he could look at Tony Hawk. That's a tough one for me to answer. One reaction is: he's a little recent and may not be viewed as "history" yet. My other reaction is the change that he and his peers made in the world of skateboarding and now we have things like the X-Games and skate parks in the most suburban of places. If you've ever seen the movie Lords of Dogtown, you can see the early origins of skateboarding as we know it. I also encouraged this student to go back to surfing, and what surfers paved the way for modern skateboarding and what is significant about that?
Today I hung out with the humanities classes at Whetstone High School. Some of the students had started by reading a biography on their individual, which is a great strategy. You learn a lot of information and have an idea about the types of primary sources that may be out there. A really good biography will have a bibliography with some already found sources.
Someone asked an interesting question today: besides getting a grade for class, what is my motivation for doing this project? It's a great question. History Day has lots of components, each with its own benefits. The process and skills learned while research your project will come in handy when you get to college or whatever path you take after high school. You'll also get connected to a piece of history and learn a great deal of content. If you compete, you get a chance to be a part of something bigger and be recognized for your work. At the state level we give away a half scholarships to Case Western Reserve University and at the national level, there are several prizes.
Overall, you get to create something that is all your own and really understand the process that historians go through. In the end, it is your projects, it is what you make it.
I'd like to give a shout out to 7th period, Ms Bell's class of creative and facetious thinkers. Don't doubt the History Day Expert, she keeps her promises! Thanks to the rest of the students at both Wedgewood and Whetstone.
I've been fortunate the last few days to visit schools close to home in Columbus. The History Day Expert loves all parts of the state equally, but waking up after 5am is a nice little break!
On Friday I spent some time with students from Wedgewood High School. They were resplendent in scarlet and grey, and while distracted by Saturday's big game, came up with some interesting ideas for History Day projects.
One student asked if he could look at Tony Hawk. That's a tough one for me to answer. One reaction is: he's a little recent and may not be viewed as "history" yet. My other reaction is the change that he and his peers made in the world of skateboarding and now we have things like the X-Games and skate parks in the most suburban of places. If you've ever seen the movie Lords of Dogtown, you can see the early origins of skateboarding as we know it. I also encouraged this student to go back to surfing, and what surfers paved the way for modern skateboarding and what is significant about that?
Today I hung out with the humanities classes at Whetstone High School. Some of the students had started by reading a biography on their individual, which is a great strategy. You learn a lot of information and have an idea about the types of primary sources that may be out there. A really good biography will have a bibliography with some already found sources.
Someone asked an interesting question today: besides getting a grade for class, what is my motivation for doing this project? It's a great question. History Day has lots of components, each with its own benefits. The process and skills learned while research your project will come in handy when you get to college or whatever path you take after high school. You'll also get connected to a piece of history and learn a great deal of content. If you compete, you get a chance to be a part of something bigger and be recognized for your work. At the state level we give away a half scholarships to Case Western Reserve University and at the national level, there are several prizes.
Overall, you get to create something that is all your own and really understand the process that historians go through. In the end, it is your projects, it is what you make it.
I'd like to give a shout out to 7th period, Ms Bell's class of creative and facetious thinkers. Don't doubt the History Day Expert, she keeps her promises! Thanks to the rest of the students at both Wedgewood and Whetstone.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Around Ohio in 3 Days
It has been an eventful week for the History Day Expert, I've made stops in Columbus, Berea, Springfield and Cincinnati. The History Day season is in full swing.
Tuesday brought me to East High School in Columbus. The students at East HS had some great ideas that I wanted to share:
One student wanted to look at music and do his performance as a rap. As long as he gets the historical information, context and thesis right and make it work as a creative performance, he'll be all set. I think it's a great idea!
Another student asked about focusing on Christmas. A great way to do so with this year's theme is to look at Santa Claus as an individual. That can be done in a lot of ways: looking at the historical St. Nicholas, looking at the role of Santa Claus in the Christmas media, looking at the cartoonist Thomas Nast who helped create our ideals of a modern Christmas and Santa Claus.
I also had a chance to spend time with students from Ford Middle School in Berea. They were an enthusiastic group that also had some creative ideas. They were also very patient when I was having some technical difficulties. One student asked about doing the band Metallica. Since the theme is the Individual in History, doing an entire band is difficult. It may be easier to look at one of the members of the band. Metallica might be too modern as well. I told this student to look back another generation. What band or artist created the type of metal music that Metallica is now known for?
Today I made a trip to Cincinnati to see 8th graders at Walnut Hills High School. One student asked about doing a group of people that may not have known names, like slaves. I encouraged her to either find one person (like former slaves that have written narratives like Charles Ball or Equiano among many others) OR to do research on what it was like to be a slave in a certain part of the country (slavery varied in this country across time and geography) during a certain period of time and talk about "the slave" as the individual in history. The second approach creates more of a composite character.
And finally, I also got to meet with an enthusiastic group of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at Sands Montessori. One student in particular was very enamoured with the idea of doing a football project. We had a great discussion about the types of primary sources that exist about our lives and how that is also true for the individuals that they will research for History Day. This is our second year with a 4th and 5th grade program and the first to have them do performances. I'm looking to you, Sands Montessori students, to create some great 4th and 5th grade performances.
Thanks to all my hosts this week. Also to the Clark County Heritage Center where I met with teachers from Springfield. History Day is taking the state, and I'm happy to be along for the ride!
It has been an eventful week for the History Day Expert, I've made stops in Columbus, Berea, Springfield and Cincinnati. The History Day season is in full swing.
Tuesday brought me to East High School in Columbus. The students at East HS had some great ideas that I wanted to share:
One student wanted to look at music and do his performance as a rap. As long as he gets the historical information, context and thesis right and make it work as a creative performance, he'll be all set. I think it's a great idea!
Another student asked about focusing on Christmas. A great way to do so with this year's theme is to look at Santa Claus as an individual. That can be done in a lot of ways: looking at the historical St. Nicholas, looking at the role of Santa Claus in the Christmas media, looking at the cartoonist Thomas Nast who helped create our ideals of a modern Christmas and Santa Claus.
I also had a chance to spend time with students from Ford Middle School in Berea. They were an enthusiastic group that also had some creative ideas. They were also very patient when I was having some technical difficulties. One student asked about doing the band Metallica. Since the theme is the Individual in History, doing an entire band is difficult. It may be easier to look at one of the members of the band. Metallica might be too modern as well. I told this student to look back another generation. What band or artist created the type of metal music that Metallica is now known for?
Today I made a trip to Cincinnati to see 8th graders at Walnut Hills High School. One student asked about doing a group of people that may not have known names, like slaves. I encouraged her to either find one person (like former slaves that have written narratives like Charles Ball or Equiano among many others) OR to do research on what it was like to be a slave in a certain part of the country (slavery varied in this country across time and geography) during a certain period of time and talk about "the slave" as the individual in history. The second approach creates more of a composite character.
And finally, I also got to meet with an enthusiastic group of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at Sands Montessori. One student in particular was very enamoured with the idea of doing a football project. We had a great discussion about the types of primary sources that exist about our lives and how that is also true for the individuals that they will research for History Day. This is our second year with a 4th and 5th grade program and the first to have them do performances. I'm looking to you, Sands Montessori students, to create some great 4th and 5th grade performances.
Thanks to all my hosts this week. Also to the Clark County Heritage Center where I met with teachers from Springfield. History Day is taking the state, and I'm happy to be along for the ride!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Example NHD Projects
One of the best things we do in our outreach presentations is to show the students examples of other student work. There are places online to find National History Day projects from contests past.
One of the best things we do in our outreach presentations is to show the students examples of other student work. There are places online to find National History Day projects from contests past.
- On our slideshare site, you can check out the Exhibit Sampler, a presentation of exhibits from past NHD events.
- Students have posted their own projects on YouTube, and on the NHD-OH Channel you can see some our favorites.
- The National History Day website lists some other sample projects that are available online.
- You can read a paper written by an Ohio high school student that qualified for the national contest.
- New York State History Day has some great project examples online as well.
On Friday, I visited Case Elementary School in Cleveland. My performance DVD wasn't working, making me think that greater accessibility to example projects would benefit NHD students everywhere.
Well it is snowing here this morning, while I spend a rare day in the office, so stay safe and warm. I can almost hear holiday music in the air...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Bringing You History Day from the History Mushroom
Yesterday I visited the students participating in History Day at Centennial High School in Columbus. When I introduced myself to one class and described the Ohio Historical Center, one student said, "Oh, you mean the History Mushroom."
The students at Centennial are doing world history projects and some are being very creative, like looking at John Lennon's efforts at peace.
There are TONS of individuals to look at from the world history perspective like:
Andrei Sakharov
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Catherine the Great
John Locke
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Galileo Galilei
Sigmund Freud
Antonine-Laurent de Lavoisier
Ponce de Leon
Genghis Khan
James Cook
Marco Polo
Prince Henry the Navigator
Vincent Van Gogh
Charles Dickens
Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin
Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ho Chi Minh
Simón Bolívar
Nelson Mandela
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
This is just a very short list. Any of your interest that seem American (music, sports, etc) can be translated to world history. Think about the 1936 Berlin Olympics with Hitler presiding. Think about the role of music in any culture. Jazz was an American genre that impacted world music. The possibilities are endless. Be creative, do some research, and come up with that topic that no one else is going to explore.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Remember Our Veterans
On Veteran's Day take some time to remember the contributions of our veterans. Here are some great resources that highlight the individual contributions of our combat veterans.
The History Channel: Take A Vet to School Day
Library of Congress: Veteran's History Project
Veteran's Legacy Project
Natick Veteran's Oral History Project
The Vietnam Veteran's Oral History and Folklore Project
World War II Submarine Veterans History Project
On Veteran's Day take some time to remember the contributions of our veterans. Here are some great resources that highlight the individual contributions of our combat veterans.
The History Channel: Take A Vet to School Day
Library of Congress: Veteran's History Project
Veteran's Legacy Project
Natick Veteran's Oral History Project
The Vietnam Veteran's Oral History and Folklore Project
World War II Submarine Veterans History Project
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Obama Question
Last Thursday and Friday I visited two Cleveland high schools. I spoke to 15 different classes and in every class I was asked if someone could do Barack Obama as their topic. While President-Elect Obama is definitely and will continue to impact history, his work is not done. He is a part of current events, not historic events.
Looking at the web site for the U.S. Senate, you can find a great online exhibit about African American Senators. Did you know that Sen. Obama is only the fifth African American to serve in the Senate? While a current topic like Obama or McCain may seem appealing, think about the people that influenced them. Instead try a project about the first African American ever elected to the U.S. Senate, Hiram Revels, or the first woman African American senator, Carol Moseley Braun.
I'm encouraged by students' ideas and enthusiasm. Just use that enthusiasm to go back in time just a little bit further. You may be surprised and delighted by what you find.
Last Thursday and Friday I visited two Cleveland high schools. I spoke to 15 different classes and in every class I was asked if someone could do Barack Obama as their topic. While President-Elect Obama is definitely and will continue to impact history, his work is not done. He is a part of current events, not historic events.
Looking at the web site for the U.S. Senate, you can find a great online exhibit about African American Senators. Did you know that Sen. Obama is only the fifth African American to serve in the Senate? While a current topic like Obama or McCain may seem appealing, think about the people that influenced them. Instead try a project about the first African American ever elected to the U.S. Senate, Hiram Revels, or the first woman African American senator, Carol Moseley Braun.
I'm encouraged by students' ideas and enthusiasm. Just use that enthusiasm to go back in time just a little bit further. You may be surprised and delighted by what you find.
Monday, November 03, 2008
History Happened Here
My visit yesterday to Western High School in Latham reminded me of how powerful a project that connects your local or state history to the national story can be. Just because something is part of our state history, doesn't mean it isn't part of the national or international story. The NFL was founded in Ohio, the term Rock and Roll was coined in Cleveland, eight presidents were Ohioans. So goes Ohio, goes the nation. Our state has been getting a lot of attention the last few months. Why? Because Ohio typifies the national experience.
Do you have to pick a local topic -- no -- but topics that hit closer to home can become more personal.
Thanks to the teachers and student at Western High School and a shout out to the Chuck Norris Fan Club.
And if you're registered, remember to exercise your right as a citizen and vote today!
My visit yesterday to Western High School in Latham reminded me of how powerful a project that connects your local or state history to the national story can be. Just because something is part of our state history, doesn't mean it isn't part of the national or international story. The NFL was founded in Ohio, the term Rock and Roll was coined in Cleveland, eight presidents were Ohioans. So goes Ohio, goes the nation. Our state has been getting a lot of attention the last few months. Why? Because Ohio typifies the national experience.
Do you have to pick a local topic -- no -- but topics that hit closer to home can become more personal.
Thanks to the teachers and student at Western High School and a shout out to the Chuck Norris Fan Club.
And if you're registered, remember to exercise your right as a citizen and vote today!
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