Teaching with Ticia: Hands on History

Yesterday at church one of my students told me history is boring.  I just about cried in frustration thinking all he is missing out on.

Then I realized it's because he's not being taught it right, and sadly many teachers fall into this trap because they didn't enjoy it either, so they try to do as little as possible with it.

So, to help any other kids from thinking history is boring, let me give you a few simple ideas to make it more interesting:

War of 1812

1.  Act out battles.  It doesn't have to be elaborate.  This battle is acted out using scrap fabric, figures from games, and empty boxes.  Acting it out gives you a better idea of what happened and how.

French and Indian War

2.  Show it on a map.  If they don't know where it happened or how it affects them, than it's useless to them.

Steps to the American Revolution

3.  Use props.  Many kids are visual learners, give them something to associate it with that isn't just a textbook.

Fountain of Youth

4.  Built it.  Build famous landmarks, build buildings, build maps.

5.  Watch it.  National Geographic has some amazing specials that are available on Netflix and many are age appropriate for early elementary.  Liberty Kids came out a few years ago and is an excellent show about the American Revolution.

6.  Visit it.  Almost every city I've visited has some sort of living history museum, or even just a history museum.  I'm lucky to live by 2 history museums, and 1 living history museum.  Go to them.  Talk to the enactors, talk to the docents, they'll have all sorts of interesting tidbits for you to think about.  Fun stories.

Ohio: Neil Armstrong

7.  Read it.  Find picture books and read them, find classic books and read them.  Do you know how we know about the French Revolution of 1832?  Primarily from Victor Hugo's novel "Les Miserables,"  How did we find the city of Troy?  Archeologists pieced together things from the Iliad to find it.  Books have amazing ways to engage us, and teach us so much while entertaining us.  Most of my geography posts are chock full of wonderful picture books with history in them.

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Teaching with Ticia: Biographies

This would normally be the post I would give you a couple of more states to study.  However, there's some things that happen all month long that I want to spotlight first, so come back later in the month for that post.

February boasts President's Day and Black History month.  Both of those require finding a good source for children's biographies.  During my trek through the United States I've found some great sources that I will always head to first if they exist.

David Adler "A Picture Book Biography" series- He has written or co-written a book for almost every major historical figure in American history, and most people you would cover in Black History month.  This is my go to biography books right now, it provides a fair amount of information for early elementary without overloading.

Rookie Reader biographies- These are great for preschoolers, or for a first/second grader doing a report on their own.  Most of them are geared for later first grade readers, and it gives them the right amount of facts for an independent report.  These also sometimes venture into athletes occasionally.

Jean Fritz biographies- These are mostly the biographies of "dead white guys," as my history teacher used to say.  She specializes in American Revolution time period and a few Civil War books, but most of hers are the American Revolution.  These are written at a 3rd grade reading level and are great early chapter books.  When I was that age I nearly wore out my copy of "Shhh! We're Writing the Constitution."  These books are great for a third or fourth grader writing a report.  It provides a lot more meat to them and is written in a conversational style.

Do you have any biographers that you really enjoy?  There's several other authors who have written some great books, but they are more of the one shot type of books.

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Fantastic History Books for Children

"Although kids have a short personal history to grow on, that doesn’t mean they can’t appreciate and lear about people and events that happened well before their time. Revolutions, inventors, Presidents, and more can be explored in these fun books that make history come alive." ~Accredited Online Colleges

Biographies
Offer these books to kids who want to learn about important people in history.
The Extraordinary Mark Twain: Written from a 13 year old’s perspective, this book shares the story of Mark Twain.
What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?: Kids will enjoy this brief biography of the amazing Benjamin Franklin.
Kids Make History: Explore the lives of 20 children living in extraordinary times in Kids Make

History
We the Kids: We the Kids makes the preamble to the Constitution fun for kids.
First Pet: This book discusses the pets of Presidents in the White House.
50 American Heroes Every Kid Should Meet: Kids can meet important American heroes in this book.
How the States Got Their Shapes: Read this book to find out how the states became shaped the way they are.
Who’s That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?: Find out how Plymouth Rock became so famous in this book from Jean Fritz.

World History
Pompeii…Buried Alive!: Young readers will be enticed by this book describing the natural disaster of the volcano in Pompeii.
Lives of Extraordinary Women: This book shares the lives of women rulers and rebels in history. 100 Men Who Shaped World History: Read this book o learn about 100 men who made history around the world.

Silly
Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum: Kids can read about the history of bubblegum in this book.
The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle: Read this book about surprising inventions.
Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things: Find out how things like Barbie and honeymoons The Story of Chocolate: Read The Story of Chocolate to find out how the sweet stuff was invented and how it’s made today.

For the complete list of 50 titles check out Emma's original post!

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