Category: Discussion Page 5 of 9

Henry W. Spradley is not forgotten

On August 3, 2012

In Digital Storytelling, Discussion, Memory

I was quite impressed with Colin Macfarlane’s digital story about the black soldier Henry Spradley. It was refreshing to see this young student care about the past. He understood that finding out the story of this black soldier was important, to Colin ,Henry mattered. His gravestone had been removed and his contribution to the community,the college and his country was to be forgotten. This young man researched for hours and hours, followed clues and solved this intriging history mystery . He brought dignity back to the lost sole of Henry W. Spradley. He found a connection to the very school he was attending. Henry was a beloved custodian of Dickenson college , and a man whose funeral was so big they needed an auditorium for those whose life he had touched. thanks to Colin a whole new generation can be touched.

The idea of solving a mystery such as this would really excite my middle schoolers. I can see my students wanting to create a “movie” by using some of the rich history our town has to offer. They initially would want to be part of a movie regardless of the subject. My job is to motivate them to want to find the history and eventually love it like I do. I have been fortunate to have worked on two historical docudrama films about Kansas through Lone Chimney Films and am eager to share my knowledge with my students.

Test Driving Google Maps with John Brown Locations

By davemcintire

On August 3, 2012

In Discussion, Mapping

Have been playing with Google Maps. If I can work out all of my kinks with it, it looks like a cool tool to use with students. Struggling with integrating my personal pictures rather than off the internet. Struggling as well with the interface. I’m used to WYSIWYG and this is a little more labor intensive so that probably speaks more to my laziness than anything else.

The handout really helps though. Thank you!

The map is of the different places John Brown traveled while he was an active abolitionist. So far have two sites in Kansas, two in Virginia (West Virginia) and one in Canada. I had a few more, but delete really means delete in Google Maps.

Try this link to my map. If it doesn’t work, would you let me know and I will keep trying.

An Eye Opening Perspective of the Emancipation Proclamation

By leahy

On August 3, 2012

In Discussion, Secondary Sources

In my capacity as a teacher and a historical performer I often ask people What they know about the Emancipation Proclamation. The answers are varied but usually people have an incomplete understanding of the famous document. Most people children and adults alike will say it freed the slaves. They think all the slaves were freed but of course it’s much more complicated than that. While watching Allen Guelzo’s excellent presentation it opened up many realities of the great document . It was not well received at all by anyone North or South except of course by the slaves who were freed. Guelzo points out that many people thought it was a legal sham, that Lincolnused it to promote himself as the great crusader for freedom. Others claimed Lincoln’s heart was not in it that it was a propaganda ploy ,that’s why it was so plain and boring very unLincoln like writing , a document of disappointment ,not freedom. Many questions arose Why was the document so bland?, Why did Lincoln wait two years into the civil war to issue it?, What were his real motives? The simplified answers are Lincoln was not pushed reluctantly by zealous abolitionist toward Emmancipation , in fact he was working on a way to do just that since the beginning of the war. It was not a sentimental trick in fact it cost the Republicans 31 seats in the elections . It was not a political device. Guelzo said Lincoln felt to save the Union was to Emancipate the slaves and to Free the slaves was in fact to save the Union. Allen Guezo’s presentation was very eye opening to me and it gives me some great insight and wisdom to pass along to my students and adults that I present to.

Visualizing Emancipation

By Lance Warren

On August 2, 2012

In Discussion, Mapping

We’re so glad that Rob Nelson and Scott Nesbit could join us today to offer an introduction to Visualizing Emancipation. Make sure to explore the site — and start imagining how you could use it with your students. The worksheet and lesson plan Rob and Scott shared should help you to get started.

Let us know your thoughts. Will Visualizing Emancipation or Mining the Dispatch make an appearance in your classroom next year?

Also, make sure to keep in touch with Rob and Scott as you develop ways of using their work. Write to them at rnelson2@richmond.edu and snesbit@richmond.edu.

Civil War Diaries and Local History

By marionbroglie

On August 2, 2012

In Discussion, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources

I’m still being overwhelmed by all of the resources available. Yesterday evening, I traveled to our public library (to pick up Professor Pinsker’s book, Lincoln’s Sanctuary) and I was greeted by a sign inviting me to attend a dedication ceremony “in honor of the late Edgar T. Brown and his extensive local history collection.” When I inquired, I discovered that Virginia Beach has a substantial local history section, although very little of it is digitized or easily available. As with Colin Macfarlane’s quest to find Henry W. Spradley, there would have to be substantial time spent with the microfiche reader.

I also did some searching (not researching) on the internet to find local civil war diaries. While this search still continues, I was able to locate some sources that may be of use to those seeking readily-available primary source materials of this era. The University of Virginia, Virginia Military Institute, and the College of William and Mary have special collections accessible to the general public.

My biggest concern is having the time to develop all of these resources into a workable positive force in my classroom. As Rebecca Winslow responded to an earlier post of mine, “More and more I am beginning to understand the mile wide inch deep teaching when we should be doing it quite the opposite.” There is such pressure in my school system to follow a pacing guide in order to raise standardized test scores. For example, since we are in yet another presidential election year, we were told not to teach the election process in the fall, but rather when it falls in the curriculum (it’s unit 6 and it would be taught around February). Why? Supposedly, there was research that demonstrated that students scored better on standardized test scores following the pacing guide of our curriculum. Wouldn’t the elections count as a “teachable moment,” in the jargon of our chosen profession?

Oops, it appears that I am getting off topic. This post was supposed to focus on finding sources for civil war diaries. I wouldn’t want to be accused on not following the curriculum!

A Historical Research “How To”

By goggs19

On August 2, 2012

In Digital Storytelling, Discussion, Primary Sources

I was very impressed by the highly recommended, student film on Henry Spradley. I admire this film for two reasons. One, for the quality of the storytelling, and two, for the way in which it documents the realities and rewards of persistent research.

1. Telling a compelling story in historical context

I teach freshmen and sophomore history students in Chicago, Illinois. Each year our students, at all grade levels, are required to do a Chicago Metro History Fair project. This project takes a lot of time and effort during the first Semester, and most of the laborious work is done outside of class. In the end, students produce either a paper, exhibit, documentary, or performance. Seventy-Five percent will choose to do an exhibit and several will do papers, but only a small handful will attempt to create a documentary. Some will choose a documentary because they have experience with iMovie (or other programs). A few of them are even good at it. But where many of them struggle is making the video compelling to watch, while still being true to the historical content and overall purpose of the project.

2. The rewards of Research

Does it sound silly to say I miss my college library? I miss the feeling of having the world at my fingertips and instant access to countless databases. Research seems easy there. I think avoiding the dangers of search vs. research becomes easier with access to the right tools. I take my students to library or computer lab to show them student-friendly online databases. I harp on the jewels that can be found at local libraries, and try to set them up with a visit to the archives of the Chicago History Museum. I try to tell myself that I’m helping them “research”. I know that probably all go home and just do a simple Google “search” on their computers.

Mind Maps of the Civil War

By Rebecca

On August 2, 2012

In Discussion, Lesson Plans

Earlier today Matt mentioned the use of note taking in picture form (sorry I can’t remember exactly how it was stated). However, it immediately reminded me of Concept maps and Mind Mapping. Concept maps tend to be boring and dull to my students and I agree with them on that issue. Simple bubble maps with words connected to other words to show a list of information in a graphic form. Blah! Mind Mapping however is much more pleasing to the eye, can be colorful, may include words and pictures, but is best seen as a tool a student can make to use for their own understanding of a central topic. These are very similar to word clouds where it focuses on the big ideas but should be expanded down to minor sub-topics. Most of the time students hand create these. Above I have put together (created mine in MSWord, roughly I might add) the Virginia Department of Education’s state objectives for teaching the Civil War. Even if you do not teach in VA, I’m willing to bet you could figure out the topics to be taught based on the diagram. My central image is that of the United States as a clue that whatever this is, it happened here. If you begin in the upper right hand corner with the words “north and south” and work around the map clockwise it will directly follow the objectives.

A Nation Divided – North vs. South
Virginia once included West Virginia
Battles (in VA)
People involved: whites, enslaved, free, and American Indians
Reconstruction
Jim Crow laws
Change in economy through – railroads, industry and growth of cities

I have used Mind Maps as both a pre-assessment and a final (summative) assesments. Simply by giving students the central topic they are to then show what they know in picture and/or words. After pre-assessing students, I would share the unit overview in Mind Map form where I actually draw on the Promethean Board as I outline the unit. Students can draw in their notes and add their own comments to help them remember. We would then proceed to take each sub-topic and expand further into the study. I’ve found by teaching this way students are first given an outline that is easily understood by the elementary student and secondly keeps me from leaving my objectives! The Civil War is one of those areas that a teacher could spend an entire year on and still not scratch the surface if they weren’t careful. I appreciate each time Matt points out the “best part to include” when teaching this information.

Mind Mapping is one of several note taking methods I teach my students. We use it across all content and sometimes even make posters of them to put up around the room as a resource to come back to for review.

signing statements and executive orders

By mike kleiner

On August 2, 2012

In Discussion, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources

Matt talked about signing statements.

The American Presidency Project tracks signing statements from Hoover through Obama, as well as executive orders back to 1826 (Ironically, or not, the year Jefferson died. His was one of the most eloquent voices cautioning against such power in the executive.)

I’d also like to add a plug for David Gray Adler, one of the most articulate presenters on presidential power I have ever heard. A recent article is here: Executive power is ‘pregnant with menace’

Rodney King and the Civil War

By mike kleiner

On August 2, 2012

In Discussion, Memory, Word Clouds

Sorry… this isn’t a deeply introspective connection between the late Mr. King and the CW. I am thinking much more shallowly (there’s one for my Language Arts friends) about the famous video of his beating. Remember how obvious the issue seemed when we first saw it? But the case got more and more complicated as the trial progressed, enticing people to consider that what we saw wasn’t what actually happened, that seeing wasn’t believing and there was so much more to the incident. I don’t think my students would have followed such entreaties. What they see is what they see.

We may consider developmental stages, but regardless of that there is elegance in their distillation of causes… of course the CW was about slavery… like, duh.

But how was it about slavery? How can we prove it? Can we use the words of the central actors to establish the true causes of the war? Lincoln went there, at least in part, in his Second Inaugural:

“All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.”

Then he went into the similarities of both sides, laying the groundwork for his renowned “charity for all”:

“Neither party.. Neither anticipated.. Each looked… Both read… and each invokes… but let us judge not… prayers of both… neither has been…”

Words expressing commonality, but words in common, too.

Despite the relentless nature of anywhere “content,” words matter. The right words impel people to fight, make love, vote, revolt, endear, die.

Here, though, I have a problem. Our 8th graders are now largely visual learners, and simply compelling them to parse historical texts is less effective than it has ever been. While I’ve heard the jargon of “differentiated instruction” and “learning styles” ad mortem, the reality is that my kids can’t read Lincoln. Really, they can’t derive much meaning from what they read, whether it is historical or contemporary. This is a generality, but it’s true enough to drive the organization of my classroom.

To deal with the YouTube reality, I start with the importance of discrete words, then work my way up to quotes and passages, then to letters and documents. **

Below are seven word clouds. The fonts, layout and colors are the same – purposefully. I ask kids to compare and contrast between the different clouds, and only at that point do I explain a bit about each. Once we find common words we can begin to get at causes.

Preamble to the Constitution

Alexander Stephens' "Cornerstone" speech March, 1861

Declaration of Independence

: Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech

Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union

: Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”

James Henry Hammond's "Mudsill" speech

**To this end we’ve started teaching basic Latin in our Language Arts classes, in an effort to better connect our kids to words. By the end of the year most of my kids could at least understand what I meant by, “casus belli.”

John Brown to Abraham Lincoln on Wordle, Take Two

By isaacbrooks

On August 2, 2012

In Discussion, Word Clouds

Limiting each speech to 25 words, we get the following:

John Brown’s Statement to the Court 1859Abraham Lincoln’s Cooper Union Speech 1860Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation 1863Abraham’s Second Inaugural Address 1865