About THINKING HISTORY
by Greg Wimmer
During the 2012 - 2013 school year, I was a team member for a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant project - Digging History. The project focused on injecting quality non-fiction literature and primary sources in to the 3 - 6 grade curriculum. This project expanded my understanding of children's non-fiction literature and helped to lay the foundation for Thinking History. As part of my work at the Penn State Summer Institute, I started to create a project for my AP US History students that required an analysis of children's non-fiction literature. Honestly, I was unsure of where I wanted the project to go after that, but I wanted my students to understand that writers put a great deal of time and effort in to the research component of their process. We began the semester by reading a multitude of children's non-fiction books to understand the genre and the modes of information presentation. From there, each student chose one book they fancied. We proceeded by pulling out direct factual details and ones that needed further confirmation. Here are some examples:
FACTUAL From there, students researched several of their factual and questionable quotes to verify the information presented in the book.
“‘Mrs. Roosevelt just received her student pilot’s license,’ said one of the reporters.” To bolster their research, I wanted students to also think about primary documents as visual supplements/resources.
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As the project unfolded, I thought it would be interesting to attempt to write our own stories. Instead of requiring students to work and write individually, I thought that a collaborative approach would yield stronger work both creatively and practically (with the research load). As a class, we brainstormed approximately 20 different book ideas that piqued our interest. We had some honest discussions about the reality of researching certain topics. We also looked at Amazon.com to ensure we selected topics/stories that were not already written. Our final decisions were George Freeth, the first zoo in America, and the 1904 Olympic Marathon race. At that point, students began to research their topic. There was only one stipulation--they had to only use primary documents. (Secondary documents were subtly layered into the research later in the process.)
The students realized that some archives proved to be valuable - the Chronicling America-Library of Congress and the California Digital Newspaper Collection were just a couple of examples. Other groups contacted professionals for assistance. The 1904 Olympic group stumbled upon Dr. Bill Mallon--an author who focuses on the early 20th Century Olympics. They called his practice, got his e-mail address, and spoke with him on several occasions. He provided them with some of the sources, one of which was in French. They asked Mrs. Lori Jacobs, the French teacher at our high school, to translate the work--information that was later referenced in their story. Their attention to accurate detail was impressive. They spent a great deal of time comparing primary source reports on whether Felix Carvajal ate an apple or rotten peach during his run.
With the preliminary round of research complete, students were asked to write a rough draft. We worked with Mr. Wes Ward, an English teacher, and Mrs. Lillian Geltz, a Central York retiree, to assist with voice and early revision process.
After the second draft of their stories were complete, I sent them to be edited by Amy Musone's third grade class.
The students realized that some archives proved to be valuable - the Chronicling America-Library of Congress and the California Digital Newspaper Collection were just a couple of examples. Other groups contacted professionals for assistance. The 1904 Olympic group stumbled upon Dr. Bill Mallon--an author who focuses on the early 20th Century Olympics. They called his practice, got his e-mail address, and spoke with him on several occasions. He provided them with some of the sources, one of which was in French. They asked Mrs. Lori Jacobs, the French teacher at our high school, to translate the work--information that was later referenced in their story. Their attention to accurate detail was impressive. They spent a great deal of time comparing primary source reports on whether Felix Carvajal ate an apple or rotten peach during his run.
With the preliminary round of research complete, students were asked to write a rough draft. We worked with Mr. Wes Ward, an English teacher, and Mrs. Lillian Geltz, a Central York retiree, to assist with voice and early revision process.
After the second draft of their stories were complete, I sent them to be edited by Amy Musone's third grade class.
I wanted my students to understand their audience, to grasp that they were actually writing for kids.
Here are some of the editorial results.
Here are some of the editorial results.
With the third graders perspectives in mind, students worked on their third round of revisions. I also required students to find at least ten primary source images related to their topic. At this time I spoke with Mrs. Barb Wilke, an art teacher at the high school, about a collaboration for the project. Her students sat down and met with each group to design the cover art for each story. As my students were wrapping up their revisions and moving on to the final draft, Mrs. Wilke's class was designing and building 3D paper sculptures. Below are some of the results.
Upon completion of their final draft, I sent their work to three authors--Carla Killough McClafferty, Rosalyn Schanzer, and Andrea Warren. (Full Disclosure - I worked with these authors on the LOC TPS Digging History project last year. They added serious credibility to both projects.) Their reflections and insight provided the students with valuable feedback that created a more authentic project. Throughout the second half of the project, students provided several reflections via the class blog. Their comments indicate that they learned lessons beyond the curriculum and their understanding of research has grown exponentially. I am extremely proud of ALL of their work and look forward to building on this project in the future.
Special Thanks to:
Sue Sheffer (Project Consultant)
Lillian Geltz (Revision Editor)
Barbara Wilke (Art Collaboration)
Lori Jacobs (Marathon Project Translator)
Amy Musone (and her third grade class)Scott Bohlen (Artwork Photographer)
Dr. Bill Mallon (Marathon Project Assistance)
Mark Rosenthal (Lincoln Park Zoo Assistance)
Carla Killough McClafferty (Guest Critic)
Rosalyn Schanzer (Guest Critic)
Andrea Warren (Guest Critic)
The final products are posted to this site for all to read and enjoy. If you are interested in adding to Thinking History, please let me know and I will be glad to work with you on your project!
Special Thanks to:
Sue Sheffer (Project Consultant)
Lillian Geltz (Revision Editor)
Barbara Wilke (Art Collaboration)
Lori Jacobs (Marathon Project Translator)
Amy Musone (and her third grade class)Scott Bohlen (Artwork Photographer)
Dr. Bill Mallon (Marathon Project Assistance)
Mark Rosenthal (Lincoln Park Zoo Assistance)
Carla Killough McClafferty (Guest Critic)
Rosalyn Schanzer (Guest Critic)
Andrea Warren (Guest Critic)
The final products are posted to this site for all to read and enjoy. If you are interested in adding to Thinking History, please let me know and I will be glad to work with you on your project!