Life of an Artifact

Students will be asked to:

1.    Describe the events a historical object experienced.

2.    Describe the purpose of the object, how it was significant, and how it was used at the time and how the use of the object evolved over time.

3.    Locate and include a picture of the object found either on the internet or take one of an object in a museum, antique store, or in their own home.

4.    Compose a first person narrative as the object.  Include clues for classmates to determine what the object is, but do not specifically reveal what the paper is about.

Summative Assignment

Outcome:  Students will compose a first person descriptive narrative about an object and how it was used in historical events and how the purpose for the object changed over time.

Assignment Description:  Creative writing assignments in history encourage students to more fully immerse themselves in an event or time.  Understanding the role of tools or objects in relation to history is not only interesting but an important part of telling a historic story.   In this assignment, students will describe in detail the “experience” of an object.  The instructor may want to limit the object choices for students to a certain period or event, or the instructor may want to select some famous objects such as the flag raised at Ft. McHenry in 1814 that inspired the Star Spangled Banner or Dizzy Gillespie's B–flat Trumpet.  The Smithsonian Institute is a great resource online to find more inspiring images of objects for this assignment.  You may also want to provide suggestions of objects that aren’t necessarily famous and allow the student to be broader in their research such as a gun carried into a WWI battle.  The student might start with the factory where the guns were created, use in a training camp for soldiers, it’s time on the battlefield, and then now being displayed in a museum.  While a gun may appeal to many students and is an obvious choice, encourage student to think more creatively.  The object could be  an old school desk from Little Rock, Arkansas or a wagon wheel used by a pioneer family traveling west for a new life and now mounted on a wall in a home.  Encourage creativity, imagery, and attention to detail.  Part of the interest in this assignment is for students to not to identify the object directly in their paper, but rather provide clues to what it is so classmates have to really pay attention to the details to figure out each object.

Steps and Instructor Notes:

1.   Collect some images of objects, or in a face-to-face class bring in some unusual objects, used in a certain period.  Students can also search for artifacts in their own home or grandparents home that they could tell the story about.  Students could also take pictures of objects in a museum or antique store. 

2.    Take a picture of the object or even multiple pictures of the object from many angles or in use.

3.    Research the use of the object in history.  Encourage students to collect lots of facts and specific examples and then thread a story together about that object.

4.    Write a 3-5 page creative narrative essay that is grammatically sound in first person as the object.  Do not identify the object in the narrative and do not include an image that might give away what you are.  However, provide at least one image to the instructor.  (The instructor could post all the pictures and let students match stories with images or simply provide images after students have an opportunity to guess.)

 Rubric is based on 100 points total but this assignment would take several days and is very dependent on participation which could be evaluated many different ways:

10 points-Student submitted a creative 3-5 page narrative for classmates to read that is in first person and describes the life of an object.
10 points- Student participated in a discussion about and guessed the object for at least 2 other classmates.
20 points- The description of events and use of the object is historically accurate.
30 points-Student included at least 1 image and was very detailed about the object.
20 points-Overall the student composed a grammatically sound and well-organized document.
10 points-Citation is included in the assignment.

Comparing a Civil War Soldier to a Modern Soldier

       Learning Objectives: 

1.  Compare and contrast the battlefield equipment and rucksack packing list of a Civil War soldier to a modern soldier. 
2. Identify equipment and rucksack packing items of these American foot soldiers. 
3.  Describe why soldiers have certain equipment then and now.
4. Create a chart comparing Civil War soldier’s equipment and rucksack packing list to a modern soldier.
5. Compose a double-spaced 3-5 page comparison essay describing what equipment a Civil War soldier carried into battle and what they carried with them while marching and contrasting that to what a modern soldier uses today.

Formative/Summative assignment

Outcome:  Students will compose a double-spaced 3-5 page comparison essay that describes the equipment carried into battle by a Civil War foot soldier and what they packed in their travel bags.

Assignment Description:  To better understand life as a Civil War soldier, students will compare and contrast the battle equipment soldiers used and the items they carried from camp to camp with the equipment of a modern soldier.  Ideally in a face-to-face class, a current US Army soldier would be invited to show and explain the modern equipment he or she currently uses.  In an online class, this could still take place with a guest speaker discussion, web conference session, or by video.  Students will then research the items a Civil War soldier carried (possibly divide the class into Northern and Southern soldiers to cover both sides and different experiences.)  While researching, students will create a chart comparing the Civil War and modern soldier’s equipment.  Then students will compose a comparison essay that contrasts the Civil War soldier’s and modern soldier’s equipment in battle and travel.  One side benefit for this assignment is that students will better understand the harsh conditions the Civil War soldiers experienced but also appreciate and better understand the lives of the men and women who currently fight for our country.

Steps and Instructor Notes:

1. Arrange for a soldier to visit the class.  Outline for this volunteer the project expectations and request they bring equipment used in both the battlefield and in day-to-day life (what they would pack in their rucksack.  Be sure to confirm and get special permission with the school if any weapons were to be brought on campus, even army knives.  
2.  Students will take notes to begin to build a comparison chart, but class could create one as a group, in teams, or pairs at next face-to-face meeting or on google docs.  
3.  Provide library and research time for students to find both primary and secondary sources about what Civil War soldier’s equipment in the battlefields and in camp was like.
4. Students will complete chart for Civil War Soldier.
5. Students will compose a comparison essay that is double spaced and 3-5 pages in length.  The comparison chart should be a good resource for students while doing this essay.  Citation should be provided and instruction from the instructor regarding the citation of the modern soldier's visit to the classroom should be provided.

 Rubric is based on 100 points total but it is likely this assignment would take several days and is very dependent on participation which could be evaluated many different ways.

20 points-Student participated on the day of the guest-soldier lecture.

20 points-Student submitted a compare and contrast chart for a Civil War soldier and a modern soldier.

60 points-Student composed a grammatically sound, well organized 3-5 page double spaced comparison essay that was cited properly. 

John Brown: Hero or Terrorist

Learning Objectives:
1. Define the qualities of a heroic action and/or person.
2. Discuss modern terrorism and the impact on our lives.
3. Define the terms terrorist/terrorist action.
4. Research the events at Harper’s Ferry and John Brown.
5. Explore newspaper articles from the period and other primary sources about Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry.
6. Debate as a class whether Brown’s actions were heroic or terrorism.
7. Compose a persuasive newspaper report that could have been written in Brown’s life time supporting either the statement that Brown was a hero or a terrorist.

Formative assignment
Outcome: Students will critically analyze primary sources and the actions of John Brown at Harper’s Ferry.

Assignment Description: Sometimes the actions of a person are viewed very differently depending on which side of an argument you support. Billy the Kid was a murderer and still considered a hero by many. During the abolitionist struggle to free slaves before the Civil War, John Brown conducted a violent raid on Harper’s Ferry with the idea that slaves he freed would join him in rebellion and inspire slave rebellion across the South. Was he a hero for taking up the slaves’ cause or a terrorist attempting to strike fear in the minds of citizens?

Steps and Instructor Notes:
1. As a class, students will define the qualities of a heroic action and/or person. Students should come prepared with examples and at least two criteria they want to have the class consider. (The instructor’s role is to facilitate the selection of the final criteria.)
2. During the following class period, the students will discuss modern terrorism and the impact on their lives and define the terms terrorist and terrorist action. Again students should come prepared with examples and two criteria and the instructor should facilitate the defining of terrorism.
3. Each student will then research John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry.
4. The instructor should provide sources or encourage students to share with the class primary web sources such as newspaper articles from the period and other primary sources about Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry. For example, what did Frederick Douglas say about the event?
5. Debate as a class whether Brown’s actions were heroic or terrorism. Students could be divided by the instructor to argue one side or the other, or the instructor might require students to come prepared with a one minute or brief argument.
6. After participating in the class debate, each student will compose a persuasive newspaper report that could have been written in Brown’s life time supporting either the statement that Brown was a hero for the abolitionist cause or a terrorist striking fear in the hearts of innocent citizens. The instructor should review expectations for citation, grammar, format, and length.

Rubric is based on 100 points total but it is likely this assignment would take several days and could be broken down into more graded parts.
10 points-Student came prepared for both criteria based discussions with sources and examples.
10 points-Student actively participated in discussion to develop criteria.
30 points-Student participated in debate and offered brief argument to support view of Brown’s actions.
50 points- Student composed a grammatically sound newspaper article as if it was written at the time of John Brown’s life either describing Brown as a hero or a terrorist. The article should include very specific details of the event as well as arguments supporting his actions or condemning them.

Is it a Massacre or a Battle?

Learning Objectives:
1. Explore the documentation of historical events by historians, the public, and politicians.
2. Develop criteria as a historian for the use of the labels “massacre” and “battle” for historical events.
3. Evaluate historical events and determine whether they are correctly labeled based on criteria.
4. Examine the name changes over time associated with some battles or massacres.

This is a formative assignment and students will critically analyze the labels associated with historic battles or massacres and the reporting of those events.

Assignment Description: The struggle between tribes and pioneers while the United States government expanded westward is depicted in social media as a one-sided event. However, the interactions between the two cultures were more complicated than a western tale of good versus evil. Students will explore this period of westward expansion by analyzing encounters between the groups. Students will be empowered to make their own decisions regarding the correct labels for the events and encouraged to analyze those labels of the past and present.

Steps and Instructor Notes:
1. As a class, students will develop a set of criteria to label a historical event as either a battle or a massacre. Participation in this discussion is required and students should come prepared with research about what each term means, sources and examples of use, and at least two criteria they want to have the class consider. Student will submit document to instructor with research and proposed criteria. (The instructor’s role is to encourage discussion and debate, but then facilitate the selection of the final criteria the entire class will use in their analysis of events. Here is a link in the Chicago Tribune on this very topic. Instructors may have students read this article before starting the assignment to set the tone for the upcoming work. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-08-18/news/0908170600_1_native-american-history-chicago-park-district )

2. Provide a list of battles and massacres for students to research individually or in pairs. After selecting one event, students should write a three page, double spaced summary of the event including who was involved, what happened, motivation for the attack, and outcome. The report should include research about how the event was reported at the time using primary source documents and describe whether the label for the event has evolved or changed over time. Additionally, the student or pair of students will determine, based on the criteria, whether the event is correctly labeled by modern historians. Proper citation is required on an additional page. (This assignment could be applied to a wider range of battles and massacres, but for the purpose of this post the limit will be encounters between tribes and pioneers after 1830. This assignment directly correlates with the Sand Creek Massacre in 1863 in Kiowa, Colorado, see Hippocampus.org link below.)

3. Students will share their research on one of the battles and massacres with the class. Classmates will evaluate at least two classmates’ conclusions about the labels applied to historical events, and openly share whether they agree or disagree and why.

Rubric is based on 100 points total but it is likely this assignment would take several days and could be broken down into more graded parts.
10 points-Student came prepared for criteria discussion with sources and examples.
10 points-Student actively participated in discussion to develop criteria.
60 points-Student individually or in a pair composed a well organized, grammatically sound document summarizing in 3 double spaced pages the event including who was involved, what happened, motivation for the attack, and outcome. The report included research about how the event was reported at the time using primary source documents and explained whether the label for the event has evolved or changed over time. Finally, the paper concluded and explained whether the label meets the class’s criteria for a massacre or battle. On the fourth page of the document, correct citation is included.
20 points-Student thoughtfully responded in writing or verbally (this may depend on your classroom format and level) to two classmates conclusions about other events.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence Assignment

Title: Signers of the Declaration of Independence Assignment

Objective/s: Learner will research an assigned Signer of the Declaration and come to class as that person with clues about who they are for their classmates to guess who they are.

Assignment type: Formative

Assignment Details
1. Student will be assigned the name of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
2. The student will research that signer’s life before and after signing the historic document.
3. Student will write a one page biography of the signer’s life.
4. In a face-to-face class, the student may come wearing clues or dressed as the signer. Each person should bring a document with the facts to submit to the instructor. In an online classroom, the student will start a thread of their own asking “Who am I?”
5. In either the face-to-face setting or online, the student will give one clue at a time to classmates providing a certain amount of time for guesses by classmates. (Students should be prepared with 10-20 clues about the person they were assigned.)
6. Class will use their own knowledge of signers to guess who their classmate is.

Rubric
Researched and found a minimum number of facts about their Declaration Signer-10 points
Composed a one page concise biography of signer-40 points
Participated in discussion and/or dressed in costume with clues on who they are-40 points
Cited Biography used for assignment in proper APA or MLA format-10 points

Historical Documentary and Video Reflection Assignment

It is said that a picture can be worth a thousand words, and videos can get students thinking about content in a familiar yet powerful way. Reading Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech fails to move students like listening to his voice and watching him deliver the message. In this assignment, students will reflect on videos that the instructor provides and compose a journal exercise about their experience.

Title: Video Reflection
Objective/s: Learner will observe a video/documentary of an historical moment and reflect on their observations, surprises, emotional reaction, and what they learned by watching the video.
Assignment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Students are informed of the topic and background information related to the video they will watch. This background information may come from a text, Hippocampus materials, instructor lecture, or other outside reading.
2. Ideally, you will have access to video resources, but if you don’t YouTube is one place to start and American Rhetoric has a database of famous speeches including 5 minutes of Martin Luther King’s speech. An internet search can pull a great deal more resources like news footage from events like the Cuban Missile Crisis and the JFK assassination.
3. Before watching the video, students will jot down what they know about the topic.
4. Students will watch video and answer the following additional questions:
- What did you observe about the event or person/people in the video?
- What did you notice in the video that really surprised, stunned, or interested you?
- What emotional reaction did you have to this video and why?
- What did you learn about the topic from this video that you did not know before? (You may want to require a minimum here of 3 facts or ideas)
- Is there anything missing from the video that you think would help you better understand the event?
5. Particularly if the video is not direct footage from an event but rather more a documentary or history channel type movie, ask your students “What message or information did the author intend with this video? Do you think the author had a particular bias?” If the video is a primary source footage, ask your student to analyze properties of the video. “Is there an angle you wish you could see or information that you are missing from this first-hand account of the event?” “Did you see the video without major editing or was this a clip that may be out of context?”
6. Student will compose a one page journal type entry reflecting on the questions you provided in a concise well organized way. The entry should be grammatically correct and include citation as necessary.

Rubric
Compose a one page journal response and reflection to video. 0-25 points
Use proper grammar and citation. 0-25 points
Respond to questions provided by the instructor on the assignment in a thoughtful and substantive way. 0-50 points

The WOW Factor assignment

The posts so far this year have been very “serious” assignments leading to a big project. However, students need lower stakes assignments to practice and experiment with their writing skills. Also when learning new topics, students need time and encouragement to reflect on what they’ve learned.

The WOW Factor assignment encourages students to share with their class and instructor something that really surprised them in their reading, research or study of the topics for that unit or had them say “I didn’t know that” or “WOW! That’s cool!” The topic may also encourage them to ask questions or say “I would like to know more”.

Title: The WOW Factor
Objective/s: Learner will develop an internal dialogue while reading, studying, and researching history. Learner will build note taking skills. Learner will reflect on the content they are studying.
Assignment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Students are assigned reading from texts and other sources, but many students view this as a passive process and often fall asleep on the book hoping for some sort of learning osmosis to occur. To be more effective readers and efficient students, learners should carry on an internal dialogue while reading. Check out this resource for some great lessons to implement in your courses about talking to the author and building critical thinking skills. If you can not conduct an activity to teach this skill, at least with adult learners share some resources about Question-Answer Relationships while reading. Be sure to share with your adult learners that this skill is expected but often not taught, and that a study skill like this can be more effective and efficient.

2. Now that the students understand what is expected of them while reading, it is time for them to practice the skill. While reading the required text or participating in a content discussion, the student will write down at least 5 WOW “I didn’t know that” or “That’s amazing” facts. Then for each WOW, they are to write at least 3 questions about that topic that come to mind and they would ask the author. Breaking from the traditional note taking techniques, the student is learning to engage with content and if they own the book could write their WOW facts and questions right on the page.
3. Students will then select one WOW fact and questions and build a reflective assignment that they will share in a discussion with their classmates. At the top of the document the student will quote or paraphrase the WOW fact and provide the source of that fact in APA or MLA format. The student will write a brief paragraph about why that information excited them or why they related to that information or found it most interesting. Then below the paragraph they will list each of their internal dialogue questions with an answer for each that may have come from more reading, research, or the answer may be they didn’t find anything definitive but they found out something else interesting related to the fact. Each answer should also include the source in APA or MLA format.
4. Student will post their WOW assignment in a discussion to share with classmates.
5. Student will respond to at least two classmates WOW assignments with 2 additional questions/answers and resources they found to answer their new questions.

Rubric: Based on 100 points
Student selects and posts in a discussion their WOW fact and asks 3 questions. -20 points
Student included a paragraph about why that fact interested them and how they relate to that term. -10 points
Student cites sources for WOW fact and the answers to their 3 questions. -10 points
Student included the answers to their questions in their post or additional information they located about the topic. -30 points (10 points for each question)
Student responded thoughtfully in a supportive and constructive manner to at least 2 classmates’ submissions. The response should include at least 2 more questions, answers, and sources. -30 points (15 points for each response to a classmate)


The WOW moments are now spreading through your class. Students may realize from reading each other’s WOW assignments that they overlooked something interesting in their reading and go back to read it again. Students will encourage each other to think critically about the content they are discussing and find the answers together. History is a broad subject that doesn’t have to bore students. Instead, they can find the areas that most excite them. For example, they might be fascinated with fashion from a certain age or how a weapon or sport became popular. Instead of sitting passively waiting for all the “facts” of history to somehow be absorbed for a test, they can activate their prior knowledge of a subject, engage with new content, and share their excitement with others.

It’s News! Assignments

This week’s news story on Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell reinstating Confederate History Month inspired a series of assignment ideas on incorporating news in our history classes. Confederate History Month and the manner that it was proposed by McDonnell would make a great debate/discussion question. Topics for this question might include:

1. Why do we designate months to remember categories of history and is this still necessary in today’s world?
2. What is the controversy around this history month and how should we remember this important war in our nation’s history?
3. What were the causes of the Civil War? Social, Economic, Political?
4. Why is the Civil War romanticized?
5. How are state’s rights important then and now?

A second assignment idea is to have students search for history in the news (any medium would be appropriate) and report to the class about the current news story they found. Additionally students should report how that news relates to history, did the news include all the important historical information, and whether the student’s knowledge of history effects how they understand and view the news report.

Finally, pick a couple of events in the period of study and have the students write newspaper articles as if they were reporting the event at the time it occurred. For example, a student might imagine they are reporting for the “Valley Virginian” on the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac in Virginia waters. One resource you don’t want to miss on the Civil War, which includes primary source newspapers, is The Valley of the Shadow Project.

No matter which assignment you try, incorporating current news in our history courses can help students find the study of history relevant and interesting.

Presidential Trivia Assignment

For fun, bonus, alternative assignment or web search, create a trivia quiz for President’s Day. This is a great way to focus on our nation’s leaders, and bring a little fun to an online or face-to-face classroom. As a web search, I know students will learn more than these basic facts about the Presidents. Here are some questions to get you started.

1. Which President could write both Greek and Latin with either hand at the same time?
2. Which President said, “If you expect people to be ignorant and free, then you expect something that never was nor never will be?”
3. Which President was a prisoner of war and the first to ride on a train?
4. Who made the longest inaugural speech but served the shortest term?
5. Which President said, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt?”
6. Which President was married at the White House?
7. Who served as vice-president and president but was not elected to either?
8. Which President received a patent for lifting vessels over shoals by inflating air chambers near the water line?
9. Which President introduced spaghetti and ice cream to this country?
10. Which President was the shortest at 5ft 4inches?

One alternative would be to have students create the trivia questions and see who can stump their classmates. Visit this use web source for more trivia or this site has some fun ones but beware of the extra ads. A great place to start research is Whitehouse.gov or this fact filled site. One other great resource on the web is the National Archives page on Presidents.

So I know you'ree wondering if I'll give you the answers... here they are:
1. Garfield, 2. Jefferson, 3. Jackson, 4. Harrison, 5. Lincoln, 6. Cleveland, 7. Ford, 8. Lincoln, 9. Jefferson, 10. Madison

"What If" Assignment

Some events happen so quickly but have a tremendous significance at the time and later. For the “What If” Assignment, students reflect on a quick moment in time like an assassination or even a near miss of a key historical figure. Then based on their knowledge of the event, that person’s role in history prior to the assassination attempt, and the impact of their loss on history, students predict what might be different in history and today had the attempt failed or succeeded.

1. Pose this question to students “What if Booth missed?” or “What if Lincoln had survived the assassination attempt?” Then ask them to brainstorm all the thought that come to mind in 5 minutes.

2. Conduct a discussion in the class around the Lincoln assassination as this is already a popular topic. Even at one medical convention they discussed what if medicine could have saved him.

3. Student picks a key historical figure’s assignation or attempted assassination. Here are a few to suggest for US History: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Robert F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Richard M. Nixon, John F Kennedy, John Lennon (If you conduct the Lincoln Discussion, you probably won’t offer this one to students)

4. Student researches biography of key historical figure, events prior to the assassination, the assassination, the biography of the assassinator, and the outcome and effect of that attempt.

5. Based on their understanding of the person, events surrounding the assassination, and later the outcomes, the student writes a paper or presentation predicting what might have occurred differently then and now had the result of the assassination had been changed.

Be sure to specify length and other expectations to your students. What would be required of a grade school student would be different than that of a college student. Encourage students to not just day dream or include lots of wishful thinking, but base predictions on facts and details.

School Projects

I had a different blog post in mind, but after an arduous weekend that included tears and frustration of helping my first grader do a school project on Giant Pandas, I decided to change my plans. Last weekend I learned that in one week we had to write a paper, do an art project illustrating their animal, and be prepared to present information to the class. I say we, because a 7 year old is not capable of doing the research on their own even if they have strong writing and reading skills, and the supplies for an art project must be acquired and assembled with adult supervision.

What does this have to do with this history blog? Assignment relevancy and instructor leadership! Letting our students pick a topic that interests them most and creating assignment guidelines that students can meet are essential basics to an assignment. In this assignment, the parents became the teacher guiding our seven year old through the process of research, writing, editing, and creating a final project. While we are actively involved in our daughter’s education, I wondered about parents who simply did not have time this week to take that role. Should the teacher really have lead students through this process during the school day? Would this have given the teacher the opportunity to monitor student’s ability and witness their personal growth? Should teachers in high school and early college education assume that students have certain skills rather than leading them to the final quality product? Rather than assuming that it is the student’s responsibility to find help if they need it, should we offer that support in our courses. Doesn’t ignoring this basic need open the door to plagiarism and other academic dishonesty? Shouldn’t instructors provide examples and other support to help students be successful? Some would argue that this is handholding, but I would argue we are leading students to a product they can be proud of and meets our expectations.

As a kid, I remember these assignments and that feeling of dread of loosing play time and other family weekend time when they were assigned. As a teacher, I can guess which objectives might be the goals with an assignment like this, and yet as a parent, I argue that those are not the objectives met. My daughter did not learn research skills though we tried, nor did she learn composition writing or reading skills though we tried. However as a family, we pulled together to support her which emphasized learning and education. She learned about the value of spreading the work out over a week and finishing what she started even when it wasn’t fun anymore. This evening after completing all her hard work, she feels pride in herself and her work and enjoyed spending time with us. By not taking the initiative to provide support to our students in higher education and leaving it up to the student to find support a support system, don’t we leave this feeling of success and learning up to chance?

Geo-mashups

One of my favorite presentations at the eLCC conference was a about educational use of Mashups. What’s a mashup? Wikipedia defines mash-ups as “a web application that combines data from one or more sources into a single integrated tool. The term Mashup implies easy, fast integration, frequently done by access to open APIs and data sources to produce results that were not the original reason for producing the raw source data.”

One of my favorite ideas during the presentation was the combination of Google Maps, a free web mapping tool, for a Business course that asked students research the location of a business and how this effected the possible success of a business. Real estate agents have already been using this tool to add a little information about properties to maps for home buyers.

Like you, I started brainstorming about how to apply this concept to a history course. An assignment might require students to identify key locations on a map such as various battles of the Civil War and then add brief notes about the significance of each. An assignment such as this would not only help students organize key events but also understand more about the significance of geography to history outcomes.

Regardless of whether you incorporate Web 2.0 technology, geography is too often neglected as we race to cover so many events in a short time. The National Commission on Social Studies in the Schools was formed in 1987 to study the state of social studies in the schools and to make recommendations for curricular change. At this site you will find recommendations and strategies for emphasizing history and geography in grades K-12. Additionally, there are many other useful resources to help us teach the impact of geography on historical events. Also, check out the National Geographic web site that has lessons plans that use geography to learn about history.

Questions to Ponder

In April, I attended the eLCC conference and presented with Alice Bedard-Voorhees on New Designs for Assessment. Alice is the person I credit most for giving me an opportunity to teach online and for inspiring me to try innovative teaching tools and concepts. At the conference, I am pleased to share that Alice won the eLCC Faculty of the Year award. You might visit Alice’s blog at for inspiration.

I would like to share two questions that Alice asks that always encourage me to think differently. We all have students who are more difficult to manage. Sometimes students have bad attitudes about the course or fellow classmates. Sometimes they are frustrated with us about the type of assignments given or the technology. Sometimes they plagiarize. The question that Alice always asked me as my Chair and later Academic Dean was “How can we get back to the learning?” Alice empowered me to find a way to have a successful outcome for the student and class rather than getting stuck and frustrated by what wasn’t working. Not only did this help me not take the student’s problems personally, but it also helped me brainstorm ways to avoid the same problems in the upcoming semesters. By always thinking about how to best facilitate learning among my current students, I find that each semester I am more effective and patient. The question reminds me that students are there to learn and its my job to help them.

In a CCCOnline training webinar and at our presentation at eLCC, Alice posed this question for students. “What could you do, use, or create to demonstrate your learning for outcome X?” This question opens a dialogue between the instructor and student to select the method of delivery to demonstrate their knowledge. Students might choose to do something in Second Life, use a Web 2.0 tool like audacity, create a slide show, or write a traditional paper. The question allows students to develop their own assignment to achieve an objective or competency. In correspondence and cooperation with the instructor, a rubric for evaluation of the assignment can be developed and gives the student ultimate ownership of their learning. Imagine developing assignments and rubrics through open communication between the students either one to one, instructor to group, or class to instructor. What a way to focus on the individual learning and outcomes in a course!

Assignment Feedback

This spring I shared several assignments (timelines, webliography, movie review and more) that encourage student originality, creativity, and allow them to select topics that are most interesting and relevant to them. These flexible assignments still meet the Colorado Common Course Outcomes. When designing a course, I start by creating a course map that aligns resource materials, assignments, discussions, and formative and summative assessments with outcomes. Sometimes, there are outcomes that are vague or difficult to meet in the online classroom. However after brainstorming, some very interesting and engaging assignments for students usually result.

What do the students think about these assignments? Each semester, I ask students for candid feedback regarding the assignments, assessments, materials in the course, discussions, and overall course design. I use this feedback to improve the course and stay current with the mood and needs of the students. The feedback this semester regarding the new assignments is overwhelmingly positive. Students appreciated the break from stagnant essay response assignments. They enjoyed and remained more interested in the course by having a variety of assignments. I had less students request permission to turn in work late. While I don't have specific statistics to explain why, I believe it is in part a result of not getting bored and burned out with similar assignments. Students also reported that they learned more and felt more challenged from assignments like the timeline and the movie review than from writing a typical essay response on the same topic. When asked which assignment was their favorite, some students shockingly said they liked them all. However, I did have a group report that the timeline assignment was their favorite. This is interesting because it broke the most from the traditional mold of essay assignments by requiring strong organization and encouraged the use of Web 2.0 technology.

Was I satisfied with the quality of their work? After semesters of grading responses to essays and being disappointed that students did not seem move beyond the knowledge level to the higher analysis and synthesis levels, these assignments seemed to demonstrate higher levels of Bloom’s and allowed me to better evaluate student learning. The design of these assignments required a strong understanding at the knowledge level but better encouraged analysis and synthesis.

What did I learn? Besides being pleased with the overall quality of the completed assignments, I learned that these assignments are more challenging to grade because of the unique way each student may interpret the instructions. Therefore, the assignments require detailed expectations and elaborate rubrics. I also learned that providing an optional discussion forum for students to ask questions about each assignment of myself and classmates provided some formative feedback and reduced stress and confusion for students. Additionally, even those who never posted to the study hall discussions benefited from the examples, instructions, and questions posted there.

Historical Narrative Assignment

Students often evaluate historical events and the people who lived ages ago by today’s standards and what we know now about the outcome. Sometimes this hindsight makes it difficult for students to empathize with people in the past. In this historical narrative writing assignment, students imagine what it would have been like to live in another time. Then they will write from a fictional character’s perspective a set of letters, journal entries, or story. Students completing this assignment will understand the impact of time and space on perspective, develop a narrative structure, identify events, people, groups and cultures, and practice research skills.

First, develop a list of events or people that your students can choose to write their first person narratives about. I like to make these lists about non-famous everyday people. I also allow students to select any gender or race that would be appropriate for that character. For example in a WWII unit, students choose from a soldier of any country on the frontlines, a Jewish person in a concentration camp, or a French citizen in occupied France. Another example, is to imagine they are a Civil War soldier writing a letter home about their experience, and then write a return letter from the soldier’s wife about civilian life in the Civil War.

Before writing, students research what every day life was like for the character. I require a bibliography of three sources. You may also want to point students to certain Primary Sources like autobiographies or diaries. Students should note historical references like dates, places, and events. These real facts will add credibility and interest to the assignment. For example, a soldier might mention a battle that actually occurred or a leader that actually lived. Encourage students to use descriptions that really bring their audience to the moment. What sounds or smells would the character sense in the moment their writing about?

These papers are unique for the students to write and the instructor to grade. The opportunity to plagiarize is less likely, though still possible. Students may struggle if they have not had many creative writing experiences before. Therefore, give students some specific parameters in a rubric to help organize this assignment and write an appropriate amount. You may also provide students some examples or articles to help them get started. Grade students on being as accurate as possible describing their character’s experience rather than how entertaining it is to read. For example, the character would not have modern technology available like phones or computers. The use and sounds of cars and planes might be very new and foreign to the character. Some students may really thrive in this assignment and try to use dialect appropriate for the character but grammar may suffer. I am ok with this because students are exploring a new type of historical writing and exploring character writing. I also encourage students to post their assignment for classmates to read in an optional discussion.

Movie Review Assignment

Historians like to discuss and discredit films for their inaccuracies, but the average person learns a great deal about the past from these cinematic representations. I bet each of us can think of at least one scene from a movie that really affected our understanding of an historical event or time. Movies can excite students about history and teach about the past in a way that draws viewers into the experience. Many great history instructors are also great storytellers, and film is simply another way of telling the world’s story. Directors may take creative license with the facts and characters, but they often are careful to represent dress, life-style, and culture in a way that texts and even great storytellers have trouble doing. After students finish the course they may never actively try to learn history again, but they are likely to watch movies that represent the past. This assignment will encourage students to be critical thinkers as they analyze the film for class and later films they enjoy.

First, students select a movie from a list provided by the instructor to watch. The list should provide a variety of new and old movies and cover a variety of subjects. Since new movies come out all the time and there are many films I am not aware of, I allow students to contact me for approval for a movie not on the list. While watching the movie, students are to consider these questions:

1. Were there inaccuracies in the movie compared to the material in our course which covers that time period or person?
2. What did you learn from the movie that you did not already know?
3. Were there any obvious values or opinions being presented by the director in the way they depicted the main theme of the film or the way they portrayed the heroes and villains of the story?
4. How did the depiction of this event or person compare to reading about the same topic in a textbook?
5. Did you have an emotional reaction to the film, why or why not? How do your own history and experiences affect how you perceive the film?
6. Did the film have an impact at the time of release on society’s perspective of the event and people involved? Did the film change your perspective about the people or event?

After watching the film, students write a concise review of the movie that considers the questions above and summarizes the plot. You may also provide the option for students to share their work in a discussion, so that they can learn from each other and review a variety of films.

Timeline Assignment

Historians use timelines to create a graphical, sequential picture of history. Timelines are linear or comparative. The information in a timeline gives us perspective about the relationships between events and people. Textbooks and Hippocampus.org do this for students regularly to present information in a different and concise format. Below are a couple of timelines on the web you might use in your courses as resources for students.

http://www.historicaltimeline.com/ (This site includes 5 timelines that traces world history, leaders, religion, war, and inventions)

http://www.searchbeat.com/society/History/Timelines/ (This site has a long list of timelines for various topics)

http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmah/timeline.htm (American History Timeline by the Smithsonian Institute)

http://www.mnh.si.edu/Africanvoices/ax/fs/primary_fs.html?history+intro (This is the Smithsonian timeline for African history)

http://www.lkwdpl.org/study/timeline/ (This is a student guide to creating timelines and it also provides links to many useful timelines)

Organizing content and creating a timeline requires students to break information into parts, understand the impact of time and space on perspective, and identify trends. First, create a list of topics related to the unit or course. I provide several topics that have evolved over time and have many key events. For example, students might trace medical advancements in the United States from the Civil War through WWII. Students pick a topic that most interests them, but I am careful to give students specific start and end parameters for the timeline. Students create a time line of at least 15 events using either a word processing program or this really nice web 2.0 tool at http://www.timerime.com/ (you’ll also find some timelines here that you might find useful in your courses.). Each item on the timeline should include a brief description that explains the significance of that date. Students summarize the topic the outline is about in one concise paragraph. Students are encouraged to post their work to an optional Timeline discussion for classmates to use. This student generated bank of timelines can be a useful resource for them as the course progresses.

Webliography

Very similar to an annotated bibliography, I ask my students to create a short Webliography, on a specific term. There are many ways to do this and one that I would like to explore, but have not tried yet, is for students to research a bigger topic like Black History Month. I would like them to create the Webliography as a team on a wiki. Each semester the class would explore a different topic with access to previous semesters Webliographies for research reference for other assignments. As Learning Management systems offer diverse ways to create and grade wikis and other tools, I believe this format could become a preferred way of student collaboration, and overtake discussions role for building a sense of community.

Since I want to limit access to my students work and keep their work in the course, for now I use this webliography assignment. Learning how to research topics is not only an important skill for history courses but also for future history and college courses students take. Students practice acquiring information, breaking sources of information into parts, using library sources, demonstrating understanding of primary and secondary sources, and using technology. Also since there is a wealth of sources on the internet, some good and some bad, this assignment asks students to go a step further beyond just finding sources to explaining why they chose certain sources to include in their webliography.

Assignment Tasks:
1. Select a term from a list provided by the instructor.
2. Search the internet for web resources on this term.
3. Select the 5 best web sources.
4. Create a bibliography that lists the web sources.
5. Describe each source in a brief paragraph and why choose it as a reliable, informative source on the topic. Does the source include primary and secondary sources?
6. In addition to turning it in to the instructor, students can also post their assignment in an optional Study Hall discussion in the unit so that classmates can see the list of sources and possibly use them in upcoming assignments.

While writing a grammatically correct bibliography is an important skill for college students, I believe it is even more important for them to analyze those sources and be able to explain why they chose to use them.

Savenger Hunt Assignment

In October, I described the idea of an internet scavenger hunt specifying that students might search a particular website for information. This week my students researched a particular identification term. I designed the assignment to explore several course competencies including acquiring information, breaking multiple sources down into parts, using library resources, recognizing secondary sources, and locating specific primary sources.

First, create a bank of terms for students to select a term that most interests them. Second, encourage students to search their course resources and the internet for the following that relates to that term (I require 10).
a. Map
b. Video Clip
c. Audio Clip
d. Photograph
e. Government document
f. Letter written by someone related to the term
g. Diary written by someone related to the term
h. Newspaper Article
i. History Journal Article
j. Web Article
k. Glossary or Wikipedia type definition of term
l. Picture of artifact
m. Artwork related to term
n. Novel or short story
o. Textbook Reference
p. Museum Exhibit
q. Memorial
r. Modern movie made about term
Then students submit a one-paragraph description of the term describing who, what, where, when, and historical significance of the term, their list of sources with a brief description of what they found at each source and how it relates to the term, and they identify the web source is a primary source or secondary source.

Another option to this assignment is to do a scavenger hunt for a larger topic like Black History Month. Create a list of what to look for and have students search in groups posting their results in discussions. How do you incorporate the concept of Primary/Secondary sources in your assignments?