Teaching and Learning History in the Digital Age (AHA 2011)

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American Historical Association conference Boston 2011
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The degree of difficulty educators face when dealing with new technologies varies, but the sensation of feeling like a “newbie” when it comes to technology can often create tech-wariness among teachers. Educators should not feel this way.

Teachinghistory.org's presentation at the 2011 American Historical Association (AHA) conference, entitled “Teaching and Learning History in the Digital Age,” offered attendees exposure to free and easy-to-use tools that can work for teachers, regardless of their technological abilities. The main message of this presentation? Start small and be willing to face unexpected hiccups along the way.

Starting Out with Digital Tools

One educator, nearing retirement, was curious about digital tools as I shared with her the topic of my presentation while walking to another conference event. She was initially interested in attending my presentation but found that the whole topic of digital tools was too complex for her.

Start with what feels comfortable.

Besides, where would she even begin searching for new media tools? She found herself regretting her earlier decision to skip panels on digital tools. It seemed that her own dilemma—where to start looking for digital tools—is not unique. The goal of the presentation was to help educators like her gain exposure to technology that is easily available. My advice to her was the same as I provided the audience: Start with what feels comfortable.

Some educators might enjoy exploring complex tools, “going under the hood,” and learning new skills. Other educators might want a ready-made tool, like Wordpress, to help build a course website. The open-source nature of platforms and browsers like Wordpress, Firefox, Zotero, and Omeka allow daring educators to invent the new plug-ins that can radically transform educational tools. For the less adventurous educators, these platforms allow them to take advantage of the work of others.

So . . . What Can Educators Do on the Web?

The presentation at AHA was, in part, inspired by a recent series of articles by Robert Townsend in AHA's Perspectives on History (Oct., Nov., Dec.). In his findings, which surveyed over 4,000 two- and four-year college faculty, Townsend noted that educators are increasingly embracing digital tools. Nearly 70% of respondents characterized themselves as “active users”—a number that might surprise many. Upon closer inspection, however, active digital users are mostly younger (no surprise here), and the most popular tools are not what many digitally-savvy educators would necessarily consider cutting-edge: digital cameras, scanners, search engines, word processors, and online archive searches. Tools that have the potential to change how we “do” history—text mining, social media, GIS/mapping, and data visualizations—received few responses in AHA's survey.

My immediate reaction to Townsend's articles? Is that it? On the one hand, I found it rather underwhelming to see what passes as “digital history” in the second decade of the 21st century. On the other hand, a utopian view of this subject is probably not well-served considering the budgetary and curricular constraints teachers face; lasting change rarely develops out of radical, or revolutionary, change. A more measured approach would be to acknowledge that significant uses of technology in the history classroom will gradually occur through funding for technology training, or, more likely, through collaborative exchanging of ideas among staff.

Key Areas in Digital Tool Use

The presentation at AHA, then, was structured to address three or four key areas teachers address in their planning stages. As always, these tools are helpful, but only when applied with thoughtful consideration towards teaching and research (several good reads recently posted on Edwired deal with the perils and possibilities of web tools).

Digital Tools for Presentations

  • Google Maps is a good instrument for examining memorials, battlefields, and other historical sites, while also allowing users to create new and interesting links between locations.
  • Google Earth allows users to create placemarks, polygon shapes, paths, and images on Google's database of satellite images. This is ideal for creating original maps or recreating routes on military campaigns, plotting the Underground Railroad, or analyzing the Great Migration patterns of African Americans to see if new relationships emerge.
  • ManyEyes users can upload data and choose visualization preferences that might reveal new information about the past.
  • Hypercities uses historical overlays on geographic maps to show change over time
  • Prezi is a structural and/or non-structural approach to presentations where you can type text, embed media files, graphically organize items, and highlight the importance of elements—relative to other ones on the infinite canvas platform—based on size and colors. The presentation at the AHA conference used a Prezi.

Digital Tools for Communication

  • Facebook and Ning allow users to create networks from scratch to imagine what social networks among Bostonian revolutionaries or suffragettes in the early 20th century might talk about. Multiple other free options exist.
  • Twitter lets users publish 140-character updates. What would Abe Lincoln’s Twitter feed look like? What about soldiers on the Pacific front in World War II? John Quincy Adams is already on Twitter!
  • Skype can help bring scholars and institutions together, establishing relationships with sister cities, schools overseas, and other individuals and organizations.
  • Blogs can become a standard classroom management program (if scholars are not tied to BlackBoard), serve as a professional portfolio, or can help historians re-imagine the possibilities for what scholarship on the web looks like.
  • Zotero, in a nutshell, functions like digital flashcards and a note-saving device by adding research items from a database (WorldCat works well), allowing users to create notes for each entry, and providing tagging, sharing, and publication functions. Zotero is a helpful tool for collaborative projects and archiving research sources over time.

Digital Tools for Production

  • Anthologize puts together an original book or compilation from blogs and other sites across the web.
  • Wiki allows users to develop wiki pages for class projects (upload maps, images, and other files) or research project items.
  • Wordle graphically produces a word cloud based on text-mining activities, which often reveals interesting insights otherwise difficult to see in large chunks of text.
  • YouTube and Vimeo are hosting platforms for any original video production.
  • Picasa and Flickr have potential as forums for hosting photo collections (privately or publicly), helping educators and students find visual sources, annotate information, understand copyright laws, and connect images to historical events that are not visible at first (good places to search for images largely in the public domain include the Creative Commons search engine, Library of Congress, National Archives, NY Public Library Digital Collection, and the Smithsonian).
  • iMovie and MovieMaker put users in the driver's seat in using images, text, music, and voiceovers—simple elements of a digital storytelling project—to create original documentaries or short films.
  • Animoto is a simple tool that uses images, uploaded with music and text, to create small videos.

Digital Tools for Miscellaneous Tasks

  • Mindmeister, FreeMind, and OmniGraffle create graphic organizers for study or for lesson/unit plans, and many of them can be placed online for collaborative work.
  • Gaming has untapped potential as a teaching tool; see: Mission US, Do I Have a Right?, BBC History Games, and Playinghistory.org (a good collection of games).
  • Diigo provides a way to annotate the web (highlighting and Post-it notes). It can be added to your browser toolbar and, as long as you are logged in, notes will always appear as you re-visit the page.

With such a long list, but one that barely touches the surface of what scholars can do with new media, it is easy to see that free and open-access tools are readily found online. The problem, however, is that many educators feel the same way as our curious veteran educator at AHA. The question “Where can I find these tools?” is still a bit too commonplace these days. As a result, teachers are often hesitant to seek out new technology—not necessarily due to a lack of will, but rather because many simply don't know what (or where) to search.

This presentation aimed at closing that gap in a small way.

Bibliography

Townsend, Robert B. "Assimilation of New Media into History Teaching: Some Snapshots from the Edge." Perspectives on History (Dec. 2010).

Townsend, Robert B. "How Is New Media Reshaping the Work of Historians?" Perspectives on History (Nov. 2010).

Townsend, Robert B. "A Profile of the History Profession, 2010." Perspectives on History (Oct. 2010).

For more information

Ready to explore the digital tools mentioned above—and more? Check out our Digital Classroom section.

Upcoming Deadlines for Professional Development

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Photo, Deadline, Mar. 31, 2009, Moonrhino, Flickr
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Deadlines are approaching for several national professional development programs!

On Feb. 1 (NOTE: deadline extended to Feb. 15th!), the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History stops accepting applications for its summer seminars for teachers. The week-long seminars take place at colleges and universities nationwide, and teach classroom strategies focused on using primary sources effectively. Apply for any of 40 seminars on a range of topics, including Native American history, the Civil War in global context, the 20th-century women's rights movements, and the role of the Supreme Court in American history. Participants will receive a $400 reimbursement.

On Mar. 1, the National Endowment for the Humanities stops accepting applications for its Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers and Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers. The 20 one-week workshops take place at or near significant cultural or historical sites and explore strategies for teaching with place and primary sources. Topics range from "Crafting Freedom: Black Artisans, Entrepreneurs, and Abolitionists in the Antebellum Upper South" to "The Richest Hills: Mining in the Far West, 1865–1920," and participants receive a $1,200 stipend. The seminars and institutes last from two to six weeks, with 13 focusing on U.S. history, including, among other topics, teaching American history through song, Appalachian history and culture, jazz and Motown, and Upper Mississippi River Valley archaeology. Participants receive stipends ranging from $2,100 to $4,500.

February 11 is the deadline for applications to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Teacher Fellowship program. Each year, 15 secondary-level educators from across the country are chosen to serve as museum representatives, engaging in outreach activities to encourage quality teaching on the Holocaust. Participants attend a five-day all-expenses-paid summer institute in DC.

For more information

Not sure where to look for professional development opportunities? Our previous blog post, Finding Professional Development, offers some suggestions.

And remember that nominations for Gilder Lehrman's History Teacher of the Year Award also cut off on Feb. 1!

Nominations Open for Gilder Lehrman Teacher of the Year Award!

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Photo, Student Teacher, Mar. 26, 2008, BES Photos, Flickr
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Know a fantastic K–6 teacher who goes above and beyond to help his or her students engage with history? Someone who not only meets your state's standards, but expands on them? Someone who shows students how history can move out of the classroom into their lives?

Nominate them for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's seventh Teacher of the Year Award! Open to K–6 teachers from all U.S. states, districts, and territories, as well as Department of Defense and U.S. State Department schools, the program presents $10,000 to the national winner, while each state winner receives $1,000 and a set of books and other resource materials for their school library.

The program seeks to honor teachers who make primary sources and thoughtful assessment integral to their curriculum. Teachers must have taught full time for at least three years and not plan to retire within the next year. Last year, Gilder Lehrman honored Royal Valley Middle School teacher Nathan McAlister (awards alternate yearly between elementary and secondary teachers). Following research into the history of the Kansas Underground Railroad, McAlister's students drafted a bill (later signed into law) creating a local Underground Railroad trail.

Students, parents, colleagues, supervisors, and other educational professionals can all nominate teachers. Once a nomination has been accepted, the nominee will be contacted to submit supporting materials. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 1, 2011. Gilder Lehrman will announce state winners in May 2011 and the national winner in the fall.

For more information, visit Gilder Lehrman's website.

Finding Professional Development

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Photo, Social Studies Teachers, September 3, 2009, Virtual Learning Center
Photo, Social Studies Teachers, September 3, 2009, Virtual Learning Center
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Is professional development on your schedule for next summer? It may seem early to start planning, but many summer programs will soon (or have already) opened their applications. And professional development opportunities aren't limited to the summer! Organizations offer workshops, seminars, and other chances to network, expand your teaching repertoire, and earn professional credits throughout the year.

Where Should I Look?

Where might you look for these opportunities? You don't have to look far afield—museums, historic sites, national parks, and historical societies in your area may offer professional development. Search a museum's website for its "Education" or "Teachers" section, and take a look. Does it offer programs for educators?

Large museums often provide a schedule of open houses (check for these in the fall), workshops, and pre-field trip orientations just for educators (see the Chicago History Museum Educator Programs page or the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum online catalogue of professional development opportunities.

Not finding anything? Maybe you have a presidential library and museum nearby, providing educators with workshops on using archival resources. Or a local university that offers professional development courses for teachers (such as the Learn NC program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).

Professional development opportunities may also spring up in unexpected places, in response to events and celebrations. Abraham Lincoln's Bicentennial in 2009 prompted Lincoln-related workshops, conferences, seminars, and other training opportunities nationwide.

What Should I Know?

Once you've found something that interests you, make sure to check all of the specifics. You may be guaranteed a spot just by applying, or you may have to compete to participate. Enrollment may be limited to teachers in a certain area or those who teach specific grades. Some opportunities are free, some give out stipends, some cost, and others charge but offer scholarships.

Will you earn professional development credits for attending? How many? Could you earn graduate credit? (Or even a full master's degree? Check out the James Madison Fellowship Foundation designed specifically for teachers).

Examples of Professional Development

The following organizations provide professional development on a regular basis:

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History — weeklong summer seminars for teachers, yearly, hosted by universities across the U.S. Attendees receive a stipend. Applications for summer 2011 are now open!

National Endowment for the Humanities — Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers, and Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers, both yearly. Summer Seminars and Institutes range from 2–6 weeks, and do not all focus on U.S. history topics. History and Culture Workshops last one week and focus on specific U.S. history landmark sites. Both provide a stipend.

Facing History and Ourselves — workshops and in-person and online seminars throughout the year. Focuses on human rights and social action topics, including the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Some workshops are free; other programs charge fees.

Colonial Williamsburg — week-long institutes for elementary, middle/high, and high teachers, yearly, at Colonial Williamsburg. Charges fees.

National Archives and Records Administrations — "Primarily Teaching" workshops, yearly, introducing techniques for using archive resources and teaching with documents. Small fee for materials.

Smithsonian American Art Museum — annual Clarice Smith National Teacher Institute, for teams of middle or high school teachers, with priority given to those teaching social studies and English/language arts. Participants learn how to use art and 21st-century skills to make interdisciplinary connections with their subjects. $200 registration fee; $500 scholarships available.

Federal Judicial Center and American Bar Association — yearly week-long Federal Trials and Great Debates in U.S. History institute for secondary U.S. history and government teachers. Provides reimbursement for travel, lodging, and meal expenses.

The Memorial Library and Holocaust Educators Network — 12-day summer seminar for middle through high teachers, on teaching the Holocaust and social justice issues. $1,000 stipend.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum — yearly teacher fellowship for 7–12-grade teachers, including a five-day teacher institute. Expenses paid for institute attendence.

National Humanities Center — hour-and-a-half long online seminars, including tie-ins with PBS American Experience documentaries. Charges fees.

C-SPAN — two-day conference for 6th–12th-grade social studies educators or media/technology specialists, on integrating C-SPAN's resources into the classroom. Also offers a four-week Teacher Fellowship program. Expenses paid.

Dirksen Center — Congress in the Classroom, a four-day workshop for middle- or high-school teachers, on both pedagogical strategies and content for teaching about Congress. Charges registration fee; other expenses paid.

Jennifer Orr on Questioning Columbus

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Coat of arms, Christopher Columbus, Library of Congress
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History is complicated and in our attempts to simplify it for young children we often change it, sometimes drastically. The story of Christopher Columbus is one example. For generations we have passed down myths about this man. We have taught children that he alone believed the world was round, when, in truth, many if not most people of his time understood that the world is round. We have taught that he discovered a new world. How could he discover it if people were already living there? We have also taught that he died not realizing what he had 'discovered.'

Elementary school teachers have a unique challenge: they teach all subjects rather than focus on one. Not surprisingly, it is difficult to be experts in everything.

One way to address this challenge is to allow students to recognize the questions. We don't have to have all the answers. In fact, when it comes to history it is not possible to know all the answers. Historians continue to study a wide range of primary sources and to disagree with previous assertions and with each other. It is important that students be allowed to wrestle with this uncertainty rather than to blindly accept what we state as fact. Even the youngest children can understand that adults are still learning, and can enjoy learning along with us.

If you are interested in tackling the complexities of Christopher Columbus, there are some great places to start. James Loewen's book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, is a good one and helpful for subjects far beyond Columbus. The Library of Congress has an exhibit entitled 1492: An Ongoing Voyage that includes interesting information on Columbus's coat of arms. An examination and discussion of his coat of arms can encompass quite a bit of information about the man and his achievements. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's June 2007 History Now includes an article detailing the benefits and difficulties faced by both Columbus and his men and those people already living in the New World. If you are interested in the geography of Columbus's journeys or his logs, one individual has created a site which includes maps and information about the logs, navigation, the ships, and the crew.

One thing children can understand about Columbus and what he achieved was that he did so by "standing on the shoulders of giants" (a phrase from Isaac Newton). Columbus learned from those who came before him, about navigation, geography, and other cultures. Learning from others and building on that knowledge are strategies we should be helping our students develop. That is a worthy lesson to take from Columbus.

For more information

Try our quiz on Christoper Columbus's portraits!

Joe Jelen's Ads as Primary Sources: The Ad Council's Historic Campaigns

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Photo, Smokey Bear Fire Prevention sign along State Highway 70, Jul. 1960, NARA
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The Ad Council has been producing public service announcements attempting to affect change in society and serve the public interest for nearly 70 years. The campaigns take the form of print, radio, and television advertisements. They have run the spectrum of societal issues, from "Rosie the Riveter" and the campaign to place women in war jobs to contemporary ads related to predatory lending. The Ad Council has brought us memorable characters like Smokey Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and Vince and Larry (the two crash test dummies who convinced us to wear seat belts). But what do these public advertising campaigns say about America? How can we use these ad campaigns to better understand U.S. history?

Through analyzing the ads we can isolate time periods in history and understand what were believed to be the most pressing societal issues of the time. These campaigns tried to decrease behaviors that were believed to lead to social problems or promote behaviors that would lead to a better society. Thus, in seeking to understand the advertisements, we can help students uncover the contemporaneous sociology of the ad campaign.

Where to Start

You can begin by exploring the Ad Council's Historic Campaigns that highlight some of the more notable campaigns in the last 70 years. Each campaign is complete with background information and some have links to PSA videos associated with the campaign. An even more complete retrospective of past advertising campaigns is maintained by the Advertising Educational Foundation and can be accessed here.

How can we use these ad campaigns to better understand U.S. history?

I have found the site particularly useful in helping students understand more recent history. For instance, few would disagree that, socially, the 1980s were rocked by the AIDS epidemic. The site highlights PSAs to prevent the spread of AIDS, which represent a dramatic shift in societal norms with the public call for condom use. The ads on crime prevention featuring McGruff the Crime Dog also help illuminate the 1980s. These ads coincide with America's "war on drugs" and emphasis on law and order during the 1980s. 1970s culture was epitomized by environmental awareness featuring Ad Council PSAs showing Native Americans distraught to find their territory littered. These ads and more can be found in the Historic Campaigns section.

Using Ads in the Classroom

Teaching with advertisements as primary sources is beneficial in two ways. One, students are exposed to yet another example of primary sources that come with their own unique set of historical questions. Two, by learning how to unpack the intent of advertisements on people of the past, students are more apt to be able to recognize advertising manipulation in the present. The Ad Council dedicates a page of resources for educators that includes useful links and frequently asked questions. These pages also identify current advertising campaigns, which might be useful for students to identify some of the important topics of today compared to the important issues they find in earlier decades.

Before having students analyze advertisements as primary sources, it is important to model for students how advertisements should be read. Students should also be made aware of the strengths and limitations of using advertisements to understand the past. An excellent overview of these strengths and weaknesses can be found on page 11 of this guide to primary sources, from the Smithsonian's History Explorer, along with questions to guide students in analyzing advertisements.

By learning how to unpack the intent of advertisements on people of the past, students are more apt to be able to recognize advertising manipulation in the present.

A natural fit to teaching U.S. history through public service announcements would be to have students create their own PSAs. Students could be given a list of pertinent social issues to a particular time period or could be asked to research important topics on their own. Students could write a script and use a pocket camcorder to record their PSA. Editing could be done using iMovie, Windows MovieMaker, or any number of free online video editing tools. The purpose of the assignment is to help students understand the changing nature of social issues in the United States.

Another idea is to have students research the effectiveness of given historic campaigns. The Ad Council maintains a database of reports and figures related to the success of various PSAs. This is a condensed version highlighting the impact of the Ad Council's more famous campaigns. The purpose here is to help students see how effective advertising not only convinces people to buy products, but also can convince people to change behavior for the common good.

Selling Social Issues

The Ad Council works to address the most significant social issues of the day. With that purpose, the Ad Council offers a unique look into making sense of our social past by revealing important issues of the time. Advertisements offer students an opportunity to interpret an overlooked type of primary source of the past and establish connections to the present.

For more information

Looking for more guidelines on using ads in the classroom? Historian Daniel Pope helps you make sense of advertisements, and historian Roger Horowitz analyzes historical documents behind 1950s potato chip advertising campaigns. This syllabus from a university history course also walks you through the steps of analyzing an ad.

Search our Website Reviews using the keyword "advertisement" for reviews of more than 200 websites featuring archived advertisements.

Iowa: 5th-Grade Standards

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(Note: By the completion of fifth grade, Iowa students are expected to master the following standards.)

Subject: Behavioral Sciences

Behavioral sciences include, but are not limited to, the areas of sociology, anthropology and psychology. In addressing these disciplines the actions and reactions of humans are studied through observational and experimental methods.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the changing nature of society.

    • Understand various institutions, ideas, values and behavior patterns change over time.
    • Understand that the decisions of one generation provide the range of possibilities open to the next generation.
    • Understand that human beings can use the memory of their past experiences to make judgments about new situations.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the influences on individual and group behavior and group decision making.

    • Understand that people involved in a dispute often have different points of view.
    • Understand that communicating different points of view in a dispute can often help people to find a satisfactory compromise.
    • Understand that resolving a conflict by force rather than compromise can lead to more problems.
    • Understand that if a conflict cannot be settled by compromise, it may be decided by a vote if everyone agrees to accept the results.
    • Understand that family, groups and community influence the individual's daily life and personal choices.
    • Understand stereotyping.
    • Understand the role of cultural unity and diversity within and across groups.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how personality and socialization impact the individual.

    • Understand that various factors contribute to the shaping of a person's identity.
    • Understand that human beings have different interests, motivations, skills, and talents.
    • Understand the rights and responsibilities of the individual in relation to his/her social group.
    • Understand various meanings of social group, general implications of group membership, and different ways that groups function.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the process of how humans develop, learn, adapt to their environment, and internalize their culture.

    • Understand the fundamental concepts of growth and development.
    • Understand learning and physical development affect behavior.
    • Understand personal changes over time, such as those related to physical development and personal issues.
    • Understand that language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations are expressions of culture.
    • Understand that interactions among learning, inheritance, and physical development affect human behavior.
    • Understand that group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand current social issues to determine how the individual formulates opinions and responds to issues.

    • Understand that the way a person views an issue reflects personal beliefs, experiences, and attitudes.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how to evaluate social research and information.

    • Understand the use of research procedures and skills to investigate an issue.

Subject: Economics

Economics addresses the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The concept of scarcity is understood to mean that available resources are insufficient to satisfy the wants and needs of everyone. Economics is therefore founded upon the alternative use of available resources and the study of choices.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the role of scarcity and economic trade-offs and how economic conditions impact people’s lives.

    • Understand that goods and services are scarce because there are not enough resources to satisfy all of the wants of individuals, governments, and societies
    • Understand that consumers buy less of products and services when prices go up and buy more when prices go down.
    • Understand that businesses are willing to sell more products and services when prices go up and less when the price goes down.
    • Understand the concept of unemployment.
    • Understand the importance of work.
    • Understand how competition among sellers results in lowers costs and higher product quality.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the functions of economic institutions.

    • Understand that banks provide money to consumers and serve as the intermediary between savers and borrowers.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how governments throughout the world influence economic behavior.

    • Understand that the government pays for goods and services it provides by taxing and borrowing.
    • Understand that all societies have developed economic systems and there are advantages and disadvantages to each type of system.
    • Understand when consumers buy goods some of the money that goes to the business is used to pay for resources and taxes.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand people in all parts of the world trade with one another.

    • Understand the basic concept of trading.
    • Understand that different currencies are used throughout the world.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand factors that create patterns of interdependence in the world economy.

    • Understand that when countries specialize they become more interdependent.
    • Understand the impact of increasing economic interdependence in different regions of the world.
    • Understand that local goods and services are part of the global economy.
    • Understand the concepts of exports and imports.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand that advancing technologies impact the global economy.

    • Understand that technologies have costs and benefits associated with them.
    • Understand that new inventions reflect people's needs and wants; and when these change, technology changes to reflect the new needs and wants.
    • Understand that the design process is a series of methodical steps for turning ideas into useful products and systems.
    • Understand that the manufacturing process includes designing product, gathering the resources, and producing a finished product.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand that advancing technologies impact the global economy.

    • Understand that there are producers and consumers in all economies.
    • Understand supply and demand in various types of economies.
    • Understand that production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services are economic decisions with which all societies and nations must deal.
    • Understand how nations throughout the world have joined with one another to promote economic development and growth.
    • Understand barriers to trade among people across nations.

Subject: Geography

Geography is the study of the interaction between people and their environments. Geography therefore looks at the world through the concepts of location, place, human-environmental interaction, movement, and region.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the use of geographic tools to locate and analyze information about people, places, and environments.

    • Understand political, topographical and historical maps, aerial photos and maps.
    • Understand the use of mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
    • Understand the concepts of title, legend, cardinal directions, distance, grids.
    • Understand the use of data sources, atlases, data bases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.
    • Understand the spatial elements of point, line, area and volume.
    • Understand the representations of major physical and human features on maps and globes.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how geographic and human characteristics create culture and define regions.

    • Understand the characteristics of regions--physical and cultural.
    • Understand regions change over time and the causes and consequences of these changes.
    • Understand ways regional, ethnic, and national cultures influence individuals' daily lives.
    • Understand how people from different cultures think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions.
    • Understand language, stories, folktales, music and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how human factors and the distribution of resources affect the development of society and the movement of populations.

    • Understand causes and effects of human migration.
    • Understand reasons for the growth and decline of settlements.
    • Understand density and sparcity in terms of human settlement.
    • Understand the relationship between population growth and resource use.
    • Understand the concepts of renewable and non-renewable resources.
    • Understand recycling.
    • Understand the relation between economic activities and natural resources in areas.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how physical processes and human actions modify the environment and how the environment affects humans.

    • Understand the characteristics of places are shaped by physical and human processes.
    • Understand humans interact and adapt to the physical environment.
    • Understand ways to monitor science and technology in order to protect the physical environment, individual rights and the common good.
    • Understand laws and policies that govern the environment.

Subject: History

History is the study and analysis of the past. Built upon a foundation of historical knowledge, history seeks to analyze the past in order to describe the relationship between historical facts, concepts, and generalizations. History draws upon cause and effect relationships within multiple social narratives to help explain complex human interactions. Understanding the past provides context for the present and implications for the future.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand historical patterns, periods of time and the relationships among these elements.

    • Understand the similarities and differences between various civilizations within a time period.
    • Understand problems, issues, and dilemmas of life in the past and their causes.
    • Understand differences in life today compared to life in the past
    • Understand causes and effects of events within a time period.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how and why people create, maintain, or change systems of power, authority, and governance.

    • Understand groups and institutions work to meet individual needs and the common good of all.
    • Understand that belief systems affect government policies and laws.
    • Understand the consequences of governmental decisions.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the role of culture and cultural diffusion on the development and maintenance of societies.

    • Understand ways culture has influenced interactions of various groups.
    • Understand ways culture affects decisions of a society, group or individual.
    • Understand major historical events and developments that involved interaction among various groups.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the role of individuals and groups within a society as promoters of change or the status quo.

    • Understand roles of important individuals and groups in technological and scientific fields.
    • Understand that specific individuals had a great impact on history
    • Understand the people, events, problems, and ideas that were significant in creating the history of their state.
    • Understand how democratic values have been exemplified by people, events, and symbols.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the effect of economic needs and wants on individual and group decisions.

    • Understands factors that shaped the economic system in the United States.
    • Understand that economic activities in the community have changed over time.
    • Understand that the types of work local community members do have changed over time.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the effects of geographic factors on historical events.

    • Understand varying landforms and geographic features and their importance in the development of communities.
    • Understand seasons, climate, and weather, environmental change and crises affect social and economic development.
    • Understand major land and water routes of explorers.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the role of innovation on the development and interaction of societies.

    • Understand the influence of cultural, scientific, and technological decisions on societies.
    • Understand ways science and technology have changed the way people think about the natural world
    • Understands that the use of technology in the local community has changed over time.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand cause and effect relationships and other historical thinking skills in order to interpret events and issues.

    • Understand processes important to reconstructing and interpreting the past.
    • Understand the historical perspective including cause and effect.
    • Understand how to view the past in terms of the norms and values of the time.
    • Understand interpretation of data in timelines.

Subject: Political Science/Civic Literacy

Political science is the study of power and authority through the examination of political processes, governmental institutions, and human behavior in a civil society. In this context the study of civics is understood to include the form and function of government. Civic literacy encompasses civics but also addresses the individual’s social and political participation.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the rights and responsibilities of each citizen and demonstrate the value of lifelong civic action.

    • Understand what it means to be a citizen.
    • Understand why civic responsibility is important and know examples of civic responsibility.
    • Understand that Congress passes laws to protect individual rights.
    • Understand how people can participate in their government.
    • Understand what political leaders do and why leadership is necessary in a democracy.
    • Understand opportunities for leadership and public service in the student’s own classroom, school, community, state, and the nation.
    • Understand the importance of voluntarism as a characteristic of American society.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand how the government established by the Constitution embodies the enduring values and principles of democracy and republicanism.

    • Understand the fundamental values and principles of American democracy.
    • Understand the difference between power and authority.
    • Understand fundamental values and principles of American democracy are expressed in documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, as well as in American songs, stories, and speeches.
    • Understand the costs and benefits of diversity in American society.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the purpose and function of each of the three branches of government established by the Constitution.

    • Understand that the legislative branch passes laws to protect individual rights.
    • Understand that the executive branch carries out and enforces laws to protect individual rights.
    • Understand that the judicial branch, headed by the Supreme Court, makes decisions concerning the law that aim to protect individual rights.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the differences among local, state and national government.

    • Understand the roles of local, state and national government and the roles of representative leaders at these levels such as mayor, governor and President.
    • Understand major services provided by national, state, and local governments.
    • Understand how national, state and local government officials are chosen.

Essential Concept and/or Skill:

Understand the role of the United States in current world affairs.

    • Understand that the world is divided into many different nations with each one having its own government.
    • Understand the major ways nations interact with each other such as trade, diplomacy, cultural contacts, treaties or agreements, and use of military force.
    • Understand factors that contribute to cooperation and cause disputes within and among groups and nations.

Virginia's Fifth Grade Standards

Article Body

Strand / Topic: United States History to 1877

Standard / Strand: Skills

  • USI.1 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will develop skills for historical and geographical analysis, including the ability to

    • USI.1a) Indicator: Identify and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history to 1877;
    • USI.1b) Indicator: Make connections between the past and the present;
    • USI.1c) Indicator: Sequence events in United States history from pre-Columbian times to 1877;
    • USI.1d) Indicator: Interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives;
    • USI.1e) Indicator: Evaluate and discuss issues orally and in writing;
    • USI.1f) Indicator: Analyze and interpret maps to explain relationships among landforms, water features, climatic characteristics, and historical events;
    • USI.1g) Indicator: Distinguish between parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude;
    • USI.1h) Indicator: Interpret patriotic slogans and excerpts from notable speeches and documents.

  • USI.2 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will use maps, globes, photographs, pictures, and tables to

    • USI.2a) Indicator: Locate the seven continents;
    • USI.2b) Indicator: Locate and describe the location of the geographic regions of North America

      Coastal Plain, Appalachian Mountains, Canadian Shield, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Basin and Range, and Coastal Range;

    • USI.2c) Indicator: Locate and identify the water features important to the early history of the United States: Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Ohio River, Columbia River, Colorado River, Rio Grande, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico.

  • USI.3 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of how early cultures developed in North America by

    • USI.3a) Indicator: Locating where the American Indians (First Americans) settled, with emphasis on Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plains (Sioux), Southwest (Pueblo), and Eastern Woodland (Iroquois);
    • USI.3b) Indicator: Describing how the American Indians (First Americans) used their environment to obtain food, clothing, and shelter.

  • USI.4 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of European exploration in North America and West Africa by

    • USI.4a) Indicator: Describing the motivations, obstacles, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English explorations;
    • USI.4b) Indicator: Describing cultural interactions between Europeans and American Indians (First Americans) that led to cooperation and conflict;
    • USI.4c) Indicator: Identifying the location and describing the characteristics of West African societies (Ghana, Mali, and Songhai) and their interactions with traders.

  • USI.5 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of the factors that shaped colonial America by

    • USI.5a) Indicator: Describing the religious and economic events and conditions that led to the colonization of America;
    • USI.5b) Indicator: Comparing and contrasting life in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies, with emphasis on how people interacted with their environment;
    • USI.5c) Indicator: Describing colonial life in America from the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, indentured servants, and slaves;
    • USI.5d) Indicator: Identifying the political and economic relationships between the colonies and England.

  • USI.6 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of the causes and results of the American Revolution by

    • USI.6a) Indicator: Identifying the issues of dissatisfaction that led to the American Revolution;
    • USI.6b) Indicator: Identifying how political ideas shaped the revolutionary movement in America and led to the Declaration of Independence, with emphasis on the ideas of John Locke;
    • USI.6c) Indicator: Describing key events and the roles of key individuals in the American Revolution, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine;
    • USI.6d) Indicator: Explaining reasons why the colonies were able to defeat Britain.

  • USI.7 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of the challenges faced by the new nation by

    • USI.7a) Indicator: Identifying the weaknesses of the government established by the Articles of Confederation;
    • USI.7b) Indicator: Identifying the basic principles of the new government established by the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights;
    • USI.7c) Indicator: Identifying the conflicts that resulted in the emergence of two political parties;
    • USI.7d) Indicator: Describing the major accomplishments of the first five presidents of the United States.

  • USI.8 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of westward expansion and reform in America from 1801 to 1861 by

    • USI.8a) Indicator: Describing territorial expansion and how it affected the political map of the United States, with emphasis on the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the acquisitions of Florida, Texas, Oregon, and California;
    • USI.8b) Indicator: Identifying the geographic and economic factors that influenced the westward movement of settlers;
    • USI.8c) Indicator: Describing the impact of inventions, including the cotton gin, the reaper, the steamboat, and the steam locomotive, on life in America;
    • USI.8d) Indicator: Identifying the main ideas of the abolitionist and suffrage movements.

  • USI.9 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of the causes, major events, and effects of the Civil War by

    • USI.9a) Indicator: Describing the cultural, economic, and constitutional issues that divided the nation;
    • USI.9b) Indicator: Explaining how the issues of states' rights and slavery increased sectional tensions;
    • USI.9c) Indicator: Identifying on a map the states that seceded from the Union and those that remained in the Union;
    • USI.9d) Indicator: Describing the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas ''Stonewall'' Jackson, and Frederick Douglass in events leading to and during the war;
    • USI.9e) Indicator: Using maps to explain critical developments in the war, including major battles;
    • USI.9f) Indicator: Describing the effects of war from the perspectives of Union and Confederate soldiers (including black soldiers), women, and slaves.

  • USI.10 Indicator / Standard:

    The student will demonstrate knowledge of the effects of Reconstruction on American life by

    • USI.10a) Indicator: Identifying the provisions of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and their impact on the expansion of freedom in America;
    • USI.10b) Indicator: Describing the impact of Reconstruction policies on the South.

Wyoming's Fifth Grade Standards

Article Body

  • WY.1. Content Standard: Citizenship/Government/Democracy

    Students demonstrate how structures of power, authority, and governance have developed historically and continue to evolve.

    • 1.1. Benchmark:

      Students identify the rights, duties, and responsibilities of a U.S. citizen.

    • 1.2. Benchmark:

      Students understand the historical perspective and issues involved in the development of the U.S. Constitution.

    • 1.3. Benchmark:

      Students recognize the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and other amendments and are able to identify those principles in real-life scenarios.

  • WY.2. Content Standard: Culture/Cultural Diversity

    Students demonstrate an understanding of different cultures and how these cultures have contributed and continue to contribute to the world in which they live.

    • 2.1. Benchmark:

      Students explain how family systems, religion, language, literature, and the arts contribute to the development of cultures.

    • 2.2. Benchmark:

      Students describe cultural diversity and the interdependence of cultures.

  • WY.3. Content Standard: Production, Distribution, and Consumption

    Students demonstrate an understanding of economic principles and concepts and describe the influence of economic factors on societies.

    • 3.1. Benchmark:

      Students communicate how economic considerations influence personal, local, state, national, and international decision-making.

    • 3.2. Benchmark:

      Students describe the systems of exchange of past and present.

    • 3.3. Benchmark:

      Students recognize basic concepts of economic systems.

  • WY.4. Content Standard: Time, Continuity and Change

    Students demonstrate an understanding of the people, events, problems, ideas, and cultures that were significant in the history of our community, state, nation and world.

    • 4.1. Benchmark:

      Students identify people, events, problems, conflicts, and ideas and explain their historical significance.

    • 4.2. Benchmark:

      Students discuss current events to better understand the world in which they live.

    • 4.3. Benchmark:

      Students analyze the impact of historical events and people on present conditions, situations, or circumstances.

  • WY.5. Content Standard: People, Places, and Environments

    Students demonstrate an understanding of interrelationships among people, places, and environments.

    • 5.1. Benchmark:

      Students use charts, maps, and graphs to answer questions dealing with people, places, events, or environments.

    • 5.2. Benchmark:

      Students apply the themes of geography to topics being studied.

    • 5.3. Benchmark:

      Students demonstrate an ability to organize and process spatial information; i.e., You Are Here maps of various areas.

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