Jennifer Orr on Teaching Failure

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photography, an unwitting victim, 8 Jan 2010, Flickr CC
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Human beings are not perfect. That seems fairly obvious as we see examples of it every day. I prove it to myself quite regularly.

In spite of that, we teach many famous people as if they were flawless. There are several problems with this approach. For one, not only does this give students an incomplete, inaccurate view of those who helped shape our history, it also sets our students up to avoid academic risks. In addition, it suggests that failure or struggles are negative rather than opportunities to grow and learn.

Suggesting that only perfect human beings can change the world or make a difference, means students will never see these possibilities for themselves.

No one in history has achieved greatness without some struggles along the way. Walt Disney declared bankruptcy on the way to success with Disney Studios. Upon Thomas Jefferson’s death his estate was saddled with debt. Winston Churchill’s career is a study in trying again after failing to achieve. If we only teach students about the achievements and successes in the lives of these individuals we create a picture that is inaccurate.

Suggesting that only perfect human beings can change the world or make a difference means students will never see these possibilities for themselves. Knowing that Abraham Lincoln lost about as many elections as he won shows students that failure is a part of life and not a dead end. If they only learn of Lincoln’s childhood determination for education and his eventual presidency they see a man who is too perfect and therefore cannot serve as a role model for their lives.

In fact, failures are often necessary steps on the way to a future success. Thomas Edison saw all his failed attempts as simply pieces of his eventual achievement. Each failure taught him something new. Fearing failure and seeing it as negative make taking risks something to be avoided. Students should see failures as something to celebrate and learn from. As it stands now, unfortunately, we look at failures as shameful and things to be avoided at all costs.

In fact, failures are often necessary steps on the way to a future success.

We should be presenting historical figures to students in accurate, complete ways. We should be encouraging them to take risks as learners. We should be helping them grow through their struggles and failures rather than avoiding them. This will require significant changes in how teachers approach lessons and students, but history is one area in which we can easily begin.

Many resources available for teaching young children about historical figures present those individuals without any flaws. Teaching a more complete picture falls on us. My class often creates data retrieval charts about famous figures we study. Typically we include the person’s name, dates of birth and death, contributions to our country, and interesting facts. Adding a column about challenges is one way to help students explore historical figures more fully.

Having these ideas in black and white in front of us also allows us to discuss why those challenges or failures might have been important in an individual’s life. Students make connections to their own lives when they talk and explore a historical figure’s contributions and challenges. It allows them to see themselves in our country’s history and to envision their future in powerful new ways.

For more information

What historical figures come to mind for teaching about failure? Scientists and inventors often make mistakes or take wrong turns in their quests for success. Sometimes those failures lead to new discoveries!

Check out our Website Reviews for resources on innovators from Alexander Graham Bell to Barbara McClintock.

What about authors who wrote for years before being published, or politicians who lost elections only to try again? Failure was part of the lives of all historical figures, even the most successful.

Minnesota: Kindergarten Standards

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In kindergarten, students are introduced to the four social studies
disciplines of citizenship and government, economics, geography and
history. They learn the importance of rules and demonstrate basic skills
that reflect civic values. Students begin to identify things that define
America’s civic identity, while also learning how cultures differ from one
another. They use simple geographical tools and historical stories to
explore various places and times. Students also develop an understanding
of basic economic concepts related to scarcity—a key concept in the decision making process.

Social Studies Strand 1: Citizenship & Government

Substrand 1: Civic Skills

  • 1. Democratic government depends on informed and engaged citizens who exhibit civic skills and values, practice civic discourse, vote and participate in elections, apply inquiry and analysis skills, and take action to solve problems and shape public policy.
    • 0.1.1.1.1 Demonstrate civic skills in a classroom that reflect an understanding of civic values.
      For example:
      Civic skills—listening to others, participating in class discussions, taking turns, sharing with others, cooperating in class activities, wise or judicious exercise of authority.
      Civic values—fairness, individual dignity, self-control, justice, responsibility, courage, honesty, common good, respect, friendship.

Substrand 2: Civic Values and Principles of Democracy

  • 2. The civic identity of the United States is shaped by historical figures, places and events, and by key foundational documents and other symbolically important artifacts.
    • 0.1.2.2.1 Describe symbols, songs and traditions that identify our nation and state.

      • For example: American Flag, bald eagle, White House, Statue of Liberty, Pledge of Allegiance, Minnesota state flag.

    • Substrand 4: Governmental Institutions and Political Processes

  • 8. The primary purposes of rules and laws within the United States constitutional government are to protect individual rights, promote the general welfare and provide order.
    • 0.1.4.8.1 Identify examples of rules in the school community and explain why they exist; describe incentives for following rules and consequences for breaking rules.

Social Studies Strand 2: Economics

Substrand 1: Economic Reasoning Skills

  • 1. People make informed economic choices by identifying their goals, interpreting and applying data, considering the short- and long-run costs and benefits of alternative choices and revising their goals based on their analysis.
    • 0.2.1.1.1 Distinguish between individual needs (conditions necessary to survive) and individual wants (conditions desired to be happy).

      • For example:
      Needs—to be fed, to be free from thirst, to be sheltered.
      Wants—to be entertained, to be educated, to be famous, to be strong, to be helpful to others.

    • 0.2.1.1.2 Identify goods and services that could satisfy a specific need or want.

      • For example:
      The need to be free from thirst could be satisfied by water, milk or orange juice. The desire (want) to be entertained could be satisfied by a toy, an amusement park ride or watching a movie.

Substrand 3: Fundamental Concepts

  • 5. Individuals, businesses and governments interact and exchange goods, services and resources in different ways and for different reasons; interactions between buyers and sellers in a market determines the price and quantity exchanged of a good, service or resource.
    • 0.2.3.5.1 Distinguish between goods (objects that can be seen or touched) and services (actions or activities).
      For example:
      Goods—apple, shirt, toy.
      Services—haircut, bus ride, bicycle repair.

Social Studies Strand 3: Geography

Substrand 1: Geospatial Skills

  • 1. People use geographic representations and geospatial technologies to acquire, process and report information within a spatial context.
    • 0.3.1.1.1 Describe spatial information depicted in simple drawings and pictures.

      • For example:
      While looking at a picture, the student says, "The boy is in front of the house. The house is at the edge of the woods." Other words describing spatial information in a picture include up, down, left, right, near, far, back, in front of.

    • 0.3.1.1.2 Describe a map and a globe as a representation of a space.

Substrand 2: Places and Regions

  • 3. Places have physical characteristics (such as climate, topography and vegetation) and human characteristics (such as culture, population, political and economic systems).
    • 0.3.2.3.1 Identify the physical and human characteristics of places, including real and imagined places.

      • For example:
      Physical characteristics—landforms (Rocky Mountains, Mount Everest), ecosystems (forest), bodies of water (Hudson Bay, Indian Ocean, Amazon River), soil, vegetation, weather and climate.
      Human characteristics—structures (Great Wall of China, Eiffel Tower), bridges (Golden Gate Bridge), canals (Erie Canal), cities, political boundaries, population distribution, settlement patterns, language, ethnicity, nationality, religious beliefs.

Social Studies Strand 4: History

Substrand 1: Historical Thinking Skills

  • 1. Historians generally construct chronological narratives to characterize eras and explain past events and change over time.
    • 0.4.1.1.1 Use a variety of words to reference time in the past, present and future; identify the beginning, middle and end of historical stories.

      • For example:
      Words referencing time—yesterday, today, tomorrow, now, long ago, before, after, morning, afternoon, night, days, weeks, months, years.

  • 2. Historical inquiry is a process in which multiple sources and different kinds of historical evidence are analyzed to draw conclusions about how and why things happened in the past.
    • 0.4.1.2.1 Describe ways people learn about the past.

      • For example:
      Learning from elders, photos, artifacts, buildings, diaries, stories, videos.

Substrand 2: Peoples, Cultures and Change Over Time

  • 4. The differences and similarities of cultures around the world are attributable to their diverse origins and histories, and interactions with other cultures throughout time.
    • 0.3.2.3.1 Compare and contrast traditions in a family with those of other families, including those from diverse backgrounds.

      • For example:
      How families celebrate or commemorate personal milestones such as birthdays, family or community religious observances, the new year, national holidays such as the Fourth of July or Thanksgiving.

Women Taking History: Women's History Month 2011

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Photo, Woman with camera, White House, Washington, D.C., Apr. 8, 1922, LoC
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African American History Month ends, and Women's History Month begins! Take a glance around the internet, and you'll find plenty of resources for teaching women's history—whether it be the Seneca Falls Convention, heroes of the American Revolution and the Civil War, social activists, First Ladies, workers during the World Wars, jazz and blues stars, or presidential candidates. You'll find photographs of many of these women, too—working in factories, on the campaign trail, helping the wounded, conducting scientific experiments.

But who takes these photographs? Who makes these images that become the records of history? Aren't the people behind the camera as significant as the ones in front of it?

Of course they are, though they can easily be forgotten. When we look at photographs of Amelia Earhart, we rarely ask who took the photo. When we're struck by a picture of New York during 9/11, do we ever ask if it was snapped by a man or a woman?

Explore women's history behind the camera this Women's History Month. What have women chosen to capture on film, as they record and live through history?

Taking Photos and Making History
  • The Kansas Historical Society tells the story of Alice Gardiner Sennrich, a professional photographer early in photography's commercial history. Born in 1878, Sennrich purchased a Kansas photography studio in 1902, and ran it throughout her life, including after her marriage. Recognized by the National Association of Photographers, she was also active in the Photographers Association of Kansas (PAK), an organization that had active female members since its founding. You can hear more about Sennrich in this podcast by the Society.
  • During the Great Depression, the Federal Government gave photographers, both men and women, work documenting the lives of ordinary U.S. citizens and the social conditions of the day. The Library of Congress's American Memory collection From the Great Depression to World War II: Photos from the FSA-OWI preserves more than 150,000 of these photographs. Try browsing the collections' black-and-white and color photos by creator. Look for women's names and work—and remember to check names with only a first initial and a surname! These may be women, too. Giving only a first initial was (and remains) one way to avoid being judged (at least in print) by gender.
  • Photographs aren't always taken as documentation. Sometimes, they're carefully composed as art. The online archive Women Artists of the American West showcases the artwork of 19th- and 20th-century Western women. Photography exhibits include photographs by white women of Pueblo arts and crafts workers (many of them women), taken from 1900 to 1935; modern art photography by Native women; landscape photography by Laura Gilpin (1891–1979); and 1972–1997 lesbian photography (some pages contain nudity). The Women in International Photography Archive, collects essays on more than 25 women photographers.
  • For an example of a modern photographer using her work as part of a political journalistic career, check out Jo Freeman.com. A writer, lawyer, and activist, Freeman's site features her photographs of Democratic and Republican conventions, marches and protests, New York after 9/11, the Chicago riot following Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm's 1972 campaign for the presidency.

If photographs aren't enough, branch out into art, journalism, fiction and nonfiction writing, and other ways of recording and responding to the world, all meant for the public eye. What have women created and documented? What were their (myriad, uncountable) reasons for crafting "snapshots" and composing reactions? Women make history when they're behind its lens, as well as in front!

Further Resources

Looking for more resources? Take a quiz on women in history, with our weekly quiz archive! See how well you do on quizzes with subjects like women in the West. Search our Website Reviews, as well—we've reviewed and annotated more than 200 websites with women's history content.

If you'd still like more, these organizations feature content and pages created just for Women's History Month:

For more information

Speaking of photographs, the Smithsonian is looking for help identifying women in photographs with missing or incomplete background information. Take a look and see if you can help out!

Brookgreen Gardens

Description

In 1931 Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington founded Brookgreen Gardens, a non-profit 501(c) (3) garden museum, to preserve the native flora and fauna and display objects of art within that natural setting.

Today, Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark with the most significant collection of figurative sculpture, in an outdoor setting, by American artists in the world, and has the only zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on the coast of the Carolinas.

In 2010, the Brookgreen Gardens Education Department provided field trip experiences for 4,093 students with South Carolina curriculum-based programs about History, Art, and Nature. Additionally, our annual curriculum-based special event for Horry and Georgetown County students, “Gullah Gullah Days,” a third-grade social studies program, provided educational enrichment for 1,708 students.

Programs generally are 50-minutes in length. History programs are: “Creek Excursion”, “Stretching and Growing: Children on Lowcountry Rice Plantations: and “Rice Plantation Exploration.” Cultural presentations offered are: “Gullah Lessons on History, Family & Respect”, “Gullah/Geechee Rhythms”, and “Priscilla’s Posse, A (Simulated) Press Conference about Gullah Heritage.” Teachers receive pre-visit Program Information Sheets that detail: content area, grade, maximum number of students, South Carolina State Standards, and program description. Program descriptions also are available at www.brookgreen/org, after viewers click on Education.

The Children’s Discovery Room attracts numerous enthusiastic public guests. Its seven interactive stations target 4- to 12-year-olds and reflect the history, nature, and art of Brookgreen Gardens. Educators also may gain historical enrichment through visiting one of the following Public programs: Gullah/Geechee Program Series, the Lowcountry Trail Audio Tour, Oaks History and Nature Trail, the Creek Excursion, and the “Lowcountry Change & Continuity” exhibit.

African American History Month 2011

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Photo, Navy baseball team--Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, Sept. 1944, NARA
Photo, Navy baseball team--Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, Sept. 1944, NARA
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It's February! Resources throughout the web stand ready to provide you with lessons and primary source materials for Black History Month (also known as African American History Month), but African American history stretches far beyond the confines of one month and the narrative litany of a handful of cultural heroes. Maybe you want to go beyond Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, and Jackie Robinson. What stories can you uncover beyond the headlining stories textbooks provide? Remind your students of the complexity of African American history with these resources.

Documenting African American History
  • The New York Times' lesson plan "Stories to Tell: Curating an African-American History Exhibit" introduces students to the difficulties in curating a large museum—or even just one exhibit. How can curators for the developing Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture create a museum that honors all of African American history?
  • Search the Carnegie Museum of Art's Teenie Harris Archive Project for photographs taken by photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris for the Pittsburgh Courier. Published from 1907 to 1965, the Courier was a major African American newspaper, and these photographs show Harris's journalistic perspective on Pittsburgh events of all scales. Use the keywords "Teenie Harris," along with others related to your topic of interest, to find images of life at school, home, community events, church, work, and out on the town.
  • The Smithsonian National Museum of American History's Portraits of a City provides a similar photographic record of a place. The Scurlocks ran studios in DC for much of the 20th century, documenting African American life in the nation's capital.
  • The Library of Congress's American Memory collection The African American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920 focuses on the themes of slavery, politics, and religion. Its wide range of primary-source documents, including thousands of newspaper articles, can help students construct a view of just what the collection's title implies.
  • High-quality photographs in the National Archives and Records Administration's "Pictures of African Americans During World War II" could give students a look into another kind of community—one that formed both overseas and on the home front during war.
Looking for More Suggestions?

If none of these resources fit into your curriculum or spark your interests, there's plenty where they came from. Search our Website Reviews using the topic "African Americans," and you'll turn up close to 300 websites, on topics ranging from Marcus Garvey to the construction of race to Seattle's Black Panthers to sheet music by and about African Americans. Or test your African American history knowledge in our weekly quiz feature! You and your students can take online quizzes on African American baseball players and other athletes, the historical accuracy of the film Glory, Jim Crow laws, and foodways.

You can also explore the African American History Month pages of history and educational organizations, including:

Where Experience Meets Practicality

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Photography, Flat Classroom Workshop, 17 Sept 2009, Flickr CC
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Over the course of the many different TAH grants in which the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) has participated, it has become increasingly clear that listening and sharing are not just skills taught in kindergarten to get children through elementary school. Rather, they are essential skills for life, particularly when your work requires constant collaboration with a wide range of groups, including teachers, scholars, libraries, museums, and school administrators. It has also become clear that it is through listening and sharing with these many different stakeholders that the most rewarding results are achieved. This is where we find ways to make the experiences we provide meet practice in the classroom.

Institutions like museums and libraries have a unique set of resources that can enrich and revive teachers’ intellectual lives and interest in history. Beyond access to primary sources, these institutions can also provide valuable interactions with historians and curators. This is not always easy, however. One of the most common criticisms among teachers throughout our most recent TAH grant has been that while the scholars have offered a lot of interesting information, most of it is inapplicable to their classroom or grade level. In answer to this repeated concern, the TAH team, which included the AAS, Old Sturbridge Village, and the Worcester Public Schools, decided to offer separate sessions with the scholars for the different grade levels, and encouraged the scholars to follow a more informal, interactive lecture format. The feedback has been very positive and the teachers have begun to fully appreciate what specialty speakers have to offer.

Institutions like museums and libraries have a unique set of resources that can enrich and revive teachers’ intellectual lives and interest in history.

This grade-level specific content has also extended to breakout sessions, where elementary and high school teachers are looking for very different pedagogical approaches to the material. In particular, elementary teachers have often commented on the limited time they have to teach Social Studies and History, and are always looking for ways to teach the material quickly and powerfully. One way in which the team has attempted to rectify this problem is to focus on images and graphic arts. Elementary teachers have found that analyzing an image can often provide a poignant and thorough introduction to a historical subject.

Another approach has been to provide ideas about how to make history interdisciplinary, particularly highlighting its ability to connect to the English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum. In some cases, the district’s ELA coordinator has presented at professional development workshops to illustrate how history can become a focal point for teaching ELA. Other workshops on the elementary level have incorporated math and science skills into a history lesson. By adjusting to the teachers’ constraints in the classroom, the professional development we provided became much more applicable and exciting for the teachers.

Elementary teachers have found that analyzing an image can often provide a poignant and thorough introduction to a historical subject.

Finally, the introduction of “teacher-coaches” to the program has been a great buoy to both the coaches and their colleagues. Among the requirements to become a teacher-coach is an independent original research project conducted in the AAS collections. Each of the coaches presents a workshop based on their research at one of the TAH professional development days. The enthusiasm these teacher-coaches gain for their subject through in-depth research brings energy into their workshops, and their ability to translate the material to classroom activities for their colleagues is greatly appreciated. Teachers have overwhelmingly deemed this an excellent opportunity for both the teacher-coaches and their colleagues.

"Shared authority" is a term often heard in the museum world these days, but I think it should also extend to collaborative programs such as TAH. By sharing authority between cultural institutions, scholars, and teachers, by really listening to each other and adjusting, by understanding each group's strengths and needs, we can create programming that is thoughtful, useful, and effective.

A Day On, Not a Day Off

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Logo, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
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Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Since 1994 and the signing into law of the King Holiday and Service Act, the holiday is a "day on, not a day off," a national day of service. According to the King Center, King's widow, Coretta Scott King, described the holiday this way:

Every King Holiday has been a national "teach-in" on the values of nonviolence, including unconditional love, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation, which are so desperately needed to unify America. It is a day of intensive education and training in Martin's philosophy and methods of nonviolent social change and conflict-reconciliation. The Holiday provides a unique opportunity to teach young people to fight evil, not people, to get in the habit of asking themselves, "what is the most loving way I can resolve this conflict?"

Maybe you've given your students background on the holiday and prepared them to get involved in the local community today. But Martin Luther King Jr. Day shouldn't be the only day your students are ready to serve—and King isn't the only topic that can connect service and history education.

More Than One Day of Service

President Barack Obama's United We Serve initiative calls on citizens to come together to improve their communities. The government Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service website reflects that call, and provides resources you can draw on throughout the year.

Helping to preserve history can be service, too!

Use this site to familiarize yourself (and your students, depending on their grade level and readiness to organize projects) with service opportunities in your area. Search by city, state, or zip code; register your own project; or read up on planning a project with the site's detailed Action Guides.

Now consider your curriculum and your local community. Don't limit yourself to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, or to the third Monday of January. Think about the Great Depression, the New Deal, the Progressive Era, the women's rights movement, the victory gardens and scrap drives of the World War II homefront, the Berlin Airlift. What sorts of projects might you guide students in initiating (or at least considering) for any of these topics or time periods that would also help them learn—and feel connected to—historical content?

Serving to Preserve

Helping to preserve history can be service, too! Listen to teacher James Percoco speak on teaching with memorials and monuments and think about your local history. Are there places that need young volunteers? Locations that students could research and then prepare their own interpretive materials?

Use Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a reminder not just to memorialize history, but to empower students to connect with, interpret, and preserve it in the service of the present!

Resources on Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sounds good, you say, but maybe you need resources for teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, before you head off onto wider projects. Last year, we recommended a variety of online resources in our Jan. 13 blog entry. Here are those recommendations again—and a few new ones! Remember to search our Website Reviews and try our Lesson Plan Gateway for even more links to great materials.

Presidents in the Library

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Photo, US Flag, Kennedy Library, Boston, Feb. 16, 2009, Tony the Misfit, Flickr
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Happy (almost) Presidents Day! Have your ever thought about all of the papers a presidency must create? Emails, memoranda, schedules, notes, speeches, letters, drafts, on and on and on, an entire term (or terms) set down in a sea of potential primary sources. But how can educators access this wealth of materials?

In many cases, all you have to do is go online. Before the 20th century, presidents had ownership of their papers, and many were lost to time or split up in private collections. However, in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided that his papers should become the property of the American people following his presidency. He donated both his papers and part of his Hyde Park estate to the government, and the first presidential library was born.

In 1955, the Presidential Libraries Act set rules for gifting the government with property and other resources to be used to establish the libraries, and in 1978, the Presidential Records Act made it official—presidential papers were government property.

Today, 13 presidential libraries house the papers of the last 13 presidents. The National Archives and Records Administration, which oversees the libraries, describes them as combination archive-museums, “bringing together in one place the documents and artifacts of a President and his administration and presenting them to the public for study and discussion without regard for political considerations or affiliation.”

Presidential Libraries Online

Each of the libraries maintains its own website. Though the resources available on each vary greatly, almost all provide biographical information on the president and first lady, student and educator sections, and a selection of digitized photographs and documents. Some have extensive searchable databases full of documents, photos, and other primary sources! Here's a list of the libraries:

  • Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, IA — features 13 simple online exhibits and Hoover Online! Digital Archives, a collection of suggested units and lesson plans for secondary students with primary sources.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY — the first presidential library, completed in 1940. Offers five curriculum guides, an online exhibit on the art of the New Deal, and the Pare Lorentz Center, which encourages using multimedia to teach about FDR.
  • Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, Independence, MO — offers a searchable lesson plan database and digitized photographs, audio clips, and political cartoons, as well as documents divided up by topic (topics include such teachable subjects as the decision to drop the atom bomb and Japanese Americans during World War II).
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, KS — features a selection of online documents, grouped by topics (topics include Brown vs. Board of Education, Hawaiian statehood, McCarthyism, and others), and transcripts of oral history interviews.
  • John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, MA — provides six online exhibits (including exhibits on the space program, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and desegregating the University of Mississippi), a photo gallery, major speeches, and a searchable digital archive. It also houses the Ernest Hemingway Collection.
  • Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, Austin, TX — features a photo archive, the presidential daily diary, selected speeches, and the subsite LBJ for Kids!
  • Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Yorba Linda, CA — includes digitized documents, samples of the Nixon tapes, a photo gallery, video oral histories, four lesson plans, and online exhibits on Watergate, gifts to the head of state, and Nixon's meeting with Elvis.
  • Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, MI — features 10 simple online exhibits, as well as digitized documents and photos.
  • Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Atlanta, GA — offers selected documents and photographs, including the diary of Robert C. Ode, hostage in the Iran Hostage Crisis.
  • Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, CA — includes an image archive arranged by topic, and the public papers of Reagan, arranged by month and year.
  • George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, College Station, TX — includes 12 lesson plans, a photo archive, and searchable public papers of his presidency.
  • William J. Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, AR — has both virtual exhibits and a digital library in development.
  • George W. Bush Presidential Library — the newest of the public libraries, it does not yet have a permanent building. Many papers from the Bush administration are not yet available to the public (papers become public five years after the end of a presidency, which can be extended up to 12 years).

Remember that many of the presidential libraries offer museum tours and activities for school groups! If your school is close to one, consider a field trip or participating in the professional development opportunities the library may offer.

Beyond the Libraries

Looking for resources on a pre-Hoover president? Several libraries exist outside of the official presidential library system, including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, and the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum. Try the Library of Congress's American Memory collections, as well, for papers that belonged to Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.

Historic Stories, Fictional Accounts: Achieving Multiperspectivity

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Photography, for heart and mind, 21 Jan 2010, Flickr CC
Question

What is the significance of examining historical events from multiple perspectives (i.e. use of fiction, nonfiction, etc.) on an elementary school level?

Answer
Multiple Perspectives

Examining historical events from multiple perspectives introduces elementary students to core aspects of history and historical thinking. And as with much of history, it has relevance to helping students become more prepared for the responsibilities of citizenship, college, and career.

Imagine that students are learning about early American settlements. Depending on where you teach and your curriculum, this might include learning about the Mayflower and Plymouth, Jamestown, or the Missions in California. Students read stories or textbook accounts of these early settlements and they learn the difficulties of the passage here and making a new life in a foreign land.

Students can learn to ask, whose voices are we not hearing?

Yet, this is only part of the story and to get a fuller picture, students need to consider the perspectives of those not necessarily represented in these accounts—most obviously, the perspective of the indigenous peoples who were here when the settlers arrived. (Viewing the settlements from this alternative perspective is not necessarily easy given that the historical record is incomplete, but using artifacts, surviving legends, historic sites, or even settlers’ first hand accounts can help students imagine this perspective.) Considering this missing perspective helps students recognize and articulate that people can experience the same event in different ways.

Students can learn to ask, whose voices are we not hearing? What perspective is not represented? What alternative stories are told about these events? Did participants in these events agree on their meaning? What might account for these differences in perspective?

This is a key piece of doing history—understanding that there are multiple perspectives and multiple stories that surround historical phenomena. And elementary students can learn this. Connections to daily life can be made, as students are familiar with such things as sifting through playmates’ differing accounts of recess events. Multiple perspectives can also be introduced in very concrete ways to young students. They could view something from different locations to see different aspects of it, or use tools such as a cardboard picture frame to see how a frame is selective--including some aspects of the view while ignoring others.

Ideally, students can learn to ask the same questions of daily life and sources that they learn to ask of history: Whose voices are we not hearing? What are the other stories that people tell about this issue? How and why do they differ?

Fiction & Nonfiction

You ask particularly about the use of fiction and nonfiction to teach multiple perspectives. See this entry about “book sets” a strategy for including both to engage students and guide them toward deep understanding of historical events. Also see this roundtable where panelists discuss the use of fiction in the elementary classroom or this blog.

Using both fiction and nonfiction allows students to engage with multiple kinds of text and it allows you, as teacher, to use the texts for different purposes. Good fiction can be used to engage and interest students in the past and help them imagine that past or create a picture of the historical context of the events you are studying. Non-fictional texts, such as primary sources, can be used to explore an experience or perspective in more depth and to represent missing perspectives. Both can be used to challenge students to look across and synthesize texts to create a fuller picture of the past.

A critical aspect of using both fiction and nonfiction texts together is that they give you an opportunity to teach students the difference between the two.

A critical aspect of using both fiction and non-fiction texts together is that they give you an opportunity to teach students the difference between the two. Young students can learn that history is an evidentiary discipline and strives for the most accurate and complete picture of the past, whereas fiction does not have this constraint. While there are examples of fictional stories that try to do the same, this basic distinction is an important one for students to learn.

Teaching young students that history includes multiple stories and perspectives aligns with the Common Core State Standards, and can prepare students for future history classes and academic work. But, more significantly, it is critical for helping students understand that their perspective can be partial and does not represent all peoples—it can help them develop empathy and be more skeptical of the single account as the one true answer in our complex world.

For more information

Also see this Ask a Master Teacher answer about the manner in which multiperspectivity can be used in the history classroom.

West Virginia: Kindergarten Standards

Article Body

Kindergarten Social Studies is an introduction to the lives of interesting people in history, time sequence using historic events, geographic direction and economic choices. The Social Studies program continues the formal introduction of the social responsibility and collaboration skills learned in Pre-Kindergarten. Teachers emphasize the importance of following rules, respecting the rights of others, developing self-control, honesty, courage, justice and leadership. The objectives for elementary West Virginia Social Studies may be integrated throughout the K-3 curriculum. The West Virginia Standards for 21st Century Learning include the following components: 21st Century Content Standards and Objectives and 21st Century Learning Skills and Technology Tools. All West Virginia teachers are responsible for classroom instruction that integrates learning skills, technology tools and content standards and objectives.

Social Studies Standard 1: Citizenship

SS.S.K.01 / Students will:

  • characterize and model good citizenship by building social networks of reciprocity and trustworthiness (Civic Dispositions).
  • model a respect of symbols, ideas and concepts of the United States and analyze the roles of significant individuals (Respect for People, Events, and Symbols).
  • develop and employ the civic skills necessary for effective citizenship by using criteria to make judgments, arrive at and defend positions and evaluate the validity of the positions of data (Evaluation Skills).
  • develop the participatory skills of interacting, monitoring and influencing that are essential for informed, effective and responsible citizenship, including participation in civic life to shape public policy (Participatory Skills).
  • recognize and communicate the responsibilities, privileges and rights of United States citizens (Civic Life).
  • SS.PD.K.1 / Performance Descriptors
    • Novice:
      • able to identify honesty, courage, and patriotism.
      • given the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
      • able to match rules and consequences and identify examples of peaceful conflict resolution.
      • able to take care of personal belongings.
      • able to identify examples of volunteerism.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • able to define honesty, courage, and patriotism.
      • given the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sing patriotic songs, and celebrate national holidays.
      • able to define rules, consequences, and conflict resolution.
      • able to share, perform weekly chores, and care for personal belongings.
      • able to define volunteerism and relate how citizens contribute time.

    • Mastery:
      • able to identify and illustrate examples of honesty, courage, and patriotism.
      • given the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sing patriotic songs, and celebrate national holidays as well as discussing their significance.
      • able to demonstrate the need for rules, consequences, and peaceful conflict resolution.
      • learn to take turns and share, perform daily chores, care for personal belongings, and show respect for others.
      • able to give examples of volunteerism and explain why citizens contribute their time and talents.

    • Above Mastery:
      • able to classify examples of honesty, courage, and patriotism.
      • able to explain the purposes for the Pledge of Allegiance, patriotic songs, and national holidays.
      • given the opportunity to recite, sing, or celebrate each.
      • given the opportunity to examine the roles of rules, consequences, and conflict resolution.
      • given the opportunity to compare behaviors of sharing, performing chores, caring for belongings, and showing respect for others as examples of citizenship.
      • given the opportunity to research areas of volunteerism and choose an area of interest.

    • Distinguished:
      • able to summarize the relationships of honesty, courage, and patriotism.
      • able to justify the reasons for the Pledge of Allegiance, patriotic songs, and national holidays.
      • given opportunities to participate with each one and interpret the relationship of rules and consequences.
      • given opportunities to demonstrate conflict resolution; and convince others to exhibit behaviors of sharing, performing chores, caring for belongings, and showing respect for others.
      • given opportunities to recommend ways they can volunteer their time and talents.

  • Objectives / Students will:
    • SS.O.K.01.01: demonstrate an understanding that a good citizen takes turns and shares, takes responsibility for doing daily chores, cares for personal belongings and shows respect for what belongs to others.
    • SS.O.K.01.02: identify and illustrate examples of honesty, courage, and patriotism.
    • SS.O.K.01.03: identify, discuss and demonstrate the need for rules and the consequences for breaking rules and how to resolve disagreements peacefully.
    • SS.O.K.01.04: be given the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sing patriotic songs and celebrate national holidays, and discuss their significance.
    • SS.O.K.01.05: give examples and explain why citizens voluntarily contribute their time and talents to the community.

Social Studies Standard 2: Civics/Government

SS.S.K.02 / Students will:

  • examine and analyze the purposes and basic principles of the United States government (Purposes of Government).
  • outline and evaluate and analyze the origins and meanings of the principles, ideals, and core democratic values expressed in the foundational documents of the United States (Ideals of United States Democracy).
  • examine and distinguish the structure, function, and responsibilities of governments and the allocation of power at the local, state and national levels (United States Government and Politics).
  • analyze how the world is organized politically and compare the role and relationship of the United States to other nations and to world affairs (United States Government and World Affairs).

  • SS.PD.K.2 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • able to identify authority figures and classroom rules.
      • able to name classroom rules.
      • able to identify patriotic symbols with assistance.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • able to give examples of authority figures.
      • able to explain the importance of classroom rules.
      • able to match patriotic symbols with assistance.

    • Mastery:
      • able to give examples of authority figures and their roles in our daily lives.
      • able to explain the importance of rules and participate in developing rules.
      • able to identify traditional patriotic symbols and are given the opportunity to participate in patriotic activities.

    • Above Mastery:
      • able to categorize the roles of authority figures in their daily lives.
      • able to model behavior in accordance with the classroom rules they have developed.
      • able to discuss the importance of traditional patriotic symbols.

    • Distinguished:
      • able to compare and contrast roles of authority figures.
      • able to apply the classroom rules to other situations.
      • able to explain the importance of traditional patriotic symbols and give examples.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.K.02.01: explain why rules are important and participate in developing rules.
    • SS.O.K.02.02: give examples of authority figures in the home, school and community, and recognize their roles in our daily lives.
    • SS.O.K.02.03: identify traditional patriotic symbols such as state and national flags and be given the opportunity to participate in patriotic activities such as standing for the National Anthem.

Social Studies Standard 3: Economics

SS.S.K.03 / Students will:

  • analyze the role of economic choices in scarcity, supply and demand, resource allocation, decision-making, voluntary exchange and trade-offs (Choices).
  • research, critique and evaluate the roles of private and public institutions in the economy (Institutions).
  • compare and contrast various economic systems and analyze their impact on individual citizens (Economic Systems).
  • illustrate how the factors of production impact the United States economic systems (Factors of Production).
  • analyze the elements of competition and how they impact the economy (Competition).
  • examine and evaluate the interdependence of global economies (Global Economics).

  • SS.PD.K.3 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • able to recognize that people have basic needs and wants.
      • able to identify various occupations in the local community and discuss the concepts of services and goods.
      • able to discuss the concepts of exchanging money for goods and services and of saving for the future.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • able to discuss the basic needs and wants of people.
      • able to discuss various occupations in the local community and understand the difference between services and goods.
      • able to understand the concepts of exchanging money for goods and services and of saving for the future.

    • Mastery:
      • able to discuss the basic needs of people and differentiate between needs and wants.
      • able to give examples of the occupations in the local community and recognize that government provides some services and goods.
      • able to demonstrate the concepts of exchanging money for goods and services and of saving for the future.

    • Above Mastery:
      • able to prioritize the basic needs of people and differentiate between needs and wants.
      • able to research the occupations in the local community and list those services and goods that are provided by the government.
      • able to model the concepts of exchanging money for goods and services and of saving for the future.

    • Distinguished:
      • able to categorize the basic needs of people and differentiate between needs and wants.
      • able to evaluate the occupations in the local community and categorize those services and goods that are provided by the government.
      • able to prioritize goods, estimating their monetary cost, and model a savings program.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.K.03.01: give examples of occupations within the local community.
    • SS.O.K.03.02: discuss the basic needs of people (shelter, food, and clothing) and give examples of each.
    • SS.O.K.03.03: discuss and give examples of economic concepts: needs and wants, exchange of money for goods and services, saving for the future.
    • SS.O.K.03.04: recognize that some goods and services are provided by the government (schools, parks, police and fire departments).

Social Studies Standard 4: Geography

SS.S.K.04 / Students will:

  • interpret and choose maps, globes and other geographic tools to categorize and organize information about personal directions, people, places, and environments (The World in Spatial Terms).
  • examine the physical and human characteristics of place and explain how the lives of people are rooted in places and regions (Places and Regions).
  • analyze the physical processes that shape the earthís surface and create, sustain and modify the cultural and natural environment (Physical Systems).
  • analyze and illustrate how the earth is shaped by the movement of people and their activities (Human Systems).
  • analyze the interaction of society with the environment (Environment and Society).
  • point out geographic perspective and tools and assess techniques available for geographic study (Uses of Geography).

  • SS.PD.K.4 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • able to locate North America as a land mass on which they live, and they locate the Atlantic Ocean as the closest body of water to them.
      • able to identify left/right and up/down.
      • able to list the seasons and identify rain and snow.
      • able to give the name of the city or community in which they live.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • able to locate North and South America and the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean on a globe or map.
      • able to recognize personal directions by using their body or location in a room.
      • able to match the characteristics of a season or type of weather with its name.
      • able to give an example of cities and rural communities in their area.

    • Mastery:
      • able to locate bodies of water and land masses on a globe or map.
      • able to identify community and map symbols and explain the knowledge of left/right, up/down, near/far, and above/under using locations on a map or picture.
      • able to compare and contrast the characteristics of the seasons and describe the characteristics of different types of weather.
      • able to compare and contrast characteristics of city and country life.

    • Above Mastery:
      • able to select land masses or bodies of water on a map that are close to each other and explain their relationship demonstrating knowledge of personal directions to locate their positions.
      • able to give examples and explain the need for community and map symbols.
      • able to give an example of a type of weather that occurs in each season and explain why it is likely to occur.
      • able to justify why their community or city is an urban or a rural area.

    • Distinguished:
      • able to use designated locations of land masses and bodies of water to distinguish relationships to other landmasses and bodies of water found on a globe.
      • able to give examples of community symbols in their area, and use map symbols to locate areas on a map.
      • able to compile a list of the kinds of weather likely to occur for each season.
      • able to when given examples of urban or rural life in their state or community, explain why each example is an urban or rural area.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.K.04.01: locate bodies of water and land masses using a globe or a map.
    • SS.O.K.04.02: demonstrate knowledge of left/right, up/down, near/far and above/under using locations on a map or picture.
    • SS.O.K.04.03: identify community symbols (e.g., traffic signs, traffic lights, street and highway markers) and map symbols (e.g., legend references to land, water, roads and cities) and explain what each one means.
    • SS.O.K.04.04: compare and contrast the characteristics of weather and human adaptation: four seasons, types of weather, types of clothing.
    • SS.O.K.04.05: compare and contrast characteristics of life in the city (urban) and the country (rural).

Social Studies Standard 5: History

SS.S.K.05 / Students will:

  • organize, analyze and compare historical events, distinguish cause-effect relationships, theorize alternative actions and outcomes, and anticipate future application (Chronology).
  • use the processes and resources of historical inquiry to develop appropriate questions, gather and examine evidence, compare, analyze and interpret historical data (Skills and Application).
  • examine, analyze and synthesize historical knowledge of major events, individuals, cultures and the humanities in West Virginia, the United States, and the world (Culture and Humanities).
  • use historical knowledge to analyze local, state, national and global interdependence (Interpretation and Evaluation).
  • examine political institutions and theories that have developed and changed over time; and research and cite reasons for development and change (Political Institutions).

  • SS.PD.K.5 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • able to describe the characteristics of communities and families and recognize that data relates to the studentsí lives.
      • able to discuss differences in other people, times, and cultures; and describe the past through literature, art, customs, and songs.
      • able to understand that there are different sources that are used to answer questions.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • able to discuss the characteristics of communities and families and sequence data as it relates to the studentsí lives.
      • able to describe differences in other people, times, and cultures; and discover the past through literature, art, customs, and songs.
      • able to recognize sources of information to answer questions.

    • Mastery:
      • able to identify characteristics of communities and families and collect and sequence data as it relates to the studentsí lives.
      • able to research the past through literature, art, customs, and songs and explain differences in other people, times, and cultures.
      • able to identify sources of information to answer questions.

    • Above Mastery:
      • able to classify characteristics of communities and families and collect and sequence data as it relates to the studentsí lives.
      • able to discriminate between the differences in other people, times, and cultures.
      • able to relate the past through literature, art, customs, and songs.
      • able to differentiate between the different sources of information that are used to answer questions.

    • Distinguished:
      • able to contrast and compare characteristics of communities and families and interpret data as it relates to the studentsí lives and categorize the differences in other people, times, and cultures.
      • able to reconstruct the past through literature, art, customs, and songs.
      • able to match different sources of information that are used to answer specific questions.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.K.05.01: collect data and sequence time, places, people and events as they relate to the studentís own life.
    • SS.O.K.05.02: identify sources of information to answer questions.
    • SS.O.K.05.03: research the past through stories of people, heroes, pictures, songs, holidays, customs, traditions and legends and explain the differences in other people, time and cultures..
    • SS.O.K.05.04: identify characteristics of communities, families, and family life.

(Note: By the completion of fourth grade, West Virginia students are also expected to master the following standards.)

Elementary West Virginia Studies explore historic, geographic, economic and civic concepts. These objectives shall be appropriately integrated into the kindergarten—fourth grade curriculum. Teachers introduce students to geographic places and regions. The relationship among geographic settlement patterns and economic development of West Virginia will be examined in this course. Students participate in a variety of activities enabling them to identify research and discuss the cultural heritage of the various groups who settled West Virginia. The course content reflects West Virginia’s unique characteristics as well as its national and global relationships. The West Virginia Standards for 21st Century Learning include the following components: 21st Century Content Standards and Objectives and 21st Century Learning Skills and Technology Tools. All West Virginia teachers are responsible for classroom instruction that integrates learning skills, technology tools and content standards and objectives.

Social Studies Standard 1: Citizenship

SS.S.WV.1 / Students will:

  • characterize and model good citizenship by building social networks of reciprocity and trustworthiness (Civic Dispositions).
  • model a respect of symbols, ideas and concepts of the United States and analyze the roles of significant individuals (Respect for People, Events, and Symbols).
  • develop and employ the civic skills necessary for effective citizenship by using criteria to make judgments, arrive at and defend positions and evaluate the validity of the positions of data (Evaluation Skills).
  • develop the participatory skills of interacting, monitoring and influencing that are essential for informed, effective and responsible citizenship, including participation in civic life to shape public policy (Participatory Skills).
  • recognize and communicate the responsibilities, privileges and rights of United States citizens (Civic Life).

  • SS.PD.WV.1 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • list examples of civic responsibility;
      • give an example of volunteering locally; and
      • define good citizenship.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • give examples for civic responsibilities, privileges, and rights;
      • identify a local problem define volunteerism;
      • discuss behavior that demonstrates good citizenship.

    • Mastery:
      • categorize and give examples of civic responsibilities, privileges, and rights;
      • propose solutions to a local problem volunteer to help;
      • model behavior that demonstrates good citizenship.

    • Above Mastery:
      • explain the importance of civic responsibilities, privileges and rights;
      • research local problems, choose one, and propose a solution;
      • defend reasons for being a good citizen.

    • Distinguished:
      • summarize the differences between civic responsibilities, privileges, and rights;
      • choose a local problem and develop a plan to implement a solution;
      • assess characteristics of good citizenship.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.WV.1.1: explain various civic responsibilities, privileges and rights (e.g., the act of voting as a West Virginia citizen).
    • SS.O.WV.1.2: propose solutions and investigate opportunities for public volunteerism concerning a local problem.
    • SS.O.K.1.3: model the behavior that shows how students are citizens of their classroom, community, state, and nation.
    • SS.O.K.1.4: take and defend a position as to why fulfilling one’s civic responsibility is important.

Social Studies Standard 2: Civics/Government

SS.S.WV.2 / Students will:

  • examine and analyze the purposes and basic principles of the United States government (Purposes of Government).
  • outline and evaluate and analyze the origins and meanings of the principles, ideals, and core democratic values expressed in the foundational documents of the United States (Ideals of United States Democracy).
  • examine and distinguish the structure, function, and responsibilities of governments and the allocation of power at the local, state and national levels (United States Government and Politics).
  • analyze how the world is organized politically and compare the role and relationship of the United States to other nations and to world affairs (United States Government and World Affairs).

  • SS.PD.WV.2 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • define local, county, and state government;
      • name important holidays and local celebrations of West Virginia; and
      • identify and are given opportunity to recite the State Song or State Motto.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • state a role or function of government at the local, county, and state level;
      • discuss important holidays, local celebrations and people of West Virginia; and
      • define and are given the opportunity to recite the State Motto and State Song.

    • Mastery:
      • compare and contrast roles and functions of the government at the local, county and state levels;
      • identify and describe important state symbols, holidays, celebrations and people; and
      • explain and are given the opportunity to recite the State Motto and State Song.

    • Above Mastery:
      • evaluate the importance of roles or functions of local and county levels compared to those of the state level of government;
      • analyze the importance of state symbols, holidays, celebrations, and people; and
      • discuss the purpose of the State Motto and State Song and are given the opportunity to recite each.

    • Distinguished:
      • compare roles and functions of the state government to the roles and function of the national and discuss how they relate to each other;
      • choose important state symbols, holidays, celebrations, or people and summarize their roles; and
      • explain event(s) leading to the development of the State Motto and State Song and are given the opportunity to recite each.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.WV.2.1: identify state symbols, the state capital, celebrations, holidays, famous West Virginians, and the title of the elected leader (the Governor) of the state government.
    • SS.O.WV.2.2: recognize and be given the opportunity to recite the State Motto and sing the State Song.
    • SS.O.WV.2.3: compare and contrast the roles and functions of the government (e.g., legislative, executive, judicial branches) at the local, county and state levels.

Social Studies Standard 3: Economics

SS.S.K.03 / Students will:

  • analyze the role of economic choices in scarcity, supply and demand, resource allocation, decision-making, voluntary exchange and trade-offs (Choices).
  • research, critique and evaluate the roles of private and public institutions in the economy (Institutions).
  • compare and contrast various economic systems and analyze their impact on individual citizens (Economic Systems).
  • illustrate how the factors of production impact the United States economic systems (Factors of Production).
  • analyze the elements of competition and how they impact the economy (Competition).
  • examine and evaluate the interdependence of global economies (Global Economics).

  • SS.PD.WV.3 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • identify occupations of people in West Virginia; and
      • list natural resources and recognize geographic features and tell how they are important to the state’s economy.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • give examples of occupations of people in West Virginia; and
      • give examples of natural resources and identify the geographic features that affect the state’s economy.

    • Mastery:
      • categorize major occupations of people in West Virginia; and
      • research the natural resources and geographic features of West Virginia and discuss their effect upon the state’s economic development.

    • Above Mastery:
      • compare major occupations of people in West Virginia; and
      • explain how natural resources and geographic features effect the state’s economic development and contribute to the economic well-being of its residents.

    • Distinguished:
      • critique the importance of major occupations of people in West Virginia; and
      • assess the importance of the state’s natural resources and geographic features to its economic development and the economy of the nation.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.WV.3.1: locate and give examples of the natural resources and geographic features of West Virginia and show their effect upon the economic development of the state.
    • SS.O.WV.3.2: categorize the major occupations of people in the private and public sectors of West Virginia.

Social Studies Standard 4: Geography

SS.S.K.04 / Students will:

  • interpret and choose maps, globes and other geographic tools to categorize and organize information about personal directions, people, places, and environments (The World in Spatial Terms).
  • examine the physical and human characteristics of place and explain how the lives of people are rooted in places and regions (Places and Regions).
  • analyze the physical processes that shape the earthís surface and create, sustain and modify the cultural and natural environment (Physical Systems).
  • analyze and illustrate how the earth is shaped by the movement of people and their activities (Human Systems).
  • analyze the interaction of society with the environment (Environment and Society).
  • point out geographic perspective and tools and assess techniques available for geographic study (Uses of Geography).

  • SS.PD.WV.04 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • know that West Virginia is divided into counties and each has a county seat, that there are bordering states, discuss selected items, and define exact and relative locations; and
      • know that there are four physical geographic regions, tell what the weather patterns are and identify the natural resource land physical geography

    • Partial Mastery:
      • name West Virginia counties and county seats, bordering states, and selected items and differentiate between the exact and relative location of each; and
      • name the four physical geographic regions, describe the weather patterns and explain the impact of natural resource location and physical geography.

    • Mastery:
      • locate West Virginia counties and county seats, bordering states, and selected items and differentiate between the exact and relative location of each; and
      • determine the four physical geographic regions, illustrate the weather patterns and analyze the impact of natural resource location and physical geography.

    • Above Mastery:
      • place West Virginia counties and county seats, bordering states, and selected items on a map and explain the importance of differentiating between the exact and relative location of each; and
      • debate the similarities and differences of the four physical geographic regions, explain the weather pattern changes and evaluate the impact of natural resource location and physical geography;

    • Distinguished:
      • create a map that illustrates relationships between West Virginia counties and the location of their county seats, bordering states, and selected items and create a description differentiating between the exact and relative location of each; and
      • summarize the four physical geographic regions, evaluate the importance of the weather patterns and analyze the relationship between the location of natural resources and physical geography, and evaluate their impact on the inhabitants.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.WV.04.01: locate West Virginia and bordering states on a United States map.
    • SS.O.WV.04.02: determine the four physical geographic regions of West Virginia and the major communities contained within each region.
    • SS.O.K.04.03: locate counties and county seats on a West Virginia map.
    • SS.O.K.04.04: analyze the impact of West Virginia’s geography on transportation, settlement, jobs, clothing, food, shelter, services and interaction with others outside the state.
    • SS.O.K.04.05: illustrate West Virginia’s climate and track the weather.
    • SS.O.K.04.06: compare and contrast the characteristics of renewable and nonrenewable resources.
    • SS.O.K.04.06: differentiate between the exact and relative locations of their state, town, county, and personal address.
    • SS.O.K.04.08: research West Virginia’s population, products, resources, transportation, state parks, forests, and scenic/recreational resources and draw conclusions from the information.
    • SS.O.WV.04.09: use a grid system to locate natural and man-made items on a map.
    • SS.O.WV.04.10: recognize the eight tourist regions of West Virginia.

Social Studies Standard 5: History

SS.S.WV.05 / Students will:

  • organize, analyze and compare historical events, distinguish cause-effect relationships, theorize alternative actions and outcomes, and anticipate future application (Chronology).
  • use the processes and resources of historical inquiry to develop appropriate questions, gather and examine evidence, compare, analyze and interpret historical data (Skills and Application).
  • examine, analyze and synthesize historical knowledge of major events, individuals, cultures and the humanities in West Virginia, the United States, and the world (Culture and Humanities).
  • use historical knowledge to analyze local, state, national and global interdependence (Interpretation and Evaluation).
  • examine political institutions and theories that have developed and changed over time; and research and cite reasons for development and change (Political Institutions).

  • SS.PD.WV.05 / Performance Descriptors

    • Novice:
      • give examples of past and present lifestyles of West Virginia;
      • list examples of economic, social, and political history of West Virginia; and
      • verbally give short answers to specific questions.

    • Partial Mastery:
      • describe lifestyles and cultural life of West Virginia reflected in folklore and heritage;
      • give examples of economic, social, and political history of West Virginia; and
      • write a paragraph or short answer to specific questions.

    • Mastery:
      • compare and contrast past and present lifestyles of West Virginia and describe the cultural life reflected in folklore and heritage;
      • reconstruct the economic, social, and political history of West Virginia; and
      • construct short reports to answer specific questions.

    • Above Mastery:
      • discriminate between past and present lifestyles giving reason for their differences and evaluate the folklore and heritage;
      • explain important events in economic, social, and political history of West Virginia; and
      • research topics of interest and write short summaries.

    • Distinguished:
      • summarize past and present lifestyles of West Virginia and relate the culture to folklore and heritage;
      • summarize changes in the economic, social, and political history of West Virginia; and
      • summarize and defend sources they use to write reports.

  • Objectives / Students will:

    • SS.O.WV.05.01: reconstruct the economic, social and political history of West Virginia.
    • SS.O.WV.05.02: research and describe the cultural life of West Virginia as reflected in folklore and heritage.
    • SS.O.K.05.03: compare and contrast past and present lifestyles of West Virginians.
    • SS.O.K.05.04: use reference sources to construct short reports that answer specific questions about West Virginia.
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