History According to Hutton

Reflection

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

HIST 813 Primary Sources 30 August, 2005

Browsing this week has turned up a lot of interesting sites. Although none are done by agencies like NARA and the Library of Congress, these sites have combined topics and linked to the primary sources on those sites.

One of the most interesting and resourceful sites I found was at AmericanRhetoric.com. This site has a collection of speeches going back about as far as you can go. The older speeches are available in text format or are recorded using someone else's voice. If you are looking for a certain speech, or you want to find out what people are talking about in a certain decade, you can search that way also. American Rhetoric also has a list of the top 100 speeches of the decade. I found that useful when I wasn't sure what I was looking for but wanted something from the 20s. The URL for American Rhetoric is: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speechbankg-l.htm

Another great site was put on the internet by the University of Missouri-Kansas City law school. This site gives detailed information, primary sources, and much more about important trials from Socrates to O.J. I passed this site along to my social studies colleagues because it was really well done. The URL is:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/Ftrials/ftrials.htm

The last site I found was done by a high school. Here, they have combined a lot of primary sources into categories and given the user a direct link to the primary source within sites such as NARA and the Library of Congress American Memory. The URL is: http://mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us/~spjvweb/primary.html#Speeches

I know these aren't the sites that were recommended, but they are still useful for someone looking for primary sources.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

HIST 813 Primary Sources 24 August

Hello all--

My name is Tracy Hutton. I have been a teacher at Lansing High School for 6 years. Since being involved with Project eHIKES and Project Primary Sources, I have been immersed into the world of primary documents. Through practice, I have learned the value of using primary documents in the classroom. In fact, my whole outlook on history and teaching has changed. I not longer look at history as a subject to study. I am really beginning to see history as the science that it is. A science teacher would never teach science by purely lecturing. In science, students hold, manipulate, test, and question things. History should be the same.

I have learned where to go and find primary sources and the idea of 'primary research' no longer scares me. I am taking this class for a number of reasons. One reason is that is will require me to go in search of new sources that I can use in the classroom. When I am in the middle of teaching and planning, sometimes I don't take the time out to do this like I should. I look forward to getting more primary sources collected and I hope that we will all be able to share what we find.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Richmond Chapter 1: The Land and Its Native People

Honestly, when reading about Kansas history, I would tend to glance over a chapter about her beginnings. The topic always seemed dull. However, this chapter was actually quite interesting. Richmond did a good job of explaining why Kansas was so geographically diverse. I had never really given a lot of thought to the native Kansans and the differences between them.

To keep a topic like this from being 'dull' to my students, I would begin by asking them what they new about the first Kansans, etc. I would then do a pre-test of oral true and false questions that would leave them curious to find out the truth. Preparing students this way should help to peak their interest so that they will not just glance over these chapters in their future studies.

Miner Chapter 2 Trampling Out the Vintage, 1855-1865

This chapter begins with the story of Quantrill's raid on Lawrence. It specifically tells the story of Robert Stevens and Charles and Sara Robinson and their experience during the horror. I immediately wondered where I could find primary accounts of the raid.

The way I would teach this would be to share the personal stories of what happened to peak my students' interest and have them come up with the question on their own, "Why?" Once I have their attention, they will be more interested in what led to this.

I also found interesting where Miner writes of the initial impression Kansas made on pioneers versus the view of the state a short time later. My students may find it interesting that much of what we complain about today was also an issue then. I could take this further and discuss how that experience impacted who settled (and stayed) in Kansas. How is Kansas impacted today because of this?

Miner Chapter 1 Child of the Grassy Plain

In chapter 1, Miner quotes William Allen White speaking of the differences in Kansas Regions.

"It would be as untrue to classify together the Egyption, the Indian and the Central American as to speak of the Kansas man without distinguishing between the Eastern Kansan, the Central Kansan and the Western Kansan."

When I read this I thought to myself, "that is still true today." This idea could lead to a great discussion and lesson over the geographic, socio-economic, philosophical, etc, differences between these Kansas Regions.

My students, today, don't give this much thought, but this could turn into a real learning experience. I can see a research project involving each of the regions and the specific contributions and needs of each one. This could lead to a discussion of the problems Kansas legislators face and a chance to problem-solve possible solutions.

One other thing I found interesting in this chapter was the story of the tornado that swept through Irving, Kansas. While reading this I wondered why I had never heard of the tragedy. Miner states that this disaster ranks up there with Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, yet most Kansans remain ignorant of the event.