Using Technology to Bring History to Life in the Elementary Classroom Georgette Hackman, Cocalico School District

Why is history so important, any way? Reading and math tend to have the main focus in an elementary classroom So much so, that our building theme committee decided to create a year-long building theme to integrate history and geography wherever possible throughout the school year The goal was to expand our students’ knowledge base of American history and geography in a fun and engaging way My discussion will be framed around our theme “Exploring our National Treasures”

Think about everything you enjoy about a great story: Action Intrigue Suspense Exotic Locations Lies War Love stories

HISTORY HAS IT ALL! History is not just any story, it’s OUR story. It’s our job to share this with our students!

We can use technology to make history come alive!!! Virtual field trips to faraway and not-so-faraway places that provide interactive views of art, architecture historical locations Research tools to explore some of the slightly controversial historical topics Access to primary documents that at one time could only be seen in a museum or library The ability to talk to and learn from people who actually lived through historical events

Virtual Field Trips The next-best-thing to being there!

Virtual Field Trips One example that I have worked with extensively: The National Constitution Center is only 70 miles away, but very few students have visited this amazing resource The NCC website offers information for students, educators and parents about not only their brick and mortar resources and exhibits, but also their on line resources. There is a TON of information here!

Reliable Research Tools Teaching students to be critical consumers of on-line information

Reliable Research Tools

Primary Documents To avoid confusion, go straight to the source!!!

Primary Documents in the Classroom Can be used even with our youngest learners Even if students can’t understand the content of the information, they can usually figure out the context One cool activity that I learned about this summer was playing “Antiques Roadshow” with a primary document Technology allows us to not only see the actual documents, but it allows us to interact them as well

Interactive History Lessons Using Polycom to link learners with all sorts of teachers

Interactive History Lessons

Interactive History Lesson Our theme focus for the month of December is Pearl Harbor and World War II The class with the most contributions to the fact wall will participate in a live Polycom lesson that will link a class from our school with Pearl Harbor veterans. The lesson will last for one hour and after receiving some important historical information, students will have a Q & A session with the participating veterans.

Wrapping it all up There are so many resources worth investigating If you don’t know where to begin, choose ONE and become an expert! Network with other teachers Pursue summer professional development opportunities! Be a creative collaborator!