Life and Landscapes

FEBRUARY 22, 2025

But what did this local history mean to Jules Verne, who was born in that French city? NAJVS editor Brian Taves described the protagonist in The Count of Chanteleine as a man who incarnates the expected virtues of aristocracy. Only a small plaque now denotes his place of death on the square [see the Musee Dobree in Nantes].

History 98

History Archiving Local History Cultures 98

Education Elements

JANUARY 18, 2022

Erin Conklin’s eyes light up when she talks about the primary and secondary source student book she created for Duval County Public School’s African American Studies elective.

Local History 97

Local History History 97

NCHE

APRIL 3, 2023

At the grocery store: “ Your students did such a great job documenting our local history! The gas station: “ Hey Joe, I heard you had a student doing some research about local mines in our community. If your community is like mine, it’s likely much of your town’s rural history hasn’t been preserved in a meaningful way.

Oral History 100

Oral History Public History History Museum 100

Education Elements

JANUARY 17, 2022

I taught a class on local history. When I was a teacher in Washington, D.C. Students got to learn about places they had visited and people they had heard about. I’ve never taught a class where students were more deeply engaged in the actual content of the class.

Local History 95

Local History History 95

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 12, 2022

There are hundreds of national parks, many of which focus on local history. The good news is that relevant content, particularly for middle and high school students, is more readily available. In my own work, I’ve found materials from the National Parks Service extremely useful.

Heritage 133

Heritage Artifacts Local History Social Studies 133

Smithsonian Voices | Smithsonian Education

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

Through a convening of educators and community organizations, new education resources for students spotlight local histories in engaging new formats, telling stories from right in their own backyards

History 71

History Local History Education 71

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 28, 2019

Curriculum teams are supplementing this with additional units built with Baltimore students in mind – helping them understand their local history, for example. Already the district sees some anecdotal evidence that the changes are helping students.

Local History 112

Local History Geography Education Policy Public School 112

ED Surge

JANUARY 10, 2023

But too often, we fail to center our local contexts, and to explore all of the assets that our neighborhoods and communities could bring to our educational mission. Our local histories, our neighborhood green spaces and our students’ extended families offer all kinds of academic connections that can enrich our studies.

Local History 130

Local History Civics Lesson Plan Teaching 130

Moler's Musing

AUGUST 28, 2024

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through how I collaborated with AI (ChatGPT) to develop a comprehensive 5-6 day unit on Native American history, tailored specifically for my 8th-grade students. The clear success criteria and continuous reflection throughout the process further enhanced the unit’s accessibility and impact.

American History 76

American History Geography Local History History 76

Society for Classical Studies

JANUARY 26, 2024

Congratulations to Robert Holschuh Simmons (Classics), David Wright (English), Anne Mamary (Philosophy), and Valerie Deisinger (History)! This humanities initiative will create a digital repository based on student projects that center issues of displacement and local history in West Central Illinois.

Humanities 52

Humanities Local History History 52

Digital Promise

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

A student won’t perform well on a reading assessment if the content in the passage — American television shows or local history, for example — is something she’s unfamiliar with. Remember that newcomer students may face cultural barriers as well as language ones.

Local History 80

Local History Cultures History High School 80

Moler's Musing

MARCH 21, 2025

Wednesday Wednesday, I wanted to mix things up and bring in local history. Its right on the river, barely noticeable, but packed with history. This lesson combined local history, critical thinking, and writing practice in a way that made students care about a little town they had never even heard of before.

Local History 52

Local History History Economics Critical Thinking 52

C3 Teachers

MARCH 30, 2022

My intent as an UGRR participant was to stretch my local history knowledge and to sharpen my historical-geographical thinking skills. A second teacher candidate described learning more about local history that he ever knew about.

Cultures 52

Cultures Heritage Civic Engagement Civics 52

Moler's Musing

DECEMBER 19, 2023

After this activity, I incorporated some local history for a second representative. Making connections between characters and historical/pop culture figures is challenging – only 15% answer these questions correctly on the AP exam according to 2021 data and my co-author Dr. Scott Petri.

Local History 52

Local History History Cultures 52

Moler's Musing

DECEMBER 17, 2023

After contemplating options, I decided to put together some lessons on local history. The other option was to introduce some new EduProtocols with smart starts, but that works better when I’m actually in the classroom. I created a lesson about Utopia, Ohio, a small town about 25 minutes from our school that has always fascinated me.

Local History 52

Local History Economics Critical Thinking History 52

Anthropology News

JANUARY 24, 2024

How do you study Blackness in a place that denies its local history of anti-Indigenous and anti-Black structural violence? How do you write about Blackness in a place that tries to deny its existence? How do you write about Blackness while trying to resist the insidious pull of cultural and racial assimilation?

Heritage 52

Heritage Cultures History Archiving 52

NCHE

DECEMBER 12, 2023

Since 2021, the National Council for History Education has partnered with the Library of Congress’ Teaching with Primary Sources program on a nationwide program, “The Rural Experience in America”. Read the blog post about The Source on the Library of Congress’ website here.

Library 130

Library Primary Sources Local History Professional Development 130

Rosie the History Teacher

OCTOBER 23, 2019

Then, I headed out to the cemetery to pay my respects at Sarah’s grave and shared her story with dozens of local history buffs. I have also been digging into my own family history recently. The couple in this photograph are my great-great-grandparents, along with the baby who would be a great aunt of mine.

Museum 52

Museum Local History History Lesson Plan 52

Zinn Education Project

JANUARY 15, 2024

Students can be invited to share the local history of the respective site you select. Sojourn to the Past students shared the Jim Crow history of swimming pools in Youngstown. In Youngstown, students in a youth group shared the history of the local pool. Students as Historians.

Teaching 52

Teaching Historic Sites Archiving Museum 52

Dangerously Irrelevant

MAY 31, 2017

Another would be Wayland (MA) High School’s yearly student history projects , in which students engage in digital storytelling projects, scanning historical images and creating audio podcasts, interviewing local Vietnam-era veterans , and analyzing the papers of the commander of the Dachau concentration camp after its liberation.

Social Studies 78

Social Studies Teaching Archiving Geography 78

NCHE

MAY 5, 2025

From 2021 to 2024, The Rural Experience in America: Community Civics Through Historical Inquiry engaged rural educators in a rich exploration of rural history, particularly the effects of agricultural transformation on children, families, and communities.

Primary Sources 130

Primary Sources Education Local History Civics 130

Moler's Musing

MARCH 21, 2025

Wednesday Wednesday, I wanted to mix things up and bring in local history. Its right on the river, barely noticeable, but packed with history. This lesson combined local history, critical thinking, and writing practice in a way that made students care about a little town they had never even heard of before.

Local History 97

Local History History Economics Critical Thinking 97

Moler's Musing

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

Friday: Assessment and Connecting the Revolutionary War to Local History Today was a mix of assessment and transition, as we wrapped up the Revolutionary War unit and began looking ahead to the creation of a new country. Overall, today was a win for reflection, review, and meaningful teamwork.

History 97

History Local History Critical Thinking Middle School 97

Zinn Education Project

MAY 29, 2025

The Zinn Education Project is providing resources, training, and support for local event hosts and are urging communities to come together to protect the future of democracy and justice by ensuring young people have access to an uncensored education.

K-12 81

K-12 Historic Sites Local History Advocacy 81