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ut the place you visited? What
kinds of things communicated the history of the place? When you
returned, did you see your town in a new way, or notice
something you hadn't seen before?
What's News?
What's new today really began in the past. Discussing the
news is a way to help your child gain a historical perspective
on the events of the present.
What you'll need
Daily or Sunday newspaper
Weekly news magazine
A daily national news program
Highlighter
History log
What to do
1. Decide on how often you will do this activity with your
children--current events happen every day. This activity
can be most useful to younger children if it is done from
time to time to get them used to the idea of "news." Older
children benefit from doing it more often, at least once a
week if possible.
2. Look through the newspaper or news magazine with your
child. Ask him to decide what pictures or headlines are
related to history. Highlight these references. Some
examples are the Yalta Treaty, the French Revolution,
Lenin, Pearl Harbor, or Brown v. Board of Education.
3. Together read the articles you have chosen. Write down any
references to events that did not happen today or
yesterday, or to people who were not alive recently.
4. Have a conversation with your child about what these past
events and people have to do with what's happening today.
Help your child write in the history log the connections
you find between past and present.
5. Watch the evening news or a morning news program together.
Write down as many references as possible to past history
and discuss the links you find between these references
and the news story you heard.
6. During another viewing, help your child focus on how the
information was communicated: did the newscaster use
interviews, books, historical records, written historical
accounts, literature, paintings, photographs?
7. Help your child compare several accounts of a major news
story from different news shows, newspapers, and news
magazines.
"There is nothing new under the sun," according to an old
saying. Did you find anything "new" in the news? What "same old
stories" did you find?
History Lives
At living history museums you can see real people doing
the work of blacksmiths, tin workers, shoemakers, farmers, and
others. Children can see how things work, and can ask questions
of the "characters."
What you'll need
Visitor brochure and museum map
Sketch pad and pencils, or camera
History log
What to do
1. Awaken your children's expectations of what they will see
and what to look for. Write or call the museum ahead of
time to obtain information brochures and a map. Living
history museums are located in Williamsburg, VA and Old
Sturbridge Village, MA, among other places.
2. Plan how to actually "visit history." Pretend to be a
family living in the historical place. What would it be
like to be a family living in the place you choose to go?
3. When you visit the museum, ask your child what his
favorite object or activity is, and why.
4. Help your children sketch something in the museum, and put
it in the history log. Tell your children that this is the
way history was visually recorded before there were
cameras.
5. Use your camera, if you have one, to make a "modern day"
record of history, and create a scrapbook with the
photographs of what you saw.
6. When you get home, talk about what it would have been like
to live in that historical place in that period of time.
Compare this to the image you had before your visit.
How were days spent in the period of time you experienced?
What kind of dress was common, or special? What kinds of food
did people usually eat, and did they eat alone or in groups?
What kind of work would you have chosen to do as an adult? If a
living history museum were made of the late 20th century, what
would people see and learn there? Reminder: if you can't visit
a museum, travel by reading books.
Cooking Up History
Every culture has its version of bread. "Eating it, one
feels that the taste one cannot quite put to words may almost
be the taste of history."* Children enjoy making this American
Indian fried bread.
What you'll need
2 1/2 cups all-purpose or wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried skimmed milk powder
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Oil for frying
Mixing bowls and spoons, spatula
Large skillet
Cloth towels
Baking sheet
Paper towels
History log
What to do
1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder,
and salt.
2. In a small bowl,
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