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didn't fly across the country to avoid the
hazards of exposure on stagecoach trails. When you answer that
the airplane hadn't yet been invented, they may ask why not.
They need an understanding of how technology develops and its
state at the time. Using original source documents, such as
diaries, logs, and speeches, helps us guard against imposing
the present on the past, and allows us to see events through
the eyes of people who were there.
Context
Context is related to empathy. Context means "weave
together" and refers to the set of circumstances in several
areas that framed an event. To understand any historical period
or event our children should know how to weave together
politics (how a society was ruled), sociology (what groups
formed the society), economics (how people worked and what they
produced), and religion, literature, the arts, and philosophy
(what was valued and believed at the time). When they try to
understand World War II, for example, they will uncover a
complex set of events. And they will find that these events
draw their meaning from their context.
History means having a grand old time with new stories.
So, think about the relationship between history and time as
you do the following activities.
Time Marches On
The stories of history have beginnings, middles, and ends
that show events, and suggest causes and effects. A personal
timeline helps your child picture these elements of story.
What you'll need
Paper for timeline
Colored pencils
Crayons
Shelf paper or computer paper
Removable tape
History log (optional)
What to do
1. Draw on a piece of paper, or in the history log, a
vertical line for the timeline. Mark this line in even
intervals for each year of your child's life.
2. Help your child label the years with significant events,
starting with your child's birthday.
3. Review the timeline. Your child may want to erase and
change an event for a particular year to include a more
memorable or important one. (Historians also rethink their
choices when they study history.)
4. For a timeline poster, use a long roll of shelf paper or
computer paper. For a horizontal timeline, fasten it to
the wall up high around the room using removable tape so
that your child can take it down to add more events or
drawings. For a vertical timeline, hang it next to the
doorway in your child's room. Start with the birthday at
the bottom. Your child can begin writing down events and
add to it later.
5. For older children, have them do a timeline of what was
happening in the world at the same time as each event of
their life. To begin, they can use the library's
collection of newspapers to find and record the headlines
for each of their birthdays.
What is the most significant event on the timeline? What
effects did the event have on your child's life? What are the
connections between the events in your child's life and world
events at the time?
Weave a Web
A history web is a way of connecting people and events. Is
there an old ball field in your town you've always wondered
about? Or did you ever wonder why there are so many war
memorials in your town? Then you need to do a history web!
What you'll need
Large piece of paper or poster board (at least
3 1/2 x 2 1/2 ft.)
Colored pencils or markers
History log
What to do
1. Pick a place in your community that has always seemed
mysterious to you--an old ball field, general or hardware
store, house, or schoolhouse.
Or ask yourself. "What are there lots of in my town?"
Churches, fountains? Pick one of these historical
"families."
2. Go to one of these places. Jot down in your history log
what you see and hear there. For example, look for marks
on the buildings, such as dates and designs, or parts of
the buildings, such as bleachers or bell towers.
3. Find out other information about the place by asking a
librarian for resources, or by searching the archives of
your local newspaper. Look for major events that took
place there, such as the setting of a world record or the
visit of a famous person. Also look for other events that
changed the place, such as modernization or dedications.
4. Find people who have lived in your town a long time.
Interview them using questions about these major and
related events, and any others they remember.
5. Draw a web, with the name of the place you studied in the
middle (like the spider who weaves a "home").
6. Draw several strands from the middle to show the major
events in the life of the place.
7. Connect the strands with cross lines to show other related
events.
8. When the
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