Discusses how oral history can motivate elementary students in the social studies. Suggests oral history learning activities and procedures to help students recreate events from the past. (CK)

Presents a lesson plan on the San Antonio River missions. Suggests that students will learn about the role of Spanish missions in the history of the Southwest, the psychological and cultural factors that led Indians to accept mission life, and Spanish contributions to agriculture through irrigation systems. Includes student readings, maps, and…

Oral history can be done without sophisticated technology, involves students actively in history, and generates enthusiasm and tangible products. Eleven projects are suggested, ranging from classroom to interdisciplinary community research. A bibliography cites 19 books about oral history programs for social studies classes. (AV)

Community history units can provide a framework for elementary economics instruction. The DePaul Center for Economic Education developed a unit on Chicago's economic history. It includes strategies for collecting and organizing content, locating resource people, and developing materials. (AM)

An interview with Irven DeVore, anthropologist, gives perspective on materials dealing with American colonial communities. A card-sort and a brainstorming exercise, along with other activity suggestions for ways to investigate a local community, help students gain a feeling for values held by colonialists at the time of the Revolution. (KM)

Asserts that the value of using pictures and photographs as teaching aids is firmly established. Suggests rephotographing old photographs to produce customized study prints and develop miniunits based on them. Includes a sample unit outline with teaching procedures and three illustrative photographs. (CFR)

Offers activities for high school and middle school classrooms. First activity deals with war crimes by projecting fictitious Soviet fighting in Afghanistan into the story of William Calley in Vietnam. Second activity uses the Underground Railroad during the U.S. Civil War in an interdisciplinary approach. Third activity is a self-discovery…

Describes a broad variety of instructional ideas and activities designed to make history come alive for the intermediate grades. These include personal time lines, interviewing grandparents, and show and tell with personal artifacts. Includes a section of activities designed specifically to work with historical fiction. (MJP)

Reviews a series of teaching activities that revolve around family photographs, letters, and artifacts. Outlines how these items can be used to teach recommended National Council for the Social Studies strands and provides classroom examples. Discusses developing a unit of study and includes a form for a Family Artifact Report. (MJP)