The changes in technology that have affected mail delivery are a dynamic way to encourage students to think critically and make meaningful connections across historical eras. In the classroom, personal communication through the mail can become the "thematic glue" used across historical units to highlight the changes in everyday life caused by…

Presents a methodology for providing the historical narrative or context statement which must accompany a town's nomination for inclusion on The National Register of Historic Places. States that the same 14-point outline can function as a starting point for any written community history. (GEA)

Describes the production of a local history magazine by two advanced twelfth-grade English classes. Discusses difficulties encountered during the project, and offers practical suggestions for teachers considering such a project. (SV)

Describes the experiences of a sixth grade history class in learning about archaeology by planning and executing a small local dig. Offers advice on class preparation, excavation procedures, follow-up work, and the display of artifacts. Includes eight photographs of classroom and field work activities. (AEM)

Describes a failed attempt to develop a local history project within a high school American history course. Outlines a new enrichment course in which students work with primary source materials to produce a local history publication. (SV)

Describes an oral history project in which ninth graders interviewed residents of an Atlanta neighborhood facing disruption by urban development and prepared transcriptions and scrapbooks for presentation to the local historical society. (SV)

This issue of "Insights" celebrates North Dakota's centennial. The information and activities it contains were meant for classroom use by teachers from North Dakota during the centennial year, but could provide others with a glimpse of that state's history. A fact sheet on "North Dakota Centennial Dates" gives a brief…

Describes a project in which high school students wrote up interviews with local residents and articles on local history for English and history classes, then collaborated on their publication in a community newspaper. (SV)

Discusses a fourth grade class project to write a history of their community. Describes student experiences in learning to take and videotape interviews, preparing a TV newscast about the project, doing research in the county clerk's office and library, and writing the history. Includes suggestions for doing a similar project. (DHP)

Describes a high school project to compile a local history, including funding the project, developing interview questionnaires, taking interviews, and compiling the materials. Discusses results of the project for the students, teacher, high school, and county. (DHP)

Describes several experiential learning projects developed by gifted eighth grade students: drafting a "charter" for governing the classroom, creating a videotaped debate on current issues between generic Democratic and Republican candidates, producing a school newspaper, and researching the history of the school site. (SV)

"The Elementary Economist" shows third graders how communities change. "News!" (C. Hunter) requires middle school students to produce a class newspaper based on a history topic currently being studied. "Patriotism in the 80's," (M. A. Barber), allows secondary students to examine U.S. patriotism throughout history. (GEA)

Describes a project in which fifth graders researched the history of their school, interviewed people associated with the school's history, and created a booklet of school memoirs. Discusses problems overcome in each phase of the project, and offers practical suggestions on class management and project supervision. (SV)

This booklet describes how students and other researchers can use historical resources in their community to explore the history of their school and to determine how that history relates to community-wide and statewide developments. Although the manual is written primarily from the perspective of the public schools, the underlying theme of the…

This package of patriotic learning activities refers to historic tales about colonial days, Black history, and the contributions of the states to America's wealth and history. Poems, skits, riddles about states and presidents, and a play featuring mock presidential interviews are included. A Save-the-Statue-of-Liberty project is noted. (PP)