Lessons in community building and cultural understanding are important aspects of a 21st-century education. Through such lessons, students gain the keys to societal understanding as they gain knowledge about their cultural and historical contexts, and use that understanding as a setting for exploration of deeper values, emotional experiences, and…

Service-learning projects help students make connections to their community and help them to think about civic participation. The projects can range from very simple short-term philanthropy to very complex direct involvement by the students across multiple years. Students learn both social problem-solving skills and academic knowledge through…

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)

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)

This publication contains 44 suggestions for projects which actively involve elementary and secondary students in an individual quest for a personal heritage within the topical frameworks of community, ethnic, and family history. The projects are intended to awaken students to the realization that history is all around them. The projects utilize…

Centennial celebrations provide an ideal opportunity to help young children develop an understanding of the concepts of time and chronology, maps, societal change, and an appreciation of family and personal heritage. Centennial activities for use with first and second graders are provided. (RM)

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 is the first issue of a newsletter for educators interested in new approaches to history teaching and learning, elementary school through graduate school. The purpose is to provide information about significant new ideas in history study, present a forum for analysis and criticism, and encourage similar analysis in existing professional…

More than 50 starter ideas for social studies projects and units for the primary and intermediate grades are presented. These help develop children's skills in social studies, reading, handwriting, and language arts, and stir their interest in local history and government. Activities can be used for new projects or to enrich ongoing ones. (PP)

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)

This book aims to motivate children to learn about history and social studies by beginning with what they already know--from home life, family life, ethnic/cultural life--and then building on that personal knowledge by adding information from family and community resources. The book includes activities that can help the teacher show students that…