Local history projects allow undergraduate students to engage with their surrounding community and forge relationships between universities and museums. By assigning work that requires input from both students and the museums, these projects help create collaborative partnerships as students leave campus to conduct research, participate in 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…

Describes the successes and difficulties of a project in which students from ninth to twelfth grades, over the course of a school year, wrote a book on the African American community of Louisville, Kentucky. (SR)

The booklet is designed to help social studies teachers initiate oral history projects. Preceding the two major sections of the document, the authors specify that oral history is more than a person with a tape recorder; need not be transcribed to be useful; need not be a big project; and is not the final product of history. The next section…

At Howard High School (Miner County, South Dakota), educational reform focuses on student understanding of community history, economics, and government; entrepreneurship; sustainability of agriculture, environment, and community; and democratic values. The school aims to nurture community and give students the option of staying in the community.…

Describes an eighth grade class history project in which students researched, wrote, and published a history of their town based on interviews with residents. The project increased personal interest in history and improved the school's relationship with the community. Suggestions for project organization and interviewing techniques are included.…

Describes an oral history project in which students at an inner city school in Boston produced a book about the history of their school and its neighborhood, thereby recreating a sense of community in an institution that has undergone profound changes during recent years. (GC)

Describes lessons and units that allow the author's high school English students to make important connections with members of their community, publish their efforts, and thus bridge the gap between young adults and their communities. Describes a "literary cookbook" (published and distributed in their community) in which each student wrote one…

History instructors working in a community college face two major challenges. First, to make history interesting and relevant to the students, many of whom have to take history courses as a requirement. And second, to fulfill one of the missions of a community college which is to forge a connection between the school and the people in the local…

A syllabus and teaching methods for a community college local history course which focuses on primary sources about southern New Jersey are provided. Emphasis of the course is on how national issues affect local actions. Primary sources dating back to the 17th century are found in documentary collections of local and state archives. The course,…

Illustrates that history can be brought to life and internalized in an authentic fashion in a variety of situations. Demonstrates the step-by-step process by which teacher and class can formulate, prepare, plan, research, rehearse, and present role-playing simulations for class, school, and community. Includes a student persona worksheet.…

The Rural School and Community Trust has made place central to its educational and community-building work. Because the understanding of a place is fundamental to building sustainable communities, Rural Trust schools and communities are committed to providing their children and young people with opportunities to explore, analyze, and contribute to…

The Llano Grande Research Project in south Texas directs research methods and special projects classes that assist students in developing effective academic, research, and social skills. Students in these classes pursue a curriculum based on pedagogy of place principles and gain an understanding of their community's environment and culture. This…

A Seattle (Washington) third-grade class's curiosity about the school's neighborhood spiraled into a student-centered, experiential community research project that integrated several curriculum requirements, especially math and writing. Learning through the questioning process, such as by developing hypotheses and interview questions, develops…

Addressing the "death of hope" in rural Nebraska during the 1980s farm crisis, the "School at the Center" project engages rural schools and communities in active learning projects: housing or historic-building repair, environmental repair, microenterprise development, exploration of local cultural heritage, and technology…