Reflections on our Illinois Adventure and it’s Educational Resources
As I sit here in my living room, surrounded by the comforts of home and filled with the laughter of my two year old, I find my mind wondering back to our Illinois expedition. I’ve been thinking about all of the places we visited and all of the knowledge that I gathered. I find myself trying to plan Chicago into a cross country trip that my family and I are going on so that I can share all of culture and wonders with them. More importantly, I am constantly thinking about ways to use the knowledge I gained in my classroom.
Technology is really first and foremost in my mind. How can I incorporate all of the awesome technological teaching tools that we saw into my very technologically challenged school? My first thought is to incorporate web quests that use all of the different web sites we saw. I’d also like to use High Tech Lincoln as a tool to show my students how exciting history can by and create a lesson that requires them to use technology to bring history to life, similar to the exhibit on the 1860 election at the Lincoln Presidential Museum.
Aside from technology, I’m most excited about using DBQ in my classroom. Of all the wonderful and exciting things we saw and heard during our trip, I believe that DBQ is the one piece that I will be able to use most in my classroom. I’ve already been talking about it to other teachers in my school and have it worked into the first couple weeks of my class. I’m also going to talk to my administrators about doing a professional development piece on DBQ’s. Chip Brady did a wonderful job walking us through the sample lesson and it encompasses everything I want my students to be able to do when they leave my classroom. I want them to be able to think critically, use primary sources and most importantly see history as interpretive and be able to form solid arguments for the way the interpret history.
The “Thinking like a Historian” card and book will also be a nice compliment to the DBQ’s. When used together I think they will really encourage and require students to start thinking at the next level. The “Thinking like a Historian” program asks students to ask a series of questions starting with what types of questions should we ask about the past and then once we figure that out, how do we find the answer to those questions and evaluate the evidence. This is a great lead in for using the DQB lessons which provide evidence and ways to help students evaluate that evidence. Then requires them to create an argumentative essay that can and should include the final two questions on the “Thinking like a Historian” card; what matters and why does it matter.
The “Thinking like a Historian” program can be used to cover any topic, or time period in history. DBQ’s also provide a wide range of lessons that over most time periods and the mini lessons do an excellent job covering American History. I will mostly be using the Lincoln part of our trip for my class, but the tools that I have gained to help me in my teaching are cross curricular. These tools along with the wide resource of fellow teachers that I met and befriended will continually make this trip unforgettable.
Finding Relevance
As educators we all know that one of the key components in planning and teaching our lessons is relevance. Students need a reason to “buy into” the information they are receiving. Why do they need to know the information you are giving them? I appreciated how this was the first thing that Stan Shultz addressed in his lecture yesterday. He explained to us all the relevance of the Progressive Era on today’s society by explaining how in today’s society we have all of the same “hot button” issues that existed in the Progressive Era. This relevance is great for college students, and possibly even most high schoolers, but if I would have brought up the idea of domestic terrorism to my 7th and 8th grade students they would have looked at me as if my head just exploded. So my question is; how do we make history relevant to middle schoolers.
My 7th and 8th graders very rarely ever picked up a newspaper, read the news online or watched the news on TV. In general they were not and are not concerned with what is happening in the Middle East, or stay abreast of the issues going on across the country. I would be willing to bet that less than half of my classes would have even known about the fatal shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. We work on current events in my class and in our skills classes, but even that is just another lesson to them. This is not stuff that is relevant to their lives. They live in a world where their concerns are what to wear to school, how they should wear their hair, who in their group of “friends” is going to be speaking to them, what video game they just got, or what video game is coming out soon, the newest music, what sports they are playing and other issues that have more of an impact on their personal life. How do we make history relevant for these students? I have to constantly be trying to tie my lesson into something that is more real and more tangible for my students than domestic terrorism, and it can be a very difficult thing to do.
I think that them Wisconsin Historical Society museum attempts to show relevance in ways that are geared more to middle school aged students. For example, during out tour when we reached the exhibit with a more modern kitchen and living room, Beth Lemke explained to us that she often asks kids to think about their favorite thing in their room. Then imagine someone has gone into their room taken that object to another location and hidden it. Then someone else goes into your room and studies the objects that are left in your room. Do they get a complete and accurate description/picture of who you are? Most kids would reply no because that missing piece says so much about who they are. There is also a panel of the things we leave behind. She uses these exhibits to show not only the significance of museums but also to explain how we are all making history everyday.
I also believe that the Thinking like a Historian program easily lends itself to relevance. Topics such as cause and effect with questions like, “what were the causes, what were the effects,” and “what matters, why does it matter,” we are asking our students to think critically and help find their own relevance in a historical event or time period. I believe that this puts the task of finding relevance back into their hands. Once they have been able to do that, once they have made that connection on their own, I think they will have a greater appreciation for history, and hopefully will even find studying history more enjoyable.
Social Reform: an under covered subject
Social reform is, I believe, one of the most under covered subject in K-12 curriculum. The one exception to this MAY be the Civil Rights Movement, but I think it also often cut to short. There are so many things to cover in history that reform just seems to get the short end of the stick. I think that this is an injustice to our kids, especially kids today who seem to be entitled to everything. Most of them don’t know what it is like to suffer, or go hungry. Honestly, neither do I. I have no concept of what it must have been like to live in a tenement, go hungry, play in filthy streets and never see the country side. I know that this is a very generalized statement, and that there are kids out there living in poverty and distress, but I find myself asking if their situation really compares to the lives of kids before people like Jane Addams.
There is one chapter in my textbook that covers reformers and it covers everything from prison and mental health reform through the first attempts and suffrage and women’s rights. I found this chapter awkward to teach because it seems to have just been squeezed in there, and doesn’t really fit, however, I think that it is important for our students to understand the spirit of reform and the need for reform. I discuss the issues covered in the chapter briefly and then I moved onto an issue, not specifically covered in the chapter, but that my students would relate to easier. The issue of children’s rights, and wow did I get in over my head. There was so much information and I was trying to figure out how to organize it into a short 2 or 3 day lesson. In reflection I don’t believe that my students actually received much from the lesson. Today gave me a direction to take that lesson and a focus to share with my students. Even though Jane Addams and the Hull House happened after the time period that we study, it is still a great example of juvenile reform. I’m very excited to take this information and turn it into an engaging lesson for my students.
A Surprising Day
In all honesty, I was not looking forward to today’s events. Out of everything on the schedule these were the two things that I believed I would enjoy the least. So, I was greatly surprised by the beauty and magnificence of the Frank Lloyd Wright home, and was like a kid in a candy store at the Museum of Science and Industry!
I’m not really into architecture, but I really enjoyed seeing how Wright but together his house and what he did to encompass of the things that influenced him. His drafting room was amazing. I loved the octagon held up by the chains. I also really enjoyed how he manipulated space to make it seems as though rooms were bigger than they are. Walking around the neighborhood and being able to pick out his houses was also neat. I liked that they had a style distinct enough that I was able to tell them from the others. I also found the story behind him interesting. Here is a man who designs these magnificent houses, gets paid lots of money to do so, but is continuously in debt. This was amazing to me because I thought everyone horded their money especially after the Great Depression. I was amazed by the way he treated his family and that even in a love hate relationship his two oldest sons would follow in his foot steps and become architects. I suppose that on some level this was about a constant search for their father’s approval. Finally, I was left wondering if bastardness (is that a word?) and high intelligence levels go hand in had everywhere. I seem to recall other people throughout history, although their names escape me at the moment, who also have a bastardly personality, but are very intelligent.
I wonder if this was true for Boeing, or any of the other great minds that we saw at the Museum of Science and Industry. The presentation on The Columbian Exchange was very informative. I thought their use of water was terrific. I would have loved to see the “White City” in its heyday, I’m sure it was magnificent! The interactive map was helpful in trying to imagine what it must have looked like. Once again, I’m not that interested in the architecture, but I also enjoyed the story about the architect of the building we were in.
I was most excited by the displays that the building houses today. I wanted to get to visit each and every one of them…I wanted to make a toy and make robots dance. I wanted to sit in the Zephyr and feel the experience. I wanted to go down into the mine, and see all of the amazing planes. However, do to time constraints I didn’t to experience half of that. I spent most of my time at the display for U505 and oh boy was that exciting. WWII has long been my favorite event to study in history and I was amazed by the display they had put together! I was in true bliss and think I could have gone through there several times and still enjoyed and learned something new!
Pictures to Follow!
An effective and exciting teaching tool
For so long my students have been taught that history is black and white, that there is no grey area…there are dates and facts and that is all there is to history. Then they walked into my class last year and I tried to show them that history is not just black and white. I tried to get them to think critically and make arguments based on what they heard and what they knew. My students fought this tooth and nail. They couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea that there was no wrong answer. I was very frustrated because I just couldn’t figure out how to help them get this information. I tried to show them how to use argumentative writing in history to make their points and again I felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall. In reflection of the last year, I realize that I finally gave up on trying to teach my students this way and returned back to the same “black and white” way that they were used to but today gave me a tool that I can use to help teach my students to see the grey areas, DBQ.
There were so many wonderful things about DBQ. I love how they have included two versions with each lesson. I think that the scaffolding created is a great way to help students grasp and understand the task that are set before them. I love the idea of bucketing! As we sat through the presentation I found my mind reeling with possibilities. I want to teach my students that history is interpretive and that the “grey” areas of history are one of the things that make it so interesting. DBQ is an awesome tool for doing this and it doesn’t require that all of my students have a laptop or that we are in a lab. It is a lesson that can be taught in the comforts of my own classroom using the minimal (overhead projector) technology that I have in my room. I’m so excited about this, that I almost can’t wait to get home to start figuring out where I can work it in with my lessons as I streamline for next year!
The walking tour of the Chicago fire area was a bit of a let down. I don’t know what I expected, I mean the fire happened a hundred and fifty years ago and the city has obviously been rebuilt since then, but it was not as intriguing or informative as I hoped it would be. I did find two parts of the tour interesting. Our first stop was at the Cardinals mansion where we saw some of the original wood block road that was used. They used to lay a layer of sand down then cover that with wooden planks that had been dipped in tar, then cover the planks with wood blocks, designed to look like bricks, also covered in tar, and then cover the whole thing with a sealing layer of sand mixed with tar. With all of that tar and wood, no wonder the city burned! This was probably my favorite piece of the tour, as it was an actual piece of history, in its original spot. It was great.
Wood Brick Road
Tree Rings in a Wood Block
I also found the relief houses interesting. Someone on our tour pointed out that they were similar to the FEMA trailers that we have all heard so much about since Hurricane Katrina. These houses came with one basic floor plan and were either 1 or 2 bedrooms based on your family’s size. They gave families the supplies need and the plans, and then the families were required to put the houses up themselves…very interesting! I’m not sure that I could have done that, and my husband doesn’t have a carpentry bone in his body, so I find myself asking where would we be having been left with wood and nails, and windows and a plan, but no skill to do anything with it.
Technology
Throughout our trip we have seen awesome use of technology used to present and teach about history, and why not? We do live in the technological age. It is great to see that museums and other historical places of interest are turning to technology so that they will be able to continue to reach the upcoming generations. A lot of the technology also seems to be geared at trying to help teachers find new and engaging ways to teach history to their students. With that having been said, I’m also frustrated abut the technology that we have seen on this trip.
With all of the technology we have seen, I will only be able to use a very small portion of that technology in my classroom. There are three main reasons that I’ll only be able to use a minor amount. Fist, not all of the technology is accessible to me. For example, I was blown away by the amount of technology used in the Lincoln Presidential Museum, and all of the ways it would keep kids engaged, however, I won’t be able to bring my students to Springfield Illinois to see that museum. Secondly, a majority of the material does not relate to the historical time period covered in my class. The Chicago stories website was amazing. I’ve always believed that the best way to teach history to “younger” kids was through story. I was so excited by the website, but then realized that I would only be able to use a couple of the stories from the website. However, I was still optimistic and began thinking, “I wonder if Colorado has anything like this? What about other states like Pennsylvania, Massachusetts?” Then as if reading my mind Jed asked the question, and the response completely deflated my balloon of excitement. My last reason for frustration is the lack of technology in my school, and the lack of desire by many teachers and my administrators to change that.
Technology put to good use
Even with all of these frustrations I plan on using technology in my lessons far more than I did last year. In large part this is due to all of the wonderful resources that we have seen on this trip. I’m sure that if I really search I will be able to find other resources out there on the great World Wide Web that will help me in this quest. I have also decided to ask for your help. If you were on the Boston trip or the Philly trip, and you learned about any websites similar to this, or if you have found any sites that you like to use in your classes please forward those on to me. Thanks for your help.
On to my lesson plan…I have given this a great deal of thought. I got really excited about the prospect of creating a lesson plan that would tie in the Chicago gangs of the 1920’s by creating our own sort of Gangland, based off of the History Channel series, however, no mater how hard I tried I could not find a way to justify teaching this to my 8th graders where our curriculum doesn’t cover beyond Reconstruction. So instead I have decided to focus on Lincoln. I have decided to teach about the events leading up to the Civil War, and the Civil War itself through Lincoln. He played such a pivotal roll in our nation at that time, and I believe that through stories and pictures I can teach this time period with him being the central point…the place we always come back to. I plan to do this largely through stories, and hopefully incorporate lots of technology as well.
Day 3. Hello Chicago!!
My day started with the confirmation of a suspicion; I’m pregnant! Or at least that is what EPT says and since they were right about my son I’m going to trust the accuracy. So how did I celebrate this news you ask…I went on a five mile walk! Why a five mile walk you ask, well I thought I would go see if I could find “County General,” you know the hospital from the TV show E.R. Well we didn’t find County General, as it was a fictitious hospital but we did find Rush, which is the hospital that County General was modeled after. Very cool!
On to the intellectual side of the day. The Art Institute was awesome. I teach a 7th grade curriculum that is enriched 
a lot with art from the medieval period and from the Renaissance in Europe, as well as Asian and African art. Getting to look through those pieces were amazing. I also enjoyed looking at the few pieces of armor that they had out. I understand that there used to be a much larger display of armor and I wish that would have still been out. Armor is one the my students favorite subjects and it really helps get them into the history and the lesson. I gained lots of information and a new appreciationof the art that we study in our curriculum. I will be able to share more of that with the students and utilize the art more in the lesson because I know a little bit more about it.
Then the perfect ending to a weird and tiring day…deep dish pizza at Gino’s.
Day 2: More time cozying up to Lincoln
After all of yesterday’s excitement, I was really tired this morning and got off to a slow start. The tours of the old capital building and the law office were informational, however I don’t feel as though we had enough time to really look around and enjoy the capital building. As far as the law office, I couldn’t wait to get out of there! To many people in to small of a space. It was warm and muggy and we heard more about where things really should have been and the Tinsley building project than about the life of Lincoln at work.
Mixed into these two tours and the excess information were some very important and entertaining stories about Lincoln the man, and these are the things that I will find most useful to take back to my class. Bringing life to history is the best way to peak my students interest and keep them engaged. Many of my students know what it is like to have a busy family life, and not have a few moments to yourself to get work done, between bothersome siblings and parents, so I think they will be able to relate to the story of Lincoln sneaking off to a neighboring building to get work done. I know that I can!
Of the entire morning I found the Lincoln House the most exciting and enjoyable, but again the time restraints with lunch and being back at the bus kept me from getting to really see the neighborhood. I also felt like we were really rushed through the house. Maybe this was because we had two large groups and we were trying to fit into tiny rooms and everyone was trying to take pictures. I think, in hindsight, that it might have been a little more enjoyable if we had split into three groups; Group A would tour the old capital building, group B would tour the law office, and group C would tour Lincoln’s home, then we would have had more time in each location.
The afternoon locations were more enjoyable for me. I loved visiting Lincoln’s tomb, and again could have used more time there.
New Salem was everything looked exactly how I imagined a small little town in the 1800′s would look. It was really neat to see the different houses, how they were set up and be able to see the social status of ocupants by looking at the size of their house and belongings. Michelle and I were very intrigued by the china that was in almost every home. Nice china today can be expensive and there were some homes that incredible china. We asked about this and learned that it was on way that women could bring color into their homes to help decorate, and that it also stood as a sort of status symbol for women.
I grew up in a small rural town, and now I teach in one, although some people might not think of Canon City as small or rural, but the original parts of Canon City are in many ways similar to New Salem. I think that this is important because it is a way to tie our national history to something closer to home!
Throughout the day I learned several stories about Lincoln and his life, and got several good pictures that will all aid me in making history come alive for my students. I look forward to teaching them stories that will help them remember about Lincoln for the rest of their lives.
As we drove into downtow Chicago last night I was filled with excitement about the experiences yet to come. Then as Johnathan talked, I began thinking, there are so many things to, how will I ever pick justa few. I’m thrilled to be in Chicago and can’t wait to start of on new adventures. Chicago look out because here I come!
Holy Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Batman
Lincoln, Lincoln, Lincoln…Erin Bishop did an excellent job guiding us through the Lincoln lesson plans. The abundant resources that they provided will be very useful. The primary vs. secondary resource lesson is great. The worksheet that went along was very helpful and I think will help students gain a better understanding of sources, as this is usually a difficult concept for them to grasp. I also really liked looking at the pictures of Lincoln. We all had prior knowledge of Lincoln, but with students who don’t have that knowledge I think it will really require them to think critically. Helping students understand the content and historical relevance to speeches can be very tricky. I love the idea of students picking out things that are important to them in the Gettysburg speech (and for others as well) and then reading them aloud helps students to see how that speech is important to present day by showing how similar things are still important everyone today.
The web quest was a whole lot of fun. I’m a very competitive person and my competitive nature came out during this exercise. Man did those slow computers frustrate me, although I have to say that the computers at our school are sometimes just as slow. The website about what Lincoln did on our birthdays is a very cool site that I think my students could get into. I love the idea of doing web quests, however, my school is very technologically behind and it is extremely difficult to get into our one and only computer lab!
I was disappointed in the Lincoln-Douglas debate lecture. I was excited to hear about the story of the debaters and they traveled across Illinois, including all of the “firsts” and the campaign pageantry. I found the discussion on creating an exhibit a little dry. I think a large part of the problem was trying to put to much information into a short time. It was like a combined lesson on creating an exhibit, and the debates, and neither got the full attention that might have made the lecture more interesting.
The museum was the highlight of my day. Wow, wow, wow…I thought that the whole thing was amazing. The exhibits were spectacular in their detail. The technology involved was amazing. The exhibit on the campaign of 1860, the news room, that was awesome. I can see my kids sitting in there and getting so much from that 5 minute presentation, because it was presented in their “language.” It took history and put a radical, modern, technological spin on it. The two videos were also astounding. I could have gone back and watched each of them several times. I really wish that the gift shop would have had those presentations on DVD so that I could take them back to my kids. I did get The Civil War in Four Minutes on DVD, as I think it is a fun and interesting way to portray troop movements, and see the devastation of the Civil War. I also thoroughly enjoyed the political cartoon exhibit. I did ask if they had a book of those cartoons. Apparently they did have one, but no long have it, and don’t think they will be getting any more. I left my name and number with the gift shop so that if they do get any more in they will call me. I also got the publisher, as there was no author because it is just put together by the museum. If anyone is interested that publisher, it is Terrell Creative.
Wow…I really want to bring my students here!!
One more little tid bit. I don’t know if we have any scrap bookers out there, but I’m guessing there might be one or two…I was in Tinsley Dry Goods, at 209 S. 6th Street (1.5 blocks from the hotel), and they have some great scrap booking papers with Lincoln on them. Several different styles to choose from!
The Jungle
Upton Sinclair, an author and member of the socialist party wrote a novel, The Jungle, which was designed as a propaganda tool to promote the Socialist party and discredit capitalism during the early 1900’s. Some people argue that because The Jungle is a work of fiction it is not an effective propaganda tool. Granted, the reforms that were brought about because of The Jungle are not the reforms that Sinclair intended but they are no less important and the fictional story is what helped bring the issues of meat packing conditions to light. Most people, even today, do not pick up non-fiction books to read for pleasure, especially one that is focused on the slaughterhouse districts of Chicago, therefore, a non-fiction book would not have reached as many people. The fictional writing also allows the reader to get caught up in the story and become intimate with the characters, which allows for stronger feelings that drive people to action.
Few people in society have an interest to read non-fiction books. Fewer still have an interest to read a book about meat packing in Chicago. Reading is used for enjoyment and the argument could be made that fiction books are far more entertaining than non-fiction. Fiction creates opportunities for the reader to step out of their own life and into the settings and plot of the story they are reading. This allows the reader to connect and empathize with the characters in the story.
Sinclair uses the lives of an immigrant Lithuanian family to show that the capitalistic society in America only works to keep the poor, poor and the rich, rich. The story starts by introducing us to the family of Jurgis Rudkus on the night of his wedding. Sinclair carefully introduces each character to the reader allowing them to get to know each characters traits, morals and personality. The reader learns that this group of people, especially Jurgis, has a high moral fiber coupled with a strong work ethic. For example, several times throughout the story Jurgis tells his family that he will “work harder” and that will make things okay. They are full of life and love, and willingness to help those in need, even though they themselves don’t have much. The goodness of these characters makes it easy to connect with them.
This early connection with the characters sets up the reader to experience events and feel emotions as they are revealed throughout the story. From the time of their arrival in Chicago, Jurgis and his family had experienced hardships. They lived in a boarding house that was dirty until they found a house to buy. The house they bought was a dump and it ended up draining them of money and requiring all able bodies in the house to work. When Jurgis and his wife Ona have a child he is unable to spend time with his child because he is required to be at work for such long hours. Ona ends up at a job where she is raped repeatedly by her boss; when Jurgis is hears of his wife’s rape he is heart broken. In retaliation he beats her boss, which lands him in jail, as well as on the blacklist in the meat packing industry, and gets his family kicked out of their house. Back in the boarding house, Ona dies during child birth and shortly there after Jurgis’s baby drowns. With each event, Jurgis’ spirit is a little more broken, and so is that of the readers. Sinclair gets his readers to experience the emotion and the heartache of each character. These emotions drive the reader to want to do something, want to help, and thus they turn to socialism as Jurgis did, or at least that was the result that Sinclair hoped for.
The Jungle did prove to be a powerful piece of propaganda, but not for the Socialist Party. The meat packing industry was forever changed because of the conditions that Sinclair brought to life. In the early 20th century, most readers were well educated business class men. These men benefited from the capitalistic society that they lived and therefore did not want to see that change. The Jungle, did however, give them insight into the unregulated and dirty conditions of the meat packing plants. They did not want to eat diseased and infected meat and thus started pushing for reforms and laws that would regulate the industry.
While achieving unexpected outcomes, The Jungle did not succeed in persuading Americans to turn to socialism, but this is not the fault of the fiction writing. Rather the blame should be placed on the time period and class of people that it was introduced into. Perhaps Sinclair and The Jungle would be more successful in today’s society. The volatile economy has put the working class people on edge and diminished their beliefs in the current system. Today, the working class is also far more literate than that of the early 1900’s, thus The Jungle and the reforms it proposes, are accessible to the people who would benefit from it the most.
