Elementary Education Commons^™

The History Curriculum And Inculcation Of National Consciousness In History Students In Ghana, Charles Adabo Oppong

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Abstract

National consciousness plays an important role in socio-economic and political developments in many nations. Mostly, national consciousness promotes national unity, sustainable development, peace, respect for diversity, patriotism, and others. Undoubtedly, most of the variables mentioned are acquired through the study of national history. This study stems from the motivation to find out whether the Ghanaian senior high school history curriculum addresses the canons identified as variables of national consciousness. The study, therefore, aimed at examining the content of the Ghanaian history syllabus, as a curriculum document, whether it inculcates national consciousness or otherwise. 125 Form Three history students in …

Analyzing Source Preferences In Student Writing When Integrating Diverse Texts, Lauren Covington

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article examines the sources cited by sixth grade who had been exposed to multiple sources pertaining to a historical topic. The purpose of this study was to determine whether students exhibited a preference for specific types of sources when constructing and demonstrating knowledge about historic events, figures, or a specific time period. A total of 46 students participated in the study which extended over eight class periods of approximately 50 minutes each. During these class periods students constructed knowledge about historical figure, Rosa Parks, and the events of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Students were presented with a variety of …

Embracing The Past: Transatlantic Slave Trade In Ghana And The Holocaust In Germany, Anitha Oforiwah Adu-Boahen, Justina Akansor

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The history of the transatlantic slave trade and the holocaust is a history of different cultures, which explains the diverse and growing efforts to remember these phenomena. This paper compared how the transatlantic slave trade and holocaust are embraced through memory culture, specifically looking at monuments available in Germany and Ghana to represent them, how they are taught in schools and whether they are being discussed. To do this various holocaust and slave trade sites were visited within Ghana and Germany to illicit how these monuments help people to learn about, and embrace these events. Interview guide and focus group …

Elementary Students Socially Construct Their Own Historically-Grounded Wordless Picture Books, Deborah Wooten, Jeremiah Clabough, Emily Blackstock

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The C3 Framework by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has placed an emphasis on elementary social studies teachers strengthening their students’ content-area literacy skills. One tool that can be paired with primary sources to accomplish this goal is wordless picture books. In this article, we discuss a one week project where a fourth grade teacher used primary sources and wordless picture books to explore the Fugitive Slave Act of the 19^th century. This one week project culminated in groups creating their own historically-grounded wordless picture book. The steps and resources needed to implement this one week …

Inquiry: Susan B. Anthony And Frederick Douglass, Janie Hubbard

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article describes an inquiry lesson, recommended for grades 4-6, which explores Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass’ 45 year relationship as allies, fighting for equal rights for African Americans and women during the 1800's. The lesson uses the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Trade Book for Young People award winner, Friends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglass. Highlighted in the story line are the abolitionist movement, U.S. Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, Susan’s famous 1872 arrest for voting, and the 13^th, 15^th, and 19^th Amendments to the …

Beware The Cat In The Hat: How Children's Literature Is The Modern Form Of Segregation, Lucy Kebler

Celebration of Learning

Every person grows up exposed to children’s literature. Unfortunately, much of the children’s literature that is published is racially discriminatory, historically inaccurate, blatantly offensive, or pure propaganda. The research for this presentation began in Augustana College’s library and has transitioned to a much broader space: The Saint Louis Country Library. Through this research, it has become obvious that diverse literature is hard to find and is often marketed as only readable for those in the minority race depicted. Many libraries mark literature that contains African Americans, as to help “guide” readers in their selections. Books labeled in this way make …

Kasserian Injera: And How Are The Children? The Lived Experiences And Perceptions Of Participants, Black And White, Who Attended Both Segregated And Desegregated Schools, Sherman Whitfield

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

This study was guided by the following research question: What are the perceptions and experiences of participants, Black and White, who attended both segregated and desegregated schools? This phenomenological research study was conducted using two focus groups divided homogeneously into one Black focus group and one White focus group. The Black focus group consisted of three Black females and two Black males. The White focus group consisted of six White females. The findings related to the research revealed that the Black focus group and the White focus group looked at this phenomenon differently along racial lines. These former students actually …

Positionality Matters: School Choice Decisions Based On Ethnographic Accounts Of African American Parents, Dr. Stacy L. Thomas

Dissertations

This research delves into experiences with reasoning and selected criteria for choosing the right school for their children. Beginning with a series of vignettes that assist with recognition of parental empowerment, this research archives acknowledgement of their own positionality when it comes to making life changing decisions. As selected parents of African American children grapple with the strategic balance and possibilities of educational outlets, family and finances, they offer ethnographic accounts of their successes and failures with school choice. Individual accounts of parental school choice decisions posing as data ascertained from interviews provided research that explored the critical frequencies and …

Representation Of The Titanic In Children's Literature, Charity R. Huwe

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

State and national education initiatives are the driving force behind increased exploration of diverse texts, namely informational texts. Trade books offer opportunity for interdisciplinary units to develop through the rise of informational text use in both English/language arts and history/social studies. Primary source documents serve as a liaison to filing gaps in the information left out from textbooks and trade books. A more thorough understanding of historical figures and events are a result of such analysis. The initiatives do not dictate specific curricular material; teachers use their discretion when choosing available trade books, primary documents, and other curricular resources. In …

Fifth Grade Students’ Disciplinary Literacy Using Diverse Primary And Secondary Sources, Tara L. Richeson

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This study analyzed students’ use of diverse sources for a history-based writing assignment on Abraham Lincoln. Participants includes 41 students in a fifth grade self-contained classroom in rural Illinois. The study was conducted during students’ 30-minute writing period, every day for six weeks. During this time period, students close-read trade books and primary sources to collect research on Lincoln. Students also gathered additional information during their field trip to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Students synthesized their information from the various sources and organized the notes to write an informational, history-based writing piece on Lincoln. Students were required …

Assessing History Students’ Historical Skills In The Cape Coast Metropolis Of Ghana, Charles Adabo Oppong

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This study assesses history students’ historical skills in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. The specific skills assessed were document literacy and evaluative skills. In assessing these skills, two instruments were employed: the use of a test and a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) guide. Students were tested to examine their skills in using historical documents under sourcing, contextualisation and corroboration. FGD was used to investigate how students evaluate historical evidence. The data analysis of the students’ test consisted of three stages. The first stage involved marking the responses while making notes on them, the second stage included writing a single …

Perspective Taking Through An Elementary Unit On Lewis And Clark, Ronald V. Morris

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The teachers showed the perspectives students acquired through reading and comparing narratives. Teachers helped students work toward the common good in a democracy by helping the student to examine perspectives. In their reading and writing, they developed rich background and content about the experience. When students studied these explorers, the students developed an empathetic understanding for the hardships and sacrifices madeby the Corps of Discover as they traveled on this expedition. Student interest and motivation flowed into this project because they felt the problems as their own; they, therefore, were interested when they understood what it meant and found …

Ua66/8/6 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Allied Organizations, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about allied organizations associated with the Geography & Geology department, including the Council of Geography Teachers, Green River Grotto, and Kentucky Geographic Alliance.

Treehouses: Civilizing The Wildness Of Men And Nature, Courtney Mckinney

English Undergraduate Distinction Projects

In this paper, I explore how treehouses operate symbolically in tandem with culture. Through an analysis of British and American print culture, I argue that the treehouse building project became bound to boyhood at the turn of the twentieth century as the naturalist movement spread and youth organizations embraced treehouses as part of their vision for the development of boys. Parents and youth leaders intend for treehouse projects to build self-reliance, independence, imagination, and courage in their boys. Congruously, this activity associated with a child’s personal growth takes place in an actual growing organism. I analyze how treehouses juxtapose humans …

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

Adams, Marion Lee, 1930-2013 (Mss 638), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 638. Research, articles and clippings relating to Patty and Mildred Hill of Louisville, Kentucky, and their composition of the song “Happy Birthday to You.” Includes letters of the Hills’ surviving descendant written to Marion Lee Adams of Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Engagement In The History Classroom: Problem-Based Learning And Primary Sources, Lauren Seghi

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Too often today, students have to sit idly in a history classroom listening to a lecture or reading out of a textbook which is why many people in society (adults and children alike) do not like or understand the complexity of history. This article argues that in order for students to be engaged in "doing" history in the classroom, they need to take part in problem-based learning (pbl) activities using primary sources from the past.

The Heart Of K'É: Transforming Diné Special Education And Unsettling The Colonial Logics Of Disability, Sandra Yellowhorse

American Studies ETDs

This paper takes up the roles of ideology and spatiality as they impact Diné students and learners in understanding conceptions of normativity, neuro-diversity and bodily variance. I am concerned with how the movement and creation of Indigenous schools and their praxis still maintain and often times produce settler colonial ideologies of being, personhood, difference and ability. I illustrate the challenges that Diné planners and educators face in entrenching cultural knowledge and language into their educational initiatives, while some of the problematic manifestations and expressions of normativity present themselves through state polices, federal law and mainstream curriculum.

I focus on the …

Dorothy Moser Medlin Papers - Accession 1049, Dorothy Moser Medlin

Manuscript Collection

(The Dorothy Moser Medlin Papers are currently in processing.)

This collection contains most of the records of Dorothy Medlin’s work and correspondence and also includes reference materials, notes, microfilm, photographic negatives related both to her professional and personal life. Additions include a FLES Handbook, co-authored by Dorothy Medlin and a decorative mirror belonging to Dorothy Medlin.

Major series in this collection include: some original 18th century writings and ephemera and primary source material of André Morellet, extensive collection of secondary material on André Morellet's writings and translations, Winthrop related files, literary manuscripts and notes by Dorothy Medlin (1966-2011), copies …

From The Boston Stone Jail, 1775, Jean C. O'Connor

The Montana English Journal

Primary sources can open doors to stories we can only imagine. I share the discovery of an actual letter written by American patriot James Lovell in September of 1775, the more startling because in my research for my historical fiction novel The Cause I had already read a clerk-written version of the letter. I encourage teachers to utilize primary sources to entice their students’ development of narrative, and offer links to excellent sources from the Montana Historical Society.

Time Travel, Labour History, And The Null Curriculum: New Design Knowledge For Mobile Augmented Reality History Games, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This paper presents a case study drawn from design-based research (DBR) on a mobile, place-based augmented reality history game. Using DBR methods, the game was developed by the author as a history learning intervention for fifth to seventh graders. The game is built upon historical narratives of disenfranchised populations that are seldom taught, those typically relegated to the 'null curriculum'. These narratives include the stories of women immigrant labour leaders in the early twentieth century, more than a decade before suffrage. The project understands the purpose of history education as the preparation of informed citizens. In paying particular attention to …

The Curriculum Development Of Experienced Teachers Who Are Inexperienced With History-Based Pedagogy, John Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Contemporary American education initiatives mandate half of all English language arts content is non-fiction. History topics, therefore, will increase within all elementary and English language arts middle level classrooms. The education initiatives have rigorous expectations for students’ close readings of, and written argumentation about, numerous texts representing multiple perspectives about the same historical event, era, or figure. Practicing English language arts teachers must adjust pedagogy accordingly. They cannot utilize a single, whole-class novel with comprehension questions as an assessment. With teaching experience but not formal training in history-based pedagogy, they are adaptive experts. This qualitative study explores how English language …

The Stories We All Share : A Sixth Grade Geography Curriculum Based On Paul Salopek's "Out Of Eden Walk", Georgina Wells

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This sixth grade geography curriculum is based on a digital journalism series called the "Out of Eden Walk," in which Paul Salopek, a journalist for National Geographic, is spending seven years walking the path of early human migration and digitally reporting the stories he encounters. The curriculum follows him on his journey, as students read his and other stories about early man, Africa, and the Middle East. Students also design and report findings from their own walks.

Annotated Bibliography Of Thematically Related Historical Fiction Picture Books And Nonfiction Pairs, Katherine Seibel

Graduate Research Papers

The Iowa Common Core requires students to read both fiction and nonfiction texts. Iowa teachers would benefit from a list of books that will allow them to meet school curricular requirements as well as the Iowa Core requirement. The purpose of this project was to create an annotated bibliography of paired sets of picture books and nonfiction books that correspond to one mid-sized Iowa elementary school's literacy curriculum. The researcher selected units from the school's literacy program that could be taught in a historical context, and then prepared an annotated bibliography consisting of pairs of a historical fiction picture book …

Explorers Of The Caribbean : The TaíNo People And Their History - An Original Resource For Social Studies In Upper Elementary Grades, Razi Abdur-Rahman

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Presents a study of taíno history and society in the Caribbean for upper elementary grade levels.

The Philippines' Masskara Festival : A Nonfiction Picture Book, Monica Denise V. Javelosa

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study focuses on festivals in the Philippines and includes a nonfiction picture book intended to pique children's curiousity about their own region.

A 4th-5th Grade Social Studies Curriculum Unit On Compromise And The Declaration Of Independence, Elizabeth O'Ferrall

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This independent study is a ten lesson curriculum on the study of compromise and the Declaration of Independence. It was designed for a fourth and fifth grade class in a progressive public school in New York City. The goal of this curriculum is to promote critical thinking and discussion about the role of compromise in American history and present day politics through the examination of historical and contemporary contentious issues.

Resource To Support Teaching Local History In Baxter, Iowa, Greg Pickett

Graduate Research Papers

National, state, and local standards are the forerunners in what educators are using to teach students in the classrooms. A lack of resources for young students can be detrimental when teaching students while also trying to follow those standards. The upper elementary grades at Baxter Community School District are lacking in those resources to teach about the local history of their town. The purpose of this project is to create an interactive book that can be used to help fulfill those needs in the teaching of local history. A concern for this project was determining what items to include in …

The Migration Of People: A Model Application Exploring Washington State History, Jamie Nicole Hartman

All Graduate Projects

One of the things that makes Washington State a culturally competent and perceptive place to live is its deep history and appreciation of the migration of its' people. This project is designed to serve as a model and resource for upper elementary school teachers that are seeking to integrate the migration of people into their Washington State History curriculum. A sample inquiry-based curriculum for upper elementary school students "The Migration of People" is offered as a depiction of exceptional classroom practice. Student roles, activities, and assessment methods are portrayed, along with thier connection to core curriculum content and the Washington …

Fifth Grade Student Learning And Interest In The American Revolution Through Reading Graphic Novels Compared To Reading Biography Or Other Nonfiction Books, Kari Bosma

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine student recall of facts, along with enjoyment of reading and interest in the topic when using graphic novels as compared to illustrated nonfiction prose in social studies content area reading. Twenty-two fifth grade students (13 f, 9 m) in a public school in a Midwestern state participated in the study. Half of the students read about the Boston Massacre and Patrick Henry through graphic novels and read about Paul Revere and the Boston Tea Party with illustrated nonfiction texts, with the other half doing the opposite. The mean number of correct ideas …