Highlights Archives
It's That Time Again: Back to School
The mornings are getting colder, swallows are congregating on the telephone wires, and stores are discounting backpacks and notebooks — sure signs that another school year is starting. In recent months we've created several online resources to help students and teachers explore Wisconsin history (and everyone else who cares about our past).
For fourth-grade teachers, our Office of School Services has finished a handy matrix that shows how its many resources address state educational standards. Called Interweaving Wisconsin Studies, this curriculum guide should make it easier for teachers to see how the many books for young readers can be aligned with mandated educational goals.
Middle and high school students, parents and teachers will want to investigate National History Day. This program is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of young people around the nation each year, and Wisconsin participation continues to expand. This year, students are asked to create a video, research paper, tabletop exhibit, or other way to share their knowledge as they investigate the theme, "Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events." Dozens of ways to research this broad topic in our own state's history have already been identified.
Secondary school students and teachers will also want to check out our newest online collection of original historical materials, Turning Points in Wisconsin History. Arranged under 10 broad themes in Wisconsin history (such "The Civil War Era" or "Response to 20th-Century Change"), this online collection contains digital images of nearly 1,000 rare books, manuscripts, museum objects, articles, maps and photographs. All aspects of the state's history are covered, from ancient effigy mounds to recent Hmong immigrants. Each of these topics is explained in a short background essay, and every one of the hundreds of primary sources is not just pictured but annotated. Lesson plans and reference tools round out the suite of tools available. Type your own county name in the search box to discover Wisconsin history in your own backyard.
Finally, in the last six months we've added hundreds of photographs of cities and towns to our online collection of Wisconsin Historical Images. Thanks to a generous grant from the SBC Foundation, early images of dozens of small communities are now available for educators to quickly copy or download for classroom use. You can also order high-quality reproductions on paper suitable for framing to decorate your room.
You'll find all these educational resources available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week (and all for free) just by clicking Teachers & Students at the top of any page.
:: Posted August 29, 2005
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