Teaching American History Projects
News …
Welcome to the Past: Teaching
American History
Creatively,
Ron Helms, Wright State University
A major 2004 initiative of the Dayton Ohio TAH Grant, The Dayton American History Tripartite, was an American History Conference for more than fifty Dayton Public School American History teachers on October 15 at Sinclair Community College. Using history content, the conference carefully integrated the new Ohio social studies standards into all sessions.
The keynote presentation “Sojourner Truth” portrayed by Ms. Marie Hope, was dramatic and inspirational. Mrs. Hope from Columbus, OH, has made over 500 appearances as Sojourner Truth and remarked that this presentation was the most professional in her career. The audience gave a standing ovation.
This year's conference also featured the products and projects of Dayton teachers. Teachers chose from the following conference sessions:
“Journalizing Dayton’s History and Life in the 1820s, 1910s and 1930s,” “Cultural Aspects of Colonial American Life,” “A History Day Program,” ”Freedom Train: The Underground Railroad,” “Freedom Bound- The Underground Railroad," "Organizational Skills- Ways To Develop A File for the Ohio Academic Content Standards for Social Studies," “Putting Dayton’s History Into Perspective- A Video Project,” “American History and Cultural Diversity—The Dynamic Web,” “The Progressive Era: An Ohio and Miami Valley Connection,“ “Connecting Primary Sources to the Ohio Academic Content Standards for Social Studies,” “Think Outside The Box Without Boxing Yourself In: Curriculum Aligned to the Ohio Academic Content Standards for Social Studies,” “The Chesapeake Expedition,” “History Classroom Without Walls: Dayton Public Schools Digital Project.”
“Citizenship, Creativity, and Invention” are the themes of the Dayton Teaching American History Project, which is directed jointly by the Dayton Public Schools and Wright State University in partnership with ThinkTV and area historical museums and organizations Ron Helms and Marjorie McLellan, WSU History Department serve as co-principal investigators and project directors on all three aspects of this project.