Bringing History to Life

Imagine a Founding Father visiting a classroom today, or a sailor from the War of 1812, an Amish man, a 19th century pioneer, or even a Civil War veteran. Ronald Morris has spent more than 25 years bringing these characters into classrooms and inspiring other educators to do the same. In this book he synthesizes his vast knowledge and experience into a resource for all types of educators who help elementary and middle school children develop a love of history.

Imagine a Founding Father visiting a classroom today, or a sailor from the War of 1812, an Amish man, a 19th century pioneer, or even a Civil War veteran. Ronald Morris has spent more than 25 years bringing these characters into classrooms and inspiring other educators to do the same. In this book he synthesizes his vast knowledge and experience into a resource for all types of educators who help elementary and middle school children develop a love of history. Pre-service teachers can use this book as a model for developing their own styles of teaching social studies. Museum educators can use Bringing History to Life to enliven their presentations with students. Teachers in the classroom can use this resource to help their students develop first person presentations by reading about many examples across the grades. This resource is especially important as school districts reduce their budgets for field trips to popular museums that interpret history using this popular method. With this book as inspiration, educators can continue Bringing History to Life for their students.

Chapter 1 Introduction to First Person Presentations
Chapter 2 Second Grade Presidents' Day
Chapter 3 Third Grade at Simmons School
Chapter 4 Fourth Grade Civil War
Chapter 5 How First Person Historical Narrative is Conducted by Fourth and Fifth Graders
Chapter 6 Sixth Grade: Hope, Indiana Cemetery
Chapter 7 Third and Seventh Grade at the Texas History Walk
Chapter 8 First Person in an Eighth Grade United States History Classroom
Chapter 9 Conclusions