Where I come from, teaching American history is alive. Despite the overwhelming emphasis on reading, writing, and math, there are many fine teachers engaging their students in the study of history.
I’ve had the great fortune to work with some of those teachers for the past nine years in a Teaching American History grant program. As director of the program, it has been energizing and inspiring to witness teachers who are committed to helping students learn history through critical thinking.
Not only that, our teachers have created history education products to help museums engage students. The products have taken many forms, including walking tours, traveling trunks filled with artifacts, reproductions of a pioneer cabin and Native American plank house, and a traveling children’s museum. The photo above shows two of our teachers (on right) at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the opening to a kid-friendly museum annex at the Cottage Grove (OR) History Museum.
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