American Transitions from Rural to Urban Life

The Ohio Historical Society’s (OHS) American Transitions from Rural to Urban Life is a Picturing America project made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  American Transitions will explore socioeconomic issues during the American Industrial Revolution through artworks and artists featured in the Picturing America collection. OHS has partnered with the Columbus Museum of Art and four noted scholars to deliver rigorous interdisciplinary content. In addition, OHS will provide classroom applications, hands-on activities, books and materials, and an over-all exceptional professional development opportunity for K-12 art and social studies teachers.
 
For schedule of activities and application, visit http://americantransitionspicturingamerica.wordpress.com/. The application is due May 13, 2011.

Norman Rockwell in the Classroom

Some of you may have had the opportunity to see Rockwell's America at the Ohio Historical Center in 2008. Norman Rockwell's uniquely American art is iconic and can also serve to explore social changes including urbanization, changing
roles of women in the 1940s, and the civil rights movement in the 1960s with students.

Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg is an online exhibit of the Smithsonian American Art Museum that examines in-depth the connections between Norman Rockwell's images of American life and the movies.Rockwell carefully composed the setting of his paintings and crafted the mood with lighting and staging.

Additional works and teaching resources can be found through the Norman Rockwell Museum.

100 Films Reviewed by Historians

This idea, that movies can be a teaching tool, has been the theme of the “Masters at the Movies” article series in Perspectives on History since it began in 2006. Over the past 5 years, 17 historians have reviewed or noted over 100 films, applauding some while questioning the accuracy of others.

From Wall Street to A Streetcar Named Desire to period pieces such as The Other Boleyn Girl, check out a synopsis of the films reviewed here.

History Help

Help! Next year I will be teaching American History for the 1st time in a High School Resource Room setting. All the information I gained from this course has been very helpful, just a little too high functioning for my students. I'm sure I will be able to use some of it though, such as the primary sources, with some modifications on other activities. Does anyone teach at the elementary level who can give me some suggestions on teaching this subject (4-5 grade level) or have any neat projects they would be willing to share. Anything would be extremely helpful. Thanks!!
--Amanda

Middle School or High School Social Studies

My licensure is 4-9 Math and Social Studies. I teach 4th grade Math and Social Studies. In 4th grade we have the dreaded Ohio Achievement Assessment for Math and Reading only. In my short 4 years here I have noticed something, Social Studies and Science get the short end a lot!

One example of how I see this is that I only teach one Social Studies class for 45 minutes each day to one of my classes, while I teach 1 hour and 20 minutes of Math to two of my classes. I have questioned this but then I have been shot down immediately, by other teachers and administrators. Also, whenever there is a delay or other assembly Social Studies and Science are cut out, while Math or Reading maybe shortened.

My question is, do Middle School Teachers or High School teachers notice this lack of Social Studies instruction? What is the biggest thing you notice the students lacking in Social Studies.

I understand that Reading, Writing, and Math are very important but I was just wondering what we were doing to these other areas in the process of focusing on these other subjects.