Teaching about U.S. History: A Comparative Approach, 33 Activities. History Series, Volume 2.

This book contains 33 supplementary activities on U.S. history. Although the activities were written for junior and senior high school students, most activities are adaptable for use with elementary school students also. The activities attempt to develop skills in three areas: (1) discovery skills (collecting, analyzing, and evaluating data; hypothesizing; and decision making); (2) values and value analysis (assessing, examining, verbalizing, and acting on values); and (3) knowledge about U.S. history. Section I contains lessons designed to interest students by linking their personal and family histories to U.S. history in general. Section II covers topics such a puritanism, nationalism, immigration, imperialism, and the American Revolution. Section III develops basic social studies skills as interpretation of data, citizenship, and map use. Section IV presents the United States as a multicultural society; students look at different life styles, ethnic groups, and minority groups in the United States. The last section links U.S. and world history with current issues. Issues examined include religion, conflict and power, war and the future of America among nations of the world. Teaching strategies include discovery learning, discussion, data collection, interviews, use of community resources, decision-making games, pictorial-data analysis, role play, and surveys of attitudes about the United States in the community. Teacher instructions and student handouts are included. (Author/JK)