palimpsest - olds ncss

Find A Palimpsest and Engage Students with American History

Learn how a group of teachers make history meaningful for elementary students using a kind of image we

identify as palimpsest. NCSS Annual Conference, November, 2012

• TAH Project Director Sue Olds, – District administrator, Petaluma City Schools.– susanolds@aol.com

• TAH Co-Director Nancy Case-Rico, – Professor, Sonoma State University.– case@sonoma.edu

TAH Project Website: tah4.org

Who we are -

Elementary consortium project with Sonoma State University History and Education professors.

8 district partners; 47 upper elementary teachers; 8 teacher leaders.

Three-year cohort (kept 44 for 3 years) for Teaching American History grant, 2008-2011.

3 Saturdays within year; two-week institute each summer including a field trip.

Brief Overview of TAH4

Themes• Year one - “ethnogenesis” - first

contact and exploration. • Year two - “palimpsest” – colonial

communities. • Year three - “heritage” - revolution

and constitution

Ethnogenesiso Ethnogenesis describes

the process that occurs when two or more cultures come together.

o In TAH, teachers used this term to analyze the continued process of combining cultures, starting with “first contact” between Europeans and Native Americans.

HeritageHeritage is defined

as the stories we tell today about events that occurred in the past.

Teachers used this term to examine familiar and unfamiliar American stories.

Palimpsest A Palimpsest is a parchment (or the

like) from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.

Teachers used this term to think about the layers of history that have not been entirely erased, but are just below the surface.

The two-week institute culminated in a trip to Monterey, Ca., where palimpsest is evident at every turn; early Native Americans, Spanish missions, Mexican and American influences abound through architecture, culture, and environment.

What do you see?

What makes this a palimpsest?

What do you see?

Information to consider for a specific location

Before Europeans arrived

At the time Europeans arrived (colonial settlement)

50-100 years after Europeans arrived

Today

Where am I? (Environment)

Who’s here with me and what is our relationship?(Society)

What are the rules?(Politics)

What do we do for a living?(Economy)

Who are we becoming as a people?(Culture)

Visual evidence of Environment? Society? Politics? Economy? Culture?

Visual evidence of Environment? Society? Politics? Economy? Culture?

video from Youtube

www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee

TAH 4: Palimpsest Project #1

“Our goal for this project is to practice seeing historical palimpsests in real places using the themes from our summer curriculum.

We will be examining the ways communities changed over time by creating new communities that blended elements of the groups that made them up, rather than obliterating all traces of past cultures and peoples.”

Intro to 5th grade assignment

Logistics for our assignment, used in 5th grade US.

Work in a small groups. Each group will examine the history of a real community (one place) that existed before European contact and still exists today.

Each group receives a set of materials—maps, handouts, links/ urls—to use as resources for this project.

Two graphic organizers are provided to help with research and the final product Note the use of the five themes: environment, society, politics, economy, and culture.

Presentation of information includes visual images and writing.

Pre-Contact Colonial Settlement

Mature Colonial Settlement

Today

Final Product of Palimpsest project:

With your group, create a final image (modeled on the R. Crumb cartoon) on chart paper illustrating how your community changed over time AND how this change was a palimpsest.-Your image should follow the pattern below (note: Like R. Crumb, you don’t have to include the labels, but do organize the boxes this way.)

Palimpsest Project #2Lesson Modified After Professors Jolly & Purser of CSU, Sonoma

Students will select one historical landmark or town from their state, then identify the themes, society, culture, environment, economics, within that location. Students will focus on how the location has changed, stayed the

same, and been used by the different people who have been there.Modeled after the RL Crumb Comic Strip “Short American History”

Palimpsest Project #3

• You will select one US city, town, area, or historical landmark. Look for a location that has evidence of different layers of people living there over time. You will concentrate on a time when Native Americans lived there, what type of city or town evolved once European settlers arrived, and what the city or area is like today. You will be able to find information on your area online and also in books from the library which include the history of the area you are researching.

• The final project will be a Pop-Up Triorama/model of the landmark/city

Palimpsest Project #3:

Other examples-

What are your ideas?

Lessons developed by participantsProfessor resourcesLinks include:◦ Teaching History Resources◦ Reading and Writing Strategies◦ Grant Generated Lesson Plans◦ Past Institutes and Activities

Contact information:◦ susanolds@aol.com case@sonoma.edu◦ www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhee

http://www.tah4.org