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We know history, and we know that as a teacher, you know that history is important. Convincing your third-graders, however, is often less of a non-issue. For those young minds that are perhaps less partial to the past, we present: a collection of books that will help you get your students off their feet and into the moment before they really realize it. Deur, Lynne. A Lumberjack’s Story: A Chapter from the Great Lakes Past. Spring Lake, MI: River Road Publications, 1982. Entine, Lynn. Our Great Lakes Connection: A Curriculum Guide for Grades Kindergarten Through Eight. n.p.: Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System (UW–Extension Environmental Resources Center), 1985. Historical Society of Michigan. Immediately Michigan: Ready-to-Use, Award-Winning, K-12 Michigan Lessons. Available for purchase from The Historical Society of Michigan Center for Teaching Michigan History, 2117 Washtenaw Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4599, (313/769-1828). Barrett, Katharine, et al. Investigating Artifacts: Making Masks, Creating Myths, Exploring Middens Teacher’s Guide. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Hall of Science (Regents of the University of California), 1992 (REV. 1996). (grades K-6) McCabe, Jean S. Learning About Michigan Indians: A Study Unit for Early Elementary Grades. Spring Lake, MI: River Road Publications, Inc., 1981. McConnell, David B. Teacher’s Guide for Forging the Peninsulas. Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale Educational Publishers, 1990. McConnell, David B., and Elizabeth B. Dewey. Michigan Activity Masters for Discover Michigan. Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale Educational Publishers, 1985. Reed, Elaine Wrisley. Helping Your Child Learn History (with activities for children aged 4 through 11). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement, n.d. Roberts, Patricia L. Literature-Based History Activities for Children, Grades 4-8. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. Rockford Public Schools Fourth Grade Teachers. Explore Michigan: An Adventure Packed Thematic Unit. Rockford, MI: Authors, 1992. Published by the Rockford Middle School, Rockford Public Schools, 397 E. Division, Rockford, MI 49341. (Cost: $100.00) Silverman, Jerry. Mel Bay Presents The American History Songbook. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, Inc., 1992. (Songs to sing in the car or bus on your way to the museum and all the way home!)
At the museum, we see lots of different kinds of people filling the role of ‘group leader’. We see teachers, parents, big sisters, that big kid in the fourth grade… Whoever you are, if you’re leading a group of students on a tour through the museum, you may want to boost your confidence before the big day (i.e. before you’re a tour guide). That way, you’ll know what to say when your students start asking questions about history. You may be thinking, ‘That doesn’t happen!’ …but in a museum, trust us, it does. Cleaver, Joanne. Doing Children’s Museums: A Guide to 225 Hands-on Museums. Charlotte, VT: Williamson Pub., 1988. Falk, John H., and Lynn D. Dierking. The Museum Experience. Washington, DC: Whalesback Books, 1992. Finn, David. How to Visit a Museum. NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 1985. Gartenhaus, Alan. Minds in Motion: Using Museums to Expand Creative Thinking (2nd edition). San Francisco, CA: Caddo Gap Press, 1993. Green, Bob, and D. G. Fulford. To Our Children’s Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come. NY: Doubleday, 1993. Greene, Wilma Prudhum. Museums and Learning: A Guide for Family Visits. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement and Smithsonian Office of Education, April 1998. Grinder, Alison L., and E. Sue McCoy. The Good Guide: A Sourcebook for Interpreters, Docents and Tour Guides. Scottsdale, AZ: Ironwood Publishing, 1985. Hein,George E. and Mary Alexander. Museums: Places of Learning. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums, 1998 MacDowell, Marsha (Editor). Folk Arts in Education: A Resource Handbook. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Museum, 1987. Mann, Kenny. Observe and Deduce: An Artifacts Game. Creative Classroom, 8(3) (Nov./Dec. 1993), pp.70-72. Metcalf, Fay D., and Matthew T. Downey. Using Local History in the Classroom. Nashville, TN: The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), 1982. Michigan History for Kids and The Mitten. Published by Michigan History magazine and used in fourth grade classrooms. Previous issues may be purchased from Michigan History or download free PDFs of the issues and teacher’s guides online. Contact Michigan History for more information. Neal, Arminta. Exhibits for the Small Museum: A Handbook. Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History, 1976. Nichols, Susan K. (Editor). Museum Education Anthology,1973-1983. Washington, DC: Museum Education Roundtable, 1984. Schlereth, Thomas J. Artifacts and the American Past. Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), 1980. Tunnell, Michael O., and Richard Ammon (Editors). The Story of Ourselves: Teaching History Through Children’s Literature. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1993. Voris, Helen H., Maija Sedzielarz, and Carolyn P. Blackmon. Touch the Mind, Touch the Spirit: A Guide to Focused Field Trips. Chicago, IL: Department of Education, Field Museum of Natural History, 1986. (Published by the Department of Education, Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605. Waterfall, Milde, and Sarah Grusin. Where’s the Me in Museum: Going to Museums with Children. Arlington, VA: Vandamere Press, AB Associates, 1989. (Chapter Five–”History Museums: The Saving Place”) Happy touring!
Here we’ve made a list of books for not just young readers, but also the especially young readers–these books are probably only going to be stimulating for kids twelve and under, and some of them only for six and under. These books begin to cross the genres of history and ‘Early Readers’. They mix entertainment, information, and educational technique to give kids a taste of history from a starting point that won’t make them prematurely squeamish. Archaeology for Kids: Uncovering the Mysteries of Our Past by Richard Panchyk. Chicago Review Press, 2001. The Archaeology of North America by Dean R. Snow. NY: Chelsea House Publishers, 1990. Collect It! Making collections–From Fossils to Fakes by Elizabeth Newbery. London: A & C Black, 1991. A Day in the Life of a Museum Curator by Judith Tropea. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1991. A Visit to the Sesame Street Museum (A Random House picturebook) by Liza Alexander. NY: Random House/Children’s Television Workshop, 1987. (Bert, Ernie and Grover introduce young children to the concept of a museum. Ages 4-8) Discover: Investigate the Mysteries of History with 40 Practical Projects Probing Our Past by Katherine Grier. Royal Ontario Museum, 1989; Published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Reading, MA, 1990. Diving to the Past: Recovering Ancient Wrecks by W. John Hackwell. NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. Do People Grow on Family Trees? Genealogy for Kids and Other Beginners (The Official Ellis Island Handbook) by Ira Wolfman. NY: Workman Publishing, 1991. Ages 4-8 Ella’s Trip to the Museum by Elaine Clayton. NY: Crown Publishers Inc., 1996. (Ella, on a field trip to an art museum with her class, interacts with the paintings and statues in a magical way. Ages 3-8) The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue by Jan Wahl (Bob Doucet, illustrator. NY: Cartwheel Books, Scholastic, Inc., 2000. (The Field Mouse loses his home under one of Sue’s bones during the archaeological excavation, accompanies the T. rex’s bones to Chicago and explores the Field Museum looking for his special bone. Ages 4-8) From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. Dell Publishing Co. paperback printed 1997. (1967 Newbery Medal. Twelve-year-old Claudia and her younger brother Jamie discover the Metropolitan Museum of Art, solve a mystery, and grow up a little. Ages 9-12) Going to the Getty by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1997. (This creative book about the Getty will give you ideas for new ways to look at any museum! Ages 4-8) How to Take Your Grandmother to the Museum by Lois Wyse and Molly Rose Goldman. NY: Workman Publishing, 1998. (Grandma usually takes Molly to “Interesting Places,” but this time Molly takes Grandma on a tour of the American Museum of Natural History. Ages 4-8) I Can Be an Archaeologist by Robert B. Pickering. Chicago: Children’s Press, 1987. Inside the Museum: A Children’s Guide to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Joy Richardson. NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1993. Ages 9-12 Let’s Go to the Art Museum by Virginia K. Levy. NY: Henry N. Abrams, Inc., 1988. Mastodon Hunters to Mound Builders: North American Archaeology by Peter and Belia Nichols. Austin, TX: Eakin Press, 1992. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Activity Book by Osa Brown. NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1989. My Family Tree Workbook: Genealogy for Beginners by Rosemary A. Chorzempa. NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1982. Right Here on This Spot by Sharon Hart Addy, illustrated by John Clapp. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999. (Picture book provides a wonderful introduction to archaeology and concept of history for the youngest readers. Ages 4-8) Visiting a Museum by Althea Braithwaite. Over, Cambridge, England: Dinosaur Publications, Ltd., n.d. Visiting the Art Museum by Laurene Krasny Brown and Mark Brown. NY: E.P. Dutton, 1986. Who Came Down That Road? by George Ella Lyon (Illustrated by Peter Catalanato). NY: Orchard Books, 1992. (Picture book explains the concept of history to the youngest child. Ages 4-8) Who Put the Cannon in the Courthouse Square? (Discover It Yourself Book) by Kay Cooper. NY: Avon/Camelot Book, 1993. (Ages 10-12) Working at a Museum (Working Here Series) by Arthur John L’Hommedieu. CT: Children’s Press, 1999. (Ages 4-8) You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser (illus.). (No words, just delightful line drawings of museum exhibits and complementary New York City scenes as a little girl tours the museum while her yellow balloon, an escapee from the museum guard, scoots about the city. Ages 4-8) The Young Scientist Book of Archaeology by Barbara Cook and Sturand Reid. Tulsa, OK: EDC Publishing, 1987.
These books have been chosen as a critical mass of literature concerning Michigan’s dense history in order to narrow the playing field for teachers who find themselves overwhelmed by an academic atmosphere drenched with pop-history. There are so many books around today that wading through the multitude of books and journals to determine which ones warrant studying is too much for any one person. So as a teacher, here– we’ve eliminated one giant step for you. Each book on this list was hand-selected by a group of historians who were in turn hand-selected by the Department of History, Arts and Libraries for their essential understanding of not just history, but Michigan’s history in particular. They were aided in their selection process by Randy Riley, the Special Collections Manager for the Library of Michigan. Armour, David A. and Keith R.Widder. At the Crossroads: Michilimackinac During the American Revolution. Mackinac Island, MI: Mackinac Island State Park Commission, 1986. Bogue, Margaret Beattie. Fishing the Great Lakes: An Environmental History, 1783-1933. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000. Brehm, Victoria, ed. The Women’s Great Lakes Reader. Duluth, MN: Holy Cow! Press, 1998. Buley, R. Carlyle. The Old Northwest: Pioneer Period, 1815-1840. 2 vols. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1950. Carson, Gerald. Cornflake Crusade. New York: Rinehart, 1957. Catton, Bruce. Waiting for the Morning Train: An American Boyhood. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987. Cleland, Charles E. Rites of Conquest: The History and Culture of Michigan’s Native Americans. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992. Clifton, James A., George L. Cornell, and James M. McClurken. People of the Three Fires: The Ottawa, Potawatomi and Ojibway of Michigan. Grand Rapids, MI: Grand Rapids Inter-Tribal Council, 1986. Clive, Alan. State of War: Michigan in World War II. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1979. Darden, Joe T. Detroit, Race and Uneven Development. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987. Dunbar, Willis F. All Aboard! A History of Railroads in Michigan. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1969. Dunbar, Willis F. and George S. May. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State. 3rd rev. ed. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1995. Dunnigan, Brian Leigh. Frontier Metropolis: Picturing Early Detroit, 1701-1838. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001. Eckert, Kathryn Bishop. Buildings of Michigan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Fine, Sidney. “Expanding The Frontiers of Civil Rights”: Michigan, 1948-1968. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2000. Fine, Sidney. Frank Murphy. 3 vols.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1975-1984. Fine, Sidney. Sit-down: The General Motors Strike of 1936-1937. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1969. Fine, Sidney. Violence in the Model City: The Cavanagh Administration, Race Relations, and the Detroit Riot of 1967. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1989. Formisano, Ronald P. The Birth of Mass Political Parties in Michigan, 1827-1861. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1971. Gilpin, Alec R. The Territory of Michigan, 1805-1837. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1970. Gilpin, Alec R. The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1958. Gray, Susan E. The Yankee West: Community Life on the Michigan Frontier. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996. Halsey, John, ed. and Michael Stafford, assoc. ed. Retrieving Michigan’s Buried Past: The Archeology of the Great Lakes State. Bloomfield Hills, MI: Cranbrook Institute of Science, 1999. Holli, Melvin G. Reform in Detroit: Hazen S. Pingree and Urban Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969. Hyde, Charles K. and colored photographs by Ann and John Mahan. The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. Jager, Ronald. Eighty Acres: Elegy for a Family Farm. Boston: Beacon Press, 1990. Karamanski, Theodore J. Deep Woods Frontier: A History of Logging in Northern Michigan. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989. Katzman, David M. Before the Ghetto: Black Detroit in the Nineteenth Century. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1973. Kestenbaum, Justin L., ed. The Making of Michigan, 1820-1860: A Pioneer Anthology. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990. Kilar, Jeremy W. Michigan’s Lumbertowns: Lumbermen and Laborers in Saginaw, Bay City, and Muskegon, 1870- 1905. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990. Klunder, Willard Carl. Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1996. Lankton, Larry D. Cradle to Grave: Life, Work, and Death at the Lake Superior Copper Mines. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Lewis, David L. The Public Image of Henry Ford: An American Folk Hero and His Company. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1976. Lichtenstein, Nelson. The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit: Walter Reuther and the Fate of American Labor. New York: Basic Books, 1995. Mason, Philip P. Rumrunning and the Roaring Twenties: Prohibition on the Michigan-Ontario Waterway. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. May, George S. A Most Unique Machine: The Michigan Origins of the American Automobile Industry. Grand Rapids, MI: W. E. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1974. Nevins, Allan and Frank E. Hill. Ford. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 1954-1963. Peckham, Howard H. Pontiac and the Indian Uprising. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1994. Romig, Walter. Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1986. Sugrue, Thomas J. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. Tanner, Helen Hornbeck, ed. Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. Thomas, Richard W. Life for Us Is What We Make It: Building Black Community in Detroit, 1915-1945. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992. Thompson, Mark L. Steamboats and Sailors of the Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1991. Thurner, Arthur W. Strangers and Sojourners: A History of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1994. Vander Hill, C. Warren. Settling the Great Lakes Frontier: Immigration to Michigan, 1837-1924. Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission, 1970. Vinyard, JoEllen McNergney. For Faith and Fortune: The Education of Catholic Immigrants in Detroit, 1805-1925. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998. Weeks, George. Stewards of the State: The Governors of Michigan. 2nd rev. ed. Detroit: Detroit News; Ann Arbor: Historical Society of Michigan, 1991. White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Woodford, Arthur M. This Is Detroit, 1701-2001. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001. Zunz, Olivier. The Changing Face of Inequality: Urbanization, Industrial Development, and Immigrants in Detroit, 1880-1920. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. The panel of reviewers who selected this list includes Dr. William M.Anderson, Director of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries; Dr. Frank Boles, Director of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University; Sandra Clark, Director of the Michigan Historical Center; Dr. Brian Dunnigan, Curator for the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan; Dr. Sidney Fine, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Michigan; Dr. Charles Hyde, Director of the Great Lakes Series for the Department of History at Wayne State University; Dr. Larry Lankton, Professor of Social Science at Michigan Technological University; Dr. Russell Magnaghi, Professor of History at Northern Michigan University; Dr. Philip P.Mason, Distinguished Professor of History at Wayne State University; Larry Massie, Historian and Storyteller from Allegan; Robert M.Money, Professor of History at Lake Superior State University; Gordon Olson, City Historian for Grand Rapids Public Library; Randy Riley, Special Collections Manager for the Library of Michigan; Dr. Roger L. Rosentreter, Editor of Michigan History magazine; Dr. Jo Ellen Vinyard, Professor of History at Eastern Michigan University; Larry Wagenaar, Director of the Historical Society of Michigan; Dr. Robert M. Warner, Professor Emeritus of History and Information Studies at the University of Michigan; Dr. Benjamin C.Wilson, Director of Africana Studies at Western Michigan University.
