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American History Month by Month QuizEach month I'll be posting a multiple choice quiz featuring historic events that happened in that month, and you'll have to identify the year each event happened. If you answer all of the questions correctly, your quiz will be placed in a drawing to win an autographed copy of The American Story, or an autographed poster, for your classroom! I'll post the winners on my blog. Classroom Historytelling ContestWhen does writing about history become historytelling? When you keep a tight focus on just a few key facts, and structure your narrative around them so that you have a well-defined story. This gives the story a clear and personal point of view. What I highlight in a story about a historical event is what I find interesting or what I think is significant - but it's my opinion. A different historyteller would tell the story in a different way! Each month I'll feature a different broad topic for this contest, along with some suggestions to get you started and some websites to begin to investigate your facts. As a class, study the topic and pick a person or event on which to focus your story. The three or four facts you choose to highlight will give the story your own point of view. Stories should be not more than 750 words. Use vivid descriptions and interesting detail. Make the story come alive! Don't try to tell every single thing about a big historical topic: keep a close-up focus. Be a portrait painter, not a landscape artist! Submit your stories here, and I will select one story each month as the best example of historytelling. The winning class will receive an autographed copy of The American Story, and their story will be published on my blog with their teacher's name, classroom, school, and community. Deadline for all stories is the last day of the month for that topic. Entries will not be returned - I don't have an assistant to help me with this! |
