Little House on the Prairie

You can visit Little House on the Prarie by visiting the following site: Little House on the Prairie a> However visiting the historical site Little House on the Prairie located outside of Independence, Kansas in person is a very enjoyable experience. I did however find out that historical accuracy is not always required for the historic site. I should clarify that a little bit. I think the historical information provided at Little House on the Prarire is very accurate. And I think the creator and the people running the site represent it to the best of their ability. The physical representations aren't really that accurate. I was disappointed that the actual Little House is not the one at the site. But who knew the family living in it was going to have a daughter that became a famous author? I really didn't like the school house and the post office being transported to the site to sit right next to the log cabin. Again I don't know how you could do it differently. In the book the school house and the post office were quite a ways away from the house and having them both right next door would take away from the students perspective on exactly what it involved to make a trip to the post office or to go to school everyday. Now our tour guide was very informative and really knew what she was talking about. For overall information Little House on the Prairie was a great place to visit. I would recommend it for younger grades. It is a short enough tour to keep them involved but not so long where they would get worn out from walking the entire site. The gift shop had a bunch of primary source materials that teachers could use and they were very reasonably priced. Now going in the summertime was a good idea to get an idea of how hot the prairie was before air conditioning. It was very hot out there. Visiting historical sites is always interesting and educational but a teacher needs to let the students know beforehand what is authentic from the site and what isn't.

Life

I thought the Life Assignment was kind of a challenging assignment. I can remember certain milestones in my personal life but draw a blank when trying to recall important dates in history. Most of the important dates I remember were connected with sports in some way. The assignment also got me to thinking about my family history. My dad knows a bunch of our family history and is always telling stories about growing up. I find I'm not telling my kids these same kinds of stories. I need to record my dad on video telling these stories so I will have something to share about our family history with my children. I was really disappointed in myself when I was trying to recall important dates in history to actually write down. I think this assignment would be good with any age grouo.

Agriculture Today

There are a variety of small farms in our area. There are also some very large farms in our area. I have definitely seen a decline in the number of students that say they live on a farm. Most now say they just live “out in the country.” Parsons High School has no FFA chapter. In fact one of the deciding factors in students choosing Parsons over a school to the South (LCHS) is they cater more to the true rural student in terms of classes and programs offered.
It seems to me in this area that more farmers are in the cattle business than any other. Which also suggests to me that they probably have other jobs that provide outside income. The small farms have declined. Many of the once small farmhouses are just now small homes. People own or rent them to live outside of town and commute to their jobs. It is weird that when you think of Kansas you picture fields and fields of rolling wheat or fields and fields of sunflowers. In other parts of the state that may be true but in our area you generally see scattered fields of soybeans and corn but mostly cattle in pastures.
I’m not sure when the trend shifted in this area or even if there were once a bunch of traditional farmers in the area. It seems with the ammunition plant and railroad in town many people worked for one of them and also farmed. My dad tells stories of growing up on a farm and missing school to haul hay and take cattle to the market when he was a kid. I have never had a student give me those excuses to miss school.
My wife’s family has been in farming for many generations. They grow crops, raise cattle, and at one time even ran a dairy. But they are one of the few in the area and as a result have accumulated a lot of equipment and land that makes it possible for them to continue in the business. But this seems to be the exception rather than the rule for this particular area.
Again, I’m not sure what the area used to be like but now it seems like most farmers have other jobs besides farming. I could study the latest census to see how many choose farming as their occupation but I really don’t think the number would be very high. It is just to hard to raise a family by being a farmer in this area.

The Bakke Case

The Bakke Case was really an interesting book on the subject of reverse discrimination. I thought Howard Ball did an excellent job of presenting both sides of the argument. I’m a little embarrassed to admit I didn’t know an awful lot about the case before reading the book. I knew there had been a few Supreme Court decisions involving reverse discrimination but didn’t know any of the names involved. I have never covered the concept of reverse discrimination in the 6th grade. Even after reading the book I still am not sure of covering the subject in the 6th grade classroom.
First, I would explain affirmative action to the class and help them understand it was meant to help minorities get equal consideration and treatment. It was designed to open up doors in jobs and in education for minorities that in the past they didn’t receive. It was always a controversial issue with questions always being asked if minorities received jobs and admittance to college on merits because of Affirmative Action.
I would then explain the theory of reverse discrimination in terms of Allan Bakke challenging the case and taking it all the way to the Supreme Court. I would of course explain he won the case and why. Discrimination is always a sensitive issue to discuss and I always am a little timid to bring these issues up in the 6th grade. It is an issue that needs to be introduced I know but still it is hard not to hurt feelings when you bring up the issue.

Vietnam - National Archives

ARC Identifier:532464

Title: Wet going - Marine Private First Class J.L. Collins keeps a battery pack dry as he wades through a muddy hole while on a search mission with "I" Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 12 miles south-southwest of DaNang Vietnam., 1927 - 1981.

Still Picture Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601
Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001 PHONE: 301-837-3530, FAX: 301-837-3621, EMAIL: stillpix@nara.gov

Local Identifier: NWDNS-127-N-A193157

I would use this picture for a variety of activities in the 6th grade Social Studies classroom. I would show the picture and ask my students where they think the picture was taken. I would have them take into account the terrain in the photo and what the soldiers are wading through. I'm sure some guesses would be Iraq, Saudia Arabia, or another Middle East country since the U.S. is involved there. After telling the students it was taken in Vietnam I would discuss the geography and climate of Vietnam. I would show the class where Vietnam is located on the world map and then look at some physical and climate maps of Vietnam.
The next activity I would do is have the students write a historical narrative as one of the soldiers. It could be a letter to parents, friend, relatives etc. or as a journal entry that the soldier is keeping of his daily life. The students would have to explain what they are doing in the photo, where they are going, what they are going to do next etc. I could work with the Language Arts or Reading teachers and really have the students get creative with the narrative.
The final activity would be to compare the photo posted here with one taken recently from Iraq. The students would compare and contrast the weather conditions, terrain, equipment, and quality of photograph between the two photos. They could compare and contrast using a Venn Diagram.

Truman Presidential Library

I went to Truman Presidential Library not really looking for anything in particular, just hoping something would catch my eye that I would want to look at. When I got to the site I immediately clicked on museum exhibits. I scrolled down to the bottom of the page where the website had a list of online exhibits. I chose World War II in Posters. There was immediately a slideshow available showing posters from WW II. The posters were the propaganda posters showing things like Nazi hands sneaking up behind a mother getting ready to kidnap a baby, others encouraging citizens to buy war bonds, and still others reminding people to be quiet you never know who is listening. I have always found these posters very interesting when reading about WWII. All the posters have such amazing graphics and really convey to the viewer what the government, or the company that produced the poster, really wants them to see.
After viewing the slideshow I saw a link at the bottom of the page titled Voices From World War II. Here is the link Voices From World War II: Experiences from the Front and at Home This link will take you to a website sponsored by UMKC. This is a very interesting and entertaining website. The website has amazing audio and video images from events before, during, and after WW II. I clicked on “The Day of Infamy” speech and the audio is very clear. The website also provided video images of Pearl Harbor, and other battles of WWII. These images were also very clear. The other heading I clicked on was titled Home Front and it also provided old time radio broadcasts and images that Americans saw during the World War II. UMKC and The Truman Library really worked well together in developing this link.
I originally went to the Truman Library website looking for a quick topic to write about for this blog, I ended up spending well over an hour in the site looking at just the one link from UMKC. I now look forward to going back and examining the website more.

War Without Mercy

War Without Mercy is an appropriate title for this book. John W. Dower really opened my eyes to the racial tension that existed in America during World War II. I did find it ironic that Dower pointed out that while the United States government was using propaganda against the racism of Germany and Japan they were turning a blind eye to the Jim Crow laws and racial practices that were still practiced in the country. The book also opened my eyes to the pure “hate” that American soldiers felt for their Japanese enemy. The massacres and mutilations of prisoners and dead bodies were events textbooks in the schools don’t discuss. I can’t imagine hating something so much I would take mementos of their bodies to make use of. I also had always thought that the Japanese were just fierce fighters that were willing to die for their country when in reality they would have rather died than be taken prisoner because of the atrocities they thought the American soldiers would commit on them. Reading the book gives me newfound respect for the fighting men and women of all countries.
Dower also does a good job of discussing the Japanese view towards Americans before and during the war. I again didn’t realize the views Japan had towards other Asians. They really didn’t want to unite Asians against the world they wanted to conquer Asians and Allies alike. They were brutal in dealings with all people. Dower does a good job of discussing why Japan was viewed this way and how the Japanese government and people really felt during the war. There are two sides to every story and Dower presents both sides very well in this book.
This book is to graphic to use in my classroom with 6th graders. I could possibly use some of the political cartoons when discussing propaganda during the war. I could compare some of these political cartoons with the ones used today during the War Against Terrorism and how the media often portrays the Muslim people. I would also discuss with the class how countries use propaganda to make other countries look bad during wartime. I would have students discuss how they think other countries view the United States and discuss some of the misconceptions they have concerning other countries due to U.S. propaganda.