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ISBN: 978-1-78973-596-3 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-595-6 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-597-0 (Epub)

Epigraph

It is in our nature to need stories. They are our earliest sciences, a kind of people-physics. Their logic is how we naturally think. They configure our biology, and how we feel, in ways long essential for our survival.

—Jag Bhalla (2013)

List of Figures

Figure 1.	Young “Digital Natives”on Their iPads.
Figure 2.	Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States.
Figure 3.	Bill Barker, Historical Interpreter of Thomas Jefferson, 1980–Present.
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1.	Darci Tucker as Charlotte Murray, 4th Countess of Dunmore.
Figure 1.2.	Darci Tucker Portraying Deborah Sampson, Who Disguised Herself as a Man to Enlist and Fight in the American Revolution.
Figure 1.3.	Darci Tucker as Jane Walker, a Composite Character Representing Some of the “Forgotten Revolutionaries”: Thousands of Women Who Accompanied and Did Support Work for the Continental Army.
Figure 1.4.	Student Letter.
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1.	Edgar Dale's Cone of Learning.
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1.	Civil Rights March on Washington, DC (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking).
Figure 3.2.	Theodore Roosevelt, Seated, Leaning on Desk.
Figure 3.3.	Linda Colbert and Susan Hewitt.
Figure 3.4.	Dr. Mae C. Jamison, Official NASA Portrait.
Figure 3.5.	“The Four Freedoms” Document.
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1.	Mark Twain's Home in Hartford, Connecticut.
Figure 4.2.	Jamestown Settlement in James City County, Virginia.
Figure 4.3.	Moffat the Rabbit, His Many “Twins” and Fans Including Several Chapter Authors of This Book.
Figure 4.4.	State Order.
Figure 4.5.	Moffat Dressed for New York, Next to New York Anchor Board.
Figure 4.6.	Circle Map for Students to Begin State Planning for Michigan and Ohio.
Figure 4.7.	Sample Slides from Moffat PowerPoint for Student Graphics (Graphics by Melonheadz).
Figure 4.8.	Student Sample of Circle Map Planning.
Figure 4.9.	Student Sample for Writing Entry for Moffat Journal.
Figure 4.10.	Students Work Together in a Small Group with a Parent Volunteer to Order and Measure Skyscrapers of New York City.
Figure 4.11.	Images L to R during Colonial Study: Student Examining George Washington's Teeth; an Image of Washington's Clothing; a Student Drawing of Washington Monument; Labeling of Colonial Attire; and an Explanation of Colonial Objects during Museum Night.
Figure 4.12.	Facebook Posts Sharing Moffat's Summer Adventures.
Figure 4.13.	Kailey and Casey Visiting the Statue of Liberty with Their Moffats.
Figure 4.14.	A Current Photo of Kailey and Casey.
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1.	Colonial Day Lesson/Historical Interpretation Choices.
Figure 5.2.	“Wishes and Stars” Worksheet.
Figure 5.3.	Elements and Characteristics of Native American Folktales and Creation Stories.
Figure 5.4.	Historical Character Interpretation Story Map.
Figure 5.5.	Third Grader, Mylin Klein, Performing Native American Storytelling with Winnie Li and Lafayette Chen.
Figure 5.6.	Teresa Potter Performing Historical Interpretation of Penelope Barker for Students. Students Pictured: Kennedy VanCauwenbergh and Ava Andrews.
Figure 5.7.	Colonial Day at the Capitol Debate – Fifth Grader Joel Gunter's Historical Interpretation of a Colonial Loyalist.
Figure 5.8.	Colonial Day at the Capitol – Costumed Fifth Grade Student, Erin Lee, from Oakdale Elementary Playing Colonial Games.
Figure 5.9.	Historical Interpreter Brooke Potter Portrays Patsy Jefferson and Juliette Beaudichon Portrays French Tutor Teaching Children French.
Figure 5.10.	Teresa Potter and Colonial Williamsburg Historical Interpreter Katharine Pittman as Martha Washington, at the Opening Ceremony of Colonial Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1.	Historical Thinking Strategies Reference Form.
Figure 6.2.	Cheryl Adkisson as an Indentured Servant at Jamestown.
Figure 6.3.	Ron and Cheryl Adkisson as George and Elizabeth Wythe.
Figure 6.4.	Ron and Cheryl Adkisson as Merchants in Independence, MO – 1841.
Figure 6.5.	Ron and Cheryl Adkisson as Harriett Beecher Stowe and William Booth Taliaferro.
Figure 6.6.	Andrew Garrett as a Witness to the Holocaust as Part of the Student-written “Voices of the Holocaust.”
Figure 6.7.	Sierra Conner as a Witness to the Holocaust as Part of a Student Written “Voices of the Holocaust.”
Figure 6.8.	Format for “Poem for Two Voices.”
Figure 6.9.	“Meet the People” Explorer Project and Rubric.
Figure 6.10.	1800s Project Assignments – The Road to Civil War.
Figure 6.11.	Andrew Garrett as Nat Turner.
Figure 6.12.	Grace Reilly as Nat Turner.
Figure 6.13.	Jacob McBride as Denmark Vessey.
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1.	Performance Pedagogy Model.
Figure 7.2.	Performance Pedagogy Chart.
Figure 7.3.	Bill Weldon in the Great Hall of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, The College of William and Mary.
Figure 7.4.	Bill Weldon as Patrick Henry.
Figure 7.5.	“Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!” Patrick Henry Delivering His Great Speech on the Rights of the Colonies, before the Virginia Assembly, Convened at Richmond, March 23rd 1775, Concluding with the Above Sentiment, Which Became the War Cry of the Revolution.
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1.	Sheila Arnold as Oney Judge, Who was Martha Washington's Personal Servant before Escaping to Freedom.
Figure 8.2.	Sheila Arnold as Activist Fannie Lou Hamer.
Figure 8.3.	Sheila Arnold as Zora Neale Hurston.
Figure 8.4.	Bil Lepp Onstage.
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1.	Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 7, 1863.
Figure 9.2.	Civil War Contraband.
Figure 9.3.	Imbondeiro Tree.
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1.	Kathryn Ness Swanson at an Archaeological Excavation at Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Site of the Pilgrims' Original 1620 Settlement.
Figure 10.2.	Seventeenth-century Spoon from the Edward Winslow Site (C-2), Currently Part of Plimoth Plantation's Collections. The Slant on This Spoon Indicates That It Was Used Regularly by a Right-handed Person.
Figure 10.3.	British Robe à la Française from the 1740s Made of Silk, Pigment, and Linen.
Chapter 11
Figure 11.1.	“Manifest for the Ship Fashion Listing an Enslaved Girl, Sally, Age 14.”
Figure 11.2.	Print #3 of the Declaration of Independence, 1976, Plates and Facsimiles of the Declaration of Independence, 1823–1951, Identifier 1656604.
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1.	Grade 6 Roman Exhibit Project.
Figure 12.2.	#ObserveMe Image.
Figure 12.3.	Exhibit Analysis Guide.
Figure 12.4.	Picture of Lennox's Kindergarten Exhibit.

About the Contributors

Cheryl Yandell Adkisson began her teaching career as a high school business teacher. She then earned an MS degree in Library Science from Spaulding University in Kentucky, spending 16 years in that field before accepting the gifted coordinator position at her school and serving in both middle school and elementary school settings. She serves as a Coordinator for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Teacher Institute.

Ron Adkisson holds a BS degree from Cumberland College and has more than 30 years of teaching experience. His awards include the 2007 DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Kentucky Teacher of the Year and 2012 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Kentucky History Teacher of the Year. He is a Gilder Lehrman Institute Master Teacher Fellow and Colonial Williamsburg Institute Master Teacher.

Sheila Dolores Arnold is a Professional Storyteller and Historic Character Presenter who currently lives in Hampton, Virginia. She holds a BA from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and has been performing full time since 2013 at various venues including schools, museums, churches, and libraries. “Ms. Sheila,” as she's fondly called, presents twelve different persons in history from the 1600s to the 1970s.

Jill Balota Cross is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. She has worked as a classroom teacher and curriculum specialist and has coordinated the development of standards and curriculum in both public and private schools. Jill is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher, a 2016 ASCD Emerging Leader, and a Colonial Williamsburg Master Teacher. She currently works at an independent school in Tennessee.

William Fetsko is a retired Social Studies Supervisor from New York State's Liverpool Central School District. He has authored a variety of articles and was a coauthor of Participation in Government: Making a Difference (1988). He received his EdD from the University of Colorado and is currently a volunteer and curriculum consultant for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Theodore D. R. Green, PhD is a Professor in the School of Education at Webster University and coauthor of Oh Freedom After While: The Missouri Sharecropper Protest of 1939. He serves on the National Council for History Education and recently completed fellowships in the Netherlands on International Education and Dutch History, and at George Washington's Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. He continues to work on curriculum for the National Park Service and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Lisa Liberati Heuvel's background is in museum operations, education, and writing. She holds an EdD from The College of William and Mary and is a faculty member at Christopher Newport University and Atlantic University. She has collaborated on teacher professional development with museums such as Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, and Plimoth Plantation.

Valarie Gray Holmes graduated from Hampton Institute earning a BS in Marketing and an MFA in Performing Arts from Regent University. She creates roles with the mission to portray with dignity the complexity of life of enslaved and free African American women exhibiting determination, courage, and faith, despite individual bondage and fracturing of their families, to ensure that their families and communities survive and thrive.

Christy L. Howard is a Primary Teacher from Colorado who holds a Master of Arts degree in Teaching. She is a member of the NCSS Trade Book Review Committee and board member for the Colorado Council for Social Studies. She was honored as the 2017 Gilder Lehrman Colorado History Teacher of the Year and recently received the Brunn Creativity Award by NCGE.

Lawrence M. Paska is the Executive Director of the National Council for the Social Studies. He has been a teacher, district administrator, state curriculum specialist, and adjunct professor. He holds a BA in History; a Master of Arts in Teaching, Social Studies, from Union College, and a PHD in Curriculum and Instruction from University at Albany (Albany, NY).

Teresa Potter teaches fifth-grade English Language Arts, Social Studies, and fourth- and fifth-grade Enrichment at Oakdale Elementary (Oklahoma). A National Board Certified Teacher, she works with the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education, Oklahoma A+ Schools, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's Teacher Institute. She received her BS in Elementary Education from the Ohio State University.

Jocelyn Bell Swanson is a Montessori educator, specializing in the humanities and project-based learning. She works with young learners (ages 6–21 years) in classrooms and in land-based programs. The director of a Montessori secondary training and certification program, she teaches adults from all over the world. She is also a freelance writer and education consultant who holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from The Principia College and a Master's degree in Education from Xavier University.

Kathryn L. Ness Swanson has degrees in Anthropology, Art History, and Archaeology. She has worked for over a dozen years in museums, including the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (Williamsburg, Virginia), Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and Plimoth Plantation (Plymouth, Massachusetts). She is currently an Assistant Professor in the History Department at Principia College (Elsah, Illinois) and enjoys thinking about the stories of the “stuff” around us.

Darci L. Tucker holds a BA in Political Science from UCLA and is author of Embodying the Story through Character Interpretation (2011). The founder of her own company, American Lives: History Brought to Life, Tucker performs nationwide as an actress, storyteller, and educator, and also serves as a museum consultant. She has taught history at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation since 1987, and currently works in teacher professional development.

Dale G. Van Eck is a retired classroom educator and media specialist who specialized in technology integration into the history curriculum for the Berkley School District in Michigan and later for The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.

Foreword

In this new publication, you will find the intersection of Living History, Storytelling and all of the tools in History and Social Studies education reviewed and analyzed with a compelling framework from Dr Lisa Heuvel to create a positive learning environment for students in K-Higher Education. This notion of collaborative integration can provide an impactful voice for the teacher, the student, the historian, museum educator, and the performer. Seasoned interpreters, master teachers, historians, and museum educators demonstrate the power of oral, customary, and material lore, while readers experience what makes history live as they uncover the surprise and wonder of “the untold stories” of Americans working together in tenuous times. They illuminate the road to uncover the marginalized, disenfranchised, and unheard voices of our past as well as different points of view on tried and true historical figures and events. These authors help you find educational resources and materials that incorporate all of the “voices” that have always been a part of the American narrative, yet may not have always been heard. And they enthusiastically remind us that (B. Weldon) “effective interpretation lifts history off the page in the textbook and brings it to life.”

By exploring the power of storytelling, first-person interpretation, and oral histories educators can help their students to study difference, diversity, and civic education among many other historic events and people through a lens of social justice issues, now and in the past. Today we know how technology has improved and supported social studies and history education with dynamic learning environments and research at the tip of our fingers. Research from in-service teachers and pre-service teachers reveals how students can learn about the American experience through the use of technology. The goal of “the history classroom is to move the student from content consumer to content creator” (D. Van Eck).

Social Studies education today often centers around highlighting social justice issues in various geographic locations around the US, connecting students to historical issues in their communities through storytelling, first-person interpretation, and hands-on research activities. To reinforce this notion of storytelling one must remember that “you will continuously be researching, updating, revising, and like all good science, it can change.” (S. Arnold). Good educators use folklore, oral histories, primary sources, and artifacts or material culture to develop and support their performance. Interpreter Valerie Holmes, reminds us that “we can help people to see there may be another way of looking at things in a difficult and painful situation and offering a different perspective” while emphasizing “the history (we) are sharing always has to have a connection to today.” This book will help educators to compel colleagues and students to tell their stories and explore the notion of justice for all.

Research suggests that students in pre-service social studies method's courses (T. Green) have a better historical understanding and improved their historical literacy skills when they had to learn how to bring the past alive through first person performances. Students were able to craft lessons that contained tenets of museum education with hands-on materials and strategies to use with their students out in the field. It all really centers around process…the process of historical research, historical analysis, and breathing life into a person from the past “to make the audience think about their own values and actions.” (D. Tucker)

For in-service teachers, these lessons can be crafted and designed with History's Habits of Mind from the National Council for History Education (NCHE) as well as the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards (NCSS, 2013) to explore the powerful potential of living history and performance in classrooms. This text helps classroom teachers to gain confidence in developing, presenting, and integrating literary stories, family stories, folktales, historical stories, and material culture as part of a professional repertoire. As Dr Lawrence Paska, Executive Director of the National Council for Social Studies, mentions in his introductory remarks, “communicating the results of our interpretation – is the act of taking informed action.” Dr Bill Fetsko reminds us “that one should anticipate an element of controversy in undertaking (first-person characterization)” be it high schoolers or the very young, since characters are people, who were not perfect and most likely had hidden flaws. Dr Kathryn Swanson offers tips on analyzing material culture and the importance of using it in your research practices “by offering deeper insights into the daily life of the historical figures you are depicting.”

Through integrative work in the Social Studies and the Language Arts arena students in school settings will be able to attain the following outcomes: (1) understand the role of narrative in thinking and learning about social justice; (2) experiment with a variety of story structures and storytelling styles as it relates to diversity issues; (3) explore ways to extend stories to promote larger curricular objectives, activities, and outcomes in civic education; and (4) develop a “tool kit” of stories, and relevant pedagogical applications for use in their professional settings as social studies teachers. It is in “letting someone else tell the story, when they become the storytellers, that moves (the student) along to exploration” (J. Swanson) connecting their historical thinking and their performing arts skills. J. Cross reminds us of the importance to not only do the research, and to hone your performance skills, but to always “connect the landmarks” of students loved ones to “landmarks in their own town” thus reinforcing the notion of place-based education.

In Jay Anderson's concept of Living History, (people) “attempt to simulate life in another time” (Anderson, 1991, p. 3). He believes the reason people attempt to carry out a living history scenario revolves around three concepts: “1) to interpret material culture more effectively, usually at a living history museum; 2) to test an archaeological thesis to generate data for historical ethnographies; and 3) to participate in an enjoyable recreational activity that is also a learning experience.” I posit that educators will want to focus on concept one, while students will want to enjoy the benefits of concept three. In its creative and symbolic form, living history can mirror tenets of drama, ritual, pageantry, and play. It borrows theater pedagogy by utilizing parallel techniques such as costuming (period clothing), props (artifacts), sets (historic sites), role playing (identifying with historical characters), and the designation of time and space as special and unique. Carl Becker describes it as “a history that does work in the world and influences the course of history.” Scott Magelssen posits, “A form of theater in which participants use performance to create a world, tell a story, entertain, and teach lessons.” I particularly like Arthur Hazelius's definition: “A living museum that … depicts folklife through its living characteristics.” And finally, teachers and students use Living History as a pedagogical form, supported by Stacy Roth's (Roth, 1998) tenets to guide their planning. She says, “Living history interpreters … must be historians, anthropologists and effective teachers.” By using first-person interpretation, teachers are able to provide their students with an opportunity to conduct research on a person from the past using a variety of primary sources, documents, and artifacts to bring the person to life.

Students can also use Reader's Theater, a form of creative drama, a simple yet dramatic art form where readers interpret a script to present a scene to an audience. Traditionally, there is no set or special lighting. Movement is minimal and readers are either sitting on stools or chairs or standing in a makeshift stage area (Rubright, 1996). Reader's Theater can be used frequently in a classroom to enhance reading comprehension, fluency, and oral interpretation skills. For presentations, (T. Potter) the readers are often dressed in solid colors to provide a dramatic effect. Reader's Theater scripts can be written by students of all ages. Scripts can include a narrator and several different characters' voices. Gesture, movement, and music can be added for a polished and developed presentation. Cheryl and Ron Adkisson share their passion for performance with middle schoolers after all is said and done, “challenging, daunting, but in the end, can be life changing for student and teacher alike! The implications for having students perform like this are profound.”

Overall, the authors hope you and your students will strengthen your historical literacy skills while exploring the American experience by discovering creative drama and performance, living history, and historical research skills to enrich the language arts and social studies curriculum. Be it the clash of cultures, the Revolutionary War period, the Great Depression, (or) to our most recent world pandemic, let your students apply those lessons learned and make “connections through museum-integrated learning” (J. Cross). Let the social sciences and the performing arts be your guiding force as you continue to teach about social justice for all.

Theodore D. R. Green, PhD

Webster University, USA

Acknowledgments

The story of this book is the story of community: Teachers, public historians, writers, editors, and students have made it possible through our shared belief that story, history, and learning form a powerful triad. My thanks go to all these believers, reflective practitioners themselves in classrooms with walls or classrooms of the mind.

To each of my coauthors, thank you for generously sharing your knowledge with a new reading audience. You form a notable cadre, encompassing professionals interviewed for each chapter and those who inspired the book's central concept: that performance pedagogy sparks learning in museums, historic sites, schools, and beyond. Substantial academic research supports mentor and teacher performance in the arts; in these pages, it is translated as character portrayal and storytelling.

Our human need for stories transcends boundaries of human difference, as these authors attest. To share their experiences requires people who believe in their worth and support their transmission. As coauthors, we are grateful to Charlotte Maiorana and Charlotte “Charlie” Wilson at Emerald Group Publishing. Charlotte's encouragement “across the pond” at first query and acceptance, and Charlie's continued support throughout has been the mainstay of this project. James Whiteley and Abi Masha capably expanded our Emerald team with their design and manuscript expertise, bringing this book into reality, along with Mohamed Imrankhan of TNQ Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Our appreciation also goes to the anonymous peer reviewers who saw its potential and recommended that it move forward: I hope that you see it in print.

Lydia Davis, an undergraduate student at Christopher Newport University, has my thanks for her research support as I juggled teaching, editing, and developing my own chapter. As we approached submission, Sally Whiting generously drew on her extensive educational publishing experience as an advance editorial reviewer. Thanks also go to Dr Ted Green who wrote the Foreword in spite of a busy international teaching schedule. All of us appreciate the many friends, colleagues, and students who contributed images and assignment examples. The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division was a valued resource for primary sources.

Our families have also helped us to find time to think and write over the many months of this project, our first and last, they have made it possible for us to do what we do for students. That commitment joins us to our fellow educators and historians. Thank you for what you do.

References

Anderson, 1991 Anderson, J. (1991). A living history reader, volume one: Museums. Nashville, TN: AASLH Press.

Roth, 1998 Roth, S. (1998). Past into present. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

Rubright, 1996 Rubright, L. (1996). Beyond the Beanstalk: Interdisciplinary learning through storytelling. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Book Chapters

Prelims

Introduction: “Mr. Jefferson, Meet the Digital Natives”

Chapter 1 Making History

Chapter 2 The Value of the Story: Where Learning Meets Understanding

Chapter 3 Bringing History into the Classroom

Chapter 4 Traveling with a Rabbit: Finding the Hook to Engage Young Readers

Chapter 5 Implementing Storytelling and Interpretation in Your Classroom

Chapter 6 Historical Character Portrayal: Breaking It Down

Chapter 7 A Teaching Model of Character, Content, and Pedagogy

Chapter 8 Becoming Hi-Story-Cal

Chapter 9 Building Your Character

Chapter 10 Stuff, Not Nonsense: Using Material Culture in Historical Research and Interpretation

Chapter 11 Who Is in Charge? Using and Creating Media in the History Classroom

Chapter 12 Making Connections

Chapter 13 Postscript

Index

Prelims

Citation

Publisher

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Epigraph

List of Figures

About the Contributors

Foreword

Acknowledgments

References

Book Chapters

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Citation

Publisher

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Epigraph

List of Figures

About the Contributors

Foreword

Acknowledgments

References

Book Chapters

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