In History and Imagination, elementary school social studies teachers will learn how to help their students break down the walls of their schools, more personally engage with history, and define democratic citizenship. By collaborating together in meaningful investigations into the past and reenacting history, students will become experts who interpret their findings, teach their peers, and relate their experiences to those of older students, neighbors, parents, and grandparents. The byproduct of this collaborative, intergenerational learning is that schools become community learning centers, just like museums and libraries, where families can go together in order to find out more about the topics that interest them. There is an incredible value in the shared and lived experiences of reenacting the past, of meeting people from different places and times: an authority and reality that textbooks cannot rival. By engaging elementary social studies students in living history, whether in the classroom, after school, or in partnership with local historical institutions, teachers are guaranteed to impress upon the students a special, desired understanding of place and time.

Imagine a Founding Father visiting a classroom today, or a sailor from the War of 1812, an Amish man, a 19th century pioneer, or even a Civil War veteran. Ronald Morris has spent more than 25 years bringing these characters into classrooms and inspiring other educators to do the same. In this book he synthesizes his vast knowledge and experience into a resource for all types of educators who help elementary and middle school children develop a love of history. Pre-service teachers can use this book as a model for developing their own styles of teaching social studies. Museum educators can use Bringing History to Life to enliven their presentations with students. Teachers in the classroom can use this resource to help their students develop first person presentations by reading about many examples across the grades. This resource is especially important as school districts reduce their budgets for field trips to popular museums that interpret history using this popular method. With this book as inspiration, educators can continue Bringing History to Life for their students.

Imagine a Founding Father visiting a classroom today, or a sailor from the War of 1812, an Amish man, a 19th century pioneer, or even a Civil War veteran. Ronald Morris has spent more than 25 years bringing these characters into classrooms and inspiring other educators to do the same. In this book he synthesizes his vast knowledge and experience into a resource for all types of educators who help elementary and middle school children develop a love of history. Pre-service teachers can use this book as a model for developing their own styles of teaching social studies. Museum educators can use Bringing History to Life to enliven their presentations with students. Teachers in the classroom can use this resource to help their students develop first person presentations by reading about many examples across the grades. This resource is especially important as school districts reduce their budgets for field trips to popular museums that interpret history using this popular method. With this book as inspiration, educators can continue Bringing History to Life for their students.