Hello, everyone! Today, we’re going to talk about an exciting tool called “History’s Mysteries.” This tool is like a treasure chest full of interesting history lessons that help you think like a historian. Let’s dive in and see what makes it so special!
“History’s Mysteries” is a fun and educational tool designed to teach kids about history using real historical documents and sources. It was created by a group of teachers with support from the Library of Congress. The goal is to help students develop important skills like asking questions, thinking critically, and exploring history in a deeper way.
The tool is set up as a series of Google Slides with short videos narrated by teachers. These videos guide you through looking at primary sources, which are original documents or objects from the past. You get to ask questions and draw your own conclusions, just like a real historian!
There are three different versions of the slideshows to choose from:
This flexibility means you can learn in a way that suits you best!
History’s Mysteries is unique because it goes beyond just talking about holidays or famous people. It dives into fascinating topics and uses real documents that you might not see in a regular classroom. The lessons are designed to be inclusive, using respectful language and showing different cultures and experiences. This helps you understand the world better and see things from different perspectives.
While History’s Mysteries is a fantastic tool, there are a few things to be aware of. The videos are on YouTube, so you might need to check if you can access them. Also, the tool doesn’t have a privacy policy, so it’s important to use it with guidance from a teacher or parent.
The skills you learn with History’s Mysteries can be used in many other areas, like news and media literacy. By learning how to investigate and understand historical artifacts, you also improve your ability to think critically about news and information in the world today. This helps you become a more informed and empathetic person.
If you’re curious about history and want to explore more, History’s Mysteries is a great place to start. It’s like going on a historical adventure from your own home or classroom. So, grab your explorer’s hat and start discovering the mysteries of history!
Thanks for joining us on this journey. We hope you have fun learning and exploring with History’s Mysteries!
Become a History Detective: Choose a simple object or photo from your home that has a story behind it. Ask your family members about its history. How old is it? Where did it come from? Write down your findings and share them with your class. This will help you practice asking questions and thinking like a historian.
Create Your Own Mystery: Draw a picture or write a short story about a historical event or person you find interesting. Include clues in your story or drawing that others can use to guess what or who it is about. Share it with your classmates and see if they can solve your mystery!
History in Your Neighborhood: Take a walk around your neighborhood with an adult and look for historical markers, old buildings, or statues. Take notes or draw pictures of what you see. Try to find out more about these places when you get home. This will help you connect history to your everyday life.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hello! It is Chrissy, and it is Tuesday. That’s Tanner, and we are here from Common Sense Education to tell you about a tech tool that we think might be useful for you. So please sit back and relax. Tanner, what do you have for us today?
I’ve got a review hot off the presses! It’s a tool, well, kind of a curriculum called “History’s Mysteries.” Now, this isn’t the ideal web address to be sharing, so you might want to do a Google search to find it. It’s a unique example of a tool unlike anything we’ve covered in that, as we say in our one-liner here, it’s a super scrappy project. From what I gather, this was a group of educators who got funded to create a primary source-based curriculum for elementary history, funded by the Library of Congress. We’ve done at least one other, maybe a couple, that are part of this primary research funding, which has resulted in a lot of great resources that build inquiry skills, critical thinking, historical research, and that kind of thing. I’ve been wanting to showcase more of them.
Now, this is a tool that didn’t rate great for us, but I do think it can be valuable. The other tricky thing is, as has become a running theme, I don’t think it has a privacy policy.
Here it is—this is kind of why it didn’t score great. It doesn’t have the polish that we would like, and it’s a DIY operation. This is a Google site that was generated, and it doesn’t have some accessibility features we would like, but the content is really great.
To give you an overview, in this navigation item, there are introductory lessons on historical inquiry. We’d recommend doing one of these before you dig into the grade-level lessons because these set up the basic skills needed for historical inquiry. Each one is structured in a set of Google Slides with embedded videos narrated by actual teachers. They’re short videos that guide students in looking at primary sources, asking valuable questions, and drawing conclusions from them. You can click through, watch the video, and then do the activities provided in handouts, either in PDF or Google Docs, which include nice reflection activities.
One important thing is that they offer three versions of the slideshows, which I thought was pretty cool. There’s a narrated version where you click through and watch the video, a static slideshow for whole-class activities, and a virtual one made for remote instruction with built-in activities. It’s great that there are these three options; you can tell teachers made this with adaptability in mind.
Another thing that really stood out is that elementary social studies and history can sometimes be tricky. Often, we may scratch the surface or focus on holidays. This is elementary history taught in a very in-depth way, tackling fascinating topics and embedding documents and sources that you don’t often see in an elementary classroom. The videos make it accessible and welcoming for elementary-age students. Pedagogically, I think it’s stunning, and our reviewer pointed out that there’s a focus on inclusive pedagogy. They use respectful language and have a modern approach that acknowledges different experiences and cultures, exposing students to perspectives outside their own.
The big challenges are that these are YouTube videos, which may have access issues, and they don’t have built-in captions that are accurately transcribed. You have to rely on YouTube’s functionality. We didn’t see a lot of differentiation resources, which is left up to the educator, and the lack of a privacy policy is another challenge.
However, there’s content here that teachers can dig into, and I think many could find something fascinating that will help students build inquiry skills, which are critical not just for history but for all subjects.
I was wondering if you see this as potentially part of a bigger news and media literacy approach. It could be a good inquiry-based starting point, maybe?
Yes, these would dovetail perfectly with some of our digital citizenship lessons on news media literacy because the skills are directly transferable. I would argue that they may even be more effective than some news literacy curricula because you’re using inquiry skills on actual artifacts in context. The habits of mind developed, especially when looking at artifacts outside of personal experience, also contribute to developing cultural literacy, which is especially valuable for news literacy and social-emotional skills like empathy.
So, I think it’s perfectly transferable in my opinion. Honestly, you had me at “scrappy,” so all the rest is good work.
Alright, thanks, Tanner! Make sure to visit us at Common Sense Education and come back to YouTube every Tuesday for another video. It’s basically a treasure trove of things for you to explore. Take a look, tell your friends, subscribe, etc. We hope to see you again soon. Thank you so much!
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
