King Hutch aka John H.

OK, so I thought today would be a wasted day. I’m man enough to admit it! I thought “another day in a stuffy old room listening to a monotone “shirt” talking me to sleep. Come on, who can fault me? After the snoozer at the Lincoln Museum when the presenters goal was apparently to put everyone to sleep after lunch. But this was so…so different! I was hooked from the start with a fresh and upbeat discussion on Chicago.

The main theme of the morning presentation was why Chicago right here and right now? Our presenter, Sarah Marcus explained with an absolute confidence that Chicago developed because of  (please forgive this run-on sentence!) a great network of transportation (both river, lake, and railroads), speculators buying land for profit, government investments in the land and infrastructure, abundant forests for growth, rapid industrialization, the need for additional labor, and booming population to meet the growing needs.

As she developed the story of Chicago’s development for us, I was amazed at how much I didn’t know or had forgotten! I caught myself thinking “What, a second Continental Divide going through Chicago, where did that come from?”  I know that sounds silly to all you History Trivia Masters, but that is the exact thought going through my mind! I knew about the story of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow supposedly knocking over the lantern and starting the Great Chicago Fire, I mean what kid hasn’t learned that as fact! I knew a major cause of the extent of the damage was that Chicago was built with so much cheap lumber that it was like a tinderbox. But she brought so much depth and detail to the fire that I seemed clueless about it. I didn’t know that a watchman reported the wrong address, firefighters responded to the wrong address, the weather conditions and long drought helped rapidly spread the fire, and such intense heat caused limestone to crack and trees to explode. Wow, and this is only an hour into the day!!!

The entire presentation went like this! I jumped between shaking my head, scratching notes rapidly on the notepad, and yanking my jaw off the floor and back up into its proper place. At the same time I let thoughts fly around in my brain of how I could use this great new information to impact my student’s learning. I have a passion for immigration and westward expansion so every time I hear these words my senses begin to tingle. I am also focusing my classes next year on reading historical novels. So the remainder of the time at the museum was well worth it.

I especially liked the “Historical Heads” activity. My group discussed different ways that this activity could work for us. Some thought we should tell the students that they have to draw a picture in the head and write a description under it. Others said that their students would be better off writing a description in the head & a question under the head. But I stated (and I firmly believe) that students should feel comfortable using any method that allows them to learn as well as show me (the teacher) what they learned. This method of “differentiated instruction” would work best with my students! I also loved the “Reading-Artifacts” worksheet and the method they showed to use it. Combining a “2 dimensional” artifact with a “3 dimensional” one allowed students to interpret from different perspectives, more like a professional historian would. But the greatest asset I received at the museum was the introduction to the fabulous website at www.chicagohistory.org. This site is incredible! I found myself thinking that everything Sarah Marcus and Heidi Moisan showed us I can use! The map site is great and student friendly. The Chicago Stories link is perfect for teaching my historical novels and so many of the stories fit into the areas I will be teaching this year! I have spent the last 40 minutes investigating this site. The Unit and lesson plans are great and very easy to find. There are even extension lessons for those who may master the subject early. There is even a “Fun and Games” page that has teacher downloadable copies as well as online games for the kids. The online resources page is extremely easy to navigate and seems very useful. I plan on incorporating this site early and often next year as I develop my new curriculum for Elective American History units.       

In the afternoon, after the website and artifact exercises we were allowed the opportunity to explore the museum unguided. This was a great time as we got to see so much of what made chicago famous. I have inserted a sampling of pictures for your enjoyment.