How to Teach New York History
New York, at one point in its history, was the most heavily populated state in the United States due to the high influx of immigrants that made it their home. It was first developed as a trading post for Dutch merchants and over time grew to be one of the most frequently visited U.S. states. Culturally, the Empire State, as it is commonly referred to, is a melting pot, with culturally specific areas located all over the state. New York's history is expansive and deciding what to include when teaching New York history can sometimes be a daunting task.
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Things You'll Need
- New York history timeline
- Documentary of New York history
- Images of New York
- Audio and videos from events in New York
Instructions
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Create a timeline, starting with the earliest date that there were recorded settlers in New York. Although New York is one of the original 13 colonies of the United States, there were Native American settlers who lived there prior to the Europeans who came in the 1600s. Start there on the timeline and then transition into the colonization by the Dutch and so on. Include events that are well known in New York history, but then also include rarely discussed moments that impacted the state or that students might find interesting, like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire or the opening date of the subway. Depending upon how much time you can devote to teaching New York history, whether a few months or only a few days, you should segment the events discussed so that time does not run out and there is little to devote to pivotal events that occur later in New York history.
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Find audio, images and videos that correlate with events within the timeline.
There are a plethora of resources devoted to the history of New York so finding audio, images and videos should be fairly simple. Historic locations like Ellis Island and New York City should be images that are shown as well as documentary footage that has been shot in every inch of New York. Find at least two documentaries, one that deals with early New York history, like pre-Civil War, and one that looks at New York history at later dates.
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Present the information to the students using various formats. Switch between formats, such as PowerPoint presentations, documentaries and lectures, to keep the students' attention. Learn new formats that allow you to teach New York history, integrating as many formats as possible, not so that it overwhelms students but to lead to better understanding.
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Check for understanding from the students. This can be done with miniature quizzes: two or three questions that you give referencing information that was highlighted while teaching or through a project where students must draw on the knowledge they learned from your lessons as well as from research conducted on their own.
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