Teachers, history club coordinators, and scout troop
leaders:
Wisconsin Veterans Museum
- Research Center:
Using the Research Center — Learning From Our Veterans
Explore the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center's programs designed
to assist teachers in using the individual and collective histories of Wisconsin
veterans.
- Wisconsin
Veterans Museum Travel Trunk program
The educational "Travel Trunk" program promotes learning about
history through the experiences of citizen-soldiers. Trunks contain artifacts
and other items from specific wars. Suggested activities are based on national
curriculum standards for fourth through eighth grades.
Wisconsin Stories Activities
The following 4th grade resources from the Wisconsin Educational Communications
Board support the content of "Wisconsin Stories" episodes on Wisconsin Public
Television. The lesson plans are adaptable to various grade levels. We encourage
you to explore.
Some of these activities refer to publications available through
the Wisconsin Historical Society's Office
of School Services.
Many activities include PDF files (download
Acrobat Reader).
More
Than a Game
Explore new ways of thinking about culture and diversity beyond the issues
of race and ethnicity.
Our
Towns
- Explore elements of urban planning
- Learn how how to read maps
- Survey your community's architecture.
River
& Road
- Learn about Ho-Chunk life along the Wisconsin River, then and now.
- Discover how people interact with their environment every day, in many
ways.
- Explore Wisconsin's transportation history.
- Learn more about the mutually dependent relationship between people and
the land.
Camp
Co-Op
- Find out about Finnish co-ops in the CD's Explorer.
- Investigate how cooperatives began in Wisconsin.
The
Power of Water
Learn about Ho-Chunk and Menominee cultures.
School
Days
- Learn about two very different schools.
- Discover how to become an historian while learning about life in a one-room
schoolhouse.
- Understand that learning goes beyond school.
Passing
Through
- Meet two Mexican-American migrant families who work and live in Wisconsin.
- People don't always move by choice. Learn why.
- Discover why and how people immigrated to Wisconsin.
- Explore the "push" and "pull" behind immigration.
Big
Ideas
- Visit festivals in Brussels, Hillsboro, Hurley and Thorp.
- Discover how citizens work together.
- Look at the state's geological and cultural diversity.
Making
History
Find activities related to agriculture, immigration, and music
- Organize a field trip to a local corn farm through a County
Extension Agent
- Make cornhusk dolls based on illustrations from the mid-1900's
- Download maps and identify the crops that were originally grown in your
county
- Learn about the experience and challenges of being an immigrant
- Creative musical activities for musicians and non-musicians!
The
H.H. Bennett Studio
Explore Wisconsin's photographic history and the Ho-Chunk Nation
- Plan a trip to the H.H. Bennett Studio & History Center in the Wisconsin
Dells
- Enter a photocontest through Wisconsin Public Television
- Interview Ho-Chunk or Oneida photojournalists
Civil
War at Home
Experience the role that Wisconsin played in the Civil War
- Use primary and secondary documents to explore Wisconsin's role in the
Underground Railroad
- Write a brief biography on Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, or John
Brown
- Visit Forest Hill Cemetery or Camp Randall in Madison
- Examine the lists of soldiers at SHSW's online Roster
of Wisconsin Volunteers
- Study a 1865 map of Camp Randall
- Recreate the mail hand-delivery system used during the Civil War in your
classroom
Ports
of Call
Activities related to the Great Lakes and transportation
- Visit the State Historical Society's underwater
archeology Web site to see photos and streaming video of Wisconsin
shipwrecks
- Visit the Sea
Grant Web site for more pictures and video of shipwreck excavation sites
on the floors of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan
- Download sample questions to help you explore how transportation in your
community has changed over time
We're
Rockin'
Native American stone-working activities
- Download a series of documents to learn about ancient petroglyphs and
explore Native American imagery
- Download activities and duplicate these ancient picture stories by making
your own petroglyphs
- Initiate an archeological project! Download activities and quarry maps
related to ancient spear points
Coping
With the Cold
Learn about Lacrosse, record storms, and the deepest snows
- Uncover the American-Indian contribution to Wisconsin history with a complete
history lesson on snowshoes for 4th or 5th graders
- Research record-setting storms, the deepest snows, and the coldest temperatures
in your town
- Interview cold-weather workers in your hometown
- Learn about ice harvesting and transport ice in a home-made insulated
carrier!
In
the Mail
Learn more about stamps, mail carriers, and communication
- Talk about the significance of communication links--try a mail-fast and
go a week without using any form of electronic communication
- Become a philatelist! Learn about stamp-collecting
- Additional links to the National
Postal Museum and other stamp collecting activities
Frozen
Asset
Stories of Wisconsin and ice!
- Make a snow fort and print out directions on how-to build an igloo
- Organize a field trip on the Ice Age trail
- Make an edible glacier!
- Visit the National
Snow and Ice Data Center Web site for tons of info about
snow cover, avalanches, glaciers, ice and much more!
Native
Journeys
Explore Native American culture in Wisconsin.
- Learn about the Ojibwe roots of "Hide and Seek" and other Ojibwe
games
- Learn about the Red Cliff band of Lake Superior Chippewa at the Great
Lakes Intertribal Council Web site
- Download an Ojibwe comic book, songs, and teacher's guides from the Mille
Lacs band of Ojibwe Web site
Really
Big Stuff
Learn more about Wisconsin's really Big things.
- Visit Concrete Park near Phillips, Wisconsin.
- See more sculpture gardens through Wisconsin's
Roadside Art Online.
- See what it's like inside a giant muskie. Calculate the size pole needed
to catch a house-sized fish.
- Read Wisconsin's Built Environment.
