INTRO FOR TEACHERS

This section offers suggestions for introducing students to Idaho in a friendly and motivational way. These are suggestions only, and you should feel free to choose among them for ideas that fit your own students and teaching style. The materials contained here are organized to support The Story of Idaho, Millennial Edition; however, they will enhance the teaching of Idaho history, regardless of the textbook being used.

Chapter 1 contains five Student Activity Modules designed to help acquaint the students with our state. Teaching notes are provided for each module. To access the teaching notes, just click on a particular module in the table below. Students can access the student material through the Kids' Compass side of the web site.

1. DO NOT test the students over the introductory activities. Instead, use the material to motivate them. Build interest any way you can.

2. Use the questions for discussion and discovery. DO NOT grade the answers.

3. Begin each reading assignment (silent and oral) with a Directed Reading Activity.

4. INQUIRY ACTIVITIES contained in the Student Activity Modules are intended to promote as much discovery learning as possible through a variety of interesting things to do. Students should be permitted a reasonable amount of independence in these activities, but with enough teacher support to ensure success. Grading should be on the quality of the effort made, rather than on the quality of the end product.

5. AN OUTSIDE SPEAKER can be interesting or exciting if that person can communicate well with young people. (Not everyone can.) Perhaps you can find such a person in your community who is both knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Idaho. Community people often enjoy being invited to school to talk to groups of students---and it is good for public relations.

6. How about A SCENIC MAP OF IDAHO using picture postcards? First collect about 25 picture postcards that show typical scenes (natural and man-made) from different parts of the state. Motels, airports, bus stations, and gift shops are good places to look for picture postcards. If you know someone who travels to other areas of Idaho, ask that person to bring you some postcards from those places.

To make the scenic map, put an Idaho highway map on the bulletin board. Arrange the picture postcards around the outside of the map. Stick a pin (preferably a colored one) in each postcard and one at each place on the map represented by a post card. Then run string or colored yarn from the pin in each picture to the pin that locates it on the map. (This is a great student activity, but you must provide the materials!)

7. START THE STUDENTS ON AN IDAHO SKETCH BOOK. Liven up the old "Idaho History Notebook" idea by making it an IDAHO SKETCH BOOK. The student writes a brief sketch about an Idaho topic. This might be an idea, some facts, a description, or an activity on a notebook page. However, the student leaves plenty of room on the page to draw an art sketch to illustrate the written sketch.

The drawings should first be sketched lightly in soft pencil, then outlined in ink or felt-tipped pen. Then they can be colored with colored pencil or lightly with crayon.

What should go in an IDAHO SKETCH BOOK? As the teacher, no doubt you will think of dozens of ideas. I couldn't resist including several items and ideas of my own. (You will encounter these as you go along.) However, we must not overlook the students. They should be encouraged to discover and add their own interesting items.

If you would like to see an example of a professionally produced sketchbook, look at Minn of the Mississippi by Holling Clancy Holling (a Newbery Honor Book published by Houghton Mifflin). It was Minn that triggered the idea for an IDAHO SKETCH BOOK. Although Minn was produced for younger children, the concept is excellent for children of any age.

8. STUDY A COUNTY---A SKETCH BOOK ACTIVITY. This is an individual research activity that can be continued through each chapter or topic as it is studied.

After examining a map of Idaho, each student chooses one county for detailed study. The student reserves a section of his IDAHO SKETCH BOOK for sketches about this county. By the end of the school year, the student should be an "expert" on his county. You might want each student give a year-end report on his county---either oral or written. If you have the time, this segment could be turned into an interesting READERS' THEATER activity. (Details for READERS' THEATER are given later in SUGGESTION NO. 10.)

Information about individual counties can be found scattered through many source. The Story of Idaho is sprinkled with details from throughout the state. The student should watch for those that relate to his particular county. Other details can be found in other books about Idaho and in various kinds of publications---including the Official Idaho Highway Map. Current information can be found in newspapers, and many newspapers have a "pioneer" or "local history" column. The Idaho Statesman occasionally prints excellent Idaho history stories.

Brochures printed by local chambers of commerce make another good source of information. The student can write to the Chamber of Commerce in each of the larger towns and cities of the chosen county and ask for brochures and any other information that might be available.

9. ADVERTISE IDAHO! To culminate this chapter, students can create advertisements for promoting Idaho to tourists. (Tourism is a major Idaho industry.) This is a project for individuals or for small groups (or both). Advertisements could be in the following forms:

                                (a) Posters for magazine advertising.
                                (b) Three-dimensional displays for a fair or expo.
                                (c) Oral presentations for radio advertising.
                                (d) A dramatization for television advertising.
                                (e) Any other creative idea devised by students.

The resulting posters and 3-dimensional displays will make good bulletin and classroom display materials.

10. READERS' THEATER. To culminate the chapter, help the students prepare and perform a READERS' THEATER. Have the students write their own scripts and allow practice time for reading aloud and practicing gestures. Finally on a certain day, each group can present their program to the rest of the class.

Here are five suggestions for topics. You can assign one group of students to each topic.

    a)   We can be proud of Idaho.
    b)   Idaho is an interesting place to live.
    c)   Different parts of Idaho are like different countries.
    d)   Idaho is part of nature's wonderland.
    e)   Idaho is as new as computers and space travel, and as old as creation.

1. Conley, Cort. Idaho for the Curious: A Guide. Cambridge, Idaho: Backeddy Books. Box 301, Cambridge, Idaho 83610. (Though now 20 years old, this book is excellent and still in print. This is a thick paperback that takes readers along the highways and byways of Idaho. It is packed with captivating details, both physical and historical, and it contains many photographs. Check your library or local book store.)

Brochures: The content, format, and name of these brochures changes from time to time, but their excellent color photographs and contemporary Idaho scenes adds an important dimension to the study of Idaho. The Idaho Department of Commerce will provide teachers with single copies of any brochures on hand---free for the asking!

Official Idaho Highway Map: This excellent Idaho map is updated and reprinted each year by the Idaho Department of Commerce. A classroom set will be sent to any teacher who upon request---again, free for the asking.

For maps and brochures, call or write the Idaho Department of Commerce at the following:

The Idaho Compass
Copyright � 2003
by
Katherine A. Young and Virgil M. Young
Producers, Designers, Writers, and Websters
in cooperation with Boise State University

Links to Module Notes for Teachers
Module 1	Idaho's Boundaries---a Map Activity
Module 2	Idaho's Symbols---What They Tell About Our State
Module 3	Idaho's State Flag, Great Seal, and Motto
Module 4	Idaho Believe-It-Or-Not
Module 5	Idaho's Heritage---Got Stamps?
Module 6	Wild Animals of Lewis and Clark