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By Melody Jameson
melody@observernews.net
History, Mark Dunn asserts with emphasis, should be fun.
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| MARK DUNN |
Translation: For an appreciation of history by upcoming generations, the people and places, the lifestyles and livelihoods of our pasts must be brought alive and made relevant to our presents.
He knows whereof he speaks; for 17 years he has been teaching, striving to open young minds, to expand young horizons, to spark interest in more knowledge. And, if there’s anything that the 40-year-old teacher married to a teacher has learned about youngsters approaching and in the middle school years, it’s that: 1) theirs is a generation with acute technological sophistication constantly piquing their interests and 2) forced recitation of dry historical facts simply won’t get it.
In fact, Dunn elaborates, “telling kids to read pages 275 to 290 in a history book is a huge interest killer.” On the other hand, when they can participate, they become eager to help document it, adds the Cypress Creek Elementary School teacher who leads a History and Science Club so popular there’s a waiting list.
Dunn does more than talk the talk, he’s walking the walk. Encouraged by Jim Harkins, a Sun City Center resident with a strong interest in area history, aided by Fred Jacobsen, current Ruskin Community Development Foundation president, and in partnership with wife Carol, he’s creating the means to make South Hillsborough’s rich history live.
The first step is a series of online lesson plans centered on various aspects of the South County’s past, some dating back thousands of years, and designed to help other teachers give it all contemporary meaning.
Located on a website Jacobsen created with the internet address of www.ruskinhistory.org, the history-based lesson plans currently contain five subjects, all geared to fourth graders, with application perhaps also to upper level third grade or some fifth graders, Dunn says. They range from an in-classroom practice titled “World Travelers”, going back to 12,000 BC and including a geography component illustrating how humans reached South Hillsborough, to a lesson based in the Apollo Beach-Ruskin area during the 1950s and called “I am A Historian”, teaching students the elements of historic fact research with a local 1953 telephone directory.
Yet another lesson plan is titled “Creating Utopia?? The Founding of Ruskin” and leads classes to consider the social as well as economic factors underpinning Ruskin’s beginnings as they endeavor to adopt for a time the mindsets of turn-of-century farmers here and factory workers elsewhere. A fourth lesson takes teachers and students outside to practice archeological techniques as they delve into the mysteries and meanings of uncovered artifacts, evaluating the true value of such sites as the Thomas Mound on the north shore of the Little Manatee River that yielded remnants of early Indian civilizations.
Each plan for involving students in grasping the meaning and usefulness of history knowledge includes notes on lesson locations, time frames needed plus the applicable state education standards. In addition, there’s the detailed, step-by-step lesson outline along with a list of materials needed, expanding vocabulary and recommended scenarios on which teachers can build. The teaching tools also include photos pertinent to the subject or other visuals which can be copied to advance the learning process.
At the present time, another dozen lesson plans are completed and ready for uploading to the internet site, Dunn says. They deal with South County communities such as Balm, Wimauma, Sun City Center and the original Sun City, once known as Ross, on U.S. 41 south of Ruskin, he adds.
In creating each lesson plan, he and his wife, also a teacher at the elementary school, endeavor to respond vividly to the question “What was life like in…..”? , Dunn notes. At the same time, the lessons inevitably integrate use of other learned information, such as math, science, social studies, reading and mapping.
The history lesson project has been taking shape for the last six months or so, the teacher indicates, adding that it still is in “the baby step” stage. While the current batch of lesson plans are geared to the elementary student approaching middle school, the concept can be applied to grade levels through high school with use of increasingly complex materials, vocabulary and activities, he suggests. And, it’s not impossible, Dunn hints, that a hard copy version of the lessons could be developed.
What’s more, interest in the project is spreading. Springing from Harkin’s concern that South Hillsborough’s legendary native peoples and colorful settlers, its pre-Columbian paleontology and subsequent modern feats of accomplishment were not getting due attention, the pilot history curriculum has gained the support of Friends of the South Shore Regional Library. Other teachers also are showing interest in contributing to the project, Dunn asserts.
Then, there’s the history learning center he envisions on the Cypress Creek Elementary campus abutting 19th Avenue, immediately east of the regional library. A portable classroom structure was left in place on the campus when others were removed recently and it has been designated by school authorities for such a learning center, Dunn says. If what he sees in his mind’s eye can be realized, students of various ages may be able to enjoy interactive programs solidly rooted in local history sometime in 2009.
In the meantime, Dunn and his wife are continuing research of local sites, peoples, events and activities that comprise South Hillsborough County’s past and underpins each forthcoming lesson plan. It has to be “fun and enjoyable”, he sums up, but understanding also is critical. “To understand our history”, Dunn emphasizes, “is to understand ourselves.”
Copyright 2008 Melody Jameson
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