Bringing History Home began in 2001. Originally designed and piloted by a partnership between the University of Iowa and Washington Community School District in Iowa, the Bringing History Home (BHH) curriculum is classroom-proven to engage children in historical inquiry and enhance their knowledge of U.S. history. The curriculum daily activities include content and process goals, and sequentially develop students’ knowledge of history and historical processes across the grade levels. As they implement BHH in their classrooms, teachers have become committed advocates for history education in the elementary grades. Their students are greatly exceeding expectations for history participation, understanding and enthusiasm. Consequently, BHH is now the K-5 social studies centerpiece in six Iowa school districts, and is in various stages of adoption by additional districts in four states.
This website providesfree for public use. In addition to the BHH elementary materials, we are expanding the website to include middle and secondary resources. The BHH Grant Wood History Institute provides professional development for middle and high school teachers in east central Iowa. As Institute materials for grades 7-12 are added to the site, the links to those grades will be activated, i.e., the grade-level circles in the menu above will turn black when you roll over the link with your mouse.
To get started with the BHH curriculum, we suggest reading the Introduction, followed by our Curriculum Guide area and General Resources. In addition to BHH lesson plans, you will find bibliographies of selected children's history book titles, links to related internet resources in the Units by Grade areas, and have access to "Your Story." Written for Bringing History Home by acclaimed children's book author Jacqueline Briggs Martin, "Your Story" is a children's research guide and companion to Martin's The Finest Horse in Town. [more...]
Much of the content on this site is in PDF format. You will need to have a PDF reader available to access PDF content. To download a free PDF reader, please visit www.adobe.com.
Bringing History Home has been funded by $701,000 and $930,000 U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History grants. The BHH Grant Wood History Institute has been funded by a $958,000 U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History grant. All BHH materials on this website are available for public use at no charge. For information on conducting Bringing History Home professional development workshops in your district, please contact elise.fillpot@bringinghistoryhome.org.
(The two images above were obtained from the Library of Congress photography collections.) |
