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Well, it’s been a minute. Sometimes life happens and you struggle with creative inspiration despite your business mission being really important to you. I love helping support educators of all types by trying to make history hip. So I’m back to bring you the historical happenings for the week of February 3rd with a twist. I’m going to still be sharing ideas for my TOP HITS of the week but instead of an IGTV show I’ll be doing bite-sized videos on TIKTOK!!! Yes, that’s right. My hidden agenda is that I know the target demographic for the app. I’m hoping that some tweens and teens will accidentally watch my videos and become curious about Social Studies! I’m already on the app as @andrearunnels. You will have to pardon the lack of razzle dazzle to this post. I didn’t include images to go with the events. Maybe I’ll add them later. It’s possible I won’t. I just wanted to blog again and get my post published.
As a person who is obsessed with acrostics you know TOP HITS stands for something! TOP HITS are thought-provoking historical events that occurred this week so that you can plan ahead. I’ll feature helpful ideas for integrating literacy, technology, and supporting all learners! These fun facts can be your saving grace in those transition moments, great lesson hooks, or the makings of morning work. I’ll be including significant events from across the spectrum including born on this day, battles, inventions, sports, scientific achievements, music, arts, pop culture and more!
Find out the interests of your students and use these tidbits as a way to build community and foster relationships with your new learners this year and spark further interest in history at the same time! Your token history nerd will appreciate them! You’re bound to at least have one! Many of my links are to history.com. I love this site. Mostly. What I don’t love is that the videos auto-play. My teenage son showed me a super helpful hack for this. Right click on the browser tab and opt to “mute site.” So I’m going to be referencing Flocabulary.com in this post. Don’t have a subscription? What are you doing with your life? Sign up for a free trial. You will fall in love! Ok, let’s get started with this week in history!
February 3rd
I have three significant events for February 3rd. Let’s go in reverse chronological order. On February 3, 2005 Air Force Veteran Alberto Gonzales becomes the first Hispanic man to be appointed to be the U.S. Attorney General. Before I did research for this blog post I had never heard of him. I think it’s crucial to give students role models with diverse backgrounds. Yes, I’m aware it’s Black History Month and that Hispanic Heritage Month was in the fall. I call BS on both of those things. EVERY month is an opportunity to be culturally responsive and more inclusive with your content. Every day is Veterans’ Day. Have students research exactly what the U.S Attorney general does or learn more about other people who have held this position. I immediately thought of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic woman to be appointed a Supreme Court Justice. Many students might never have heard of her. How meaningful would it be for your Latino and Latina students to be exposed to these role models??? VERY!
Have you ever heard the phrase “the day the music died?” Well that day was actually the third of February. It’s unlikely your students have seen La Bamba or heard the phrase in the song “American Pie” but you never know. It’s called “the day the music died” because of the tragic death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The “Big Bopper” in 1959. If you have students interested in different musical genres, this may be of interest. The loss of these up and coming stars along with a dj and songwriter “The Big Bopper” was significant to the music industry. Waylon Jennings had a band member of Buddy Holly’s at the time and was supposed to be on the plane until Richardson (The Big Bopper) convinced him to give up his seat so he could get home faster because he had the flu. Imagine how country music would have been different without one of the “Outlaws.” As I write this post, the country is still mourning the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. I would “read the room” and if this would be a sensitive topic or a trigger for your students just don’t use it in the classroom this year.
Also on this day in 1944 The Marshall Islands were captured by U.S. troops. Why is this important? Because they were previously controlled by Japan and used as a hub of military goings-on. Well this was naturally a big blow to the Japanese and paved the way for victory in the Pacific theater the following year. My favorite resource for teaching WWII besides Flocabulary is the National WWII Museum website. Find more information about the path to the Allied victory over Japan by clicking here: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/
February 4th
Speaking of Flocabulary you must show this Civil Rights unit today: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/civil-rights/! That’s because it’s Rosa Parks’ birthday. That means it is a great time to clear up the misconception that Rosa refused to move because she was just tired. Use Teaching Tolerance www.tolerance.org to find resources to teach about Rosa and head to this link https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/rosa-parks for an awesome biography. Here’s are some connections for students about Rosa’s birthplace. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama the home of the Tuskegee Airmen and home of the famous Tuskegee Institute founded by Booker T. Washington. George Washington Carver later served as head of the agricultural department. This was a student favorite: https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/george-washington-carver/
This was also the day in 1861 that representatives from Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida met to form the Confederate States of America. Just two months later the American Civil War began. American Battlefield Trust, which you can find by clicking here https://www.battlefields.org/, is a phenomenal resource for all things Civil War and more!
The original George W. took was elected today. As in George Washington back in 1789. However, there was a little bit more drama before he actually took office. Check this out https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/george-washington/ if you have a Flocab subscription. If not, learn all about George and Martha here: https://www.mountvernon.org/. Ask your students if they have ever visited Mount Vernon or the Washington Monument. When students get to share their personal experiences it naturally gets them involved in the content. Let your students be the teacher sometimes if they have first-hand knowledge of a place!
February 5th
Today is baseball great Hank Aaron’s birthday. He was born on this day in 1934 in Mobile, Alabama. My dad was at the game in 1974 when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record! Did you know a lot of people were very unhappy that an African American man broke the record? Hank even received threats on his life.
On this day in 1994 a long overdue conviction happened. Byron De La Beckwith was found guilty of murdering Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers 30 years after the crime was committed. This was after three different trials.
Another event that happened on February 5th back in 1883 was the completion of a railroad route from New Orleans to California by the Southern Pacific Railroad. It would be interesting to compare and contrast this event to the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Click here https://www.loc.gov/collections/railroad-maps-1828-to-1900/articles-and-essays/history-of-railroads-and-maps/the-beginnings-of-american-railroads-and-mapping/ to get more background information!
We have to rewind way back to 1631 for the last event of the day. The residents of Rhode Island will sure know this one! It’s the day their founder Roger Williams arrived in Boston! Williams was quite the outspoken man. He got kicked out of the Massachusetts area for speaking out about religious issues and settled near two rivers close to Narragansett Bay. Roger founded the Baptist Church and created a dictionary with Native American Languages in this area he called “Providence!”
February 6th
Today is President Ronald Reagan’s birthday. Presidential libraries are one of my favorite resources! Reagan’s is of course located in the state that later became his home, California! Fun fact-Reagan was actually born in Illinois! Check out the library website for more info and teaching ideas! You can find it here: https://www.reaganfoundation.org/. Another event back in 1928 that has long stirred up controversy is the arrival of Anastasia Romanov in America. Or was it really? Could this woman have been the original catfish? She was. DNA evidence later proved her to not be Anastasia.
February 7th
Another arrival in America this week in history was that of The Beatles in 1964. This one wasn’t met with mystery and intrigue though. It was met with hysteria! Let the “British Invasion” commence! Just two years before in 1962, relations with another country weren’t so great. President Kennedy decided to hit Cuba where it hurts by not just limiting trade with the small island nation, but by issuing a full embargo on all trade. Remember that Reagan library I mentioned? I told you the presidential libraries are a great resource! The Kennedy library has helpful information for Civil Rights and the Cold War! Find the website here: https://www.jfklibrary.org/.
Ok, I feel quite accomplished for having written this post during the Superbowl. I’m happy to be writing again! I hope these ideas will be useful for those “OMG, I need to fill just a little bit of time” classroom moments. Or that they relate to your current content. Or spark a great classroom discussion. Maybe you could even have a “This Week in History” learning station or interactive bulletin board?
PS I’d love to have you join my Facebook group for Social Studies! It’s called Social Studies Salute. Find it quickly here: bit.ly/SocialStudiesSalute.
