Welcome back to another school year! We hope you're feeling rested, recharged, and ready to work. The Kansas Historical Society's education outreach department has been busy designing more standards-based tours, creating more Read Kansas! cards, and finding other ways to support you in accomplishing your curriculum goals. In this issue of the teacher e-news, you'll find:

- Standards-based tours at the Museum and our state historic sites
- KCHE Conference, September 26-27, 2008
- Kansas Council for the Social Studies
- Traveling Resource Trunks
- AASLH Awards
- A Note for the Teacher
- From Our Inbox
- Calendar of Events

Read on to learn more. If you can't find what you're looking for by clicking on the links or exploring our website, don't hesitate to contact our education outreach staff at 785-272-8681, ext. 415, or e-mail us.

Note: Is there a new teacher in your building or district that might benefit from our teacher e-news? Please forward this e-mail to them so they can take advantage of our resources!

We currently offer four standards-based tours at the Kansas Museum of History. Each tour includes pre- and post-visit curriculum materials as well as an assessment piece. Tours include:

- Indian Homes in Kansas (1st grade)
- Wagons, Wheels, and Wings (2nd grade)
- Risk Takers and Pizza Makers: Kansas Entrepreneurs (4th grade)
- Oregon or Bust! (4th grade)

Standards-based tours are also available at some of our state historic sites across Kansas:
- Wagons Ho! for the Oregon-California Trail! (4th grade) - Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site near Hanover
- Jumping Off to the Oregon Trail (4th grade) - Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site (call for details, 913-262-0867)
- Meet Kansas Territorial Characters (7th grade) - Constitution Hall State Historic Site in Lecompton
- Indian Homes in Kansas (1st grade) - Kaw Mission State Historic Site in Council Grove (call for details, 620-767-5410)
- Hats Off To William Allen White! (4th grade) - William Allen White House State Historic Site in Emporia

More standards-based tours are being developed...watch the KSHS Teacher e-news for details!

The Kansas Council and the Missouri Council of History Educators are hosting a joint fall conference in Blue Springs, Missouri, September 26-27, 2008. The topic of the conference is "Changing Political Power: Democracies, Monarchies, Dynasties." Keynote speakers are H.W. Brands, Professor of History, University of Texas, and Sam Wineburg, Professor of History and Professor of Education, Stanford University.

Kansas Historical Society staff will be on hand to present information about the following:
- how to enhance lessons dealing with Populism and the Progressive and Reform Movements through the use of primary source materials, including the latest Read Kansas!lessons developed specifically for this topic
- how to increase student interaction through the use of Kansas Memory and its bookbag feature
- an exhibit at the conference where teachers can purchase other Read Kansas! lessons and materials

The Kansas Historical Society is proud to host the Kansas Council for the Social Studies 2008 Annual Conference Monday, October 27, 2008. The conference will be held at the Historical Society in Topeka and will feature 20 outstanding K-12 presentations, including primary sources, instructional strategies, social studies resources, and cross curriculum application. Keynote speaker Jim Richardson is a National Geographic photographer ad social documentarian. A pre-conference "Celebrate Social Studies" party will be held the night before.

If there's not much room in your budget for buses or gas, consider bringing the field trip into your classroom with one of our traveling resource trunks! With hands-on materials and historical photographs, trunks are an economical way to engage your students.

A note regarding shipping - UPS made an adjustment to their rate schedule and you may find rates are lower than they were last year when you tried to book a trunk. We hope you'll revisit the idea of using these valuable tools in your classroom!

Two Kansas Historical Society programs have received Awards of Merit from the American Association of State & Local History.

- Kansas Memory (kansasmemory.org) - the largest online collection of photographs, manuscripts, documents, and other items from Kansas history. It's highly-developed search engine allows users to narrow results using multiple criteria. The site's Teacher Mode allows users to see special curriculum notes for selected items.

- Read Kansas! cards - a curriculum of student reading cards and lesson plans that address Kansas history standards as well as state writing and reading standards. Through the support of the Kansas State Department of Education and additional funding from the Kansas Health Foundation, thirty complete sets of Read Kansas! lessons have already been distributed to every public elementary school in Kansas.  Middle and high school lessons are currently being developed.

Mark your calendars! Kansas Day celebrations will take place at the Kansas State Capitol, Kansas Museum of History, and several of our state historic sites across Kansas. Kansas Day is Thursday, January 29, 2009!

Get ready for History Day 2009! Do your students do research papers or other exit projects? Students taking classes in forensics, theater, speech, history, government, and English may already have a project that, with a little tweaking, would fit the History Day format.  This is a great opportunity for your students to add the prestigious History Day program to their college resume.  For the History Day section of our website or email Historyday@kshs.org for details.

Question: I enjoy receiving Kansas Kaleidoscope and my students love looking through it, but how can I use it as a teaching tool?

Our staff's response: Kansas Kaleidoscope was designed to be used in classrooms, so we're glad you asked! Inside each issue you'll find which state standard(s) the articles address. For example, our current issue, "Celebrating the Olympic Games" addresses the sixth grade geography standard: Benchmark 2, Indicator 2, where students describe the significant contributions of ancient Greece to western culture. We also included lessons to meet the reading standard for fourth grade: Benchmark 4, Indicator 10, students identify the topic, main ideas, and supporting details in appropriate level texts.

We also feature printable worksheets on our website to reinforce what your students are learning from the articles.

The annual subscription for five issues of Kansas Kaleidoscope is $8 ($6.50 for 10 or more to the same address). Visit our website to subscribe or see which back issues are available.

Do you have a question regarding our educational resources?: Click here. Even if we don't include your question in the e-news, we'll certainly try to respond to you via e-mail.

Through January 4, 2009
Topeka
Forces of Nature
Special Exhibit
Kansas Museum of History
785-272-8681

August 16 & 17, 2008
Republic
Edward S. Curtis Photography Display
Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic Site
785-361-2255

August 17, 2008
Council Grove
Annual Band Concert and Ice Cream Social
Kaw Mission State Historic Site
620-767-5410

August 31, 2008
Hanover
Pony Express Festival
Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site
785-337-2635

September 4, 2008
Kansas City
Grinter Place Sneak Peek
Grinter Place State Historic Site
913-299-0373

September 12 & 13, 2008
Council Grove
Voices of the Wind People
Kaw Mission State Historic Site
620-767-5410

September 19 - 21, 2008
Osawatomie
Freedom Festival
John Brown Museum State Historic Site
913-755-4384

September 26 - 28, 2008
Lecompton
Bald Eagle Rendezvous
Constitution Hall State Historic Site
785-887-6520

September 26 - 27, 2008
Hays
Fort Hays Days
Fort Hays State Historic Site
785-625-6812

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