Using The Resources Around Us
I have lived in Milwaukee all of my life, but I never once sat and questioned the distinct street names in our city. I always knew that city names were influenced by Indigenous people as well as French people, but the street names? I never even questioned them. Sure, maybe a few times I noticed the names, especially when they were names I recognized like MLK or Cesar Chavez, but I never really thought critically about why the names were chosen. Who chose these names? Why this location? Why here, not there?
Our historical thinking lab taught me that we can literally investigate everything around us. We can encourage our students to be historical thinkers just by activating their curiosity about their everyday surroundings. I feel that there is such an emphasis on how we will get students’ attention, how we will be historically accurate, how we will represent all of our students’ diverse backgrounds. Investigating our surroundings sounds so simples, but it is a vital resource for engaging students. I want all teachers to be introduced to this idea of looking into street names. Maybe start out by looking at the street name that your school is on, or the names of the streets that students live on. It could also be really interesting to look at how or why a school was given its name. I know Park View Elementary School, the school I attended, was supposed to be called “General Mitchell Elementary School,” because it was close to the airport. There was a mix up while the school was being built and the other elementary school close by the park got that name, and our school got “Park View.” This story always intrigued us as children. Imagine if the teachers actually gave a lesson on the name of the school. The reason for the school name could be a geography lesson, a history lesson, a current events lesson; the list is endless! Doing the street name activity in class has now made me question every place I come across. It is astonishing how little we really know of the places we believe we know so well.
Allowing students to explore and question things that they see every day will not only make them historical thinkers, but it will reinforce the idea of being critical. Critical media literacy is important, but so is being critical and questioning our everyday life. Rather than smother the fire of our students’ curiosity, we should be feeding it. An activity as simple as “Why is your street named this,” has the potential to intrigue students towards analysis of the broader world. Along with the after effect, this activity allows for students to take ownership for what they are working on. Students could choose a street for themselves or have a street name to assigned to them, and then students can investigate their own street name and tell the story to the class. The activity has the perfect balance between fun and important.
