Full Download PDF of (Ebook PDF) Dynamic Social Studies 11th Edition All Chapter

You might also like

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 43

(eBook PDF) Dynamic Social Studies

11th Edition
Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-dynamic-social-studies-11th-edition/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Case Studies in Social Psychology: Critical Thinking


and Application (eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/case-studies-in-social-psychology-
critical-thinking-and-application-ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Managerial Accounting: Creating Value in a


Dynamic Business Environment 11th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-managerial-accounting-
creating-value-in-a-dynamic-business-environment-11th-edition/

Managerial Accounting: Creating Value in a Dynamic


Business Environment 11th Edition (eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/managerial-accounting-creating-
value-in-a-dynamic-business-environment-11th-edition-ebook-pdf/

Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry Volume 29 1st


Edition - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/progress-in-heterocyclic-
chemistry-ebook-pdf/
(eBook PDF) Translational Medicine in CNS Drug
Development, Volume 29

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-translational-medicine-
in-cns-drug-development-volume-29/

Understanding Social Problems 11th Edition Linda A.


Mooney - eBook PDF

https://ebooksecure.com/download/understanding-social-problems-
ebook-pdf/

Dynamic Business Law 5th Edition (eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/dynamic-business-law-5th-edition-
ebook-pdf/

(eBook PDF) Introduction to Education Studies


(Educational Studies: Key Issues) 4th Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-introduction-to-
education-studies-educational-studies-key-issues-4th-edition/

Biology The Dynamic Science 4th Edition (eBook PDF)

http://ebooksecure.com/product/biology-the-dynamic-science-4th-
edition-ebook-pdf/
Contents vii

Games  177
A Final Thought  179
References  180

6 Beyond the Ordinary: Teaching and Learning with


Representational Instructional Resources   181
Educational Technology in the Classroom   184
Computers 185 ● Digital Peripherals 194 ● Learning
Centers 196 ● Review/Reinforcement Centers 196 ● Enrichment
Centers 198 ● Exploratory Centers 199 ● Learning Center
Organization 200
Pictures and Study Prints   202
Simulations  203
A Final Thought   206
References  207

7 Beyond the Ordinary: Teaching and Learning with Informational


and Persuasive Text   208
What Is Informational Text?   212
Social Studies Textbooks   213
Informational Books  214
Text Structures 214 ● Informational Books as Models for Informational
Writing 216
Biographies  221
Writing Biographies 224
Newspapers  225
A Classroom Newspaper 226 ● Reading and Writing Period (Historical)
Newspapers 229
Strategies for Reading Informational Text   231
Directed Reading 231 ● Close Reading 237
What Is Persuasive Text?   241
Fact and Opinion 241
A Final Thought   246
References  246

8 Beyond the Ordinary: Teaching and Learning with


Narrative Text  247
Personal Narratives  250
Letters 251 ● Journals and Diaries 252 ● Interviews 253 ● Personal
Stories 254 ● Writing-to-Learn Tasks 261
Historical Fiction  264
Storypath 265
Folktales  269
Fantasy 271
Poetry  274

A01_MAXI6716_11_SE_FM.indd 7 10/14/16 2:19 PM


viii Contents

A Final Thought   278


References  279

SECTION FOUR Lenses on Learning: Six Social Sciences   281

9 Young Historians: Learning to Unlock the Past   282


History in Focus   285
What Is History? 285 ● Why Is History Important? 286 ● What Should
Students Know or Be Able to Do? 287
Chronological Thinking  287
Chronology as a Natural Part of Life 288 ● Chronology and Children’s
Books 289 ● Chronology and Timelines 290
Historical Comprehension  292
Historical Narratives 292
Historical Analysis and Interpretation   293
Historical Research Capabilities   294
Historical Issues Analysis and Decision Making   296
An Integration of Knowledge and Ideas   298
A Final Thought   301
References  301

10 Geography: Exploring the People–Place Connection   302


Geography in Focus   304
Why Is Geography Important? 304 ● What Should Students Know or
Be Able to Do? 305
Essential Element 1: The World in Spatial Terms   308
What Is a Map? 308 ● The Building Blocks for Map
Reading 310 ● Teaching Map Skills through Explicit Guidance and
Modeling 311 ● Map Skills for the Upper Grades 315 ● Maps for the
Classroom 324
Essential Element 2: Places and Regions   328
Essential Element 3: Physical Systems   330
Essential Element 4: Human Systems   331
Essential Element 5: Environment and Society   332
Essential Element 6: The Uses of Geography   333
Asking Geographic Questions 333 ● Acquiring Geographic
Information 334 ● Organizing Geographic Information 334 ● Analyzing
Geographic Information 335 ● Answering Geographic Questions 336
A Final Thought   336
References  337

11 Civics: Young Citizens in Action   338


Civics in Focus   340
Why Is Civics Important? 341 ● What Should Students Know or Be Able to Do? 341

A01_MAXI6716_11_SE_FM.indd 8 10/14/16 2:19 PM


Contents ix

What Is Government and What Should It Do?   342


Building a Democratic Classroom Community 342
What Are the Basic Values and Principles of American Democracy?   349
Character Education 349
How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the
Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy?   356
What Is the Relationship of the United States to Other Nations and to World
Affairs?  361
What Are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy?   362
Citizenship Rights 362 ● Citizenship Responsibilities 364
A Final Thought   368
References  368

12 Economics: Thinking and Choosing Responsibly   369


Economics Literacy  371
What Should Students Know or Be Able to Do? 372
Six Core Economics Principles   374
Principle 1: People Choose 375 ● Principle 2: People’s Choices Involve
Costs 376 ● Principle 3: People Respond to Incentives in Predictable
Ways 377 ● Principle 4: People Create Economic Systems That Influence
Individual Choices and Incentives 378 ● Principle 5: People Gain When They
Trade Voluntarily 381 ● Principle 6: People’s Choices Have Consequences That
Lie in the Future 382
A Final Thought   385
References  385

13 Sociology and Anthropology: Social Structures and


Culture  386
What Is Anthropology?   389
Teaching Anthropology in the Elementary School   390
The Concrete Level of Cultures 390 ● The Behavioral Level of
Cultures 392 ● The Symbolic Level of Cultures 396
Multicultural Education  399
Cultural Diversity 399 ● Ethnicity 400 ● Culturally Responsive
Teaching 401
What Is Sociology?   408
Teaching Sociology in the Elementary School   409
Healthy Self-Esteem as a Prerequisite for Social Responsibility 410 ● Children
with Special Needs 412
A Final Thought   414
References  415
Author Index  416
Subject Index  418

A01_MAXI6716_11_SE_FM.indd 9 10/14/16 2:19 PM


This page intentionally left blank

A01_THOM6233_05_SE_WALK.indd 9 1/13/17 6:50 PM


Preface

As I worked on this eleventh edition of Dynamic Social Studies, I continuously asked myself,
“Why are you still doing this?” My question had nothing to do with a lack of enthusiasm for
the project; actually, I love writing. Although I will not write the next great novel, I truly enjoy
immersing myself in a textbook world. Textbook authors don’t simply select a topic to write
about and begin punching away at the keyboard, but they must discover ways to capture and
sustain a reader’s interest in topics that aren’t always self-motivating. So, the reason I asked,
“Why are you still doing this?” is because I wanted to find ways to grab your attention, arouse
your curiosity, and engage you in the content. My answer to the question is also based on a con-
viction that social studies is crucial for the development of informed, rational, and culturally
responsive citizens. I needed to best communicate to you the essential role that social studies
plays in bringing pride, responsibility, and meaning to your students’ lives as citizens of our
nation in the 21st century.
This is not a text steeped in research and theory, although research and theory are an
important part of it. Nor is it a “cookbook” text full of delicious classroom recipes, although
it does contain a wealth of teaching examples and suggested strategies. It does build bridges
between theory and practice with the hope that future teachers understand that no single
method of instruction, by itself, can help us achieve all the important goals of social studies
instruction. The text is designed to help you find ways to inspire children to want to learn the
things they need to know in order to understand and participate in the world around them.
To accomplish these goals you must be bold; you cannot be afraid to make mistakes. You must
constantly struggle to find the method that works best for your students by seeking out answers
to the most important question of all: “Why am I doing this?”

How Is the Text Organized?


The chapters in this edition are arranged into four sections. Section One provides an overview
of the purposes, problems, and possibilities of social studies in the elementary school curric-
ulum as well as guidance and direction in planning lessons and units—choosing objectives,
assessment procedures, and learning activities. Section Two addresses a key feature of effective
teaching—the selection of instructional resources that meet the needs and interests of students
as well as satisfy social studies content standards. Section Three describes teaching practices
that are supported by constructivist learning theory. The constructivist view of learning can be
translated into a number of active teaching practices, running the gamut from teacher-guided
instruction to inquiry and problem solving. Section Four focuses on the six core disciplines
and their respective content, tools, and investigative processes, from which students will draw
as they attempt to uncover and discover significant curricular content about human beings
and the ways in which they function: history, geography, civics, economics, anthropology, and
sociology.

xi

A01_MAXI6716_11_SE_FM.indd 11 10/14/16 2:19 PM


xii Preface

New to This Edition


This eleventh edition maintains the focus of previous editions, but it has been thoroughly
revised and updated.
●● In response to the prevailing standards scene and other trends in the field, four new chap-
ters are now included in Section Three:
CHAPTER 5 Beyond the Ordinary: Teaching and Learning with Concrete Instructional
Resources
CHAPTER 6 Beyond the Ordinary: Teaching and Learning with Representational Instruc-
tional Resources
CHAPTER 7 Beyond the Ordinary: Teaching and Learning with Informational and Per-
suasive Text
CHAPTER 8 Beyond the Ordinary: Teaching and Learning with Narrative Text

●● Several new classroom scenarios have been introduced at chapter openings. The scenarios,
each having taken place in actual elementary school classrooms, work as advance orga-
nizers that place the content into a meaningful context. In addition, a number of fresh
scenarios have been inserted throughout the chapters to help you understand and visual-
ize how teachers have actually used suggested teaching strategies in their classrooms.
●● Numerous new photographs, illustrations, and figures help to illuminate and reinforce
the information presented.
●● Several important topics have been added, expanded, and updated: diversity and differen-
tiated instruction as an underlying premise of instruction; the College, Career, and Civic
Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards; the Common Core State Standards;
creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources; inquiry
strategies based on the C3 Inquiry Arc; a useful framework that strengthens the teaching
of the core social studies disciplines; acquiring knowledge through reading complex con-
tent area fiction and nonfiction text; guided reading and close reading strategies, as well
as suggestions for integrating good children’s literature into the social studies program;
and expanded discussion of the literacy strategies and skills that help students acquire
information and communicate their learning.
●● Distributed at strategic points throughout each chapter are open-ended, Reflection on
Learning questions that have no clear-cut answers, but require reflection through which
you extract personal meaning. Sometimes, reflection will be as simple as thinking about
what you’ve learned and associating it to past experiences. At other times, reflection may
become a part of class discussion. Either way, the purpose of reflection is to help personal-
ize the learning experience.
●● The eleventh edition is powered by Pearson’s new eText technology, which creates a pow-
erful and personal online learning experience. The e-book version is interactive, contain-
ing study and review questions, appropriate videos, and questions requiring personal
reflection. These features enhance the overall technology movement that is the future of
our schools and our society.
●● Finally, references have been updated throughout the text. The latest ideas from the social
studies profession have been included, and appropriate citations have been made.

A01_MAXI6716_11_SE_FM.indd 12 10/14/16 2:19 PM


Preface xiii

eText Features
The eText version of the eleventh edition provides instant access on smartphones, tablets, and
laptops. The eText allows you to highlight text, take and share notes, search keywords, and print
pages. The eText brings you the following features:
●● Check Your Understanding: As you read the material, you can use embedded quizzes called
“Check Your Understanding” to enhance your grasp of the content. Feedback will be pro-
vided to ensure comprehension after you complete each multiple choice question.
●● Video Exploration: Interactive videos help create interactive lessons. You are invited to
answer video quizzes (called Video Explorations) as you watch the selected video clip. Feed-
back is provided after you answer each question.
●● Video Example: Additional videos provide examples of concepts discussed in the text.

Supplements

Instructor’s Manual
For each chapter, the Instructor’s Manual contains Key Questions, a Chapter Outline, and
eText information. It also includes a combination of Print Resources (books, journals, and cur-
rent event publications), Electronic Resources (websites), Video Resources, and Organizations.
There is also a list of the chapter’s vocabulary terms and their definitions.

Test Bank
The Test Bank contains multiple choice questions, essay, and true or false questions, as well as
the answer keys for each chapter.

PowerPoint
The PowerPoint slides first explain how the book will help you create a dynamic social studies
classroom through its features, such as NCSS standards integration, text sets, and classroom
activities. Each chapter is then outlined by topics and terms, which you can read to follow
along with the book.

Acknowledgments
This eleventh edition would not have been possible without the encouragement and support
of my family. Enormous appreciation is extended to my wife Libby, whose selfless help was
given freely and affectionately, and accepted with deep appreciation; my son Mike, head of
infrastructure at a major New York City corporation, who has spread his wings and worked hard
to make his dreams come true; and my son Jeff, a computer programmer in New York City who
boldly exercised courage and integrity to live his dream. They may not be aware of how much
they helped, but I thank them for being my strength.

A01_MAXI6716_11_SE_FM.indd 13 10/14/16 2:19 PM


xiv Preface

I am also indebted to my parents, Rose and Stanley Maxim. Their honorable work ethic
instilled in me the value of determination in tackling a job as overwhelming as writing a book.
Their love of parenthood was a valuable inspiration for me throughout my life and my career.
I am grateful for the opportunity to work with a highly talented, supportive, and friendly
team of editors at Pearson. First, I would like to thank Meredith Fossel, Executive Editor, Teacher
Education, for her vision, extraordinary insights, and personable leadership as she guided this
revision. I deeply appreciate Meredith’s confidence in me and her support of my work through-
out this project. I also consider myself lucky to have had an opportunity to work with Bryce
Bell as our Developmental Editor. Bryce was a superb “coach” who provided the best possible
conditions for our team to maximize its performance. Hoorah, Bryce! A note of appreciation is
also extended to Karen Mason and Tania Zamora, Rights and Permissions specialists, who man-
aged all matters related to the time-consuming process of reviewing photos, text quotes, and
other outside materials contained in the manuscript. And, Jesika Bethea, Product Marketing,
applied her sound judgment to create a strong marketing strategy for this edition. I think the
world of the cover of this edition, a wonderful choice provided by Miryam Chandler, Content
Producer. As I express my gratitude to those at Pearson, I must never forget the kindness and
patience of Maria Feliberty, Editorial Assistant. You are special, Maria! Finally, I want to send
out a big word of thanks to Jason Hammond, Project Manager at SPi Global, who respectfully
and affably employed his creativity and craftmanship to organize and monitor the production
responsibilities of this project. Doumo arigatou gozaimasu, Jason! Working with Jason at SPi
Global, copy editor Susan McIntyre of Essential Edits expertly took hold of my original copy,
organized it, cleaned it up, and prepared it for production. This entire team was not only com-
petent and professional, but friendly as well; I owe much to them.
I thank the following reviewers for their helpful suggestions and insights: Judy Britt,
­Winthrop University; Katherine Condon, Framingham State University; and Amy Saks Pavese,
St. Michael’s College.
Finally, seven people deserve special thanks for their support and encouragement
throughout this project: Dan “Yogdah” Darigan for helping me more fully understand and
appreciate the potential of integrating literacy and social studies, as well as for his refreshing
inspiration and professional support during our weekly faculty meetings; John “Pogo” Ogborn
for his appreciation of and interest in my professional achievements; Ellen and Bernard Tenen-
baum and Jane and George Barker for connecting our families through accepting our sons as
their daughters’ lifemates; and my unnamed junior high school social studies teacher who once
motivated me in a way she’ll never know with her derisive castigation, “You’re never going to
amount to anything, Maxim!”

A01_MAXI6716_11_SE_FM.indd 14 10/14/16 2:19 PM


S E C T IO N O N E

Foundational Principles
Learn what it is like to be a social studies teacher in an elementary school. Begin your path to successful
teaching by acquiring a deep understanding of social studies as a school subject and learning how to
draw on its central concepts and structures to plan classroom instruction for elementary school ­children.
Discover the importance of integrating content and processes from various disciplines as you plan
assessment-based, engaging, and effective social studies lessons. Ask yourself, what do I know about
social studies and what do I need to learn in order to teach it well?

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

M01A_MAXI6716_11_SE_P01.indd 1 10/14/16 2:14 PM


Chapter 1
Social Studies:
The Subject You Will Teach

Learning Outcomes
Have you ever stopped to think what makes some social studies teachers more successful than
others? There is no simple answer, of course, but one characteristic that separates successful
social studies teachers from the rest of the pack is that they are students of their profession. That
is, they know and understand the nature of the subject they are teaching—its fundamental
concepts, structure, and learning processes. Therefore, after completing this chapter, you will
be able to:
●● Appraise how your past elementary school recollections enhance and shape your future
as a social studies teacher.
●● Describe the nature of social studies as an elementary school subject.
●● Explain how past approaches to teaching social studies have evolved into contemporary
instructional practices.
●● Identify the general strategies that exemplify best practices in contemporary social
studies classrooms.
●● Explain how democratic ideals are infused into daily classroom life.

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 2 10/17/16 2:48 PM


Classroom Snapshot
Dorothy Holzwarth’s fourth graders in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, were about to wind up a thematic unit on
their state when Naisha brought in a newspaper story about Maryland having recently adopted the monarch
butterfly as its state insect. “Does Pennsylvania have a state insect, too?” inquired several interested youngsters.
That was all it took to launch Mrs. Holzwarth’s class into one of the most enjoyable social studies learning
adventures it had ever tackled.
The students got the ball rolling by looking up information from various sources; they found a state
flower, a state song, a state tree, a state nickname, and various other official state symbols but no official
“state bug.” The children wanted to write to the president of the United States to see if they could have one,
but Mrs. Holzwarth explained that since this was a state matter, they should direct their query to their district
legislators in Harrisburg, the state capital.
Before they did so, however, the class decided to conduct a regular democratic election to determine
what insect would be the most fitting state symbol. Several insects were nominated, and each nominee
became the subject of careful study. The students explored the pros and cons of an assortment of bugs, such
as the praying mantis, dragonfly, ladybug, and grasshopper. After weighing the advantages and disadvan-
tages of each, a class vote settled the matter: the firefly was their selection. Why? One reason was that the
scientific name, Photuris pennsylvanica, closely resembled the name of their state. Students also liked the fact
that these insects dotted their backyards on summer evenings and they spent many a summer night running
around in pursuit of these elusive “lightning bugs.”
After the vote, the students wrote a letter to their state representatives, asking how they might make
their actions official. The lawmakers were extremely impressed with the children’s civic energy and arranged to
visit Mrs. Holzwarth’s classroom to answer the children’s questions and personally thank them for their interest
in state issues. The awestruck youngsters listened intently as the legislators discussed the process of introduc-
ing a law in the state legislature and advised the students how to proceed with their project. Their next step
would be to persuade other legislators to support their cause. Undaunted, these 26 children wrote more than
250 ­letters—203 to the House, 50 to the Senate, and 2 to the governor and his wife. The children also learned
that they needed popular support from voters in their area, so they canvassed their neighborhoods and shop-
ping malls until they obtained more than 2,100 signatures.
The students printed more than 600 bumper stickers proclaiming “Firefly for State Insect.” They also kept
up their letter writing campaign, asking legislators to vote YES when the bill came onto the floor. The children
were invited to Harrisburg for the House Government Committee hearings on their bill.
When they arrived in Harrisburg, they were met head-on by television crews and reporters. The hearing
was held according to established decorum, with the children testifying about fireflies for about 2 hours. The
committee reported its unanimous support of the bill to the House of Representatives, and eventually the bill
passed the House by a vote of 156 to 22. The Senate passed the bill by an overwhelming vote of 37 to 11.
When the governor finally signed the bill (Act 59), the children were again in Harrisburg to watch the institu-
tion of a new state law. Photuris pennsylvanica officially took its place alongside the whitetail deer, ruffed
grouse, and Great Dane as official state animals.
For Mrs. Holzwarth’s class, this was much more than an exercise in choosing a state insect. It was an
authentic, purposeful learning experience in which the children took direct political action and participated
in legislative processes. They learned about petitioning and writing letters to their representatives, and they
saw firsthand how government works. One child noted, “Now we have something to tell our grandchildren.”
Another, when asked if she would like to get another law passed, blurted, “Darn right! I’d like a law against
homework. Homework gives you pimples!”

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 3 10/17/16 2:48 PM


Successful social studies teachers like Mrs. Holzwarth enjoy their work and value the lives they
touch. There are no secret recipes or mystical formulas to duplicate the Mrs. Holzwarths of our
profession; each is one of a kind. As much as possible, they try to make social studies an inspiring,
productive, and memorable experience for their students. They eagerly combine time-tested,
traditional “best practices” with novel, groundbreaking approaches in an effort to encourage
deep understandings, enhance curiosity, and provoke critical thinking. They value their role in
the lives of children and realize that teachers—not books, not technology, not lesson plans, not
buildings, and not even class size—are what really matter. They know and love our nation and
hold bright hopes for its future. Their sense of democratic values influences everything they do
in their social studies classrooms. Successful teachers know that young children are our future,
and the way they live and learn today becomes the way they will live and learn tomorrow. They
expertly handle with keen insight and skill all the subtle professional responsibilities that con-
tribute to a quality social studies program, and their instructional choices are based on a maze
of complicated decisions.
Few individuals are more meaningful in the lives of elementary school children than their
parents, close relatives, and teachers. For that reason, elementary school social studies teachers
should be among the finest people we know. But being a fine person does not in itself guarantee
success. Successful teachers must also possess a set of professional skills founded on sound theo-
retical and research-based principles. They welcome the challenge of creating superb social studies
classrooms and boldly demonstrate that they would rather be challenged than safe and bored.
They work hard to acquire a “can-do spirit” early in their careers, for succeeding in complex situa-
tions is as much about attitude and self-confidence as it is about knowledge and skill.
As you strive for success, think of yourself much as an artist preparing to create an oil
painting. Certainly, all artists must follow certain basics, acquire specialized painting skills, and
practice a lot. But a common element among the artists who stand out seems to be that they
have found a distinctive technique that transports their works beyond the ordinary. They are
the ones who explore and experiment until they come up with a matchless style that expresses
their inner feelings and touches the lives of others. Much like standout artists, successful social
studies teachers are the product of a unique vision; they have a special something that makes
students pause, look closer, and want to take part in the excitement of their classrooms. So
work hard, dream a lot, and muster the grit to establish a point of view. However, you cannot,
and should not, take risks unless your fundamentals are solid. Successful social studies teachers
never take risks blindly; their decisions are based on a strong professional foundation. Build
that foundation in social studies education and take your risks there, for it is the one area of the
elementary school curriculum that most openly invites the ideas and dreams of adventurous
and creative young teachers.

Reflection on Learning
You may simply scribble rough notes or jot down something more polished and complete. The point is
to simply start recording your ideas spontaneously and candidly.
I’ve seen some pre-service teachers work for hours on a lesson plan only to fail miserably,
and I’ve seen others glance over their material for 5 minutes before walking into a classroom
and carry out a creative, spontaneous, and highly productive lesson. It makes you think . . . in
the end, what makes a great teacher? What qualities would you expect a successful social studies
teacher to demonstrate? Which do you currently possess? Which do you lack? Which are you in
the process of developing?

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 4 10/17/16 2:48 PM


Chapter 1 ● Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach 5

Memories of Elementary School Social Studies


Our quest to understand how to teach social studies must reach into the past; analyzing threads
of the past gives us the insight to examine current conditions. Whether we minimize their
importance or cling to them throughout our professional lives, there is little doubt that our
past elementary school experiences have shaped us as people and will cause us to behave in
certain ways as teachers. All of us tend to attach ourselves to exemplary role models we hope to
take after or to classroom conditions we hope to replicate. And, undoubtedly, there have been
teachers we have vowed not to model ourselves after and scenarios we have promised to avoid.
So go back to your elementary school days and take a close look. What do you remember about
social studies from your elementary school days? Who was the best elementary school social
studies teacher you ever had? Now, try to picture the worst elementary school social studies
teacher you ever had. What memories do you have of those teachers? Can you single out any
of these noteworthy individuals as having contributed to the person you are today? Jot down a
list of three or four strong feelings or clear events (good and bad) that first pop into your mind
and share your list with your classmates.
I enjoy doing this activity on the first day of a semester with my students. I find it
­instructive both for them and for me. Although I hesitate to describe this category first, the
“dislike” category usually includes memories such as reading assigned pages from a textbook
and answering questions at the end of the section (while the teacher corrected weekly spelling
tests at his or her desk), listening to a teacher lecture about latitude and longitude (without
the benefit of a map or a globe), memorizing facts about the early explorers of North America
(where they came from, when they left their homeland, the date they arrived here, and where
they explored), and copying facts word for word from a teacher’s endless parade of ­PowerPoint
slides (with an oversupply of information on slide after slide of small text). After discuss-
ing the “disliked” experiences, I ask students to suggest word labels that best sum up those
types of educational experiences. “Boring,” “lifeless,” “dull,” “mind-numbing,” “a waste,”
and “­humdrum” are some of the expressions I remember. The power of an ineffective teacher
is something almost all of us have experienced on a personal level and, although they are a
­significant minority, it is a frustrating reality that there are ineffective teachers in some social
studies classrooms.
Unfortunately, when they have such negative recollections of their past encounters with
social studies, pre-service teachers tend to underestimate the hard work that goes into success-
ful classroom instruction: “Is that all there is to it? Why, anybody can teach social studies to
elementary school kids! Who can’t tell them to take out their textbooks, read a few pages, and
answer the questions at the end of the section? Why does anyone need to take a college meth-
ods course to learn to do something so simple?” When facing such satirical feedback from my
students, I find that the best way to cope is to admit its legitimacy. It’s true . . . anybody can tell
children to take out their textbooks to read a few pages. And, yes, anybody can ask them the
questions printed at the end of a reading selection. While these accusations are reasonable,
they are missing the whole point of teaching in today’s elementary school social studies class-
room. Social studies is not meant to be taught that way.
In contrast to the “dislike” category, the “like” category usually includes memories such
as “Writing our own classroom constitution and holding elections,” “Making web-based travel
brochures to interest students from other states to visit our state,” “Once we had firefighters,
who assisted in recovery efforts, to speak about their impressions and experiences at Ground
Zero,” “Role-playing a historical figure for a pageant of great people who lived during the Civil
War,” “Drawing hieroglyphics that represented our names,” “Cooking venison stew as we read
the book Sign of the Beaver,” “Hearing a Peace Corps volunteer talk about his experiences in
Sierra Leone,” and “Taking food and clothing to a homeless shelter.” Several students gave

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 5 10/17/16 2:48 PM


6 Chapter 1 ● Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach

detailed explanations of favorite social studies teachers. One particularly striking remembrance
was a story of Mrs. Dunbar:

I had a fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Dunbar, who made social studies one of my favorite subjects. We
always looked forward to social studies class because Mrs. Dunbar always had something special
for us to do. Once, we were studying prehistoric life. Although health and safety regulations would
probably not allow teachers to do this today, Mrs. Dunbar asked us to strip everything off and bring
in bones left over from our dinners at home. You could probably guess that the next day we had a
pile of all kinds of bones—fish, chicken, beef. . . . Our first job was to scrub them thoroughly with
soap and water. Then we boiled them in vinegar water, soaked them in a bleach and water solution
to make them white, dried them off, and put them in a large box called ‘The Boneyard.’ We were
organized into groups and Mrs. Dunbar encouraged us to select any of the bones we wanted and glue
or wire them together in the general shape of the dinosaurs we were studying. We gave our dinosaurs
their scientific names and displayed an information card next to the models. Mrs. Dunbar called us
paleontologists. I still remember the word because it was a real thrill to have such an impressive title
at the time. She was such a talented teacher. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Dunbar is the reason I wanted
to become a teacher.

As the student related this story, I could not help but think how we all need a story of special
teachers such as Mrs. Dunbar to remind us of the kinds of creative and inspirational behaviors
that make individuals stand out from the crowd.
When asked to suggest words that best summed up these favorable kinds of experi-
ences, students unfailingly come up with expressions such as “fun,” “exciting,” “interesting,”
“­worthwhile,” “rewarding,” “active,” and “creative.” I bring closure to the activity by asking the
students to think about these questions: “Which set of words would you want students to use
when they describe you and your social studies program?” and “What will you need to know or
be able to do for that to happen?”
The resulting discussion usually raises questions about the professional know-how
required to carry out social studies programs that are fun, exciting, interesting, lively, reward-
ing, and active and, at the same time, instructive. A small number of students worry that using
“fun-type” activities might create serious classroom management problems: “I’d like my social
studies class to be fun and exciting, but I’m worried that the children, and I, will lose control.”
“Won’t children think of the ‘fun’ activities as ‘playtime’ and just fool around in class, not
learning anything?” Their concerns suggest a perception that “fun-type” activities are frivo-
lous, lack challenge, or, at best, serve as convenient rewards for accomplishing the more serious
stuff of classroom life.
Most of my students, however, tend to feel that being strictly serious about content
can do just the opposite—result in a dull and boring social studies program. They fear that
­“serious-type” social studies programs can become trivial and tedious for both the teacher and
the children. “It’s a mistake to think of fun learning as wasted learning effort,” they counter.
“Fun does not mean easy; as teachers, we certainly need to encourage hard work. But self-
motivated discovery and play are the most natural ways children learn. Children like to solve
problems; they like to think. The problem is that educators often get in the way of this natural
process by teaching a meaningless curriculum in an industrial factory setting.”
As the class discussion draws to a close, my students typically ask these questions:
“How can I make social studies fun and still maintain control over what the children do and
­understand?” “How can I get across the important social studies content without being run-
of-the-mill or ordinary?” “How can I teach content without communicating to the children
that we think they’re unskilled or ignorant?” “Is it possible to blend both styles to achieve the
greatest results?” One of the most significant challenges future social studies teachers face is, on
the one hand, ensuring that children acquire the knowledge, skills, and values that help ­prepare
them for constructive participation in a democratic society, and on the other hand, organizing
and conducting lessons that offer a blend of pleasure, intrigue, variety, active involvement, and
excitement.

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 6 10/17/16 2:48 PM


Chapter 1 ● Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach 7

Students benefit from fun, active social studies lessons designed with their unique
needs and interests in mind.

Pressmaster/Shutterstock
As far back as 1933, John Dewey addressed this dilemma and offered some sage advice
that remains relevant today. In speaking to the serious–fun dilemma of social studies instruc-
tion, Dewey (1933) wrote that if either is used exclusively, we end up with a double-edge sword:
“Play degenerates into fooling [around] and work into drudgery” (p. 286). Instead of planning
instruction at either end of the play–work continuum, Dewey suggested a delicate balance
between seriousness and fun. That is, our social studies classrooms must be places where stu-
dents play with ideas, think deeply about content, make connections to their lives, and become
energized as active, eager learners. The key to successful teaching is creating a lively, playful,
experiential curriculum that informs students about things that matter. If your curriculum is
meaningful and fun for your students, it will be meaningful and fun for you, too.
The rest of this chapter will consider some of the defining attributes of social studies as
a school subject and how to help make social studies a meaningful and vibrant experience for
your students. They are not meant to be all inclusive, but the defining attributes have been
organized as four dimensions of content: (1) knowing about the nature of social studies as a
school subject; (2) understanding the origin, erosion, and rebirth of social studies as a school subject;
(3) developing instructional practices that promote and support learning; and (4) creating a democratic
classroom community that serves an array of diverse students.

Check Your Understanding 1.1 Click here to check your understanding of this
section of the chapter.

Attribute 1: Social Studies as a School Subject


As an elementary school teacher, you will be responsible for teaching a variety of subjects
including math, language arts, reading, science, and social studies (and sometimes art, music,
or physical education). And teaching those subjects well to a classroom full of 5- to 12-year-olds
demands hard work, dedication, skill, and loads of knowledge. That is why you will be tak-
ing a number of methods courses that focus on specific subject areas. Those courses will vary

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 7 10/17/16 2:49 PM


8 Chapter 1 ● Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach

in content and methodology, but social studies is part of your course lineup because it is the
only class that offers specialized techniques explicitly intended to help children become active,
responsible citizens in a diverse democratic society.
Being able to share with you a definition of social studies having general consensus is quite
significant for those of us who have been in the field for a while, as it took over 75 years of con-
troversy, disagreement, and debate before this deceptively uncomplicated task was completed
by the professional community. Many find it incomprehensible that the field labored from
1916 to 1993 to ultimately agree on the nature of this school subject! (You will read more about
this later in this chapter.) However, when you think about a subject responsible for achieving
a goal as extensive as “educating good citizens,” such a significant responsibility is bound to
raise disputes among experts holding strong opinions about sensitive educational issues. That
is why coming to an agreement on its definition can be arguably much more contentious than
defining school subjects such as math or reading. With that in mind, the confirmed National
Council for the Social Studies definition (NCSS, 1993) is a good place to start your investigation
into the nature of social studies as an elementary school subject:

Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic
­competence. Within the school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study
drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law,
philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from
the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. The primary purpose of social studies is to help
young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as
­citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. (p. 3)

Clearly, the definition highlights two main characteristics that distinguish social s­ tudies
from other subjects you will teach. That is, social studies (1) is integrative—by its nature,
social studies incorporates content and processes from many disciplines—and (2) is the main
school subject that assumes the major goals of preparing students with the knowledge, skills,
and ­attitudes required for civic competence. Although civic competence is not the exclusive
­responsibility of social studies, it is more fundamental to social studies than to any other s­ ubject
in the elementary school curriculum.

Integrative Social Studies


What is an integrated social studies curriculum? Basically, it is a way of connecting separate
school subjects with social studies to focus upon unifying concepts or skills. This unity can be
commonly brought about in either, or both, of two major ways: intradisciplinary integration
and interdisciplinary integration. Intradisciplinary integration happens when the knowledge and
skills of the disciplines that make up one school subject are fused together for instruction. For
example, reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing have been
merged into the elementary school subject we call “language arts.” Disciplines such as biology,
chemistry, astronomy, zoology, meteorology, botany, and geology have been combined as the
elementary school subject known as “science.” Similarly, history, geography, civics, economics,
sociology, and anthropology have been joined into a subject we know well as “social studies.”
The process of interdisciplinary integration, on the other hand, combines the various school
subjects for the purpose of examining a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience. To
help your students better understand a complex issue such as global warming, for example, you
may plan learning experiences that include content, skills, and processes from science, tech-
nology, language arts, art, and social studies.

Social Studies as an Intradisciplinary School Subject


To help you understand the connections among the different sub-disciplines of social studies,
it is essential to look into two seemingly similar terms that people often confuse: social science
and social studies. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, they are quite different.

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 8 10/17/16 2:49 PM


Chapter 1 ● Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach 9

Let us first examine the term social science. The word social indicates that we are dealing with peo-
ple living together in organized groups, or societies. The word science is derived from the Latin
word Scientia; it means “knowledge.” So, if we combine the separate words social and ­science,
we can define a social science as any of several disciplines that examine how people i­ nteract and
develop as social beings. If you’re interested in learning about the exercise of authority in India,
for example, you would want to consider a social science that explains governing systems. If
you want to know where the finest coffee growing regions of the world are located, it would be
wise to look into a social science that describes places on Earth and how those places i­ nfluence
human activity. Social sciences cover a variety of disciplines; each has its own investigative
methodology and specialized field of knowledge.
Six major social sciences contribute to most elementary school social studies programs:
geography, history, political science, anthropology, sociology, and economics. Each discipline
is distinctive, but specialists from one discipline often find that their research overlaps with
work being done in another. Social studies is an umbrella label for the curricular area that brings
together the subarea social sciences into a single coordinated, systematic school subject area
called social studies (see Figure 1.1).

Geography “What is the Ring of Fire?” “Why does New York City have so much traffic?”
and “How does global warming affect ocean life?” are but three of the countless questions
­geographers ask about places on Earth and their relationship to the people who live there.
Geographers study people and places by investigating Earth’s physical dimensions (such as
mountains, deserts, rivers, and oceans) and its human dimensions (the impact of Earth’s physi-
cal features on people and vice versa).

History Historians systematically investigate, analyze, and interpret the past by asking ques-
tions such as “What happened?” “Why did it happen?” and “What can we learn from what has

F ig u r e 1 . 1 The Social Sciences

ECONOMICS
HISTORY Studies the production,
Studies distribution, and
the past consumption of
goods and services

GEOGRAPHY
Studies the ways SOCIOLOGY
Earth’s physical Studies society
characteristics and patterns of
affect people and social relationships
how people affect
Earth

CIVICS ANTHROPOLOGY
Studies citizenship Studies all facets
and government of society and
culture

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 9 10/17/16 2:49 PM


10 Chapter 1 ● Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach

happened?” Historians use various tools to help them answer their questions. Some of these
tools are called primary sources—something written or created by people who were present
during a historical event. Letters, diaries, speeches, interviews, or photographs are examples
of primary sources. Artifacts such as government documents, weapons, tools, or toys are also
considered primary sources. Historical evidence, such as books or paintings, produced after
a historical event by someone not actually present at the event, is called a secondary source. In
general, primary or secondary historical evidence can be separated into three groups: what has
been written, what has been said, and what has been physically preserved.

Civics Civics is the study of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, including the ways
governments and political systems operate—how people get power, what their duties are, and
how they carry out their duties. Civic education in our nation’s democratic society focuses on
understanding the ideals of democracy and a reasoned commitment to its values: “What are
the purposes and function of governments?” “How is power justified, created, exercised, and
challenged?” “What are the rights and duties of citizenship?”

Anthropology Anthropologists study people and their physical, social, and cultural devel-
opment. They examine the total pattern of human behavior and its products particular to
a s­pecial group (language, tools, beliefs, social forms, art, law, customs, traditions, religion,
­superstitions, morals, occupations, and so on). Anthropologists usually concentrate in one of four
­specialties—­archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, or biological–physical
­anthropology. Archaeology is the scientific study of earlier civilizations carried out by recovering
and e­ xamining m
­ aterial evidence of the past, such as skeletal remains, fossils, ruins, implements,
tools, ­monuments, and other items from past human cultures, to determine their history, customs,
and living habits. Cultural anthropology is the study of customs, cultures, and social lives in settings
that vary from nonindustrialized societies to modern urban centers. Linguistic anthropology exam-
ines the role of language in various cultures. Biological–physical anthropology studies the evolution
of the human body and analyzes how culture and biology influence one another. Because of this
immense scope of study, anthropology has often been described as a universal discipline. Anthro-
pologists ask basic questions such as “When, where, and how did humans evolve?” “How have
societies developed and changed from the ancient past to the present?” “How do people obtain
food, prepare it, and share it?” “How do people in various cultures dress or communicate?” “How
do its rituals and ceremonies define this group of human beings?”

Sociology Sociologists study society and social behavior by examining the groups and social
institutions people form, such as families, governments, religions, businesses, or schools. They
also study the behaviors and interactions of groups, analyzing the influence of group activities
on individual members. Sociologists investigate the values and norms of groups to discover
why group members behave as they do. They study how groups form, how they operate, and
how they change. Sociologists organize their study of groups around many questions such as
“What kinds of groups of people form in any given society?” “What are the expectations of
group members?” “What problems do group members face?” and “How do groups exert c­ ontrol
over their members?”

Economics Economists study the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and
services by asking questions such as “What goods and services best meet market needs?” “How
should those goods and services be produced?” “Who is willing and able to get the goods and
services?” From youngsters who save their allowance for a special toy, to college students who
must scrape together enough money for tuition, to newlyweds who apply for a mortgage as they
buy their first home, all people face situations in which they attempt to satisfy unlimited wants
with limited resources. It is from this idea, the scarcity concept, that economics emerges. Because
of scarcity, humans have attempted to find ways to produce more in less time with less material,
thus developing specialization of labor. Specialization led to the idea of interdependence, a reli-
ance of people on one another that necessitates monetary, transportation, and communication

M01B_MAXI6716_11_SE_C01.indd 10 10/17/16 2:49 PM


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
granted the abbey and all its appurtenances to Richard Pollard, Esq.,
who was subsequently knighted by Henry VIII., and from this
gentleman it passed to his son, Sir John Pollard, who sold it to his
cousin, Sir Amias Poulett, of Hinton St. George, and Curry Mallet,
who had held the office of head steward of the abbey under the
régime of Dr. Chard (as had his father, Sir Hugh Poulett, before him),
and who was for a short time the custodian of Mary Queen of Scots.
From Sir Amias Poulett, the abbey and estates passed by purchase
to William Rosewell, Esq., Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth, and
thence to his son, Sir Henry Rosewell, who, in 1649, conveyed them
to Sir Edmund Prideaux, Bart., of Netherton, county Devon. He was
educated at Cambridge, and after being admitted a student of the
Inner Temple was called to the Bar, 23rd November, 1623. He was
returned as Burgess for Lyme Regis and took part against the King.
He appears to have been a man of marked abilities, as in 1643 we
find him appointed one of the Commissioners of the Great Seal, and
three years later he was granted the privileges of a King’s Counsel,
the combined offices being worth some £7,000 a year. It is
somewhat singular that, while holding the first-named office he was
allowed to retain his seat in Parliament, and when he relinquished
the Great Seal, the House of Commons, as an acknowledgment of
his valuable services, ordered that he should practise within the Bar,
and have precedence next after the Solicitor-General, to which office
he himself was raised in 1647. Although attached to the
Parliamentary cause he took no part in the King’s trial, nor in the
trials of the Duke of Hamilton and others. Nevertheless, he shortly
afterwards accepted from the dominant party the office of Attorney-
General, a post which he retained for the remainder of his life. His
remarkable organising abilities were shown in 1649, when, as
Master of the Post Messengers and Carriers, a post he had acquired
in 1644, he established a weekly conveyance to every part of the
kingdom, a great improvement on the system he had found in vogue,
and under which letters were sent by special messengers, one of
whose duties it was to supply relays of horses at a given mileage. It
is said that the emoluments accruing to his private purse from this
improved postal service were not less than £15,000 a year. Sir
Edmund was twice married, and by his first wife Jane, daughter and
sole heiress of Henry Collins, Esq., of Ottery St. Mary, he had a
daughter Mary. His second wife was Margaret, daughter and co-heir
of William Ivery, of Cotthay, Somerset, and by her he had three
daughters, and a son Edmund, who succeeded him at Ford Abbey. It
was Sir Edmund Prideaux who brought Inigo Jones to the Abbey to
carry out certain alterations, which he did by inserting square-
headed windows in the walls of the state rooms, and by adding these
and other classical affectations on to the old Gothic building he
destroyed the harmonious composition of the whole, and it is not,
perhaps, a matter of regret that this architect died in 1654, before his
designs for converting this fine old house into a sham “classical”
building were carried out, although the interior of the house was
embellished with magnificent decorations and the whole place made
into a beautiful, comfortable, and habitable mansion.
Edmund Prideaux, the younger, had for his tutor John Tillotson,
who afterwards became Archbishop of Canterbury. Although he took
but little part in the grave political troubles of his day, he is
remembered in history as the entertainer of the ill-starred Duke of
Monmouth, who visited Ford in 1680, on his journey of pleasure to
the west country, where he was royally entertained by his host,
whose connection with his noble guest did not end here, as after the
Rye House affair he was suspected of favouring the Duke, and the
house was searched for arms. When the Duke subsequently landed
at Lyme Regis in 1685, Mr. Prideaux, like a prudent man, remained
quietly at home, but was visited at night by a small party of rebels
requiring horses, and it is said that one of them while in the house
drank to the health of Monmouth, which indiscretion becoming
known in London, a warrant was issued for Mr. Prideaux’s arrest,
and he was taken to the Tower on a charge of high treason.
Notwithstanding that nothing could be proved against him, he was
kept a close prisoner until he had paid the sum of £15,000 to the
infamous Jeffreys, when his pardon was signed on March 20th,
1685. On the accession of William III. he petitioned Parliament for
leave to bring in a Bill to charge the estates of Jeffreys with the
restitution of this money, but the Act failed to pass.
The sole surviving daughter of Edmund Prideaux (and his wife,
Amy Fraunceis), in 1690, married her cousin, Francis Gwyn, Esq., of
Llansandr, co. Glamorgan, who thus inherited Ford Abbey, and was
succeeded in the estates by his fourth son, Francis Gwyn, who,
dying without issue in 1777, devised this house and all his other
lands to his kinsman, John Fraunceis, or Francis, of Combe-Florey,
on condition of his taking the name of Gwyn, and in this family the
Abbey remained until the decease of a John Francis Gwyn, in 1846,
when it was purchased by G.F. W. Miles, Esq., and afterwards by
Miss Evans. It is now the property of Mrs. Freeman Roper. The
famous Jeremy Bentham rented the abbey early in the nineteenth
century and here he entertained James Mill and other social and
literary magnates. One of the numerous Francis Gwyns was Queen
Anne’s Secretary for War, and to him Her Majesty presented the
magnificent tapestries now hung in the saloon. They are worked
from original cartoons by Raphael, said to have been designed at the
request of Pope Leo. Charles I. is said to have purchased the
cartoons on the advice of Rubens, and to have removed them from
Brussels in 1630. They were first placed, it is thought, at Whitehall,
and William III. had them hung at Hampton Court Palace, where they
remained until 1865, when they were taken to their present home,
the Victoria and Albert Museum. These designs were the property of
His Majesty King Edward VII., who has, I think, recently bequeathed
them to the nation.
It was in 1842 that, for the convenience of county business, the
parish of Thorncombe, containing Ford Abbey, was transferred to the
county of Dorset.
DORCHESTER[49]
By the Lord Bishop of Durham, D.D.
F Bede is right, the Roman armies did not leave our shores till
a.d. 452. Whether it was then, so near the end of the old
Western Empire, or a little earlier, it must have been a dark
hour for Dorset, which no doubt saw something of the
embarkation; some considerable force, in that strict order
which to the last the legions maintained, would no doubt march from
Durnovaria to Clavinio (Weymouth) to take ship. The light of history
falls faint over Dorset and Dorchester for many a year from that
Roman exodus. But it is interesting to find that the “Saxons,” to use
the familiar term, took a century and a half to master Dorset; our
fathers must have made a stubborn fight against endless raids. It is
at least possible that the victory of Badon Hill—in which, says the
Arthurian legend, the Saxon hordes were ruinously beaten by the
“Britons,” led perhaps by a Rome-trained chief—was won in Dorset;
Badbury, near Wimborne, in the belief of Edwin Guest of Cambridge,
was Badon. But Wessex in due time absorbed Dorset and
Dorchester; and now our fields and woodlands were well sprinkled
with royal manors, while our town, beyond a doubt, still kept much of
its old dignity and culture; for the Saxons left the walled cities largely
alone, after disarming their inhabitants. Durnovaria, with its name
changed to Dorceastre, still stood fenced with its massive wall and
still contained many a stately house, tessellated and frescoed. Kings
of Wessex doubtless visited Dorset often, for the chase, and for
sustenance on their manors, and to keep state at Dorceastre. Alfred,
in all likelihood, was known by sight in the town. His grandson,
Athelstan, allowed it the right of coinage—a sure testimony to its
importance.
It suffered sorely from the Danes a century later. Sweyn, in 1002,
taking awful revenge for the massacre wrought by Ethelred the
“Unredy”—that is to say, the “Counsel-less”—marched from Devon
to Wilts by Dorset, and left Dorchester a desolation. It is said that he
tore down the walls, but this, almost for certain, was not so; they
were too massive to be wrecked without long labour, which the
rovers would not care to spend; and there is large evidence for their
existence far into the seventeenth century. However, Danish fire and
sword must have left the town black and blood-stained within its
ramparts. Half a century later, under the Confessor, Dorchester
counted 172 houses; the number is recorded in Domesday Book
(1085-6) as large, in contrast to the eighty-eight at the date of the
survey. Very likely the building of the Norman Castle (where now
stands the Prison) had to do with the shrinkage; the castle was sure
to be a centre of spoliation.
The restless John was in the town in 1201, and often later—
hunting, no doubt, and taking his “one night’s firm,” the statutable
sustenance due to the King and his men. Under Edward I., in 1295,
we sent burgesses to the first English Parliament. Our last burgess
sat from 1874 till 1885. Dorchester is now only the centre of an
electoral division.
In that same reign appears the first mention of our town churches:
Holy Trinity, St. Peter’s, and All Saints’. Not that the parishes are no
older than that date; indeed, the porch of St. Peter’s contains a
twelfth century fragment.
High Street, Dorchester.

The reign of Edward III. experienced the terror of the Great


Plague, carried from China over Asia to Europe, where literally
millions of people perished. It burst into England, alas! from a ship
which put in at the Dorset shore, and no doubt our town owed to that
awful scourge the low state of industry recorded a little later. Things
had mended by the time of Henry VI., and from then, upon the
whole, the place has been prosperous. In the seventeenth century it
was busy with cloth-making and, as now, with the brewing of beer. In
the old times of farming it was a great centre of grain commerce.
Stories are told of Dorchester fair-days, when wheat-laden wagons
stood ranged in long file from Cornhill, along South Street, and far
out upon the Weymouth road.
The town had its troubles in “the great century.” In August, 1613, a
fierce fire swept it almost clean away. The old churches of Trinity and
All Saints vanished, with nearly every other building within the walls
(and some outside their circuit, in Fordington), save only St. Peter’s
and the houses near it—among which would be that now almost
solitary relic of picturesque Old Dorchester, “Jeffreys’ lodgings.”
But the rebuilding must have been energetic, for in the Civil Wars
we find Dorchester populous and active enough to be a troublesome
focus of “malignity.” “A place more entirely disaffected to the King,
England had not,” says Clarendon. One probable cause of this
attitude lay in the commanding influence of John White, Rector of
Holy Trinity from 1606 to 1648. White was an Oxonian, a man of
culture and piety, and evidently of strong personal influence.
Preachers to-day may envy, if they please, the pulpit privileges given
him by the town. The borough records show, for example, that in
1630 one Nycholls was brought to justice for having “offered
speeche concerning Mr. John White’s preaching.” White helped to
plan the colony of Massachusetts, but he did not join the emigration.
His power was felt at home, in the Westminster Assembly, and in the
politics of Dorchester.
In 1642 the walls were solidly repaired, and outside works thrown
up at, among other points, Maumbury Ring. Watch was kept day and
night at the gates and on St. Peter’s Tower. But the spirit of the town
strangely failed when, on the approach of the enemy, one Master
Strode predicted that the walls would hold off the King’s men for just
half-an-hour. The Governor, Sir Walter Erle, hearing that Lord
Carnarvon was coming with two thousand men, and Prince
Maurice’s artillery besides, promptly left the place, and the citizens
opened the gates on a promise that they should be spared violence.
Carnarvon would have kept the promise with chivalrous fidelity, but
Maurice let his men loose, and Dorchester was so badly handled
that Carnarvon threw up his command and went to serve the King in
person. A little later the town behaved much more bravely, and
baffled a small Irish force under Lord Inchiquin till help from
Weymouth completed the rout of the Royalists. Later again Essex
occupied the town in force; and then Sir Lewis Dives, for the King,
surprised it with brilliant success, but was badly beaten on a second
attempt. Yet later there was a skirmish at Dorchester, when the
royalist Mercurius says that no less a captain than Cromwell himself
was put to flight by Lord Goring; but the account lacks full
confirmation. A story of that skirmish clings to a corner of lower
Fordington, a curve in the road near Grey’s Bridge, known as Tupp’s,
or Tubb’s, Corner; it is said that a Cromwellian hero of that name fled
thereby at a speed memorable for all time.
A still darker experience than that of war awaited Dorchester not
long after. When Monmouth fought at Sedgemoor (1685) our Dorset
peasants were among the bravest of his rude but heroic army. And
when the abortive rising was over, the Bloody Assizes began, and
Jeffreys sat at Dorchester. His lodgings are still shown, the most
striking house-front in the town, with its black timbers and long, low
windows; and still, in the Town Hall, is kept the chair from which the
terrible Chief Justice, in a court hung with red, dealt out death with
grim smiles and ghastly jests. Nearly three hundred men, told that it
was their only hope, pleaded guilty, but for most of them the only
result was a few days’ respite. Seventy-four were executed at
Dorchester, with all the horrible circumstances of death for treason.
For years afterwards grim human relics of that evil time still clung to
the railings round St. Peter’s, greeting the entering worshippers.
Sidney Heath 1901

Judge Jeffreys’ Lodgings

This was not quite the last scene of horror at Dorchester, though it
was alone in its dreadful kind. As late as within the eighteenth
century an unhappy woman, convicted of the murder of her husband,
was hanged and then burned within Maumbury, amidst a vast gazing
multitude.
It is a relief to think that about the same time the town put on a
beauty of a sort unique, I think, in England. The walls had somehow
largely disappeared within the last half of the seventeenth century;
and now it was proposed to plant double rows of trees all along the
line of their foundations. By 1712 the planting was complete, and for
nearly two complete centuries Dorchester has been surrounded by
the noble range of avenues which we call The Walks, renewed from
time to time, and kept with increasing care. From close to Glide Path
Hill (“Glippath”) the visitor can walk under long successive aisles of
sycamores or chestnuts on a well-laid gravel road, now facing east,
now south, now west, now north, till he finds himself close to the foot
of High Street, within ten minutes of his point of departure. I have
seen the noble avenues at King’s Lynn, and those of the Backs at
Cambridge are only less dear to me than our Walks. But I do not
think that anything even there can quite equal these bowery
ramparts of our ancient town—certainly not when we put together
the natural charm and the historical interest.
The Walks were still young about the year 1730, when a poet, in
the course of a tour from London to Exeter with a group of friends,
rode through Dorchester. It was Pope’s intimate, John Gay. The
travellers first saw the town, of course, from Stinsford Hill, over a
foreground which then, no doubt, was less full of trees. The reaches
of the Frome and the broad water-meadows pleased Gay, as well
they might, and in his delightful verse-journal we read his
impression:
Now the steep hill fair Dorchester o’erlooks,
Border’d by meads and wash’d by silver brooks.
In 1762 we find recorded as noteworthy the paving and fencing of
a side-walk in the lower High Street; and in 1774 came the first
public lighting of the streets. A decade later Miss Burney (Mme.
D’Arblay) gives a lively picture of Dorchester as she saw it when
travelling in the suite of George III. to Weymouth: “The city had so
antique an air, I longed to investigate its old buildings. The houses
have the most ancient appearance of any that are inhabited that I
have happened to see; and inhabited they were indeed! There was
an amazing quantity of indigenous residers—old women and young
children,” who, as she shrewdly remarks, could not have come in
from a distance, and so formed an index of population. Yet the town
could not have counted then more than 3,000 inhabitants. It contains
now just 10,500.
We reach at last the nineteenth century. The town, like the county,
and like all rural England, was in grave alarm in 1830 at the time of
the “rick-burnings.” Mrs. Mary Frampton’s Journal speaks much of
the scenes of riot and of wild alarms. I possess letters written by my
mother, then the young mistress of Fordington Vicarage,[50] in which
she speaks of the nightly watch and ward kept all around, and of her
husband’s active share in it, and the relief, under the terrible strain,
which was given by the friendly attitude of Fordington towards him.
Just later the Frampton Journal describes the battle royal of an
election scene on Poundbury (Pummery, as I must be allowed still to
call it), when the greatest of all Dorset’s sons, the seventh Earl of
Shaftesbury, then Lord Ashley, stood for the county.
That date brings me to times only a little previous to my own
memory, and well within the memory of my brothers and friends, and
familiar of course to my father, who from 1829 to 1880, as Vicar of
Fordington, laboured alike for the spiritual and social good of his
parishioners. I may be allowed to close my narrative with a small
sheaf of reminiscences from his and other memories. Then, after a
brief glance of the mind’s eye over my native town, my task of love is
done.
My father knew very old people who “remembered when rooms
were first carpeted at Dorchester.” One aged parishioner could recall
the change of style in the calendar in 1752; the children were taken
to a stile in the Great Field as a memento. He and my mother saw,
from Maumbury, about 1832, the Princess Victoria with her mother,
passing in their carriage on the way to Weymouth. My brother, since
1880 Bishop in Mid-China, recalls the bringing into the town, in carts,
about 1834, of loads of saplings sent to be planted along the London
Road; and a noble avenue they made, which now, alas! is no more
than a relic of itself.
I just remember the days of the stage coaches in Dorchester. I see
the old Emerald still, and hear the bugle of the guard. In 1852 I
travelled by coach to Dorchester from Bath. And how vividly I can
see the excitement of the crowd on the arrival of the first South-
Western train, in 1847! An old woman still runs across my field of
view, crying out: “There, I did never zee a coach avore goo wi’out
’osses!” I remember, two years later, Prince Albert’s arrival at the
station, where he took carriage for Weymouth, there to lay the first
stone of the Breakwater. Very vividly I recall the thousands of lamps
festooned along the Walks to illuminate an entertainment for old
people after the Crimean peace. Two years earlier, a few weeks
before the Alma, I remember the awful outburst of the cholera in
Fordington; it was brought from London in tainted clothing which was
sent to the wash in a Fordington cottage. My father “stood between
the dead and the living” at that dark time, and, with admirable
assistance, was able, under God, to bar the pestilence from entering
the town.
Sidney Heath

Cornhill

But I must not ramble further into narrative. Dorchester, with its
integral neighbour, Fordington (incorporated into the borough in
1835), is very dear to my heart, and it is not easy to put narrow limits
upon reminiscence. Yet scarcely a word has been said here about
our chief architectural features of the place. I have but named Trinity
Church, the third structure in succession to that which perished in
1613, as All Saints’ Church is the second in like sequence—All
Saints’, whose fine spire, raised in 1852, gave a wholly new feature
to the town. St. Peter’s is the ecclesiastical crown of Dorchester—a
noble Perpendicular church, with a dignified tower, vocal with eight
fine bells; in its churchyard stands a bronze statue of our Dorset
poet, William Barnes. At the head of High Street, where the tree-
vaulted Bridport road runs out westward, stands the modern St.
Mary’s, the church of West Fordington; the pretty original church,
Christ Church, now the chapel of the Artillery Barracks, was built by
my father’s efforts in 1847, when the parish was divided from old
Fordington. The County Hall and Town Hall are leading features of
the High Street. The present Town Hall, in 1849, took the place of a
building visible still to my memory, under which opened an archway
leading into North Square, and which itself succeeded, in 1791, “The
Cupola,” near the Town Pump. The Museum, where my brother,
Henry Moule, long superintended and developed the excellent
geological and antiquarian collections, is a handsome modern
feature of the middle High Street; it stands at a point where, almost
within the oldest living memory, projecting houses so narrowed the
roadway that the stage-coach could pass up and down only with
great caution. The County Hospital, founded in 1841, has grown into
abundant usefulness, and makes, with its beautiful little chapel, a
dignified feature of the place. In South Street the quaint front of the
“Napper’s Mite” almshouses, and the Grammar School, are
conspicuous.
Sidney Heath

“Napper’s Mite”

With Fordington Church, St. George’s, let me close. As I write[51] it


is about to be largely rebuilt, for Fordington has grown fast; and the
north aisle of 1833 is, indeed, very far from beautiful. But, whilst I
rejoice that space and form should be added to the church, my mind
must still and always see it as it was, with its simple chancel of 1750;
its rude, partly Norman, north aisle; its pulpit of 1592, now
approached by a rood-stair re-opened in 1863; its remarkable
eleventh century tympanum at the south door, which shows
(probably) St. George routing the Saracens at Antioch, in armour of
the Bayeux type; and its very noble fifteenth century tower, a model
of proportion. Let us climb that tower, by the stairs familiar to me all
my days, and from it bid farewell to Dorchester. Beautiful is the
prospect, near and far. Below us lies the spacious churchyard, a
burial-place, in parts, ever since the Roman period. Westward you
see Dorchester, tower, spire, and bowery Walks, with Poundbury
beyond them. South-westward lies expanded the vast field of
Fordington, which till 1870 was unbroken by fence, and was tilled by
the farmers on a system of annual exchange, older, probably, than
the Christian era. Beyond it stretches the green, massive rampart of
Maiden Castle, and, more distant still, the aerial dome of Blackdown,
crowned by the monumental tower which commemorates Nelson’s
Hardy. North-westward we can almost see beautiful Wolfeton House,
cradle of the greatness of the Bedfords. Northward, we look down on
the roofs and lanes of dear old Fordington; and eastward lie the long,
fair levels of the Swingbridge meadows, where Frome is sluiced into
hundreds of channels, bright with living water. The bowery slopes of
Stinsford and Kingston flank the meadows; and then, eastward, the
broad valley leads the eye away to the vanishing yet abiding line of
the Purbecks, a cloud of tenderest blue. South-eastward, over the
village and its bartons, the woods of Came appear, and the sea-ridge
runs above them with its long line of Danish burial-mounds. Almost
in sight are Max Gate, the home of Mr. Hardy, our renowned novelist,
and the thatched roof of Came Rectory, once the home of our poet,
William Barnes—deep student, true pastor, clear and tender seer of
nature and of man.

O fields and streams, another race


Already comes to take our place,
To claim their right in you,
Our homes to hold, our walks to rove—
But who shall love you with our love,
Shall know you as we knew?
WEYMOUTH
By Sidney Heath
T has become customary in recent years for topographical and
other writers to depict Weymouth, if not exactly as a town of
mushroom growth, at least as one whose history and antiquity
date no further back than from the time when George III. found
its salubrious air so suited to his health. True, the aspect of the
modern town has little left of its pre-Georgian days to tempt the
archæologist or allure the casual literary worker; but a few hours
spent among the old records of the town would speedily remove this
first impression of modernity, and convince even the most sceptical
antiquary that the old town of Weymouth is one of the most ancient
in the county of Dorset. The casual visitor may, therefore, be forgiven
his impression that Weymouth was founded by George III.; for so
nearly were the older buildings swept away at the time of this royal
invasion that even loyal Weymouth citizens now find it difficult to
realise how living a thing was the ancient past of their town, since
whatever was left untouched by the Georgian builders has been
well-nigh destroyed in more recent times to make way for what is
called modern convenience and improvement.
The word Weymouth is derived directly from the Saxon
“Waegemuth,” waeg meaning a wave, that is the sea; and mutha, an
opening. The Celtic name for the river Wey, allied to the Welsh word
gwy, meaning water, seems to have caused some confusion in the
Saxon mind, and have led them to regard the mouth of the estuary
(the Backwater) as the inlet of the sea rather than the outlet of a
small stream.
The earliest beginnings of the town are lost in obscurity; yet, even
if we are not prepared to accept the assertion of certain historians
that the Tyrian and Phœnician merchants traded here in their
numerous visits to these shores, we have evidence of a more than
Sidney Heath

The Quay Weymouth

respectable antiquity in some traces and memorials of the Roman


occupation, in the way of roads, coins, and pottery; while at Preston,
an almost adjoining village, remains of a Roman villa may still be
seen, and considerable Roman remains have been found at
Radipole.
There are very few records or official documents antecedent to the
reign of William I., and naturally many chasms occur in the continuity
of the recorded history of Weymouth. The earliest mention of the
place is in Saxon annals, which state that King Athelstan, a.d. 938,
granted to the Abbey of Middleton (Milton), in Dorset, in order that
masses might be said for his soul and the souls of his ancestors and
successors, Kings of England:
All that water within the shore of Waymuth, and half the
stream of that Waymuth out at sea: twelve acres for the
support of the wear and its officer, three thaynes and a
saltern by the wear, and sixty-seven hides of land in its
neighbourhood.
The next mention of the place occurs in a Saxon charter of King
Ethelred II., wherein the King gives land to his minister, Atsere,
during his life, and licence to leave the inheritance of it as he wills.
The charter is signed by the King with the sign of the cross; by
Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Oswald, Archbishop of York;
and the Bishops Athelwold, Living, and Hirwold. The date of this
interesting document is either obliterated or was never inserted; but
in 980 Dunstan was Grand-Master of the fraternity of free and
accepted Masons in England, and both he and Oswald died about
988.
We find no further record of Weymouth until 1042, when Edward
the Confessor caused a charge to be brought by Robert, Bishop of
London, accusing his mother, Queen Emma, of consenting to the
death of her son Alfred, of endeavouring to poison Edward, another
of her sons, and of maintaining an infamous connection with her
kinsman, Alwin, Bishop of Winton, to the King’s and her own
dishonour. The Queen was ordered to purge herself by “fiery ordeal,”
which she did at Winchester Cathedral in the presence of the King
and his nobles; and, having passed barefooted and blindfold over
nine red-hot ploughshares without harm, she was adjudged to have
cleared herself of the accusations and to have furnished her
accusers with an example of what female chastity is able to
accomplish. The King publicly solicited his mother’s pardon; but the
Church of Winton was not so easily appeased at the charge brought
against its Bishop, and forced the repentant King to submit to severe
penance, and to give nine manors to Holy Mother Church,
accordingly—“Ex libello donatorium Wintoniæ Ecclesiæ, S.
Edwardus rex, dedit Portelond, Wikes, Hellwell, et Waimuth
maneriis, cum ceteris aliis, ad Wintoniæ ecclesiæ”; and this grant
was confirmed by a bull of Pope Innocent II.
In Domesday there are several parcels of land separately
surveyed under the name of wai and waia, with no additional name
to distinguish them, and they are held by different individuals.
Henry I. granted by a charter (without date) to the Prior and Monks
of St. Swithun, Winton, the ports of “Waimuth and Melecumb, with all
their appurtenances, together with the manors of Wike and
Portelond,” which King Edward gave them, and that they might enjoy
all the liberties, wrecks, and all free customs, by sea and by land, as
they had ever enjoyed them. This charter was confirmed by Henry II.
In the reign of Henry III. the manor appears to have been
considered as a dependency of Wyke, and again as appertaining to
Portland, but it is certain that in the early part of this reign it was
granted to Henry Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and his successors, as
appears by the entry on the Charter Rolls. The Bishops did not keep
the manor long, for it soon became the property of the opulent family
of Clare, from whom was descended Edward IV. It would be tedious
to trace the varying fortunes of the Clare family, who were for
centuries among the most powerful in the kingdom; and although
much could be written of the subsequent holders of the manor, the
following brief records must suffice for several decades:—

40 Edward III.—Lionel, Duke of Clarence, held the boroughs of


Weymouth and Wareham, the manors of Portland and Wyke, with
many others.
22 Richard II.—Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, held the borough of
Weymouth, the manors of Portland and Wyke, with many others.
11 Henry V.—Anna, wife of Edward, Earl of March, held the
borough of Weymouth, etc.

You might also like