There is a renaissance occurring in American history classrooms: teachers have discovered that local history offers students not only far richer content and more enjoyable learning experiences, but also unique insight into our national character. And they can even address social studies standards. Now, there's a book to show teachers how.

Using several social studies and geography standards as a framework for planning, Homespun offers teachers some of the best instructional activities for learning more about the lifeblood of communities - their traditions, beliefs, social and economic forces, religion, and ethnicity. In the first part of the book, Stevens describes activities in which students visit cemeteries and historic sites . . . compose a local history . . . study architectural and housing patterns . . . review old photographs . . . conduct interviews . . . interpret maps . . . write their own family history . . . create a community image. The second half of the book features a collection of highly successful state and nationally recognized projects that represent "best practices" in local history. These "model" activities - many of which are award winning - are great starting points for teachers who want to develop their own local history projects.