Educational American
history videos and DVDs for kids
Supports the National
History Standards
Chronological
Thinking -
This video clip summary demonstrates the chronology of events
in the American Colonies from tobacco to slavery, to smuggling
and early American commerce, to British soldiers and dissension.
Comprehension/Analysis -
Seeing Lincoln on a balance board. Listening to his struggle
is a powerful way to understand and analyze the President’s
political hardships.
Source Documentation - From dire conditions in Jamestown, to the words of Frederick Douglass, to the words of a boy swept up in Secession Fever. Primary source documents come alive.
Critical
Thinking/Research/Activities -
Find the Fun Productions offers onscreen thoughtful and
provocative questions that make students scratch their
minds, to online study guides that target historical concepts.
With discussion and interactive extension activities.
Songs - Original songs that teach as well as entertain, offering opportunities to use skills such as compare and contrast.
At Find the Fun Productions and American History for Kids we want kids to get it. Therefore, we teach kids about the 13 Colonies, the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution, the Magna Carta, slavery, the Civil War and President Lincoln using a unique theatrical and emotional context that employs a wide range of creative teaching modalities
such as music, puppetry, humor, and relating history to kids' everyday lives. We use these techniques because we know that getting students to relate to the distant events of the past is often difficult. And educational research shows that emotional involvement is an integral aspect of learning and that creativity is an essential tool for powerful learning retention.
At Find the Fun Productions and American History for Kids we employ our research-proven teaching methods to make U.S. history about the Civil War, the American Revolution, 13 Colonies, and the U.S. Constitution come alive in our interactive media, music, and DVDs. We are also dedicated to the realities that teachers face in the classroom and the challenges parents face at home, which is why we provide unique interactive techniques and curriculum for both teachers and families. We are dedicated to students as well and the challenges they face growing up in today's world.Through many years in the classroom
and research, we know how kids think and advocate a “Reach thenTeach”method that allows students to have fun and learn while retaining their knowledge of
American history. Now more than ever, it is critical that our young people understand history as a foundation for understanding our increasingly challenging world.
An interview with Kathy Eschleman, middle school teacher• What are the greatest challenges teaching your students American history?
The greatest challenge is making the curriculum come alive for the students while having it actually relate to their lives. History is something children often have difficulty relating to.
• How has Find the Fun Productions impacted your students?
Using Howard Egger-Bovet’s DVDs to teach history, my students have been able to make that critical connection, and actually learn and demonstrate their knowledge of historical facts.
• What are the features of the production that the children respond to the most?
The interactivity of the videos has made one of the greatest differences such as “Scratch your mind, See what you find.” No other media has allowed me to involve my students while they learn, providing such positive results.
• What are some of the positive results you have seen with your students?
Students love the acting and the costumes. Mr. Egger-Bovet has such an engaging enthusiastic personality that he can inspire them. They have such a better understanding of history after seeing the videos, particularly the ESL students who really need the live visuals. Find the Fun Productions makes the curriculum accessible to all levels of learners.
Find the Fun Productions believes that DVD media is the first line of offense to engage students and ignite the information imbedded in text. For DVD media to be engaging it must be relevant to students’ present-day lives, entertaining, and interactive. The combination of all three creates visceral media. Reach students viscerally and cognitive learning will follow. This, in turn, promotes more effective student understanding and retention of information.
Click to hear a history teacher's
testimonial
PDFs:
Best practices grounded in research
MEMBER, ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHERS (AEP)
