Today in History

Tēnā Tātou te iwi. Every day on the homepage of NZHistory you will find a story based on an event or person associated with that date. Today in History provides a range of entries that cover some of the more obvious or well-known stories and people from our past, as well as more quirky and unusual events. By following the links provided, teachers and students can explore that day’s story in as much (or as little) detail as they want.

By clicking on the link to the NZHistory Calendar at the top of any page on the site you will see a monthly view of events. A drop-down menu will allow you to choose any month of the year. Alternatively, by clicking on any event you will also get a weekly view of Today in History. In this way you are presented with several ways of planning how you might incorporate Today in History into your own teaching programme.

Today in History could be incorporated into your own teaching practice as:

• An introduction or starter to your lesson or day.
• Support for units of work you are currently teaching.
• The basis of a small social inquiry topic: e.g. members of your class could research the topic or person associated with their birthday; alternatively, dates could be allocated to the class at random. Students could then make some form of presentation to their classmates or display their findings in a section of the room devoted to ‘Today in History’.
• As a springboard into a wider study: e.g. 25 April can be used to help launch an in-depth study of the Anzac story, Gallipoli, New Zealand in the First World War, or the place of war in shaping national identity.

Tēnā koutou katoa

Steve