Northern Lights
$50.00
- Overview
- More Info
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By: Dave Kenney
Investigations by Hillary Wackman and Nancy O’Brien Wagner - Format: Hardcover book, 342 pp., 300+ color images, 42 maps, 15 charts, index
- Publisher: MHS Press
- Usually ships in: 1 to 3 business days
- ISBN 087351-440-8
Read the stories of Minnesota's past through lively text and colorful illustrations of artifacts from the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society. Northern Lights provides an entertaining overview of Minnesota history that is stimulating reading for all ages.
Orders for Schools
The Northern Lights curriculum consists of three books: the Student Edition, described above, the Annotated Teacher’s Edition, and the Classroom Resources Workbook. School orders receive a 20% discount, but must be ordered through our Education Outreach Department. For more information: Contact Suzi Gran, K-12 Education Outreach Associate, 651-259-3431 or mhseducation@mnhs.org. For information about school orders, and a down-loadable brochure, please see Northern Lights Curriculum.
Chapter introduction page
What is it about Minnesotans—beyond geography—that binds them together? What sets Minnesota apart? The answer lies in the stories of Minnesotans. Beginning with Minnesota's ancient origins and ending with this new millennium, the new Northern Lights highlights dozens of engaging stories. Bundled together, they represent the shared history that makes Minnesota the place it is today.
Since 1989, Northern Lights has been used in schools across the state to teach our state’s history. This all-new second edition features hundreds of full-color artifacts from the Minnesota Historical Society’s collections. Though written for schools, the new Northern Lights is stimulating reading for anyone seeking an overview of Minnesota history.
Northern Lights readers discover an African-American interpreter for fur traders, the editor of Minnesota’s first newspaper, and a female World War II pilot. Readers also encounter a letter written from one U.S. Dakota War survivor to another, and examine blueprints from a Victorian-era Summit Avenue home.
A major strength of Northern Lights is its “Investigations,” which are primary source activities that accompany each chapter. "Investigations" bring history to life by presenting readers with a wide range of primary sources that tell Minnesota’s stories, such as journals, photographs, archaeological artifacts, and songs. Investigations encourage readers to analyze evidence and form their own interpretations, in effect “doing history” like real historians.
2004 Minnesota Book Award Winner
The Northern Lights brochure shows examples of pages from the book. This is a large pdf file so it may take a few minutes for it to load on a dial-up phone line.
Praise for Minnesota Northern Lights
“One of the most compelling features of the new “Northern Lights” is the wealth of primary sources. The quotes and pictures of Minnesotans bring meaning and breathe life into the content. When students relate to the flesh and blood and thoughts and emotions of actual people, history becomes real to them.”
-Lynn Genter, Fifth-Grade Teacher and Elementary Social Studies Coordinator for South Washington County Schools, Woodbury, MN
Dave Kenney is a Twin Cities-based freelance writer specializing in state and regional history. He has written articles for many magazines including Mpls-St. Paul, Minnesota Monthly, Minnesota Law & Politics, and Equal Justice. His book, Minnesota Goes to War,/b>, a history of life in Minnesota during World War II, was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2004.
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