About
Tom Wolff, History Teacher
My daughter joins me
onstage at a recent
history concert.
onstage at a recent
history concert.
I had already been writing and performing songs in my own band for several years throughout the Chicagoland area before becoming a history teacher 18 years ago. I began writing and performing history songs to engage students more effectively during review sessions, and crafted songs that incorporated the major terms and concepts for necessary for upcoming exams. Performing these songs had an immediate, positive impact in my classroom. As I witnessed a marked increase in student motivation and acheivement, I was prompted to build an original, song-based curriculum that aligned with the standards of United States History courses. Currently, I teach AP U.S. History and IB History of the Americas at South Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, and I continually write new songs and build upon all aspects of this curriculum.
In the Classroom
Students singing along in the classroom.
I perform my songs live in the classroom with students singing along, but any teacher can use this process, because each song is recorded over a multimedia visual presentation that projects the lyrics with corresponding historical images as the song plays. The historical context, along with a lyric document, accompanies each song to provide background and insight into the historical themes that are alluded to in the lyrics. This song-based curriculum is one of the many tools I use to instruct students: but as a consistent supplement, incorporated into each unit, it brings an energy to the classroom that engages and effectively enables students to grasp and internalize large amouts of complex historical material. I have presented this curriculum at state (GCSS) and national (NCSS) conferences, and have recieved positive feedback from teachers who have had great success incorporating these songs into their classrooms.
Review Concerts
End-of-Year History Review Concert
In 2005, I began performing annual history review concerts in our school's auditorium to prepare students for the Advanced Placement U.S. History and End-of-Course Exams. The concert includes many student musicians playing and singing along with my songs, as well as students performing their own history song compositions. Historical images that correspond to the song's lyrics (see photo) add a visual component to the show. These concerts provide an interactive, crash-course review in U.S. History all in one evening.