I am convinced more than ever that we need to put the play back into our study of American history. Mostly, I play on my bike. But in cold weather, I play with interactive history tools that I made for myself, because I couldn’t find anything on the web. I needed something short, simple, repetitive, and quick. And I needed these tools to help me make connections between people, places, things, and events. “Master Gettysburg July 2 with Interactive Tools” is one answer to the student’s problem of needing to master enough facts to get to the big, meaningful themes of history.
“Master Gettysburg July 2 with Interactive Tools” is the second of three sets of quizzes and links to photos and maps on the Battle of Gettysburg. Today, it’s July 2, 1863. Please let me know how these quizzes work for you. I would love to read your comments or feedback on any Civil War Cycling website page, or privately through the “Contact Us” link.
Master Gettysburg July 2 with Interactive Tools
Although I have two Master’s degrees (none in history) and so-called “smartness,” my first time reading Edwin Coddington’s 866-page classic tome, The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command, was painful, because I knew very little about the battle. I didn’t know enough about Gettysburg to understand the main story line! So, I put the book aside for a long time.
Years later, after changing my approach to studying, I can read the book and understand it. One day, I hope to be able to read the book and remember more than what I do right now.
For me, what made all the difference in the world was injecting more time for fun in my studies.
It started by riding my bicycle through battlefields and taking time to enjoy the landscape, read the signs, and study monument inscriptions. I am obsessed with bicycling Gettysburg National Military Park. What I learned on those tours helped me to remember enough of Gettysburg “who’s who” to understand Coddington’s massive but well-written book. And during the winter months, creating online interactive quizzes helped me to solidify many factual details that floated around like free radicals in my brain.
The educator in me knows that a certain amount of memorization is necessary to understand history. And the larger the gap between the reader’s vocabulary and the educational text, the harder the learning process.
The fix is to find fun ways to drill the “facts” into your memory for safe-keeping. Civil War Cycling publishes interactive, online quizzes that supplement articles, photo galleries, videos, and maps that help learners like me.
Give it a try!
You can master Gettysburg July 2 with interactive tools. Start here: “Gettysburg July 2 – Master the Basics Quiz,”