Studying your state’s history is a good opportunity for field trips. Visit the historical sites in your area. You will likely meet people working at the sites who are very knowledgable and eager to share their knowledge with you. Maybe you’ll find some people who do re-enactments. That’s real “living history!” Many historical sites have bookshops where you might find some living books, but just the visits alone will be very worthwhile and memorable.
If you wanted, you could create your own living book by keeping a scrapbook of the places you visit, with photos and narrations included.
We have an ongoing project studying the place names in our area – the names of streets, neighborhoods, rivers, cities, etc.
The branch of your local library is likely to have children’s books about local history. Ask the children’s librarian for some good suggestions or browse around and see what you find.
New York is rich in US history. Pick an era in history and then start looking for children’s books on that specific topic – either fiction or non-fiction. I think you might be pleased by what you are able to discover. Don’t settle for dry and boring because there are some great children’s history books out there. You might want to start with Native American tales from tribes in your area.
Have fun!
edited to add: Even though your state requires “one year” of state history in the early grades, you don’t have to cover everything about the state in that one year, and you don’t need to go in chronological order. If you get hooked on the history of the Erie Canal and stick with it for months, that’s fine. Just make sure you include that you covered state history in the paperwork you submit to the district. I include state history every year in my paperwork.
