Resources: Social Studiest
Updated 3/19/02
American History/Civics
A
Guide to Digital Citizenship
From Junior Achievement, Fall 2003.
Middle school teachers can instruct students on responsible "digital
citizenship" with a new curriculum kit that reviews copyright
laws, intellectual-property rights, and the consequences of illegally
downloading music or other online material, claims Junior Achievement.
Justice
Learning
Justice Learning is an innovative, issue-based approach for engaging
high school students in informed political discourse. The web
site uses audio from the Justice Talking radio show and articles
from The New York Times to teach students about reasoned debate
and the often-conflicting values inherent in our democracy. The
web site includes articles, editorials and oral debate from the
nation's finest journalists and advocates. All of the material
is supported by age-appropriate summaries and additional links.
In addition, for each covered issue, the site includes curricular
material from The New York Times Learning Network for high school
teachers and detailed information about how each of the institutions
of democracy (the courts, the Congress, the presidency, the press
and the schools) affects the issue.
History at
the Smithsonian
As you might expect, the Smithsonian Institution website is a
vast resource, with materials of interest to teachers in just
about every academic area. We've selected this particular URL
link for history and social studies teachers who are looking for
fresh ways to engage students in historical topics. Each topic
includes lesson plans for grades 6-8 -- some are guided, self-teaching
activities.
Exploration
of the Fur Trade by Canadiana.org
This site is about the fur trade in Canada and how it led to the
exploration of the country and the formation of the oldest and
largest company in Canadian history: Hudson's Bay Company. In
fact, the history of the fur trade, Hudson's Bay Company and the
exploration of Canada are so intertwined that they cannot be separated.
So read on and learn more about Canada!
Putting
the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching
will provide lessons and articles for K-12 educators on how
to go beyond a heroes approach to the Civil Rights Movement. The
book includes interactive and interdisciplinary lessons, readings,
writings, photographs, graphics, and interviews, with sections
on education, labor, citizenship, culture, and reflections on
teaching about the Civil Rights Movement.
For more information or to place an advance order, contact Teaching
for Change at (800) 763-9131.
Bill
of Rights Institute
Founded in 1999, the Bill of Rights Institute seeks to educate
high school students and teachers about our country's Founding
principles through programs which explore: What the Founders said;
What the Founding documents say; and how these ideas affect our
daily lives and shape our society. The site includes lesson plans,
teacher resources, links to current headlines and cites landmark
cases relevant to the Bill of Rights.
Gardner's
Photographic Sketch Book of the War
Cornell University Library's seven-millionth volume is an
1865 edition of Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War,
containing one-hundred original photographic prints, mounted on
boards and accompanied by letterpress-printed captions. Thirty
prints are presented at this Web site, which combines the best
of historical photography, digitization, and hyperlinked navigation.
The images are divided into seven thematic sections, or by selecting
the Images link at the main page, titles of all thirty pictures
are displayed in a table. Cropped versions are laid out on pages
with the original captions, and full-sized images can be viewed
by clicking. Some page layouts are striking; see Pontoon Bridge
Across the Rappahannock Virginia, May, 1863, in the Devastated
by the Army section. Despite their grim subjects - A Harvest of
Death Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1863, shows dead Union soldiers
on the battlefield - many of the photographs are quite beautiful.
The
Crisis of the Union
Created and maintained by the Schoenberg Center for Electronic
Text and Image at the University of Pennsylvania Library, this
online document archive contains material related to "the
causes, conduct, and consequences of the US Civil War." The
collection is largely comprised of books, broadsides, cartoons,
pamphlets, and other printed ephemera from 1830 to 1880. Drawing
heavily on materials held by the Library Company of Philadelphia,
the documents include speeches by Charles Sumner, cartoons by
Thomas Nast, and promotional material from the Know-Nothing Party.
The entire archive can be browsed by author, date of publication,
title, or subject. Using a built-in viewer, each document can
also be viewed in its original format, and visitors can zoom in
or out on discrete areas. Finally, visitors can also search the
entire archive by keywords, subjects, graphic elements, or date.
National
Constitution Center [RealOne Player]
On July 4, 2003, the new National Constitution Center will open
in a brand new facility within Independence Historical Park in
Philadelphia that will help it pursue its mission of "increasing
public understanding of, and appreciation for, the Constitution,
its history, and its contemporary relevance." Visitors will
want to take the virtual tour available online, which moves through
the building's Great Hall, the Kimmel Theatre (which will be used
for museum orientation programs), the DeVos Exhibit Hall, and
the rest of the building's different areas. As might be expected,
the Web site has an online version of the complete Constitution
(in English and Spanish), along with helpful educational resources
such as lesson plans for grades K-12. The site is rounded out
by information for visitors and a "Save the Bill of Rights!"
educational game where students help recover the Bill of Rights
by looking for clues in a series of graphic images depicting each
right protected by this important document.
Big Dig
Archeology [QuickTime]
From the Boston Museum of Science comes the Big Dig Archeology
educational Web site. Visitors get a chance to explore Spectacle
Island, an archaeological site just offshore from the City of
Boston. They begin by learning about the site itself, what it
looked like, what tools the Native Americans used, what food they
ate, and other physical and natural histories of the island. A
wide range of descriptions and photographs are available, as well
as several interesting QuickTime movies of the island's early
history, its recent history, and a description of the excavation
from an actual archaeologist. The well-designed site does a good
job of providing non-technical descriptions and enough multimedia
content to make it enjoyable for kids of all ages.
League
of Nations Photo Archive
Created by the League of Nations Archives, the Center for the
Study of Global Chance, and the Indiana University Libraries,
this online archive of League of Nations photographs is a fine
resource for persons looking for visual documents related to the
development and history of this former international organization
dedicated to the promotion of international peace and security.
The photo collections themselves are divided topically into groups
that include personalities, assemblies, councils, delegations,
and a "various" category that contains photographs of
the League's headquarters in London. The site also features digital
versions of two important promotional documents: The Illustrated
Album of the League of Nations and The League of Nations: A Pictorial
Survey. Both of these intriguing documents were designed to promote
the mission and work of the League to the broader public, and
as such, are fascinating repositories of visual material. Finally,
the complete 224-page book titled "The Aims, Methods, and
Activity of the League of Nations," published by the League
Secretariat in 1935, is also available here for perusal.
Lewis
and Clark as Naturalists [.pdf, Flash, Quick Time]
In late May of 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark sent forth
from St. Charles, Missouri with a directive from President Thomas
Jefferson. One of their charges was to collect and record information
about the plants and animals they found along their journey westward.
Anticipating the bicentennial of their departure, the Smithsonian
Museum of Natural History has created this fine Web site that
allows visitors to travel with Lewis and Clark as they moved across
the Great Plains and into the Pacific Northwest, examining the
plants and animals they encountered. Regrettably, very few of
the actual specimens collected by the explorers are intact, so
the Smithsonian has drawn on its own massive collections to stand
in as surrogates for the original specimens. Visitors can browse
the collection by species, state in which each specimen was collected,
or by date each specimen was collected. Each specimen contains
information about where it was found and comments from the explorers
about each specimen. The interactive map allows viewers to move
along the trail of Lewis and Clark and click on each place where
specimens were collected to obtain a detailed description of the
locality and the object. Finally, there are a number of lesson
plans designed to be used in conjunction with the Web site.
Black Facts
Online Black History -- not just for February
. . .
Black Facts Online is a free service provided by Inner-City Software,
founded by MIT graduate Kenneth Granderson. At Black Facts Online,
visitors can find out numerous facts dealing with African American
history, along with searching for facts by date and keywords.
One sample search on the words "Angela Davis" revealed
numerous facts about the well-known activist, scholar, and author.
Each fact also contains a graphic that informs readers whether
additional material is also available, such as a link to a Web
site, an audio clip, or a picture. Visitors to the site are also
offered the opportunity to become a research associate for the
site and make contributions to the existing database of facts.
Visitors to the site have the opportunity to make a goodwill donation
to keep the database up to date and current.
The National
History Club
The Concord Review , a journal
dedicated to publishing essays of high-school students from around
the country; more recently the Review announced the formation
of an organization to encourage students to establish history
clubs. At a moment when not a single Ivy League university makes
a course in American history a graduation requirement, this is
a bottom-up revolution.
National
Geographic Online: The Underground Railroad
Just in time to celebrate Black History Month, this multimedia
educational Web site from National Geographic offers a diverse
set of materials that describe the Underground Railroad, the famed
network of individuals who helped transport African-Americans
to freedom before the abolition of slavery. Students will want
to start by taking The Journey, which, with the aid of visual
materials (such as historical photographs of slaves and abolitionists)
and audio selections (such as popular spirituals of the day),
allows young people to make decisions about what to do in order
to reach the North and freedom. Next, visitors can look at a map
of the Underground Railroad routes, including those specific to
Harriet Tubman. Also, a nice timeline provides some context to
the history of slavery in the New World, beginning with the importing
of slaves by Spaniards to Santo Domingo in 1501, and concluding
in 1865 when slavery was abolished by the passage of the 13th
Amendment. The site is rounded out by a number of educational
resources for teachers, divided by grade levels
The Gilder
Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
Located at Yale University, the Gilder Lehrman Center for the
Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition is "dedicated
to the investigation and dissemination of information concerning
all aspects of the Atlantic slave system and its destruction."
Researchers and students will want to first examine the Source
Documents section, which features primary and secondary source
materials related to slavery, slave resistance, and the abolitionist
movement. Also, visitors will want to examine the Bibliographies
section, which contains extended bibliographies on topics such
as "Abolitionists Abroad: American Blacks and the Making
of Modern West Africa." Finally, scholars will want to examine
the materials about the Center's fellowships, which support research
projects that are complementary to the aims of the Center.
Across
the Generations: Exploring U.S. History through Family Papers
Includes photographs and documents from the papers of four families:
the Bodmans, Dunhams, Garrisons, and Hales and focuses on four
broad themes in U.S. social history: Family Life; Social Awareness
and Reform; Arts and Leisure; and Work. Family papers can offer
a window onto evolving social conditions, on-going economic change,
new political trends, and cultural shifts over time. Although
this is but a tiny sampling of the treasures found in these valuable
collections of family papers, we hope the exhibit will serve to
enrich the viewer's understanding by offering glimpses of a handful
of moments in American history through the eyes of individuals
who experienced them.
Martin
Luther King Day
Dr. King's birthday will be observed on January 20th this
year. Use these activity ideas and reference materials to plan
a lesson or two that really speaks to the man's spirit and message.
Freedom:
A History of US
Collaborating with WNET New York, PBS has created this
Web site as the online analogue to the 16-part television series.
Based on the books by Joy Hakim, the series (and the Web site)
are dedicated to exploring the theme of freedom throughout the
history of the United States, noting that "Freedom is what
has drawn to America countless human beings from around the world;
it is what generations of men and women have lived and died for;
it is, in a profound sense, our nation's highest calling."
While anyone with an inkling to learn more about the notion of
"freedom" will benefit by perusing the site, it is especially
well-honed to serve the needs of educators and students. The site
contains 16 "Webisodes," which are both visually and
textually rich repositories of information, chronologically ordered,
beginning with the American Revolution and concluding with the
presidency of Richard Nixon. Additionally, each Webisode contains
essays that contain hyperlinks to word definitions, photographs,
and brief biographical profiles. Also, each Webisode contains
standards-based teacher guides and lesson plans prepared by the
Talent Development Middle Schools Programs at Johns Hopkins University.
Overall, this site is a fine example of utilizing the Web for
educational purposes, both for young students and those looking
for general edification.
Two
Towns of Jasper
The subject of race and race-relations in the United States is
one that is at times avoided by many persons, but the documentary
Two Towns of Jasper and its well-conceived Web site developed
by PBS foster meaningful dialogue about these issues. The documentary
deals with the murder of James Byrd (a black man), who was dragged
to his death behind a truck driven by three white men in Jasper,
Texas. On the Web site, visitors can read about what has happened
in Jasper since the events of 1998, including hearing from the
family of Mr. Byrd, the ongoing town-hall meetings, and about
the convicted murderers. The Web site also allows visitors to
listen to a series on "Race in America," hosted by Amy
Goodman. Visitors can also ask questions of the documentary filmmakers,
Marco Williams and Whitney Dow, along with browsing a fine selection
of related Web sites and related classroom resources that will
help educators facilitate discussion on race.
History
Channel: This Day in History
For those looking to find out about a variety of important historical
events on a particular day, this site provided by the History
Channel will be both entertaining and informative. This Day in
History collects information about historical events organized
around a number of topical sections, such as Cold War History,
Literary History, Old West History, Technology History, Wall Street
History, and Civil War History. Along with brief essays describing
the events of a particular day, some of the more recent events
also have short video clips that users can watch. On one recent
day (January 28th), events covered included the tragic explosion
of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986 and the United States'
failure to capture Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary. Visitors
can also type in their birthdays to find out about events that
occurred on that day, as well as for a list of well-known persons
who share their birthday.
Liberation
Curriculum is mainly focused on modern African-American
history
Calvin
Coolidge: 30th President of the United States
Sponsored by the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, this site
contains important historical material and a variety of galleries
featuring rotating exhibits of visual material related to President
Coolidge, there is an archive of his speeches ranging from his
time as governor of Massachusetts to his time as President. There
is also a section offering a chronology of his life and a research
section outlining the location of various important primary materials.
Perhaps the most engaging part of the site is a section titled
"Ask the President," where visitors can ask Jim Cooke,
a professional actor who has played Coolidge in a one-man play
since 1985, questions about the President's life.
Trails
to Utah and The Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869
Presented by the Library of Congress, this online archive and
exhibit contains 49 diaries of pioneers, who made their way westward
across America to Utah, Montana, and the Pacific from 1847 to
1869. Culled from materials held by the Lee Library at Brigham
Young University and the Utah Academic Library Consortium, these
diaries are an excellent primary source for reading about and
investigating the day-to-day experiences of individuals and families
making their way west in the middle of the19th century. The source
materials for the collection also include published guides for
overland emigrants, photographs of trail locations, and maps.
Visitors to the site can browse these materials by subject, author,
trail name, title, and category. The site is rounded out with
a collection of related thematic essays and several interactive
thematic maps showing the different landmarks, cities, and rivers
in the regions surrounding the major overland routes. The site
provides a good introduction to understanding the difficulties
and everyday realities of overland travel during the period, and
may also serve as an educational tool for students looking for
primary source documents.
Exploring
Themes in American Art
Provided by the National Gallery, this site explores ten themes
in American art through illustrated essays. Each brief essay includes
links to featured images, a list of artists, a glossary, and a
bibliography. An interesting, useful, and compact site for anyone
interested in American painting.
Bring
History Home
An interactive website designed to engage children ages 8-13 in
the fun of learning about American history. Developed in partnership
with Plimoth Plantation, Paul Revere House, and the Tsongas Industrial
History Center at UMass/Lowell, this experimental website gives
children the chance to explore the lives of three young Americans,
each living in a different time and place: Mary Cooper in 17th
century Plymouth Colony, Paul Revere, Jr. in British-occupied
Boston, and Eliza Paige in 19th century Lowell. The site also
provides timelines, bibliographies, and other resources drawn
from the three museums. For more information, contact jruskin@mfh.org
or call (617) 923-1678.
The
Nation Magazine has set up a special online site for black
history month called Voices of History. In commemoration
of Black History Month, we've collected a small sampling of original
Nation essays, editorials and articles published in our pages
since the magazine's founding by abolitionists in 1865.
ANGELA
ARDS: Rhyme and Resist, July 26, 1999
PATRICIA
J. WILLIAMS: America and the Simpson Trial, March 13, 1995
JESSE
JACKSON: On Patriotism, July 15, 1991
JAMES
BALDWIN: Notes on the House of Bondage, November 1, 1980
MARTIN
LUTHER KING, JR.: Let Justice Roll Down, March 15, 1965
W.E.B.
DU BOIS: I Won't Vote, October 20, 1956
LANGSTON
HUGHES: The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain, February
3, 1926
WILLIAM
WHITE: The Eruption of Tulsa, June 29, 1921
OCTAVIUS
BROOKS FROTHINGHAM, The Liberator Released, January 4, 1866
Westward
by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890
This online research compilation is a part of the Library of Congress's
American Memory collection and presents pictorial and textual
materials illustrating major themes in the history of maritime
westward expansion. Some of these themes include the California
Gold Rush, the roles of women, the immigrant experience, whaling
life, life at sea, shipping, and native populations. The collection
is comprised of ships' logbooks and secondary sources, such as
nineteenth-century published narratives of voyages and travels,
photographs, paintings, maps, and nautical charts. This collection
provides "a rich look at the events, culture, beliefs, and
personal experiences associated with westward expansion from the
maritime perspective." The site can be searched by keyword
or browsed by subject, name, or title.
American
History and Art from New England
Features of the site include: the Digital Collection,
a searchable database of over 1,000 artifacts selected from 70,000
in the Museum's holdings; In the Classroom, a collection of curriculum
ideas for teachers; and the Turns of the Centuries exhibit. This
exhibit presents images and artifacts on five broad themes: Family
Life, Native American Indians, African Americans, Newcomers, and
The Land. The exhibits span across three eras: 1680-1720, 1780-1820,
and 1880-1920. There is also an Activities section, with Scavenger
Hunt, Dress Up, Make a Chronology, and a Tailor Your Visit pages.
The later suggests resources for teachers, researchers, and K-12
students.
National
Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Before 1863, the Underground Railroad was a system of cooperation
among Black slaves, abolitionists, sympathetic Whites, and Native
Americans to help slaves escape the bondage of American slavery.
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center wants to educate
the public about the legacy of the Underground Railroad and its
historic struggle to abolish human enslavement. The Center's site
currently contains a timeline dating from 1501 - 1865, a list
of major players and contributors of the Underground Railroad
Movement along with brief descriptions, and a list of related
resources on each individual. The site also contains family stories
and links to other related history sites.
Project,
1936-1938
This new collection from the American Memory Project at the Library
of Congress presents digitized transcripts of interviews of former
slaves, conducted under the auspice of the Federal Writers Project
(FWP), a Depression-era Works Progress Administration program
that put unemployed writers to work. Between 1936 and 1939, the
FWP collected the life stories of ordinary people. Over 2,000
of these narratives are in the Library of Congress collection,
which were bound into seventeen volumes in 1941. Accompanying
the digitized narratives are more than 500 photographs. Users
can search the narratives by keyword, browse by narrator's name
or volume, and search and browse the photographs.
"Making
the World Better: The Struggle for Equality in 19th-Century America"
The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and the Tsongas
Industrial History Center at UMass/Lowell have just reprinted
the curriculum packet, "Making the World Better: The Struggle
for Equality in 19th-Century America," developed as part of the
State House Women's Leadership Project. The centerpiece of the
project is a new work of public art, permanently installed in
the State House in October 1999, that honors six women who made
significant contributions to public life in Massachusetts. Designed
for middle and high school students, the curriculum focuses on
two of these women: abolitionist and suffrage leader Lucy Stone
(1818-1893) and African-American abolitionist Sarah Parker Remond
(1824-1894). It includes a folder with biographical information
and a time line, a selection of edited primary source documents,
and a Teacher's Guide with learning activities and resources.
"Making the World Better" is available, free of charge, to classroom
teachers and home school parents.
"MY HISTORY"
Highlights include the family stories of historian and author
Adele Logan Alexander, whose great grandfather, born in Liverpool,
England, to a black father and Irish mother, came to the United
States to help free the slaves during the Civil War and did blockade
duty as a seaman with the U.S. navy. A blues musician B.B. King,
son of a Mississippi sharecropper who gained the inspiration to
become a musician from his cousin. Another family story was submitted
by a descendant of Richard Gill Forrester, a 13-year-old black
page at the Virginia state capitol in Richmond at the start of
the Civil War, who rescued the Union flag after it was hauled
down from the capitol building by secessionists, kept it hidden,
and restored it to the Federal troops who captured Richmond near
the war's end.
HistoryWired:
a few of our favorite things
This new site from the National Museum of American History (NMAH)
showcases hundreds of items from the Museum's collection, many
currently not on display. What makes this site particularly notable
is its organization, which eschews the standard division into
categories and subcategories (where users "drill down" to reach
items) for a front page from which all items are accessible with
a click. The interface here is quite nifty. NMAH aimed to replicate
the serendipitous experience of wandering through a museum and
encountering unexpected and interesting items. Mac users may need
to download Mac OS Runtime for Java to use all of the features
at the site (see the Technical Requirements section of the site
for a hyperlink).
TOP OF PAGE
European/ World History
HISTORY AT
THE SMITHSONIAN
As you might expect, the Smithsonian Institution website is a
vast resource, with materials of interest to teachers in just
about every academic area. We've selected this particular URL
link for history and social studies teachers who are looking for
fresh ways to engage students in historical topics. Each topic
includes lesson plans for grades 6-8 -- some are guided, self-teaching
activities.
Web
de Anza
is a growing, evolving, collaborative web site. It is designed
to provide teachers, students, and scholars with primary source
materials concerning Juan Bautista de Anza and his two historic
18th century expeditions from northern Sonora to northern California,
leading to the colonization of San Francisco. This site contains
primary source diaries and letters in both English and Spanish
written by the soldiers, colonists, and friars who traveled on
the two 18th century expeditions led by Captain Juan Bautista
de Anza from New Spain to northern California leading to the colonization
of San Francisco. It also offers a wide array of secondary resources
such as maps, chronologies, pictures and articles linked strategically
to the diaries to facilitate historical research.
Ancient
world Mapping Center
Cooperating with faculty at UNC, and with the scholars who commission
custom maps from the AWMC for their publications, we are developing
a collection of free digital maps for educational use. This effort
will give teachers and students an expanding set of small-scale
reference maps for classroom and personal use.
The
Legacy of Genghis Khan [Flash 5]
Genghis Kahn, the 13th century ruler who unified the Mongol people,
created an invincible army that swept across Asia and established
an empire extending from Korea to Hungary. This exhibition from
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents the other legacy
of Genghis Kahn, the "manuscript illustrations, opulent decorative
arts, and splendid architectural elements" that document
the cultural cross-fertilization that occurred when western and
eastern Asia were united as the Mongol Empire. The Web version
of the exhibition allows visitors to closely examine six artifacts,
Shah Zav Enthroned, a page from the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book
of Kings); a white marble Dragon Protome, from a building at Xanadu;
a stone grave marker carved with peonies, clouds, and scrolls;
a brush painting showing six horses; a gold and blue textile fragment;
and a blue and white porcelain wine jar. The two-dimensional items
are almost more fun to explore than the sculptures, because the
site is programmed with a DetailZoom, a tool that allows users
can hone in on particular sections of each piece, view explanatory
captions, and then back up and see the whole artifact.
Near
East.net
The ancient Near East has been the birthplace of some of civilization's
most important advances, among them written language, the impulse
to urbanism, and crop cultivation. Created and maintained by Paul
James Cowie (a doctoral student at Australia's Macquarie University),
the site is a fine resource for both scholars and the general
public. Scholars will want to make sure and take a look at the
conference diary section, which lists upcoming conferences and
various calls for papers and other submissions. The announcements
section is of additional interest, as it gives advance notice
regarding related activities, including international symposia.
For the general public, a host of sections (such as museums and
galleries) offer comprehensive listings of Web-based resources
ranging from Egyptology links to those dealing with cuneiform.
The Web site also contains a listing of links to museums that
specialize in the antiquities and archaeology of the Near East
located around the world.
Five College
Center for East Asian Studies (FCCEAS)
We work to improve the quality, quantity, and distribution
of resources for teaching about East Asia at the college and precollege
levels and to offer opportunities for precollege educators to
experience East Asian cultures firsthand. The Center maintains
a Resource
Library, publishes a newsletter three times a year, and conducts
seminars, institutes, conferences, and workshops for college and
precollege educators.
The Pantheon
The Greek world of gods and goddesses is extremely intricate,
and The Pantheon Web site provides an effective way to begin learning
about this world, both for beginners and for those looking to
brush up on their knowledge of their exploits and times. Beginners
will want to start by reading the essay on the creation of the
world out of chaos, which then leads into the piece on the creation
of mankind. One helpful feature of these essays is the many interactive
hyperlinks that visitors can use to access a brief synopsis about
each god or goddess. A section on the principal Greek gods contains
an interactive family tree, beginning with the union of Uranus
and Gaea, and concluding with their great-grand children -- Apollo,
Artemis, and several others. The site is rounded out with a selection
of relevant links to other sites dealing with mythology and a
list of suggested readings
AncientMexico.com
[Flash]
Maintained by Patrick Olivares, AncientMexico.com offers a number
of thematic exhibits, primary documents, and images that will
provide a good overview of the groups that have lived in this
region. The first place to begin is the detailed clickable map
where users can click on close to twenty different cities of pre-Columbian
Mexico. Some of the city Web pages are "under excavation,"
but many of them contain schematic representations of their urban
form and photographs of the numerous structures (such as ballcourts
and temples), along with explanations of their place within the
culture. The Gods of Ancient Mexico area features images of gods
central to the religious practices of the Maya people, including
the Rabbit Scribe and the Water Lily Jaguar. Particularly helpful
for educational purposes are the primary documents, which include
Hernando Cortes's recollection of his meeting with Montezuma and
a poem by Nezahualcoyotl (Hungry-Coyote), the poet and king of
the Aztec city of Texcoco.
Muslims
A two-hour program originally shown on PBS's Frontline in May
aims to dispel ignorance. It travels to six nations and delves
into such topics as Islamic scholarship, the re-emergence of its
fundamentalist values, the effect of Islamic laws on such issues
as murder, divorce and drinking a beer, the treatment of men and
women, the religion's relation to politics, and tensions between
Muslims and others in the United States. The project includes
teachers' guides and background for some 15,000 U.S. high schools.
About Education
Cambodia:
The Odyssey of the Khmer People
Bruce Sharp, in collaboration with a host of colleagues, has developed
this Web site dealing with the history and culture of Cambodia.
Paying close attention to the Khmer Rouge period of the country's
history, the site contains a wealth of general information and
statistics about Cambodia that will help visitors seeking a basic
overview of the country's current status. The site is divided
into numerous sections, several that will be of particular interest
to visitors. The Oral Histories section contains a dozen narratives
from Cambodian men and women who lived in Cambodia during the
reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. A photo gallery hosts several
photo essays by Mr. Sharp, including some dramatic shots of Angkor
Wat. Finally, the site also has a search engine and a What's New
section that lists new material that is periodically added to
the site.
Afghanistan:
Land in Crisis- National Geographic [RealPlayer]
This new special feature from National Geographic collects information
on Afghanistan, including articles, maps, lesson plans, current
news, and more. Some of the site's notable features include an
archived Webcast of an October 22 screening of "National
Geographic Explores a Changing World" and panel discussion
on the Middle East and Afghanistan; a bibliography of National
Geographic's print resources related to the topic; and a regularly
updated interactive map of Afghanistan displaying cities and attacks,
ethnic groups, drought and vegetation, and more. Teachers will
want to check out the four lesson plans, which are geared to various
age groups K-12.
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Miscellaneous
Web
Design Helper
For those individuals who would like to design a Web site, but
still might not have the technical acumen required, this site
is a free resource that features numerous templates, Web graphics,
fonts, and a number of other useful items that can be used to
create a complete Web site. The template section alone contains
129 free full-page templates, along with 21 horizontal menus,
26 vertical menus, and 23 table templates. The Web graphics and
fonts section contains 144 fonts, 120 icons (with such popular
images as tables, graphs, and charts), 67 types of arrows, and
128 buttons. For users with queries, an online forum is also available
where users can submit and read questions. Lastly, there is an
area where advanced users can submit their own contributions for
inclusion on the site.
RUBISTAR
While many teachers want to use rubrics or are experimenting with
writing rubrics, they can be quite time-consuming to develop.
RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics
but does not have the time to develop them from scratch. RubiStar
provides generic rubrics that can simply be printed and used for
many typical projects and research assignments. The unique thing
about RubiStar, however, is that it provides these generic rubrics
in a format that can be customized. The teacher can change almost
all suggested text in the rubric to make it fit their own project.
Curriculum
Links
This resource page at the Kenton KY school district website is
elegant in its simplicity. Follow the content-area link to a new
page, and then click on the link for middle grades resources.
All pre-screened by your colleagues in Kentucky!
About.com
This website has an enormous collection of materials relating
to k-12 teaching including lesson plans, links and tips for all
disciplines and age levels. It is a very useful site for new teachers,
seasoned teachers, and even home school. Get tips on how to prepare
for your first day and classroom management strategies, find fun
games for students, and discover even more of those web sites
that make your job just a little bit easier! It is a bottomless
pit of information.
American
Association of School Administrator’s “Center for Best
Practices” is a new online resource focused on the
No Child Left Behind Act. AASA has searched the Internet and compiled
useful tools, helpful resources and
proven best practices to provide visitors with a one-stop resource
for ESEA implementation.
Perry-Castañeda
Library Map Collection- University of Texas
The following website is a link from the U of Texas, an excellent
world map site, which has a good section on U.S.maps, as well.
Daryl Cagels
Professional Cartoonist Index
Fun webpage dedicated to political cartoons from around the world.
The site offers numerious topics and has a search engine and teacher
Guide. This would be great for a Social Studies or current events
classroom.
After September
11: Perspectives from the Social Sciences
This new site from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
contains essays by well-known social scientists on the events
of and following September 11. The site aims to "provide
the public and academic community with a deeper level of analysis
than can be found on Op-Ed pages or talk shows." Among the
more than 35 pieces currently posted are essays by Seyla Benhabib,
Olivier Roy, and John Hall. Wide ranging in scope, essays are
grouped into seven topic areas: Globalization, Fundamentalism(s),
Terrorism and Democratic Virtues, Competing Narratives, New War?,
New World Order?, and Recovery. The site is regularly updated
with more material as well.
EDSITEment
Created by a partnership of the National Endowment for the Humanities,
the Council of the Great City Schools, the National Trust for
the Humanities, and the MCI WorldCom Foundation, is an award-winning
website designed to help teachers integrate peer-reviewed Internet
resources into their literature, history, art and culture, and
foreign language classes. The site gathers together 70 humanities
websites chosen for their outstanding intellectual quality, superior
design, and classroom impact. It also features a search engine,
lesson plans, and in-class and take-home activities.
