Social Studies, Human Resources and Adptations

A description of Slovak history related to immigration. Highlight the push and pull factors.

The latest AFT article on labor and a tool for teachers

I couldn't resist the wombat.

Would you do this? Asking for citizens to write responses to wikileaks leaked cables.

Compensation from before WW1 through the Great Depression

Edna Spalding finds herself alone and broke on a small farm in the midst of the Great Depression when her husband the Sheriff is killed in an accident. A wandering black man, Moses, helps her to plant cotton to try and keep her farm and her kids together. She also takes on a blind border, Mr. Will, who lost his sight in the first World War. She must endure storms and harsh labor to try and make her mortgage payment on time.

Set in the Rocky Mountains of Montana in the early 1900s, this is a tale of love, betrayal, and brotherhood. After being discharged, Colonel Ludlow decides to raise his three sons in the wilds of Montana, where they can grow up away from the government and society he has learned to dispise. The three brothers mature and seem to have an unbreakable bond, until Susanna enters their lives. When Samuel, the youngest of the three, returns from college he brings with him his beautiful fiance, Susanna. The eldest son, Alfred, soon finds himself in love with his brother's fiance, and things get worse when he discovers a growing passion between Susanna and Tristan. Colonel Ludlow's favorite son, Tristan is willful and as wild as the mountains. As the brothers set out to fight a war in Europe, suspicion and jelousy threatens to tear apart their once indestructable bond.

Not sure if this would work for our "watch a movie" assignment?

"This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality. "

Another movie

"Storyline In 1898 the US government decided to intervene on the side of the Cuban rebels in their struggle against Spanish rule. Assistant Navy Secretary Theodore Roosevelt decides to experience the war first hand by promoting and joining a volunteer cavalry regiment. The regiment, later known as the Rough Riders, brings together volunteers from all corners of the nation and all walks of life. When Roosevelt and his men finally land on Cuba, they face ambush, intense enemy fire, and a desperate, outnumbered charge up a defended hill. "

I've used SPICE curriculum in the past very helpfully.

A portal for students/teachers to share their citizen action.

A photojournalist collection trying to end poverty in America.

About child labor in farms.

Current human rights issues.

US Department of Labor website on child labor.

Video of clashes in Egypt.

This world bank data bank facilitates excellent graphics/maps for putting some concrete numbers behind Social Studies topics.

Another valuable source of data for student analysis of topics in Social Studies.

The earth is an apple activity is a great example of how to make an abstract concept tangible for little people whose abstract reasoning might not be well developed and for older students who are ELL etc.

Great Lesson ideas for all types of learners.

Lovely visual for showing US ownership of land from 1783-1853.

Cool map, would be a great tool for an interactive lesson.