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Jonathon Gordon

The Civil War | PBS - 2 views

  • The Civil War is now available on DVD. Visit Shop PBS for more information.Support outstanding programs like The Civil War</em
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    This site provides accurate information on the American Civil War. Using sources from the award winning Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War" which provide any social studies teacher with accurate information yo use in designing lesson plans. 
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    How might teachers use this site?
Jerrilyn Patton

About the White House | The White House - 1 views

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    White House Interactive Tour and Presidential History
Laura Wood

Even Babies Discriminate: A NurtureShock Excerpt. | Newsweek Life | Newsweek.com - 1 views

  • Kids as young as 6 months judge others based on skin color. What's a parent to do?
    • Laura Wood
       
      I find this particularly important after seeing how some race dynamics play out in my practicum. Specifically I find myself asking "Why are all the White kids sitting together in the classroom?" This article might give one reason.
  • Prior research had shown that multicultural curricula in schools have far less impact than we intend them to—largely because the implicit message "We're all friends" is too vague for young children to understand that it refers to skin color.
    • Laura Wood
       
      Highlights the importance of being specific with kids. I'm not sure why our modesty makes us, as teachers, code and shy away from just being real with our students. One of the goals that I have set for myself this semester is to get real with students, just tell them the truth (for example saying, "That's disrespectful. Stop.") instead of playing games (for example feeling flustered and walking away or saying something vague like, "behave").
  • They wanted their children to grow up colorblind. But Vittrup's first test of the kids revealed they weren't colorblind at all. Asked how many white people are mean, these children commonly answered, "Almost none." Asked how many blacks are mean, many answered, "Some," or "A lot." Even kids who attended diverse schools answered the questions this way.
    • Laura Wood
       
      And here's the gold. Kids are not color blind. Adult embarrassment to speak about race does not mean we're not communicating messages to our children about race and prejudice, it just means that we're also communicating that it's something to be embarrassed about and/or hush up. I really recommend reading this article in full. It's fantastic.
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  • Vittrup was taken aback—these families volunteered knowing full well it was a study of children's racial attitudes. Yet once they were aware that the study required talking openly about race, they started dropping out.
    • Laura Wood
       
      Parents are so uncomfortable talking about race with their children, they drop out of the study. Why is this conversation So hard to have???
  • hardly any of these white parents had ever talked to their children directly about race.
    • Laura Wood
       
      To quote Zinn "you can't be neutral on a moving train" (i.e. you can't fail to proactively oppose a racist infrastructure/social order without perpetuating that racist infrastructure/social order. i.e. If you don't teach your kids explicitly anti-racist behavior, language and attitudes, you tacitly support and perpetuate a racist system - whether you are racist or not)
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    An article that summarizes some incredibly important findings on race and racism. Specifically, if you don't talk about racism with kids, you support the status quo. Even very young kids.
Samantha Greenwald

The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden - 1 views

    • Samantha Greenwald
       
      This timeline gives a brief description of all of the presidents as well what era they lived during and what that era consisted of. This can be used by teachers to give an introduction to the American presidents but students can use this to do further research.
    • Samantha Greenwald
       
      One thing is that this seems to be a bit out of date (the latest timeline did not include President Obama) so it is good to look at the past presidents but wouldn't be helpful for understanding the current presidency.
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    This exhibit from the Smithsonian Museum of American History looks at the American Presidents from how they got elected, life in the White House, and how they communicated with the public. There are primary source artifacts that can be seen for each president.
Jordan Manuel

firstamendmentcenter.org: Welcome to the First Amendment Center Online - 1 views

  • OTHER HEADLINES Free-speech cases top Supreme Court's agenda Opening day of term produces flurry of rejected appeals on several First Amendment topics. 10.04.10 Mich. worker's blog sparks free-speech debate Controversy centers on assistant attorney general who used his personal website to attack University of Michigan's openly gay student body president. 10.04.10
    • Jordan Manuel
       
      Features mainly information from news articles, but also primary source documents (court cases).
  • &nbsp; speech &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; press &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; religious liberty &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; assembly &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; petition var FADE=1; var DELAY=3000; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;BROWSING? SEE ALL TOPICS &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Special topics / What's new
    • Jordan Manuel
       
      I would use this site to provoke debate among my students over the issues involved in First Amendment rights.
  • Lesson plans
    • Jordan Manuel
       
      This site is valuable for many reasons, but also it provides some intriguing lesson plans for all ages of students.
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    A resource for study of the First Amendment. Offers a wealth of info on past and current first amendment issues.
Nicole Avery

The White House Historical Association - 0 views

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    Great website with information on important presidential inaugurations!
Alan Edwards

Eager Students Fall Prey to Apartheid's Legacy - 1 views

  • KHAYELITSHA, South Africa — Seniors here at Kwamfundo high school sang freedom songs and protested outside the staff room last year because their accounting teacher chronically failed to show up for class. With looming national examinations that would determine whether they were bound for a university or joblessness, they demanded a replacement.
    • Alan Edwards
       
      In the black townships of South Africa, many public schools do not meet the students' high expectations of career or college preparation. This article describes how students have worked for justice: protesting (at times violently) and teaching themselves lessons when teachers fail to show for work.
  • Here in the Western Cape, only 2 out of 1,000 sixth graders in predominantly black schools passed a mathematics test at grade level in 2005, compared with almost 2 out of 3 children in schools once reserved for whites that are now integrated, but generally in more affluent neighborhoods.
    • Alan Edwards
       
      Apartheid is alive and well in South Africa's education system.
    • Alan Edwards
       
      The author relies on interviews with current teachers, students, and administrators in South Africa. She also cites data and perspectives from the Development Bank of South Africa. In her piece she examines the current situation in a single township, then ties the issue to the entire nation.
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    • Alan Edwards
       
      The author works to briefly explain how the schools were intentionally segregated in order to continue the subjugation of blacks and colored people. In the wake of N. Mandela's election, she explores how corruption and unequal distribution of resources has contributed to the education system's condition today.
    • Alan Edwards
       
      The crisis in South Africa is a reminder of the horrible education inequalities between the rich and poor, the white and the black. The student responses to their situation is at times inspirational as well as disheartening. For older students, this article could be used to encourage student involvement in dialogue with decision-makers of the school. Schools need to be responsive to the positive needs of its student body.
  • KHAYELITSHA, South Africa — Seniors here at Kwamfundo high school sang freedom songs and protested outside the staff room last year because their accounting teacher chronically failed to show up for class. With looming national examinations that would determine whether they were bound for a university or joblessness, they demanded a replacement.
  • Post-apartheid South Africa is at grave risk of producing what one veteran commentator has called another lost generation, entrenching the racial and class divide rather than bridging it. Half the students never make it to 12th grade.
  • But South Africa’s schools also have problems for which history cannot be blamed, including teacher absenteeism, researchers say. And then when teachers are in school, they spend too little time on instruction. A survey found that they taught for a little over three hours a day, rather than the five expected
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    NYT's Celia Dugger examines the quality of education for South Africa's majority black population. 15 years after the election of Nelson Mandela and the official end to apartheid, the nation's school system remains a bastion of inequality.
Alan Edwards

"The Public Be Damned" A Thematic and Multiple Intelligences Approach to Teaching the G... - 3 views

    • Alan Edwards
       
      This article and lesson plan was created by two professors (a secondary social studies prof and a history prof) at Ball State University. It was published in The Magazine of History, a publication of the Organization of American Historians. Each edition of the magazine includes a section on educational materials. Often they include websites that are helpful for teachers and students.
    • Alan Edwards
       
      The first part of this website is a brief summary of important themes of American history between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the 20th century. The second half of the page is a 5 lesson plans on the time period. Each of the lesson plans is designed for a different multiple intelligence.
    • Alan Edwards
       
      The mathematical intelligence lesson asks students to compare rents charged to white and black tenants in the late 20th century. This reflects the move to the cities as well as racial discrimination. The information on rents comes from Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Live. Like all the other lesson plans offered, they include procedures, handouts, and possible assessment questions. This is a great resource for teachers who are looking for fresh ideas and methods of incorporating MI into their classrooms.
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  • Urbanization--Logical/Mathematical Intelligence. The first activity allows students to compare the rents charged to white and black tenants during the Gilded Age.
  • Rise of Jim Crow--Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence. Paul Laurence Dunbar's poetry provides an ideal vehicle for students to analyze the various perspectives taken by African Americans toward Jim Crow laws and civil rights. Lyrics of Lowly Life (1895) illustrates one perspective, the accomodationist paradigm adopted by Dunbar and others during this period.
  • V. Immigration--Body/Kinesthetic Intelligence. In his 1890 landmark book, How the Other Half Lives, Jacob Riis discussed the dismal conditions in which thousands of New York immigrants lived. Most of the residential tenements were "unventilated, fever-breeding structures" that housed multiple families. Riis's floor plan of a twelve-family tenement provides an ideal prompt for an activity that illustrates the dark, cramped living quarters germane to these Gilded-Age dwellings.
  • VI. Westward Expansion--Naturalist. Like many Americans during this period, John Wesley Powell was lured by the majestic beauty of the West. Following his service as a Union army soldier (in which he lost his arm at the Battle of Shiloh), Powell ventured westward. In 1869, he initiated the Powell Geographic Expedition, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Powell recorded his experiences in a diary, which today serves as an outstanding resource for students to better understand the transformation the West went through during the Gilded Age.
  • VII. Industrialization--Interpersonal. During the Gilded Age, technological innovations provided an impetus for unprecedented industrial growth and urbanization. While laborers fueled this growth, they certainly did not reap the rewards. Instead, they found themselves economic victims of industrialization and urbanization. In an 1884 study, the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics detailed the economic status and living environment of numerous laborers in Chicago, Illinois.
  • VIII. Imperialism--Intrapersonal. Numerous Americans witnessed firsthand the impact of imperialism on indigenous people, through their military service during the Spanish-American War. One particular American soldier, James Miller, discussed what he witnessed during his exposure to the war in Puerto Rico.
  • IV. Politics--Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence. One of the most effective instruments at the disposal of politicians has always been the campaign song. The Populists, perhaps more than any other political party or movement in the late nineteenth century, were prolific songwriters. The Populists were often quite critical of monopolies, railroads, and old party bosses in their songs. The 1890s campaign song My Party Led Me, by S. T. Johnson, provided voters with a rationale for leaving their old political party and joining the Populist cause.
  • III. Populism--Visual/Spatial Intelligence. Political cartoons have always been a popular and powerful means for critiquing society's ills.
tcornett

MOOC | Eric Foner - The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1865-1890 | Sections 1 through 9 ... - 0 views

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    Youtube Playlist Learn about the political, social, and economic changes in the Union and the Confederacy and the Civil War's long-term economic and intellectual impact. In The Unfinished Revolution: Reconstruction and After, 1865-1890, Professor Eric Foner examines the pivotal but misunderstood era of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War, the first effort in American history to construct an interracial democracy. Beginning with a discussion of the dramatic change in historians' interpretations of the period in the last two generations, Foner goes on to discuss how Reconstruction turned on issues of continued relevance today. Among these are: who is an American citizen and what are citizens' rights; what is the relationship between political and economic freedom; which has the primary responsibility for protecting Americans' rights - the federal or state governments; and how should public authorities respond to episodes of terrorism? The course explores the rewriting of the laws and Constitution to incorporate the principle of equality regardless of race; the accomplishments and failings of Reconstruction governments in the South; the reasons for violent opposition in the South and for the northern retreat from Reconstruction; and the consolidation at the end of the 19th century of a new system of white supremacy. This course is part of the series, The Civil War and Reconstruction, which introduces students to the most pivotal era in American history. The Civil War transformed the nation by eliminating the threat of secession and destroying the institution of slavery. It raised questions that remain central to our understanding of ourselves as a people and a nation - the balance of power between local and national authority, the boundaries of citizenship, and the meanings of freedom and equality. The series will examine the causes of the war, the road to secession, the conduct of the Civil War, the coming of emancipation, and the struggle after the wa
jbdrury

Scientists lay bare Irish potato famine blight * The Register - 0 views

    • jbdrury
       
      As you can see in the title, The Register is a science and IT periodical based in the U.K.
  • Scientists lay bare Irish potato famine blight
  • Scientists have successfully sequenced the genome of Phytophthora infestans - the potato blight mould which in the 1840s devasted Irish potato crops, leading to the deaths of one million people.
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  • Phytophthora infestans is a water mould
    • jbdrury
       
      There is an entire report provided on Nature.com's website, but it's a bit too in-depth to be used in the classroom. Maybe not for the more scientifically-inclined in this group.
  • The mould still afflicts potatoes, tomatoes and related plants, and costs farmers around the world an estimated $6.7bn a year."
    • jbdrury
       
      I don't know if anyone else tried to grow tomatoes this year, but mine were killed by the current blight that is going around. That these blights still exists provides modern relevance to the study of the famine.
  • The scientists believe the transposons - comprising a whopping 74 per cent of the genome - allow the mould to quickly evolve to defeat genetic countermeasures intended to stop it in its tracks
  • With all this knowledge about how the pathogen attacks the host on the biochemical level, I would hope that some clever plant pathologist would be able to genetically engineer resistance.
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    This is the most watered-down, non-scientific explanation of the genome sequencing project on the potato blight that caused the Irish Potato Famine. It's pretty interesting in-and-of-itself, and I think studying a subject like this provides a unique opportunity to coordinate curricula with the science department of your school.
Joellen Kriss

Report shows wide disparity in college achievement - washingtonpost.com - 0 views

  • 45 percent of low-income and underrepresented minority students entering as freshmen in 1999 had received bachelor's degrees six years later at the colleges studied, compared with 57 percent of other students
  • Fewer than one-third of all freshmen entering two-year institutions nationwide attained completion -- either through a certificate, an associate's degree or transfer to a four-year college -- within four years
  • The success rate was lower, 24 percent, for underrepresented minorities, identified as blacks, Latinos and Native Americans; it was higher, 38 percent, for other students.
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    • Joellen Kriss
       
      This is the issue we delt with at McKinley: the kids go to college, but they don't usually make it all the way through.
  • Only 7 percent of minority students who entered community colleges received bachelor's degrees within 10 years.
  • report found a 51 percent graduation rate among low-income students and a 46 percent rate among underrepresented minorities, compared with a graduation rate of about 64 percent for higher-income students and 67 percent for whites and Asians.
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    So this article from the Washington Post talks about a report that examines college graduation rates. The findings are illustrative of the situation Lindsay and I encountered at McKinley this semester and I found it interesting that there's data that supports this. The advice I'd give people who want to decrease the gap (and I'm sure Lindsay would agree): schools need to be preparing these students for rigorous college work loads instead of coddling them and focusing on just getting them into college.
jbdrury

America's Reconstruction: People and Politics After the Civil War - 0 views

    • jbdrury
       
      The home page to Digital History contains links to resources for a variety of other curricular units
    • jbdrury
       
      "Eric Foner, the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, and Olivia Mahoney, Director of Historical Documentation at the Chicago Historical Society" are cited as the authors of the page.
  • Reconstruction, one of the most turbulent and controversial eras in American history, began during the Civil War and ended in 1877.
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    • jbdrury
       
      Its difficult to sticky note everything you find interesting on an .html site such as this one, but each of these sections has images (many culled from the Library of Congress, which is also an excellent source for images such as these) pertaining to reconstruction, which a teacher could print or make part of a powerpoint presentation to enable students to analyze them.
    • jbdrury
       
      In the "additional resources" section there is also a visual timeline of the Reconstruction period, including many of the images found throughout the rest of this website, but organized chronologically, which may be of use to those students who need to look at history in this way.
  • In time, the North abandoned its commitment to protect the rights of the former slaves, Reconstruction came to an end, and white supremacy was restored throughout the South.
  • Today, as a result of extensive new research and profound changes in American race relations, historians view Reconstruction far more favorably, as a time of genuine progress for former slaves and the South as a whole.
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    This website, while providing a fairly detailed summary of The Reconstruction, I have bookmarked because of the images it contains. I think pictures and images are a useful tool in shaping students perceptions of history; as Erin evidenced in her last lesson plan, providing students with a model for critically examining images could prove very beneficial to building on their critical thinking abilities.
Lindsay Andreas

Some Schools Will Block or Delay Obama's Live Pep Talk for Students - washingtonpost.com - 0 views

  • The speech, which will be broadcast live from Wakefield High School in Arlington County, was planned as an inspirational message "entirely about encouraging kids to work hard and stay in school," said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor. Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals nationwide encouraging them to show it.
Maria Mahon

Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Dropouts - NYTimes.com - 2 views

  • about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates
    • Maria Mahon
       
      These statistics are really shocking - 1 in 10 dropouts in jail compared to 1 in 35 high school graduates.
  • The report puts the collective cost to the nation over the working life of each high school dropout at $292,000.
    • Maria Mahon
       
      Not that financial cost is everything or reveals the true extent of the effects this problem has on a community, but this is a large sum of money.
  • Again, the statistics were worse for young African-American dropouts, whose unemployment rate last year was 69 percent, compared with 54 percent for whites and 47 percent for Hispanics
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  • Young female dropouts were nine times more likely to have become single mothers than young women who went on to earn college degrees, the report said, citing census data for 2006 and 2007.
    • Maria Mahon
       
      Young women were nine times more likely to have become single mothers... also a staggering number when you think of the extra challenges they will face in life.
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    In light of all the recent discussions about DC schools and dropout rates, I found this article to be particularly relevant and upsetting. According to the study, about 1 in 10 male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention (compared with 1 in 35 high school graduates).
Lindsay Andreas

Comedian urges Hispanic students to stay in school - washingtonpost.com - 0 views

  • One in five Hispanic teens drops out of high school, according to U.S. Education Department statistics. That's about twice the rate for black students and more than three times the rate among white students.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      I found this statistic about hispanic drop-out rates really alarming. Considering that the Hispanic population is quickly growing, education policy makers should be moving this to the forefront of their concerns.
  • . "A lot of Latino students look at the sticker price and think, if my family makes $18-20,000 a year, I can't afford it," said Deborah Santiago, vice president of policy and research for Excelencia in Education, a Washington-based advocacy organization.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      This was something that I personally ran into in my practicum. Better information needs to be distributed regarding college financing. There is a stigma in lower-income areas about taking out college loans and a lot of misinformation. When I taught a lesson on saving and investment for an Economics class, I spent the majority of the lesson answering questions regarding this and reminding students that college is an investment and that it will pay-off in the end. An example that worked really well was the game of Life, since many students have played it. In the board game if you go to college in the beginning, you will end up in the better retirement home in the end.
  • He told Wheaton students about a guidance counselor who encouraged him to go to college, and about his time at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, where he became disillusioned, started partying and stopped studying. "I went from being the first in my family to go to college to becoming another Latino statistic: a dropout," he said.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      Both parts struck me. Encouragement is so important, because if your teacher doesn't encourage you, who will after all? Second, a problem we have at McKinley is that students that go to college get distracted and overwhelmed by college and dropout the first year. This is important on two fronts, we need better college prep programs in high school and also the colleges and universities need better support systems for first generation college students.
zap_da_zah

"The White Man's Burden": Kipling's Hymn to U.S. Imperialism - 0 views

  • Go send your sons to exile
    • zap_da_zah
       
      Who are the real savages
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