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.
"contains 1,000 primary documents in text, image, and audio that emphasize the experiences of "ordinary" Americans throughout U.S. history. All of the documents have been screened by historians and are accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical significance and context. Browse a list of documents sorted by time period, beginning with the earliest. Or visit the Advanced Search to quickly locate documents by topic, time period, keyword, or type of document."
"helps students and teachers make effective use of primary sources. "Making Sense of Documents" provide detailed strategies for analyzing online primary materials (including film, music, numbers, photographs, advertisements, oral history, and letters and diaries) with interactive exercises and a guide to traditional and online sources. "Scholars in Action" segments show how scholars puzzle out the meaning of different kinds of primary sources (from cartoons to house inventories), allowing you to try to make sense of a document yourself and then providing audio clips in which leading scholars interpret the document and discuss strategies for overall analysis."
"is our annotated guide to more than 850 useful websites for teaching U.S. history and social studies. We have carefully selected and screened each site for quality and provide a 1-paragraph annotation that summarizes its content, its strengths and weaknesses, and its utility for teachers. Information is provided on the type of resource (text, images, audio, and video) available. Browse sites by topic and time period or look through a list of some of our favorite sites. Or visit the Advanced Search to quickly locate WWW.History sites by topic, time period, keyword, kind of primary source, or type of resource. We also include extended scholarly web reviews as a regular feature of History Matters. In collaboration with the Journal of American History (JAH) we review approximately 25 websites per year. The reviews are co-published by the JAH and History Matters and appear in both venues. The archive page offers all featured web reviews."
"Between 1997 and 2003, History Matters presented historical puzzles and quizzes. We are no longer adding new puzzles, but we include here an archive of 20 past puzzles that can be used in classrooms to inspire creative thinking and challenge assumptions."
This link has fantastic descriptions of what you can find in each of the sections of the site. I've posted some of the more exciting ones below but this site has a ton of useful history information . . .
Designed for high school and college teachers and students,
From the website: History Matters is "a project of the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning of the City University of New York and the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Visible Knowledge Project.
. . .
Designed for high school and college teachers and students of U.S. history survey courses, this site serves as a gateway to web resources and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence.
We emphasize materials that focus on the lives of ordinary Americans and actively involve students in analyzing and interpreting evidence."
Well, it looks like a student in this group shared this in the past, but what a great website! I'll put up some more sticky notes.
This website features a large number of primary source material of different media and is strong in its content. Beyond that, this site features information about the methods historians use (interesting to high school students, applicable to college students), a database of reviewed websites, lesson plans, syllabi, and teaching tips. A pretty comprehensive resource.
Finally, students gain an increased
appreciation of the power of mass media to shape perception and
to affect interpretation of the past. This heightened awareness
should enable them to be more discriminating in processing the images
and information bombarding them daily.
Finally, students gain an increased
appreciation of the power of mass media to shape perception and
to affect interpretation of the past. This heightened awareness
should enable them to be more discriminating in processing the images
and information bombarding them daily.
Finally, students gain an increased
appreciation of the power of mass media to shape perception and
to affect interpretation of the past. This heightened awareness
should enable them to be more discriminating in processing the images
and information bombarding them daily.
Finally, students gain an increased
appreciation of the power of mass media to shape perception and
to affect interpretation of the past. This heightened awareness
should enable them to be more discriminating in processing the images
and information bombarding them daily.
Finally, students gain an increased
appreciation of the power of mass media to shape perception and
to affect interpretation of the past. This heightened awareness
should enable them to be more discriminating in processing the images
and information bombarding them daily.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
, a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
, a study of over
one thousand Americans representing a cross-section of the population
found that over forty percent of the participants cited movies and
TV programs among the most cited means of connecting with the past.
This is a rundown of the technique Weinstein uses for his undergrad students. It involves a wide variety of film choices, which may be unrealistic for a social studies class. However, the principle remains the same even if it were for just one film.
This pamphlet, found at the bottom of the page in Appendix B, could be very useful.
Every student
receives a pamphlet I have developed, "History Written With Lightning,"
outlining the rationale for using commercial film as a historical
tool and describing specific elements to be examined for accuracy,
such as costumes, sets, chronology, and behaviors (see Appendix
B).
This is a common argument made by those advocating the use of film or TV in the classroom; however I feel it is an extremely valid point. I hope I don't offend anyone here, but FOX news is a great example of why students should be provided with critical thinking skills that are applicable to moving images.
I must admit my jaw dropped at this comment. For those unfamiliar with Griffith or his "The Birth of a Nation", wikipedia him/it. We should all be comforted that his statement did not come true.
This assignment I have outlined can
be adapted to suit the specific goals of any instructor at college
or secondary level. For example, students could be required to consult
one or more primary sources as part of their research, or the instructor
could assign one or more specific readings to be studied in conjunction
with a film. At one time, I matched films with chapters in the course's
anthology reader as the starting point for research.
Weinstein provides a list of potential films and matches them to specific time periods, which is useful, but in my opinion a bit dated. This list could definitely be expanded upon by some more recent films.
This is the handout that he provides to his students at the beginning of the semester - I think sharing this with the social studies classroom before using films would set students up for the rest of the year to critically analyze films.
Because we are so accustomed to the
moving image, we sometimes become indifferent to the hidden messages,
social content, and meaning of what we watch. In other words, we
do not view from a critical perspective.
filmmaking pioneer D. W. Griffith
One wide-eyed reviewer consequently
greeted Griffith's Civil War epic, The Birth of a Nation
(1915)
Facts can be twisted, timelines
conflated, endings revised for perceived audience satisfaction.
Griffith confidently predicted that
"in less than ten years...the children in the public schools will
be taught practically everything by moving pictures. Certainly they
will never be obliged to read history again."
Paul Weinstein wrote this article primarily geared towards undergraduate history professors, and how they might use film in their classroom. However, much of this is still applicable for us as secondary social studies teachers. In particular, his Appendix B has a sort of study guide he provides for each of his students at the beginning of the semester to get them thinking about how to analyze film for its historical perspective.
It reinforces
the passive viewing and unquestioning acceptance of received material that
accompanies growing up in a video environment.
That passivity and lack of critical awareness is anathema to a democracy.
Thirty years ago this meant teaching students to read the
newspaper critically, to identify bias there, and to distinguish between factual
reporting and editorializing. Critical viewing skills must be added to this
effort.
an excellent starting point is John E.
O'Connor's IMAGE AS ARTIFACT: THE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF FILM AND TELEVISION
Another good source that I used in my class with Brec is called "Reading in the Dark", which is geared specifically for using film in the English classroom; however, the book provides a review of this basic terminology of film analysis mentioned here.
Teachers should be familiar with editing techniques, camera angles, the uses of
sound, and other aspects of the presentation.
Beyond the cultural and social aspects of the
film, what influences were at work in shaping the document?
(2) Questions about Production.
(3) Questions about Reception.
Did this production influence other works?
social movements?
This site doesn't go quite as in depth as I would hope, however these four frameworks do manage to get one thinking about the different ways in which film might be used in the classroom
(1) The Moving
Image as Representation of History.
(2) The Moving Image as Evidence for Social and Cultural History
While film can serve as an engaging introduction to a subject, students should
be aware of the constant shading and biases, why these occur, and what they
accomplish.
(3) Actuality Footage as Evidence for Historical Fact.
The book I mention in my sticky note below has a great section on critically analyzing documentaries, which some people have a bad habit of regarding as "fact", simply because the film is labeled as a documentary.
Documentary footage, however, is never wholly objective.
An examination of
filming and editing, circumstances surrounding production and distribution, and
the producer's intentions are essential for studying such material.
(4) The History of the Moving Image as Industry and Art Form
I have been looking online for awhile, and most of the sources that come up are actual books for purchase like these - I might cross-reference some of these titles with our university library to see which ones come up
"Film & History: An
Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies" at
http://h-net2.msu.edu/~filmhis/.
This is sort of a basic review of how and why we as teachers might use film in the classroom. This is my first post on this issue; I am searching for some more in-depth sites that might have models for lesson plans. Many sites have lesson plans based around a specific film; a site that provides lesson plan templates that are applicable across a wide variety of films would be more applicable/useful. However, the comments made here by Paris provide a good base from which to start thinking about the idea.