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Last 25 Resource listings as of 7/4/08; 3:12:16 PM

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These listings are provided as a service to educators. NCSS does not endorse any products, curriculum, or viewpoints expressed by the posters of these resources.


In Time and Place

In Time & Place

In Time & Place (http://www.intimeandplace.org/) is a growing library of teaching materials for classroom, distance, or home use focusing on selected topics in American history. You will find many traditional reading, map, and photo related resources, but you will also find GIS (Geographic Information System) data and activities as well. All of the materials can be used individually or as a whole to build a unit on each topic in a way that best suits your and your students’ needs. There are gentle suggestions in some cases that the materials are well suited to group work and/or jigsaw type sharing activities. But these are not pre-packaged lessons; rather collections that you can adapt to your style and specific classroom needs.
The GIS activities add three important dimensions to the study of each topic.

  • Students are able to put the events involved firmly in place as well as time.
  • They are able to bring large amounts of place related data to their studies that tend to have little meaning outside a geographic framework and that provide an entirely new avenue for understanding.
  • GIS investigations are fun. The software involved is an elaborate tool that with a limited amount of initial guidance puts students in charge of meaningful historical investigation.

Units include the following topics:

Japanese American Internment
Yosemite: First Visits, Lasting Impressions, Preservation
The Great Migration
The Dust Bowl
Cherokee Removal



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Social Studies Films and Resources from California Newsreel

California Newsreel (www.newsreel.org) has launched a new collection of
films exploring Globalization. These acclaimed documentaries roam the
world investigating the impact of the current economic model has had on
labor, the environment and health. They question the effectiveness of
this model, bring us face to face with the winners and losers, and ask
whether there are alternatives that can achieve broad-based and
sustainable development for all.
http://www.newsreel.org/nav/topics.asp?cat=49

These documentaries would provide a complimentary visual component to
current social studies curriculum and help to inspire discussion and
critical analysis of global issues.

Also check out our amazing African American Perspectives collection
(http://www.newsreel.org/nav/topics.asp?cat=2) and our films on
Diversity Training and Multiculturalism (http://www.newsreel.org/nav/topics.asp?cat=3).



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Air & Waste Management Association High School Essay Contest

The Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA)’s High School Essay Contest, “Greenhouse Gas Management Actions: What Can Students Do?” is asking high school students to weigh in on the issue of global climate change and greenhouse gas management. Any student in grades 9-12 is eligible to enter. The author of the winning paper will receive a $400 prize and an invitation to an awards ceremony during A&WMA’s 101st Annual Conference and Exhibition in Portland, OR.

For more information about all of A&WMA’s Earth Week activities and for essay contest details and deadlines, visit www.awma.org/go/earthweek08 or contact Sandi Spratt at sspratt@awma.org.



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A Woman's World: Women in Politics

A Woman's World: Women in Politics, produced by Women in Politics Productions, LLC, is a 30-minute, bipartisan documentary about the entry and involvement of women in politics. The video opens and closes with a future scene of a woman president. It includes interviews with women politicians from all over the country at the local, state and federal levels. In addition, the video provides opinions of young women and men regarding women in politics and the importance of voting. Cost: $49.95 plus $4.95 S&H. To order a video or DVD, contact Women in Politics Productions, LLC, P.O. Box 172 Kelton, PA 19346, tel. (610) 345-9279, womeninpolitics@comcast.net.



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Moments and Images of the Past

The Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal has recently started posting moments and images of the past online at www.statesmanjournal.com/past. Moments of the Past features excerpts from old newspaper articles, old public domain books and articles, diaries, documents, personal memories and whatever else that can give people a sense of the people, times, places, things, events of the past.



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Scholars Online Brought to you by the Choices Program

Scholars Online (http://www.choices.edu/scholarsonline) brings university scholars into secondary level classrooms. Videos of scholars who have contributed to the development of curriculum units or participated in Choices professional development programs are provided in an interview format. Designed to be used with Choices printed curricula (http://www.choices.edu/resources), these short, informative videos can be used in conjunction with student readings or with lessons that accompany each unit.

We currently have videos to supplement six of our written curriculum units, including our new edition of The US Role in the Changing World (http://www.choices.edu/usrole). Videos clips for this unit help students reflect on global changes, assess national priorities, and decide for themselves the role the United States should play in the world today. This is a great way to engage students in a range of issues being discussed by presidential candidates. Participating scholars for this unit included Joseph Cirincione from the Center for American Progress, Fernando Cardoso—former president of Brazil, Ricardo Lagos—Former President of Chile, Justine Rosenthal from The National Interest and many others.



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Castro's Legacy and the Future of Cuba

On February 19, 2008, Fidel Castro announced to Cuba and to the world that he would not be a candidate for Cuba’s presidency (this position will be elected by the Cuban National Assembly on February 24). Head of Cuba since 1959, Castro was one of the longest serving leaders of the modern era. His time in office, along with the revolution that he helped lead, are the subject of great controversy both within Cuba and around the world.

Castro’s Legacy and the Future of Cuba http://www.choices.edu/resources/current.php is a one-day lesson that introduces students to the worldwide debate now taking place. The lesson includes links to internet resources from around the world. This lesson is available at no cost from the Choices Program’s Teaching with the News program.

A new unit on the future of Cuba from the Cuban perspective will be available from the Choices Program this spring. Information is available at http://www.choices.edu/cuba.



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TEACHER CURRICULUM PLANS from the 2006 NEH Institutes

“Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region” held at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts

28 are available free online: http://college.holycross.edu/orgs/himalayan_cultures/

SAMPLE TOPICS:

  • Laurie Schmidt, A Study of Hindu and Buddhist Sculpture
  • John Baron and Sarah Swift, Asian Influences on Western Civilization
  • Amy Jane Priest, Himalayan Geography: Human Environment Interaction
  • Son-Mey Chiu, Buddhism Through Art
  • Tricia Lea, Karma
  • Susan Dyment, Autobiography: From the Two-Tongued Sea to the Pure Lhasa Air
  • Matthew Glenn, Music of the Himalayan Region
  • Megan Normandin, Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard: An Interdisciplinary Unit

Todd Lewis and Leonard van der Kuijp, co-Directors



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GREAT AMERICAN DREAMING

Help your students bring immigration history and politics to life.
Immigration issues dominate the news just now, and they present a great opportunity for a curriculum or service project. Your students can bring back powerful interviews if they venture into their communities to talk to the immigrants they know about their experiences.

WKCD learned this, when we coached and then published such work by New York City students in our photo essay book, Forty-Cent Tip: Stories of New York City Immigrant Workers (Next Generation Press, 2006).

Now we are offering you a look at our coaching guidelines˜and a chance to be published online˜in the hope that you will try the project, too.

WKCD offers the following resources to help with your project:

  • A manual for teachers and students.
  • A complimentary copy of the WKCD book Forty-Cent Tip˜or a classroom set, at cost, as long as supplies last.

To get the details, download the manual, and order a complimentary copy of the book, please go to: http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2008/01_great_american/index.html

If you already have immigrant stories collected by your students that you'd like to see and perhaps publish online, please send them to info@whatkidscando.org.



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GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY ANNOUNCES SUMMER SEMINARS FOR TEACHERS
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is seeking applicants for thirty-two, one-week teacher enrichment seminars across the U.S. and England for teachers. Public, parochial, independent school teachers and National Park Service employees are eligible to apply. Each seminar is limited to thirty participants. Historians from universities including Stanford, Columbia, Yale, and the University of Virginia will lead seminars on topics ranging from the Colonial Era, the U.S. Constitution, and the Underground Railroad to the Great Depression, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights Movement. Applications must be postmarked or submitted electronically by February 15, 2008. For information on how to apply, visit www.gilderlehrman.org.

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Two new online resources from What Kids Can Do, Inc.

What Kids Can Do (WKCD), an international leader in bringing youth voices to bear on issues facing communities, schools, and society, has just launched two new online resources for educators.

Youth on the Campaign Trail: Election 2008
http://www.wkcd.org/youth_on_the_trail/index.html
It’s the buzz: Youth are participating in this year’s presidential
elections in record numbers. Is a new political bug spreading among
American youth? Has the political debut of websites like YouTube,
Facebook, and MySpace made politics more exciting to young people?

Over the next ten months, WKCD will scour the news for stories about
youth on the campaign trail. We’ll keep you linked to the most
robust national organizations for youth and politics and to the
hottest interactive and media websites tracking the 2008 campaign.
We'll bring you a special youth political beat, through a
partnership with Y-Press, an award-winning youth-led news bureau in
Indianapolis.

Global Youth Voices: Across Four Continents
http://www.wkcd.org/specialcollections/globalyouthvoices/index.html
In 2005, WKCD began to work with youth outside the U.S. on a range
of projects, most involving photography and narrative. We began in
Tanzania, in East Africa. By the end of 2008, we will have worked
with youth along the Burma-Bangladesh border; in Beijing and London;
in Bangalore, New Delhi, and Noida, India; and across the Czech
Republic, Hungary, and Romania.

Here we present a directory of what has come, to date, from WKCD’s
global youth voices: websites, multimedia dictionaries, audio slide
shows, and feature stories.

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A Woman’s World: Women in Politics

A Woman’s World: Women in Politics, produced by Women in Politics Productions, LLC, is a 30-minute, bipartisan documentary about the entry and involvement of women in politics. The video opens and closes with a future scene of a woman president. It includes interviews with women politicians from all over the country at the local, state and federal levels. In addition, the video provides opinions of young women and men regarding women in politics and the importance of voting. Cost: $49.95 plus $4.95 S&H. To order a video or DVD, contact Women in Politics Productions, LLC, P.O. Box 172 Kelton, PA 19346, tel. (610) 345-9279, womeninpolitics@comcast.net.



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U.S. Policy on Iran Interactive Lesson Plans
The U.S. and Iran: Confronting Policy Alternatives is an interactive lesson plan that engages students in consideration of policy alternatives concerning U.S. policy on Iran. Four Policy Options help students think about divergent policy alternatives, each driven by different underlying values, each with merits and trade-offs. The Options provided have been developed by the Choices Program with input from the research staff at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. A two-period lesson plan and links to online resources are provided. The lesson is focused on role-play and deliberation exploring the four Policy Options. A complete unit on Iran, Iran Through the Looking Glass: History, Reform, and Revolution, is also available.

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Engaging in Document Analysis: The Center for Gifted Education Social Studies Curriculum
The social studies units developed by the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary cover a wide range of topics while maintaining consistent models for understanding issues, documents, and artifacts. All of the units emphasize development of understanding of abstract, interdisciplinary concepts, including systems, cause and effect, and change over time. The units also place heavy emphasis on higher order reasoning, historical analysis using primary sources, and in-depth study of social studies content related to various strands of state and national standards. An emphasis on the development of student skills in the areas of discussion, writing, and research is embedded in the units.

The workshop will engage participants in activities around the teaching models employed in the units, including a concept development model, the Paul model of reasoning, and primary source analysis. The ways in which these teaching models are employed within different units across the range of grade levels will also be explored. In addition, participants will have opportunities for small group discussions of the specific content of the different units.

Dates: June 25-27, 2007
Location: The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Cost: $295 per person
URL: www.cfge.wm.edu/summerinstitute.php
Contact: cfge@wm.edu



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The Object of History: Behind the Scenes with the Curators of the National Museum of American History

The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History are pleased to announce the launch of The Object of History http://objectofhistory.org. The website features six artifacts from the Museum’s collections, related high school curriculum materials, and opportunities for students to participate in live online forums with Smithsonian curators.

Schedule of Featured Objects:
March 2007 — Greensboro Woolworth's Lunch Counter (Civil Rights)
April 2007 — Cesar Chavez’s Family’s Short-Handled Hoe (Immigration and Farm Worker Organizing)
September 2007 — Desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence (Founding and the New Nation)
October 2007 — Mary Todd Lincoln’s Dress (Slavery and Civil War)
November 2007 — Gold Nugget that launched the Gold Rush (Westward Expansion)
February 2008 — 1898 Standard Voting Machine (Progressive Reform)

Each featured Object Lesson includes the following resources:

Materials for Students:
  • guide to doing history with objects
  • two minute introductory movie
  • Quicktime virtual reality version of the object to examine
  • curator interview clips
  • large collection of associated primary sources to explore
  • brief and extended thematic tours
  • links to related web resources
  • opportunities to create virtual exhibits
  • opportunity to submit questions for curators and historians to answer during live audiocasts

Additional Materials for Teachers http://objectofhistory.org/teachers/:

  • introductory material on how to use this site in the classroom
  • three activities designed to teach about the featured objects
  • notes on where the curriculum materials fit into the standards of learning
  • links to related web resources

Four Live Audiocasts with each object http://objectofhistory.org/forum/:

Submit questions http://objectofhistory.org/forum/questions/ about the featured object for curators and historians to answer during the audiocasts streamed live on the web.

Comments or Questions? Contact us: teachers@objectofhistory.org



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CONFLICT IN IRAQ

New Resources from the Choices Program

The war in Iraq is sparking much debate today. One thing most can agree on: there are no easy answers. What the United States does in Iraq will affect Iraq, the Middle East, and the United States for years to come.

Teaching about Iraq requires special sensitivity from teachers. It is likely there are students with family members or friends serving in the military. In addition, sharp political points of view about Iraq could short-circuit thoughtful consideration of the issues. Sorting through all of these issues is a classroom challenge for teachers. Yet teachers who address these challenges do their students a great service.

Conflict in Iraq: Searching for Solutions is a new curriculum unit developed by the Choices Program at Brown University to help students consider the history of Iraq and the present conflict, and to participate in informed discussion about policy alternatives concerning the U.S. role in Iraq today.

Conflict in Iraq: Confronting Policy Alternatives is an online lesson plan focused on the policy options at the center of Conflict in Iraq: Searching for Solutions. The material is available from “Teaching with the News”on the Choices web site http://www.choices.edu.



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Free CD-Rom of Teaching Materials Related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Minot State University History Department announces the availability of a CD-Rom of teacher-produced resources and lesson plans created by participants in its 2005 NEH-sponsored summer institute for teachers on the Contexts and Legacies of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

These materials have been produced for use with students from grades 4-12. Formats include lesson plans, WebQuests, and DBQs. Themes include: Exploration and Environment, Jefferson and Nation-Building, American West, and Native Cultures and Legacies.

To view the materials on-line or to request a free CD-Rom of the materials, go to the department’s website: http://history.misu.nodak.edu

Bethany Andreasen
Department of History
Minot State University
Minot, North Dakota



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Are We Winning the Global War on Terror?

In October 2003, seven months after the United States invaded Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, wrote a memo to four of his subordinates. In his memo he asked his colleagues to consider a number of questions he had about the “Global War on Terror.”

In this online lesson students will:
Read and evaluate a policy memo on the “Global War on Terror” from Donald Rumsfeld.
Consider whether and how the United States can determine the success or failure of the struggle against terrorism.

This lesson includes:
Lesson Plan: Are We Winning the Global War on Terror?
Rumsfeld Memo: Global War on Terrorism, October 16, 2003
Questions for Students
Ballot Activity

Find this free resource in the TEACHING WITH THE NEWS section of the Choices Program web site http://www.choices.edu



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Terrorism: How should we respond?

“Terrorism: How should we respond?” is a free online teaching resource from the CHOICES Program (http://www.choices.edu) at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. Find the resource in the TEACHING WITH THE NEWS section of the Choices Program web site.

The 5th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is upon us. As our country continues to deliberate on how to best confront the challenges and dangers of terrorism, the Choices Program has made available free resources to address the topic. “Terrorism: How Should We Respond?” invites students to explore four divergent policy options on the question of how the United States should respond to terrorism, each driven by different underlying values, each with merits and tradeoffs. A new ballot activity allows students to voice their own perspectives. The policy options presented in this online lesson plan are excerpted from Responding to Terrorism: Challenges to Democracy http://www.choices.edu/curriculum_unit.cfm?id=26, published by the Choices Program at Brown University.



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American Indians in Children's Literature

“American Indians in Children’s Literature” is a blog resource developed and maintained by Debbie Reese, an Assistant Professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is using blogging technology to reach parents, teachers, and librarians who may not have access to print publications where articles on this topic are published.

Reese’s blog/resource includes links to recommended books about American Indians, on-line articles on this topic, websites and blogs maintained by Native authors in addition to Reese’s blog posts on topics such as the origin of “Happy Hunting Ground” or discussion of the term “papoose.” http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com



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Using the News to Teach Religion

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/teach/

This video and Web site resource created by the PBS series Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly for high school and college teachers of social studies, history, religion, etc. demonstrates an approach to teaching religion that incorporates reading and discussing the daily news. Shot at Colgate University in 2003-2004, the video features classroom footage illustrating how two teachers conduct a course on religion using the news, specifically THE NEW YORK TIMES, as a text. The video also includes interviews with the teachers themselves, augmented by the course description, syllabus, and exam questions. A free DVD is also available.



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International school partnerships for the 2006-07 academic year

Project Harmony (www.projectharmony.org) provides opportunities for educators and students to participate in cross cultural dialogue and cultivate international relationships by connecting with their peers in the nation of Armenia.

The Armenia School Connectivity Program (ASCP) is a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is implemented by Project Harmony. The program provides opportunities for students, educators, and community members to access and share information, to engage in online collaborative projects ranging in subject from the environment and cultural traditions, to democracy, civil society and the arts. ASCP increases school-community interaction, U.S.-Armenian partnerships at the school and community levels, and civic engagement on the local, national, and international levels.

For more information, please visit www.projectharmony.org or email elizabeth@projectharmony.org.



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America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty - Free Lesson Plan Resource

America’s Heritage is a free lesson plan resource on America’s factual, philosophical heritage for K-12 teachers of social studies, US government, US history, economics, geography, music, & related subjects.

Developed by and for teachers through collaboration of education/service organizations, it is free to use for educational purposes, paid for by grants.

Lessons correlate with NCSS standards and are grouped into elementary, middle, and high school. An elementary edition in Spanish/ESL is available.

The resource can be downloaded online or ordered in CD/binder formats.

Request your free resource at ahef@americanheritage.org! (Indicate name, school, address, phone, email, grade(s), #, format (CD/binder).

For more information visit www.americanheritage.org.



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Crossword Puzzles on American History Topics

Crossword puzzles suitable for students in grades 5 and aboves. Topics included are the explorers, the colonies, westward expansion, the Civil War, industrialism, World War I, World War II, US Presidents, US Government, Inventors and Inventions. Each puzzle comes with an answer key and permission to copy enough for your students. For a free sample and information on how to purchase the entire set, please visit http://home.comcast.net/~donnajmelton/.



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U.S. Immigration Policy: What should we do? [Teaching with the News]

"U.S. Immigration Policy: What should we do?" is a free online teaching resource from the CHOICES Program (http://www.choices.edu) at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. Find the resource in the TEACHING WITH THE NEWS section of the Choices Program web site.

While leaders in Washington are debating changes in current immigration law, demonstrations for and against the proposed legislation are taking place around the country. Proposed legislation focuses primarily on issues related to border control, law enforcement, and policy toward undocumented workers. This has raised additional questions about human rights, the economy, the environment, and security. "U.S. Immigration Policy: What should we do?" enables students to consider these issues within the context of long-term goals for immigration policy. The material is drawn from "U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World" published by the Choices Program at Brown University.



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