Primary Source Sets on the Web It can be time-consuming to find and prepare primary sources for your lessons. On each of the below sites, you will find primary sources that address multiple topics in U.S. History. Many of the sites provide sources that have been prepared for the classroom, from excerpting lengthy documents to providing clear headnotes and source information. Start at one of these sites to find primary sources to use in your next lesson! Websites with Sets of Selected Primary Sources Digital History Reader, from Virginia Tech University: These documents are organized into instructional modules, from 1492 to the Nixon administration. EDSITEment, from the National Endowment for the Humanities: EDSITEment has roughly 400 lesson plans for the history/social studies classroom, sortable by grade-level and subtopic. Explorations, from Digital History: Explorations is divided into thematic units, organized chronologically from pre-Columbian America to the Vietnam War.
Plan Family Vacation Webquest What if YOU were the one to choose where your family goes on vacation? What if you got to plan all activities, where to stay, and what to eat? Here's your chance! Created by Alena Zink and Betsy Cain Forsyth County Schools The History Project - University of California, Davis The Marchand Archive is an ever-expanding collection of document-based lesson plans (Documentary Source Problems) and more than 8,600 images (Image Archive). This site brings together the original Adventures in Roland Marchand's File Cabinet launched in 1999 and the Marchand Image Archive launched in 2001. With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, we have expanded the original Marchand image collection to include images from other UC Davis faculty including Andres Resendez, Alan Taylor, Cynthia Brantley, Joan Cadden, Louis Warren, and Karen Halttunen (now at USC). We have supplemented Roland's documentary source problems with lessons based on images in this expanded collection and developed by outstanding teachers associated with The History Project. The Marchand Archive contains two useful collections: the Image Collection and the Documentary Source Problems Collection. About Roland Image Collection - View Collection Documentary Source Problems Collection - View Lessons
Internet History Sourcebooks Internet Modern History Sourcebook The Internet Modern History Sourcebook now contains thousands of sources and the previous index pages were so large that they were crashing many browsers. See Introduction for an explanation of the Sourcebook's goals. The Modern History Sourcebook now works as follows: This Main Index page has been much extended to show all sections and sub sections. Additional Study/Research Aids In addition to the above structure, there are a series of pages to help teacher and students. Modern History in the Movies Older Style Big Indices Still Available Since some faculty members had built into their course pages direct links to the Sourcebook's old indexes, these remain available, but will not be updated with materials added after 12/31/1998. Subjects covered by the source texts in each Section. Studying History The Early Modern World Reformation Early Modern World Everyday Life Structures of Life in the West Everyday Life From Popular to Mass Culture Absolutism Enlightenment
VoiceThread in a 1st-grade Classroom Jennifer Orr: Here we've got George as our first picture. But look what we can do here, are you ready to see this? We can move the pictures around. It's not moving as easily as you'd hoped, huh? We've got George and George with his family and then we've got Ben. Student: I think we should put the battle first. Jennifer Orr: Why? Student: Because he battled first before he was president. Jennifer Orr: Okay. Student: Declaration of Independence first. Student: Because I think he did it first. Jennifer Orr: Okay. Students: No. Jennifer Orr: Do you think that was a really important thing he did? Students: Yes. Jennifer Orr: Come move it. So it’s kind of a neat thing to put after George. Jennifer Orr: And I wanted to spend the time sorting those images both to kind of make sure that they understood the difference between George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Jennifer Orr: Alright, in just a minute, I’m going to send a few of you off to record your thoughts. Student: This is George Washington.
Visualizing Slavery: The Map Abraham Lincoln Spent Hours Studying During the Civil War If you look closely at Francis Bicknell Carpenter’s 1864 painting “First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln” (see above — click image for a larger version) you will notice a map in the lower right-hand corner, next to the group that includes Lincoln and his cabinet. The map in the painting was a document Lincoln consulted often during the Civil War. It was created by the United States Coast Survey using data from the 1860 Census to show the geographic distribution of the South’s vast slave population. Carpenter lived in the White House for six months while working on his painting, and according to historian Susan Schulten, author of Mapping the Nation: History and Cartography in 19th Century America, the artist encountered Lincoln poring over the map on more than one occasion. The map (click it to see a larger version) is an early example of statistical cartography. The map helped Lincoln visualize what he was up against. Related Content:
Three Amazing Resources For History Teachers That Students Will Love You might have noticed that I am a bit of a history and ancient culture addict and that I like to share resources for history teachers here on Fractus Learning. This week, I read two interesting articles that summarize pretty nicely how I feel. This is when understanding and awareness of other cultures and their history help foster learning and spark an initial interest in a topic, especially when that information is presented in a game like scenario. On the one hand The Guardian explores the different ways to offer students international experiences and the benefits tied to these. On the other hand the New York Times published an article that describes a relatively new discipline known as the digital humanities, formerly known as humanities computing. Now, your school might well have one or several international partnerships which is great and allows students to make some real-life experiences in a culture other than their own. Oxford’s Great War Archive Giza 3D Uruk Project
Museum Box Homepage Library Lesson Plans Lessons from Library Hall Programs Treasures of the Library • Papers, Pens & Prose Online Lessons OnlyTeaching American History • George Washington Land of Golden Dreams: California in the Gold Rush Decade Treasures of the Library Papers, Pens, and Prose Teaching American History The Great Experiment: George Washington and the American Republic Digital Collections and Services: Access to print, pictorial and audio-visual collections and other digital services Historic Newspapers Enhanced access to America's historic newspapers through the Chronicling America project. Historic Sound Recordings The National Jukebox features over 10,000 78rpm disc sides issued by the Victor Talking Machine Co. between 1900 and 1925. Performing Arts Collections, articles and special presentations on music, theater and dance materials from the Performing Arts Encyclopedia. Prints and Photographs Catalog of about half of the Library's pictorial holdings with over 1 million digital images. Veterans History Project Experience first-person stories of wartime service through personal artifacts, audio and video interviews.
The Civil War Big History Project Join us! The Big History Project is not a for-profit program. Your engagement will exclusively benefit teachers and students around the world. Teaching the course It's easy to teach Big History — all you have to do is register, set up a class, and go! Start a pilot Schools that want to work with us have the option of joining a small group committed to delivering Big History. Create a movement Districts and networks that want to explore how to bring Big History to life should reach out to discuss partnering with us. Teach the course All of our courseware is free, online, and available to any teacher. Not an educator? Check out our public course — a four-to-six hour tour of Big History. Questions about the Big History Project? Geography and History YouTube Channels for Elementary | Imagination Soup Recently, I shared the best STEM / STEAM YouTube channels. Now let’s look at the best geography and history YouTube channels for elementary kids, ages 5 – 11. Geography YouTube Channels Global Wonders DVD SeriesThis channel only has a few movies but it’s worth mentioning since you can buy the DVDs if you enjoy the content. Are We There Yet? MakeMeGenius GeographyOriented for younger elementary students, this contains cute videos on topics such as different seasons, and landforms. Marbles the Brain Store There’s only two geography videos on this channel but they are SO good! History YouTube Channels Are We There Yet? Horrible Histories This is a British video series of 26 cartoon episodes based on the books by the same name. Horrible Histories HD We think these reenactments are HILARIOUS, sort of Monty Python-ish! BrainBubble60-second video clips on history, geography, science, pop culture, trivia, and other little-known facts that will expand your mind.
Student Discovery Sets - For Teachers The new Library of Congress Student Discovery Sets bring together historical artifacts and one-of-a-kind documents on a wide range of topics, from history to science to literature. Interactive tools let students zoom in, draw to highlight details, and conduct open-ended primary source analysis. Full teaching resources are available for each set. Children's Lives at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Children of a century past: How were their lives different from today's? The Constitution The drafts and debates that brought the Constitution and the Bill of Rights into being, including notes by the documents' framers. The Dust Bowl Songs, maps, and iconic photographs document the daily ordeals of rural migrant families during a disastrous decade. The Harlem Renaissance Discover some of the innovative thinkers and creative works that contributed to the cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Immigration The Industrial Revolution The U.S.' Japanese American Internment The New Deal