National History Day 2013

Are your students participating?

*See theme sheet HERE

*Program information HERE

National History Day 2012

Are your students participating?

*See theme sheet HERE

*Program information HERE

Media Literacy During Election Years

This presidential election year presents a great opportunity to teach media literacy in the classroom. Several sites and columns focusing on responsible journalism, campaign ad analysis, and fact finding can be useful tools for drawing kids into current events.

http://newstrust.net/truthsquad

http:www.factcheck.org

http://www.politifact.com

(click)

Media Literacy During Election Years

http://newstrust.net/truthsquad

World History Matters Portal

The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media provides an easy connection to world history sites!

http://worldhistorymatters.org/

World History Portal

The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media provides an easy connection to world history sites!

http://worldhistorymatters.org/

The Veterans History Project: Making Veterans’ Stories Come to Life

Four women being inducted into the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps

Check it out HERE

Photo taken from the Library of Congress website.

http://www.loc.gov/vets/

9/11 Teaching Resources

This list taken from TeachHub.

US Department of Ed 9/11 Resource Page

This new website by the US DOE collects resources provided by federal agencies or developed through federal grants. Some resources include creating a positive environment in schools, how to teach 9/11 in relation to the constitution and 9/11 documentaries.

PBS America Responds

Valuable resources and lessons regarding tolerance, peace, Afghanistan, terrorism and Amerca at war.

Teaching 9/11 – Award Winning Lessons

The Clark Forum at Dickinson College has a useful collection of K-12 syllabi, lesson plans, relevant documents and videos, including 9/11 award-winning lessons divided by grade level.

New York Times 9/11 Resources

Whether you’re looking for op-eds on the topic, lesson ideas or historical documents, the New York Times is a great place to start.

How Do You Teach about 9/11?

September 11: On This Day

Teaching Topic 9/11: Coming soon

Rethinking Schools Handouts

Rethinking Schools has a series of special reports that make great classroom reading materials to launch classroom discussions.

Scholastic 9/11 Resources

Scholastic has an array of lessons, advice, a themed booktalk, an activities adapted specifically for younger children.

9/11 “I will” Classroom Tribute Project

Share how your classroom is commemorating September 11. Need ideas? Scholastic is working with them to provide lessons and service learning activities.

Teaching 9/11 Forum

Educators discuss curriculum and implementation plans for teaching about September 11. There is also curriculum for purchase.

9/11 Remembered: Pearson Online Exchange

The collection is meant to help teachers present 9/11 in its historical contexts to students who have no memory of the event itself. It includes age appropriate resources for elementary, middle, and high school students, with timelines, historical accounts, activities, and more.

ADC Anti-Discrimination Education Resources

While 9/11 spurs feelings of patriotism, it can also incite stereotypes and discrimination. Here are some valuable resources to help inform students and discourage anti-Arab discrimination.

9/11 Memorial Creation Activity

This lesson on violence involves creating memorials for September 11th through poems & painting.

9/11 Map & Web Research Lessons

McGraw Hill offers an array of Social Studies activities focused on the historical events from 9/11. There is a map project and several web activities.

Heroes of Ground Zero Unit

Inspired by the heroic firefighters from 9/11, PBS has a week-long, standards aligned civics unit for middle and high school students. It focuses on community needs.

Teaching Tolerance: Tips for Introducing 9/11 to Students

Teaching Tolerance: 9/11 Lessons

This article introduces interesting ways you can use the anniversary of 9/11 to explore what students really know about this historical event and to raise the issue of tolerance in the classroom.

TeacherVision Sept. 11 Lessons

TeacherVision has categorized a plethora of worksheets, classroom activities and reading activities that relate to September 11.

September 11 Digital Story Archive

This collection brings together more than 12,500 experiences of people from September 11 which is a great source of firsthand accounts for historical research and cultural studies.

9/11 Student Book List

The lists starts with lower reading levels and gets more advanced as you move down the list.

The Little Chapel That Stood

Beautifully illustrated book tells of the historic chapel less than 100 yards from the Twin Towers that miraculously survived on 9-11. Firemen hung their shoes on the fence and raced to help the people in the towers: Oh what gallant men did we lose/Who never came back to get their shoes. The story of terror overcome by courage and bravery that teaches us no one is too small to make a difference.

America at War

In this ever-timely collection of more than fifty poems and paintings divided into eight sections, one of America's most distinguished poets and anthologists, Lee Bennett Hopkins, and internationally acclaimed painter and printmaker Stephen Alcorn trace emotions of warfare from the American Revolution to the Iraq War.

September Roses

On September 11, 2001, two sisters from South Africa are flying to New York City with 2,400 roses to be displayed at a flower show. As their plane approaches the airport, a cloud of black smoke billows over the Manhattan skyline. When they land, they learn of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. All flights are canceled; the sisters cannot go home, and they are stranded with boxes and boxes of roses.

In the days that followed September 11, Jeanette Winter was drawn to Union Square and saw, among the hundreds of memorial offerings, twin towers made of roses. In the pages of this small and vibrant book, she tells a moving story.

14 Cows for America

This New York Times Bestseller, from award-winning author Carmen Agra Deedy, is a true story of hope and generosity, and the gift a small Kenyan village makes to the people of America.

With Their Eyes: September 11th--The View from a High School at Ground Zero

Tuesday, September 11, seemed like any other day at Stuyvesant High School, only a few blocks away from the World Trade Center. The semester was just beginning, and the students, faculty, and staff were ready to start a new year.

Within a few hours that Tuesday morning, they would experience an event that transformed all their lives completely. Here, in their own words, are the firsthand stories of a day none of us will ever forget.

We the People: September 11

On a bright sunny morning on September 11, 2001, hijackers took control of four U.S. commercial airplanes. This book tells the facts from 9/11 in a way that children can understand.

Messages from Ground Zero: Children Respond to September 11^th

This is a collection of letters, poetry, and art by children in response to September 11th. All were sent to other children reflecting innocent support, outreach, and caring. This book is an archive of what children were thinking and feeling through their honest and heartfelt messages.

102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers

Eight weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and translated into a dozen languages, 102 Minutes is a gripping narrative that is also investigative reporting of the first rank—"in a class by itself," according to Reader's Digest. Dwyer and Flynn reveal the decisions, both good and bad, that proved to be the difference between life and death on a day that changed America forever.

Report from Ground Zero

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 forever altered the American landscape, both figuratively and literally. Immediately after the jets struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, Dennis Smith, a former firefighter, reported to Manhattan's Ladder Co. 16 to volunteer in the rescue efforts. In the weeks that followed, Smith was present on the front lines, attending the wounded, sifting through the wreckage, and mourning with New York's devastated fire and police departments.

This is Smith's vivid account of the rescue efforts by the fire and police departments and emergency medical teams as they rushed to face a disaster that would claim more than five thousand lives.

Last Man Down

On September 11, 2001, FDNY Battalion Chief Richard "Pitch" Picciotto answered the call heard around the world. In minutes, he was at Ground Zero of the worst terrorist attack on American soil, as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center began to burn-and then to buckle.

This is the harrowing true story of a true American hero, a man who thought nothing of himself-and gave nearly everything for others during one of New York City's-and the country's-darkest hours.

Interpreting Deeds

Trying to decipher an old family deed? Interested in legal documents? Teaching with primary sources?

The University of Nottingham has excellent manuscript tutorials available online for your research needs.

Find Resources On:
Using Archives/Caring For Collections/Dating Documents/Weights and Measures/Account Records/Deeds/Deeds in Depth/Manorial Records/Maps and Plans/Medieval Books/Medieval Documents

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)
Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)
Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Date

The date of execution of the deed is always listed at the beginning. This may be in the modern form we would recognise today (i.e. 29 June 1665), or it may be in the form of a 'regnal' date, indicating the year of the reign of a particular monarch (i.e. 29 June 17 Charles II). In addition, the actual day and month may sometimes be indicated by reference to a particular event or saint's day (i.e. the feast of St Peter and St Paul, 17 Charles II). A separate Research Guidance module is available to assist with dating documents.

Parties

These are simply the names of the individuals or organisations involved in the deed. They are listed in order, in the form 'First Party, Second Party, Third Party' and so on, and so are easily identifiable

Recitals

These provide a summary of the activity which has led up to the present deed, so, for example, they may recite details of a person's will, or of a previous conveyance or of a mortgage and so on. They will normally by introduced by the word 'whereas' and can be several in number. Normally the recitals are not essential to interpreting the current deed, and so do not always need to be looked at in detail

Operative Part(s) or 'Testatum'

This states the purpose of the deed, for example the effecting of a conveyance or a lease from one person to another. It can be identified by the phrase '(Now this indenture) witnesseth' or 'further witnesseth' and will normally include a 'consideration' (e.g. amount of purchase money, amount of rent) or other motive for the transaction (e.g. 'natural love and affection' shown by one relative to another)

Parcels

These provide a description (often detailed) of the property which is subject of the deed and can usually be identified by the words 'all that'

Habendum

This word comes from the Latin phrase 'Habendum et Tenendum', that is 'to have and to hold' and this section defines the terms of the estate. Therefore, freehold property may be conveyed forever, whereas leasehold property may be conveyed for a term of years

Covenants, Conditions and Provisos

These record details of agreements made between the parties which affect the property and transaction. For example, one party may promise to produce the deeds to the property as proof of title, may promise not to use land for a particular purpose, may promise not to sub-let a property and so on

Witnesses

Each deed will normally contain a list (and often signatures) of people who are acting as a witness to the transaction. Normally these will be the parties to the deed itself, but sometimes, particularly with earlier deeds, independent witnesses are listed. Each witness will normally make a seal

Endorsements

Literally things endorsed (or written) on the reverse of a deed. This could be a subsequent sale or agreement, a record of the receipt of purchase money, a record of the delivery of possession and so on

*Example borrowed from University of Nottingham (via) Manuscripts and Special Collections

Reading Like A Historian

Check out these wonderful lesson plans, original documents, posters, and guides!

The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features sets of primary documents modified for groups of students with diverse reading skills and abilities.

This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on issues from King Philip's War to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and make historical claims backed by documentary evidence.

(Description taken from Reading Like a Historian, A Stanford University Project)

ONLINE LESSONS : Reading Like A Historian

The Reading Like a Historian:Teaching Literacy in Middle and High School History Classrooms handbook also includes teacher/lesson guides.

Using Blogs in a History Classroom

Wondering how you can utilize new technologies in your history classroom?


Have you considered starting a class blog?

Many free social media services, like blogger, are a big hit with middle school and high school students. Blogs are becoming an increasingly popular way for educators to communicate with students both inside and outside of the classroom.


Many blog features/tools, such as commenting, surveys, slideshows, and embedded media can be useful teaching tools. Classroom blogs give students the opportunity to publish web content, communicate what they have learned about history, and practice critical thinking and analysis skills with classmates, parents and outside readers.


For a great article on classroom blog use, teacher preparation, and pitfalls, click HERE.

Explore The Idea of America

IdeaofAmerica.org is a companion Web site to The Idea of America curriculum that is free and open to the public. It is comprised of three main components: Current Events, the Virtual Republic, and the Teachers' Forum

CURRENT EVENTS

The Current Events extensions make direct connections to today’s news. The Current Events section of this Web site provides lesson strategies designed to help students compare the past with the present and allow the past to inform decisions made for the future. Regular updates ensure that students will always have genuine Current Events connections. Each topic includes links to relevant news articles and a lesson strategy for addressing the issue in the classroom. The lessons can be used in conjunction with The Idea of America curriculum or on their own. If a teacher uses The Idea of America, he or she can access the Current Events extension through the link provided in the case study. Teachers can also search for Current Events lessons by keyword or browse the chronological list of case studies.

VIRTUAL REPUBLIC

The Virtual Republic is a place for students to discuss and debate with other students from across the country. When students finish a Current Events lesson, they write a “We believe . . .” statement, which is a declaration of where they stand on the issue addressed by the lesson. Students can use the Virtual Republic to comment and vote on “We believe . . .” statements for other classes. Once students receive support for their statement, they are encouraged to take action in their own communities. The Virtual Republic can be used in conjunction with The Idea of America or on its own. However, it should be used to follow up on one of the Current Events lessons or other teacher-directed current events discussion in the classroom. The Virtual Republic can be used many ways. Teachers can divide their class into multiple groups or one single group and they can schedule the debate to last for a week, a month, or a whole semester. It’s up to them!

TEACHERS' FORUM

The Teachers' Forum is a section of this Web site for teachers. Each teacher can create a profile and use the forum to connect with other teachers, share ideas, or find a class to debate in the Virtual Republic.

*Text taken from IdeaofAmerica.org

The Role of Historical Sites

Did you know Morristown was the first National Historical Park?

Signed into legislation by President Herbert Hoover on March 2, 1933, Morristown became the first site to fulfill National Park Service director Horace Albright's vision of historic preservation.

Since the 1930s, many historical battlefields, war memorials, national monuments, presidential homes and birthplaces, and other historic sites and landmarks have been incorporated into the National Park Service.

To learn more about Morristown National Historical Park, click HERE.

For a fun lesson plan on Historical Parks,
see Expanding The Mission: Historical Parks,
part of the National Parks: America's Best Idea Lesson Plans series, on PBS.

Photos by Park volunteer Daniel Beards
Historical announcement, Morristown NHP Library and Archives
Links, National Parks: America's Best Idea
NPS

Digital History

Digital History is your connection to digital resources! Through a collaborative project the University of Houston has put together a wonderful site full of primary sources, interactive multimedia, and online exhibits. Search annotated documents from the Gilder Lehrman collection, check out the interactive timeline, complete inquiry-based eXplorations, view e-lectures, browse lesson plans...and much more!!

Visit Today

PBS Teacher Resources

Looking for materials on current events?

PBS Teachers, sponsored by the Public Broadcasting Service, is an excellent teacher resource. This site covers a wide range of topics and includes materials for pre-K through grade 12. The 9-12 link provides a portal to current events lesson plans on topics like "the state budget crisis" and "cyberbullying." Many of these lessons include images and primary document references.

See examples HERE

New Jersey History Kids

Want to share information about New Jersey history, geography, and state government with your elementary student? The New Jersey Historical Commission's New Jersey History Kids site allows educators to navigate through various locations in New Jersey and watch videos, read documents, and complete activities.

See more HERE.

Dr. Suess Went to War

The Mandeville Special Collections Library is featuring an interesting online exhibit of Theodor Seuss Geisel's political cartoons, entitled
Dr. Suess Went to War.

SEE OTHER CARTOONS *HERE* This fascinating database is searchable by date and subject.

INTRODUCTION

by Richard H. Minear

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904-1991) was a life-long cartoonist: in high school in Springfield, Massachusetts; in college at Dartmouth (Class of 1925); as an adman in New York City before World War II; in his many children's books, beginning with To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street (1937). Because of the fame of his children's books (and because we often misunderstand these books) and because his political cartoons have remained largely unknown, we do not think of Dr. Seuss as a political cartoonist. But for two years, 1941-1943, he was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM (1940-1948), and for that journal he drew over 400 editorial cartoons.

The Dr. Seuss Collection in the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego, contains the original drawings and/or newspaper clippings of all of these cartoons. This website makes these cartoons available to all internet users. The cartoons have been scanned from the original newspaper clippings in the UCSD collection.

Dr. Seuss Goes to War by historian Richard H. Minear (The New Press, 1999) reproduced some two hundred of the PM cartoons. That means that two hundred of the cartoons available here have received no airing or study since their original appearance in PM. The cartoons Dr. Seuss published in other journals are even less known; there is no mention of them in Dr. Seuss Goes to War. Dr. Seuss also drew a set of war bonds "cartoons" which appeared in many newspapers as well as in PM.

Excerpt taken from the Dr. Suess Went to War catalog website.


Producer: Mandeville Special Collections Library, University of California, San Diego

Evaluation Copy of Great Peacemakers

Free Evaluation Copy of Great Peacemakers while supplies last.

click HERE

Book Description
It is said that the choices we make determine the lives we lead. In this book you will meet twenty inspiring individuals who have made peace their choice in life—from a Vietnamese monk to a Brazilian musician, from a Swedish children’s author to an Iranian-American architect. Exploring a wide range of approaches to peacemaking, Great Peacemakers is organized into five paths to peace: choosing nonviolence, living peace, honoring diversity, valuing all life, and caring for the planet. Each path showcases the true life stories of four amazing peacemakers who have successfully cultivated peace in a variety of ways. As a whole, the book strives for a balance of race, nationality, religion, gender, age, and level of fame. (Description taken from website).

Whether you are a parent seeking positive roles models for your children, an educator looking for thought-provoking material for your students, or someone simply wanting an uplifting read, Great Peacemakers is sure to meet your needs and inspire the peacemaker in you. (Description taken from website).

Table of Contents

Sample Chapter (pdf)

Praise

About the Authors http://www.greatpeacemakers.com

>For Educators

Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy

Yale's Avalon Project has an impressive collection of document transcriptions dating from 4000 bce through the 21st Century. This expansive database provides information that teachers can potentially use to create lesson plans. The full text option makes excerpting for DBQs rather convenient.

Raising Money for Classroom Projects: DonorsChoose.org

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need.

Here's how it works: public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class.

Then, you can browse project requests and give any amount to the one that inspires you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school.

You'll get photos of your project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. If you give over $100, you'll also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students.

At DonorsChoose.org, you can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions. We call it citizen philanthropy (DonorsChoose.org).

• check out New Jersey projects HERE