Welch's Social Studies Class

Web Site Evaluations:

1) Name of Web Site: teachinghistory.org National History Education Clearinghouse

2) Web Site Address: http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/lesson-plan-reviews/21873

4) Author/organization credentials: It has funding from the federal department of education at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

5) Web site design and ease of navigation

As the name of the website would suggest, this website is designed for the teaching of history for all ages. They have links for the use of all teachers, and also links for teacher of elementary, middle, and high school students. In addition, there is links to contact historians, a digital classroom, quizzes, videos, teaching materials, historical content, and how to think like a historian. All of these links can be found on the homepage. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing of course, but the homepage does have a lot of stuff on it, this means that a lot of the links or information can get overlooked. Also, while some of the materials are designed for all history teachers regardless of the age of their students, some of the links, it isn’t clear if it’s for elementary school teachers or high school teachers. I hope to teach high school so I clicked on the link for high school. It gives you historical lessons. One was the landmark Supreme Court Case Marbury v. Madison, if you click on it, it will have a lesson with links for additional sources, a video review from a teacher who has used the lesson, and links to materials and lessons from similar type subjects. Also on the high school page, there is links to help teachers think critically and historically as well as help their students do the same. Moreover, there is instruction on how to incorporate technology into the classroom. In addition, there is pages on the website dedicated to materials for teachers and examples, testimonials, and that sort of thing from other history teachers.

6) Your response and recommendation for use

Overall, I think that it is a pretty useful website for social studies teachers of high school students. I didn’t spend really anytime on the elementary or middle school pages so I won’t speak to that. I would personally use the site myself. Having other teacher examples, and what worked for them and didn’t work for them is useful. There is just a lot of links, preparing for lessons using this site would require a lot of bouncing around different pages on the site, but as I said before, I would recommend this site. I think it’s important for people, regardless of what it is, are always seeking to improve, and I think this site could be really useful for me to try and learn from others and improve myself to the best teacher I can possibly be. Also, as stated in the previous section it helps teachers with incorporating technology into the classroom, I may be wrong on this, but it does make sense that as technology continues to advance, the amount of technology in peoples’ lives continue to increase, and peoples’ efficiency with that technology also increases, it just makes sense that technology will start to play a more prominent role in the classroom and it’s important for teachers to be up to date with it.

1) Name of Web Site: The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

2) Web Site Address: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/

4) Author/organization credentials: It was founded in 1994 for the purpose of improving history education. Been recognized by the White House and other prestigious organizations for its work.

5) Web site design and ease of navigation

This website is basically exclusively U.S. History, they have broken down American History into eras, and then sub-eras. For example, the Civil War and Reconstruction is its own era with dates from 1860-1877. Each era has its own overview. But then has specific points of view from historians and scholars. There is also separate pages with primary sources having its own page with links to all kinds of reference pages, and all different types of primary sources. There is also a page called History Now, I would say it is American History through a different lens. It is a visual way to look at American history with descriptions from historians. They also have a multimedia section, that features all kinds of videos regarding the history of the United States. There is also audio materials, kind of podcast type stuff. Lastly, there is pages and links on the website that promote being involved with history, whether it be organizations or cultural events that are going on that individuals can participate in. Overall, a very easy site to use, everything is easy to find, navigate, and use.

6) Your response and recommendation for use

I would highly recommend this site for American History teachers. Really all American History teachers even through college level could find something on the site useful. Obviously, since the focus is on one specific area (U.S. History) it can’t be used for all of the social studies classes, so it is limited in that sense. I think the links to primary sources could be very helpful for any papers or assignments that require some kind of research. For students who probably don’t have much experience finding good sources or researching, it’s convenient to learn what a good source is and have a bunch of them listed out in one place.

1) Name of Web Site: iCivics

2) Web Site Address: https://www.icivics.org/

3) Copyright date and/or last update: I couldn’t find anything for certain but there were recent dates on the site.

4) Author/organization credentials: The site was founded by former Justice of the Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor

5) Web site design and ease of navigation

The website more than anything is designed to get individuals, especially students interested in how their government works, and the role they can play in the government. There is games, information, and activities pertaining to this type of stuff. There is a game where you can pretend you are running for president, games you can write things into law, and so on. They are actually a valuable way to learn about the way the government works. While it would probably be most useful for an American Government classes, they have a whole section called Teach. In this section, you can find the standards for most classes in pretty much any subject area. However, as stated previously, this site would work best for a civics or U.S. Government class. Games, lesson plans, different types of quests, and other kinds of materials. It’s easy to navigate for this stuff. The other subjects it isn’t quite as easy.

6) Your response and recommendation for use

I would recommend this site. There is a lot of non-academic materials, which is a good thing in this case, it’s an interactive site. I think it could be really useful for driving interest in this material. I think in addition to teaching instruction and motivating the students to learn, I think it is important to for the teacher to create excitement about the subject they are teaching. This is especially true for history, government, and other types of social studies classes which a lot of students either aren’t naturally interested in or don’t see the use for in their lives. So while this particular site is more geared toward a U.S. Government class, I think finding a site like this could be useful for any teacher teaching any subject to drum up some excitement. Not knowing exactly what Justice O’Connor’s involvement and history with the site is, I would assume that’s why she founded it, to drum up excitement about something that is more important to students’ lives then they realize.

1) Name of Web Site: HippoCampus

2) Web Site Address: http://www.hippocampus.org/HippoCampus/?user=hippocampus

3) Copyright date and/or last update: 2016

4) Author/organization credentials: Copyrighted by the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.

5) Web site design and ease of navigation

Designed for the furthering of education in all content areas. The way it works, is you click on the subject you are wanting and it will pop up with a whole list of categories. When you click on a category, it will respond by giving the user a big list of specific parts of that category. For instance, when you click on American history before 1877, it give you a list of videos pertaining to that time period in American History, the website is pretty much all content videos, the videos could be used for showing the class, or simply ideas for the teacher to use in class as well. Overall there just isn’t a whole lot to the site outside of videos so it’s pretty easy to use. Although if the individual using the site didn’t have kind of a specific purpose or subject in mind when they started using it, it might be a little more difficult.

6) Your response and recommendation for use

This site is easy to use. It gives the students a different perspective on American History which is a good thing. The use of multimedia in the classroom, in this case videos, is often productive. Doesn’t have much to offer other than that. While obviously teachers should not spend too much time showing videos during class time, it can be an effective change of pace that can refocus students while still providing them with instruction. Hearing a teacher talk day after day can get monotonous and I think most students, (myself included) like videos in class whether they have some kind of humor or entertainment, or purely informational. Also, as stated in the previous section it can be a tool for a teacher to gain additional information ideas for them to use in class as well.

1) Name of Web Site: Smithsonian Education

2) Web Site Address: http://smithsonianeducation.org/index.html

3) Copyright date and/or last update: 2013

4) Author/organization credentials: Smithsonian

5) Web site design and ease of navigation

This site has tabs and resources for teachers, parents, and students. Some of the materials overlap a little bit, but it’s kind of nice all three parties of their own section. As far as ease of navigation it isn’t the quickest or easiest to use, but it’s the Smithsonian, so the resources and materials are endless. If you type in the age of the students you are teaching and a couple of key words from the lesson and it will give you lots of sources and readings you can use. Additionally, it will give you readings and sites tailored for your students. Some of the sources include lesson plans with activity ideas and such that pertain to the lesson. So for example, one thing I did is I went to the teachers page and typed in Civil War for grade 9-12 and it gave me several results and there is always additional readings. On the student page there is lots of informational resources but there is also a lot of interactive activities including little quizzes over different subjects and even guessing games.

6) Your response and recommendation for use

Easy to navigate, the only thing I would say is if you type in something broad like the Civil War, dozens of sources come back, and it can be hard to find exactly what you are looking for. So I would say be as specific as possible when typing in the key words. I do like that it has separate pages for teachers, parents, and students, I think having parents involved as possible with their child’s education is important. While it may not be the most simple site out there, it’s really not bad especially in today’s world where everyone is pretty tech savvy. It’s a good mixture of being informational, while still being interactive and having fun things on the site as well. It’s a site that can be used for students of any age with a whole platitude of subjects. Honestly, this is probably the site I foresee myself using the most as a teacher just because the volume and quality is second to none.

Other Helpful Websites:

https://www.archives.gov/education
http://kacv.pbslearningmedia.org/

Game:

https://www.learn4good.com/games/tycoon/topstrategygame.htm

Reading Recommendations

These are all books that I would recommend, in many cases I would say they are interesting even for individuals not usually into history.

· Title: 1776

· Author: David McCullough

· Illustrator: N/A

· Publisher: Simon & Schuster

· Copyright: 2005

· ISBN#: 13:978-0-7432-2671-4

· Genre: Historical Non-fiction

· Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Southwest Location

· Summary: The book is about the American Revolution. It mostly focuses on the war itself, such as the principle figures for both British and Americans, although the focus is on the American side. It talks about different battles and kind of the uphill battle American soldiers faced not only on the actual battlefield, but also off of it, with their lack of resources and things of that nature. While a large portion does focus on the actual fighting and war itself, there is also mention and talk of the other things of historical significance that are going on during this time. One such thing perhaps obviously is the signing of the Declaration of Independence among other things. And as one might expect from a book about the American Revolution, George Washington is talked about a great deal.

· Personal Comments: David McCullough is an author that I really like. He’s written several historical non-fiction books and biographies. This particular book is a really easy read, while it is historical non-fiction it has a good flow that makes it easy for the reader to follow along. There are characters, who are obviously actual people from history, that the reader gets to know and gain great insight on. For me, it was interesting to see what made George Washington such a respected and revered leader.

· Suggested Use in Classroom: The American Revolution is a large, crucial part of American History. This book is a great account that covers a lot of aspects of the Revolution. It is detailed and engaging. It could be used for greater detail on individuals such as George Washington or greater details on individual battles. It could also be used to spark discussion on the rationale of the decisions of both the British and Americans. It has a lot of information a textbook would have, just in a much more fluid and engaging way.

· Title: Duel Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Future of America

· Author: Thomas Fleming

· Illustrator: N/A

· Publisher: Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group

· Copyright: 1999

· ISBN#: 0-465-01736-3

· Genre: Historical Non-fiction/Biographical

· Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Southwest Location

· Summary: The title suggest a specific event, which is the duel that would occur between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. However, it is a deep dive into the lives of these two men. It also lays a landscape for the happenings of the years following the American Revolution and how America is developing in its infancy. At its core, this book is about two men, their similarities, their differences, and just their lives in general in what would lead up to one of them killing the other.

· Personal Comments: For me, Fleming is another author that writes in a way that is very easy to read. I have always found Alexander Hamilton to be fascinating, I wrote a long paper about him in high school, and have read and learned a lot about him since that time as well. So picking this book was easy for me, and I actually learned a lot from it, mostly about Burr because all I really knew about him is the basic things heard in a history class or at the end of a book about Hamilton. I found him to be a unique character to say the least.

· Suggested Use in Classroom: I think this book does a good job illustrating the politics during this time. It also describes an event that is incredible to have had a place in politics, which is dueling. The duel between Hamilton and Burr is something that gets mentioned in every American History class but rarely at any kind of length or depth. Hamilton’s ideas and leadership were pivotal to the shaping of the United States, some of his writings are still in effect today, and many would argue his vision for the United States is what ended up mostly coming to pass. This book could be a good way to talk about the two competing visions for America at the time.

· Title: Tried By War Abraham Lincoln As Commander In Chief

· Author: James M. McPherson

· Illustrator: N/A

· Publisher: The Penguin Press

· ISBN#: 978-1-59420-191-2

· Genre: Historical Non-fiction

· Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Southwest Location

· Summary: This book focuses on, as the title suggest, Abraham Lincoln. It’s not really biographical though as it mostly just focuses on his presidency, and in particular as the second part of the title suggest, how he dealt with the Civil War. It does mention several of the individual battles of the Civil War and a lot of the other key figures of the War from both the Union and Confederacy. Spends a lot of time simply talking about Lincoln’s mindset and the effect he had on the war, with the war itself and the events surrounding it.

· Personal Comments: Probably the book out of the five that I learned from the most. Mostly because the Civil War is a weak point for me as far as knowledge goes. Also though just a lot of really interesting information about Lincoln’s role in the war. The Civil War was pivotal to American History so I wanted to be sure to include a book from it. Also, Lincoln is perhaps the most well-known historical president and probably the most respected as well, so a book that talked about them together made sense.

· Suggested Use in Classroom: As stated above, the Civil War was pivotal to American History, and something every history class learns about. This book could be used to not only learn about President Lincoln and the War, but a springboard for other topics surrounding the war. Also, the strategies that went into the war and how that led to the results it did. Could even go into some hypotheticals on if a leader such as Lincoln wouldn’t have happened to be at the helm of the country during this time. In addition, may even be a good opportunity to talk about subjects outside of history such as being rationale or being an exemplary leader.

· Title: Flags Of Our Fathers

· Author: James Bradley with Ron Powers

· Illustrator: N/A

· Publisher: Bantam Dell, A Division of Random House, Inc

· ISBN#: 13:978-0-553-38415-4

· Genre: Historical Non-Fiction

· Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Southwest Location

· Summary: This book is set in World War II and centers around the six soldiers who would become known because of a picture of them taken that showed them raising the American flag at Iwo Jima. It talks about their lives both before and during the war. It does a good job of capturing the attitude and setting of the war. It talks about what life was like for a soldier during this particular war.

· Personal Comments: I do love this book and consider it relevant for a history class. However, I will admit part of the reason I picked it is the fact that it was made into a movie. Trying to think from a student’s perspective. It’s a good, inspirational story about some bravery and patriotism, among other things. I would recommend this book to anyone, not just history students, I think it is a good book for anyone to read.

· Suggested Use in Classroom: When learning about World War II, it’s easy to learn individual dates, battles, the people involved, the country involved, who started it, how it ended, and so on. This book is about some guys that anyone can relate too, while still being informational, in addition to being entertaining and inspiring. The students might be more motivated to read it since it has been made into a move they can watch as well.

· Title: The Coalwood Way

· Author: Homer Hickam

· Illustrator: N/A

· Publisher: Dell Publishing, a division of Random House, Inc

· ISBN#: 0-440-23716-5

· Genre: Biographical Storytelling

· Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Southwest Location

· Summary: This is a story about the Hickam’s, a family in Coalwood, West Virginia, and the dynamics that faced them both as a family and as a town. The town is almost completely reliant on coal for survival as a large percentage of the men are employed at the coal mine.

· Personal Comments: This author wrote the well-known book October Sky, which I first read for school many years ago and I love. This book isn’t as well-known but an interesting read nonetheless. There isn’t a lot of actual history information in here, but there is a lot of information and little tidbits about what life was like for ‘average’ families and individuals during this time period. In college, I have had the opportunity to take a few classes that go into some detail on how Americans lived during a particular time period and I find it interesting and relevant.

· Suggested Use in Classroom: As stated in the comments section, could give some insight to how Americans lived during this time period. Also, it could give the opportunity to talk about coal as a resource and the effect it had on America over time. And also, the working conditions that many Americans faced for a lot of years.

*All book images are courtesy of amazon.com

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Web Site Evaluations:

Other Helpful Websites: