Friday, April 30, 2010

Library of Congress Primary Sources
I have long enjoyed adding to our textbooks with primary sources. But if you go here, you will see not just readings, but maps, music and all on the major topics that we cover in our US history survey courses.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010


Ways to Use Youtube Videos in the Classroom
Ever had a youtube video of yours blocked in the classroom? For one, you can upload your videos to TeacherTube, but that won't solve your problem for other videos that aren't yours. Watch the video above as is it give you three sites which can a) allow you to copy and move any youtube video to another site very quickly so you can access it at school b) cut any youtube video down to just what you might want in the classroom c) create a storage area of your own where you can quickly copy and store videos from youtube. Thanks to "web20classroom" for the tweet that told me about this.

Thursday, April 22, 2010


50 Digital Sites in 60 Minutes
Thanks to Technology Tidbits for this amazing set of technology ideas. You can blow up the screen to view the slide show or click on anyone of the links to go to the different pages.
Earth Day Activities
Rushing around for some last minute Earth Day activities, here is a group that has its history, laws, lesson plans and how your students can help improve the earth.

Friday, April 16, 2010


Iwo Jima Flag Raisers
First off, the famous picture of the flag raisers was actually the second one done and three of the men doing it died the same day. Above is the actual video footage which I showed my students today.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Review Sites
As we head toward the AP exam and state ones, here are some sites to help your students.
Outlines & Online Texts
REA OutlineOnline textbook that has a great search engine if kids need to look something up
Outline of US history by presidentPrinceton Review: tests for each unit (5 stemmed geared towards AP)
SparkNotes - outlines, summaries, review questions, and more
WikinotesWikibookQuizzes (all of these except the Regents can be done on the computer and receive feedback)
AP History QuizzesAP Study Notes - complete test
Brinkley's (Alan) American History - 4 stemmed questions for every chapter of US history
Course Notes Quizzes
McDougal Littell - you have to click on your state and then the book you want and then on the appropriate chapter and then on "chapter quizzes."
Glencoe - go to "chapter activities" at the bottom of the page and then to "self-check quizzes." Then click on a chapter and get to work!
Norton (AP) - Quizzes are here.
Regents Exams Pearson Longman - Quizzes can be found chapter by chapter
SOL (VA state exam). While these are geared for the VA US exam, they should work for any non-AP class.
SparkNotes - outlines, summaries, review questions and more
Teacher Made QuestionsTeacher Made Questions - these are for the VA end of the year tests
Teacher Made Questions (more of them) - for the VA end of the year tests
Texas Questions

Monday, April 12, 2010


New Improvements to Google Docs
Yes, I love Google Docs and am getting more and more into the cloud. These changes only want me to go further!

Sunday, April 11, 2010


Make Your Own Google Search Stories
If you watched the Super Bowl, you probably saw the Google Ad. Now you can make your own. After VA's state exam, we will be doing a personal history on an immigrant in one's family. I like the kids to make a blog page, but I am toying with this Google story line to make a quick class demonstration. Above is mine for my father (or part of his story).
US History "Book" Online
I am working on creating an online course for a new online company. The only catch is that I have to create the entire course for students to use without a textbook. Well, here is an overview of US history on Wikipedia. The most complete one is from an outfit I have helped in Philly which can be found here.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Charles Lindbergh's Flight


Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight
Above is vintage footage of Charles Lindbergh taking off on his transatlantic flight from the US to France.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Original Photographs of the Civil War
I received this link from a former colleague. It has a number of Civil War pictures along with labels.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Huge Set of Tech Ed Links
This site has a huge number of educational tech links that are nicely organized into categories: blogs, collaborative online, digital storytelling, digital video, ipod, movie maker, photo story, podcasting, online polls, web based slide, shows/video, web 2.0 tools and wikis.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Ancillaries for US History Teachers
The book I use, The Americans, uses this site for many free ancillaries. There are games, primary documents, review, etc.