13 Library of Congress Sound Recordings

Did you know the Library of Congress has a blog. You can find it here.

The National Recording Preservation Board, part of the Library of Congress, has released their 2008 list of recordings added to the LOC collection to maintain and preserve sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and for other purposes.

The entire list of the 2008 Registry can be seen at this link, but I’m presenting my favorite 13 of the 25 below.

If you don’t have Real Player you might want to download it to hear the clips. My mind is already turning over how these clips could be used to teach certain aspects of 20th Century history.

1.“At Last!,” Etta James (1961) ….Etta James’ recording of “At Last” is widely acknowledged as a “crossover” masterpiece…Her sultry, blues-inflected approach to “At Last” -- set in a brilliant strings and rhythm section arrangement by Riley Hampton -- transcends genre, like all great crossover interpretations.

2.“Rank Stranger,” Stanley Brothers (1960) ….The Stanley Brothers, one of the premier bands of the formative days of bluegrass, included sacred songs as a featured part of their performances. Their recording of “Rank Stranger,” written by famed gospel songwriter Albert E. Brumley Sr. and sung with reverence and simplicity in the traditional mountain style, shows why the Stanley Brothers continue to influence performers today.

3.“2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks,” Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks (1961) ….The secret to living 2000 years? “Never touch fried foods!” In their party routine first performed for friends, Mel Brooks played a 2000-year-old man, while Carl Reiner, as the straight man, interviewed him. After much convincing, the two writers for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows,” recorded their ad-libbed dialogue for a 1961 album.

4."The Who Sings My Generation,” The Who (1966) ….On their first album, The Who, assisted by The Kinks’ producer Shel Talmy, laid down a set of tracks that would include both enduring classics and mainstays of their later concert performances. Pete Townshend penned the rebellious title track, “My Generation,” which features John Entwistle playing one of the earliest bass leads in rock.

5.“No News, or What Killed the Dog,” Nat M. Wills (1908) …This recording captured a gifted monologist at his best and became one of the most popular performances on early records. The “No News” monologue, with roots in oral tradition, was one of vaudeville’s most famous and often-copied routines

6.NBC Radio coverage of Marian Anderson's recital at the Lincoln Memorial (April 9, 1939) ….By 1939, Marian Anderson had been hailed as the greatest contralto of her generation, yet she was refused the use of Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. because she was an African-American. The ensuing controversy climaxed with her historic recital on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939. There she sang to an audience of over 75,000 people, with a national radio audience of millions more. Though brief newsreel excerpts of her brilliant performance have become familiar and even iconic since that time, the contemporary impact of this live, continuous radio coverage cannot be underestimated, and it is now our most complete documentation of this key event in the struggle for civil rights.

7.“A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” Dylan Thomas (1952) …Part nostalgic childhood remembrance and part poetic incantation, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” was issued with five of Dylan Thomas’ poems on Caedmon Records’ first release. According to the label’s co-founder Barbara Holdridge, Thomas arrived in the studio with insufficient material to fill an entire LP, but he remembered writing a Christmas story for Harper’s Bazaar. Holdridge and her business partner, Marianne Roney, were able to identify the piece as “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” and obtained a copy from the magazine. It became one of Caedmon’s most successful releases and has been credited with launching the audiobook industry in the United States. “We had no idea of the power and beauty of this voice,” Holdridge said of Thomas’ reading, “We just expected a poet with a poet’s voice, but this was a full orchestral voice.”

8. “West Side Story,” original-cast recording (1957) …While there are over 40 recordings of the score to the Broadway show “West Side Story” in various languages and styles, the original-cast recording is in many ways unequaled. The orchestra was increased to 37 for the recording, but the performances of this rich score are visceral and passionate. Bernstein’s music—with its Latin, jazz, rock and classical influences—was arguably the most demanding score heard on Broadway up to that point.

9. “Rumble,” Link Wray (1958) ….Asked for a tune that kids could dance “The Stroll” to, Link Wray came up with this powerfully menacing guitar instrumental on the spot, and the crowd went wild, demanding encores. When he couldn’t recreate the distorted sound of his live version in a studio, Wray poked holes in his amp speakers, cranked up the tremolo, and was then able to capture what he wanted in three takes -- for a cost of $57.

10. “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” George Jones (1980) ….George Jones has said that he initially thought “He Stopped Loving Her Today” was too sad to be very popular, but, at one of the lowest points of his career and personal life, he made it one of country music’s defining and most enduring songs.

11. “Tom Dooley,” The Kingston Trio (1958) ….The Kingston Trio recorded their version of “Tom Dooley” on their debut album for Capitol Records in early 1958. The song was already part of their regular set list and was also in the repertoire of other folk revivalists such as the Tarriers and the Gateway Trio. In spite of Dave Guard’s distinctive and dramatic opening narration, the song attracted little attention on its own until a Salt Lake City radio station began playing it heavily, prompting Capitol Records to place an 1866 murder ballad on a 45rpm record for the teenage market. This sparked a modern-folk revival, the influence of which would be felt throughout American popular music.

12. “Night Life,” Mary Lou Williams (1930) …When a record producer asked for an impromptu solo piano performance, 20-year-old Mary Lou Williams created an original three-minute collage of stride, ragtime, blues and pop styles that summarized the art of jazz piano to that time while pointing to the future of that genre and her own career in it. At the time, she was a pianist, composer and arranger for Andy Kirk and his Twelve Clouds of Joy, one of the great jazz bands of the Midwest. She later said that thoughts about the nightlife of Kansas City had driven this composition.

13. “Sinews of Peace” (Iron Curtain) Speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill (March 5, 1946)…. The LOC site did not provide a link to the audio file. Here is one to a YouTube video. Lamenting the deepening shadow of the Soviet Union’s occupation of Eastern Europe and fearing Soviet-directed, fifth-column activities in the West, Winston Churchill delivered this opening salvo of the Cold War at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. The speech heralds an increasingly widespread feeling in the West that a tougher stance was needed toward Russia, a departure following the positive image that the country enjoyed as a wartime ally in World War II. Churchill famously pronounced that “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”

View some of my other Thirteen posts here.

See what other bloggers are posting about by visiting the Thursday Thirteen hub.

Evaluating Websites...A Must for the Information Age

Last week over at American Presidents Blog I published an article about an erroneous fact concerning President Franklin Pierce titled Milk and a Pierce. Since I could not find verification for the fact I had to conclude the fact was false.

The Internet was originally only accessed by the military and scientific communities beginning in the 1960s. Later, with the advent of additional technology including the desk top computer there was an opening of the Internet to the general public. Today anyone with basic computer knowledge can set up a web page and publish anything they wish. I applaud and defend free speech; however, while this literary freedom can be quite stimulating it can present problems especially for students.

The main problem is that the accepted rules of publication in society are not always utlilized with web published pages. Students are fairly certain their textbooks, encyclopedias, and other research sources found in their media centers are correct, however, they have to be taught that many web sites on the Internet can be suspect.

Alan November, Senior Partner and Founder of November Learning, believes as I do. It’s not the technology itself that is important; it’s the way we use it. [November’s] ideas about global communication, collaboration, assessment, and critical thinking have inspired schools, governments and corporations around the world to rethink and redefine their approach to education and technology.

I’ve held on to one of Mr. November’s articles for quite awhile…..it’s titled Teaching Zack to Think and it can be accessed here. The main premise behind the article is students must learn how to research, publish, and communicate working with the Internet…with the most important skill being research evaluation.

In my fourth and fifth grade classrooms I want to teach my students to view web resources with a critical eye. I want them to learn to sort information found on the web into categories such as fact and opinion. I want them to be able to look at a piece of information and determine questions and determine key words that can be used to cross check the information on the page.
For example, November mentions that students should validate an author of a webpage to find out what others might be saying about the webpage or the author by running a multi-search on his or her name or the name of the website. The same could be said for certain bits of information on the site. A quick key word search could determine more information about the item or could determine the original information was false.

After reading November’s article in 1998 I held onto it and determined that I would provide students with several learning opportunities to evaluate websites over the course of our year together. The following lesson sketch is one of those opportunities. The lesson involves a fictitious website for the city of Mankato, Minnesota. The website can be found here . In actuality the website is a false one authored by a teacher and consultant, Don Descy, to use in his lessons in order to show students how easy it is to get sucked into a false site.

This particular learning opportunity takes place in the computer lab with students paired in front of the computers. Students are given a copy of the analysis chart seen below (click on the image for a closer view). Sometimes I provide an example of the chart on the board so students can create their own on notebook paper. I provide the web address to students and once everyone has access to it we read the opening paragraph on the page which states:

Mankato, Minnesota is truly a wonderland. Tucked into the Emerald Green Valley in Southern Minnesota, it is the hidden vacation Mecca of scores of knowing Midwesterners. Mankato has everything thanks to a freak of nature: the Sclare/Far Fissure. This fissure in the earth’s crust takes water sweeping through the earth, heats it to well over 165 degrees, and sends it back up to the surface in steam pits and boil holes. The heat from these pits and holes heat the valley air to such extent that the winter temperature in many Mankato neighborhoods has never dropped below a balmy 70 degrees!!! Come enjoy our winters! Let’s “Make It Mankato”! We are real, we are warm, and we would love to see you!

I advise students that the website is going to provide them with some interesting information about a city in the United States that many Americans don’t know. Below the opening paragraph are several links that supposedly give additional information regarding Mankato. Students are directed to visit at least five links between the numbers one and twelve, review the information and pictures that are presented, discuss it with a partner, and complete their charts. Students will be directed to click a link and analyze what is there. For example, the map link looks like a professional map. It contains a compass rose, roads, and place names. Could this be a fake map? Is there anything that doesn’t seem right? Students list things that help the information look real under the yes column and reasons why the information looks or could be fake under the no column. We also discuss some questions students might have about the map and I pose the question, “Can anyone think of a way we could check to see if this map is correct?” There is always at least one student who offers a search could be made for another map of Mankato. We chart the information together for the map link, so students have an example to use when charting other information.

Once students have had a chance to analyze their five items we do a quick tally to see which items they choose to look at. Together we take a whole class look at the top five links chosen. It’s always interesting to see how the group as a whole makes their choices and the reasons behind them. Student pair share what they thought about the information. If students missed an aspect of the information that could be checked I will clarify it, and we will discuss how key words could be culled from the questions in order to do a web search.

At this point there should be a good number of students who think the website is valid and another group that thinks the website is fake. I usually direct students back to the beginning paragraph and remind them that now that they have had some experience in analyzing information on the web and arriving at questions and keywords to search further they should discuss with their partner problems and/or possible questions they can see in the opening paragraph. Successful students will list Mankato, Minnesota, Sclare/Far Fissures, and fissures as possible choices to search. Students are directed to visit Yahooligans, or another monitored safe search engine for students, and enter their key words to determine more information about the Mankato, Minnesota site. Students will reach a snag when they search sclare/far fissures since many of the entries will advise them about the false website created by Dercy. To finally end the lesson opportunity I ask students to click on some of the links from thirteen to the end of the page and collect more proof the website is false.

This lesson is an opportunity for students to begin the process of analyzing websites for their validity and usefulness. I end the activity by having students think about the thought processes they went through and analyze what they think they learned through the activity. I would ask students to commit their thoughts to paper in a reflection piece they would turn in along with the chart. Over the next few day s I would integrate other valid and non-valid websites into the curriculum for students to practice with so that students could build on their skills. Throughout the process I would monitor individual students to access strengths and weaknesses so I could adjust my instruction accordingly.

I usually introduce an activity like this early in the year and spread out the opportunities as we conduct more and more research.

As I stated in my post at American Presidents Blog….I want my students to be Internet savvy…to understand that just because something is printed in a book or on the Internet it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s true. I want my students to understand they must verify sources and there are simple steps they can take to check out a website to know if it’s a proper site for them as stated here.

You can find more information here to help students remember the steps for website evaluation, and this list from Philip Bradley can get you started if you would like to use fake websites with your students.

If you know of any fake websites please feel free to leave the URL in the comments section, however, there are some websites that are in very poor taste and are so factually incorrect (the one I’m thinking of involves Dr. Martin Luther King) that I would rather not boost their Google rankings by linking to them here.

I’m In Love With My Lobie™

First of all let me begin this post by stating I rarely review a product on this site, but I have found something that has really helped me and I wanted to pass the word along. I am receiving no compensation for this review.

I love to listen to podcasts and videos when I’m online and last Christmas I finally joined the Ipod revolution with my own Ipod clip. There was one problem….all of these items come with ear buds that I absolutely hate. They don’t stay in my ears and after 15 minutes or so my ears are very sore.

A friend of mine passed the strange looking items you see in the picture, more commonly called Lobie™ to me, and after following the accompanying directions my ear buds were encased in the soft plastic forms and were ready to use. They can be used with any ear bud and can be sized to fit.

My ear bud problem has been solved! I get the same great sound with no pain or discomfort. You do loose some audio isolation with Lobie™ and you do loose some bass while listening to music, however, there are times when you are listening to an audio book or podcast when you need to hear what is going on around you. For example, when running on a busy street or sitting in a classroom where you might need to hear directions Lobie™ could be a perfect tool.

Many of the larger type headphones used in classrooms are being replaced by ear buds because the ear buds take up less room, and they attract less dust.

The Lobie™ product would be perfect to help students who complain with sore ears or for the student who is wary concerning inserting the ear buds into their ears. They are also totally washable and much easier to wipe down after each use than the larger bulky headphones commonly used in classrooms.

If you think you could benefit from the Lobie product visit their website here for more information.

You can even order directly from the site.

Thank you for visiting. My more current postings can be found here.

Did You Know? Shift Happens!

I must have missed this back in August and in subsequent months as it became viral. I guess I stay immersed in the past a little too much and sometimes miss the present. This is an awesome presentation that really says so much. We are in times packed full of “shift”. :) Make sure you have your sound up....the music really fits the slides.



The original author is Karl Fisch from The Fisch Bowl fame. I finally became aware of it a few days ago when I was exploring Scott’s site over at Dangerously Irrelevant.

Thanks Karl for a wonderful lesson and thank-you Scott for pointing this slow-poke towards the fast-lane.

Thanks for visiting. See my most recent posts HERE

Pop Quiz!

Quick! Name the World’s ten largest databases.

List your choices on a piece of paper before you go check out the answers at Business Intelligence Lowdown.

Don’t cheat now….. Just kiddin'.

Hat Tip to fellow Georgia blogger Griftdrift at Drifting Through the Grift.

Martin Van Buren: He's So K-E-W-L

As technology races ahead in order to make our lives easier we are forever realizing there are trade-offs for a less complicated life. While email makes it possible to directly contact most anyone we must also put up with infuriating and at times comical email spam that fills our inboxes with ads for viagra, tales of lost Iraqi gold, or an invitation to join in on Nigerian banking intrigues. Desktop computers have led to working at home, instant publishing, and numerous ways to organize our lives. On the flipside desktop computers have opened up a portal to a den of inequity of pornography, gambling, and thievery which penetrates our humble homes and has a huge effect on business productivity. Cell phones had aided us enormously regarding safety and instant contactibility. The downside….instant contactibility. They are a curse and a God-send at the same time.

One of the problems we are seing more and more in education are the increased use of cell phones among our students at all grade levels during the school day. There are reports even parents do not hold sacrosanct instruction time and ring up their child when the whim strikes. Cell phones can be used to contact one another between classes, in class, and after school. Text messages can be used without the phone being detected at all. There are reports that cell phones at school have been used to bully other students, as cheating aids, and serve as disruption during instructional time. Text messaging has a language all its own. Short-cuts, half-spellings, and abbreviations abound. Now we are finding text messaging style is infiltrating our language arts classes, and there is a real concern text messaging will interfere with formal writing skills.

Just look at how the beauty of written prose can be changed through text message speak. Taken from Wikipedia look at this “translation” of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

If we shadowes ave ofendd. Thnk bt ths & al is mnded. That u ave but slumer’d ere; whiL thse visNs did appr; & this wk & idel theme; no mre yEldN bt a dream. Gentles, do nt reprehNd; if u pardon we wil mend; & I am honst Puck;

While we can decypher and “get through it” something is lost.

Interestingly enough abbreviated language is nothing new. How many times a day do you use the abreviation OK? We tell people we are OK when they ask how we are. We exclaim “OK!” when students finally seem to “get it”. We use OK at the end of question where we want some type of affirmation. Don’t bang on that desk again, OK? Complete the assignment and turn it into my box, OK?

So just how does the abbreviation for OK fit into a post regarding a past president and relate to text speak in the twenty-first century?

Stay with me while I connect the dots, OK?

Go on over to dot number one at American Presidents for the remainder of this post.

This Is the Song, Elmo's Song

Research proves visual learning has many benefits. It can improve attention, it appeals to students with different learning styles, and visuals help to get the point across quickly and effectively. Rapid advancements in technology are providing educators with more and more methods to incorporate digital images into their instruction.

Recently every team in my school used several of their planning periods to meet with a math professor from a local college to go over various math teaching strategies. All teachers were required to be at the meeting even those of us who haven’t taught math in a very long time. Needless to say a few of us weren’t very “into” the topic of conversation until the presenter flipped the switch on her ELMO. I’ve never seen so many lumps turn into wide-eyed motivated sponges soaking in every word that was said including my lumpy self.

By using the ELMO you can project the text on a normal piece of paper onto a screen or monitor. You can also add text as you need to. What will they think of next? It’s an overhead without the cart and bulky apparatus.

Follow this link to the Eschool News site here which has information regarding an ELMO. This resource is now permanently on my wish list of things I would love to have in my classroom.

There are also links here for resources like Cmap Software that rivals Inspiration, especially in cost, as well as information regarding the use of videos and United Streaming which is a video service I use all the time.

United Streaming allows me to upload a video from the Internet and show it on my classroom television, on my computer monitors, or even slide it into a power point presentation. The best thing I like about United Streaming is the large number of topics found and the fact that I can isolate a section of a video and show my students specific things that fit what we are currently discussing.

So, go forth and sing the Elmo song and become more adept at using techno-visuals in your classroom.

This is the song,
La la la la,
Elmo’s song…….