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.

Wordless: Interesting Places

Here’s a puzzle for you….this rock formation had a very important role to play in history.

Can you guess which world history event is involved?

Here’s are a few hints….Europe, West, and hat.

Guess away. I’ll be writing more about this later with a full explanation.

Check out the Wordless Wednesday hub here

All Hail the Patriotic Squirrel

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks around here at Elementaryhistoryteacher Central….Recently I’ve loaded my plate up with so much stuff I’ve needed a Chinet (you know….the Cadillac of paper plates) just to tote it all around.

Sadly in my rush to get around town and cross one more thing off my to-do list I’ve been leaving dead bodies in my wake….For some crazy reason squirrels and snakes seem to jump out at me when I least expect it. So far the carnage count from last week is three squirrels and one very long snake who thought the roadway might be an interesting place to work on his or her tan.

As much as squirrels annoy me and snakes just scare me to death I don’t relish hearing the sound and feeling the thud as their little bodies thump against the tires of my car.
It devastates me to kill an animal, and it really, really ruins my day.

Though I strongly feel squirrel are just rats with good PR, I don't really want to run them down with my car. One of the bushy-tailed creatures was hit on my street….close to my home. Gee, a neighborhood squirrel….not some random squirrel I didn’t know, but one that’s probably scampered across my yard, teased my cat, or even wintered in the attic of my home. It didn’t help that Dear Daughter jumped out of the car once I wheeled in the drive and ran up the street to take pictures with her cell phone camera of the BREAKING NEWS.

Mother, Teacher, Blogwriter crushes squirrel and abandons it to die alone….Details at 11!

Oh, the shame.....

That was the first death to occur at my hand last week….by the time I had killed two additional squirrels and then ran all four wheels over a snake stretched out across the roadway I decided I must do something to appease the Animal Kingdom. Perhaps that’s the only way I can avoid killing anymore creatures.

I actually stayed in all day today just to keep the death toll at a minimum.

Then I remembered I had saved the link to a story about a Michigan squirrel. Over Memorial Day the folks at Mount Hope Cemetery near Detroit place close to 1,000 small American flags on soldier’s graves. From one day to the next cemetery workers noticed many of the flags were missing….all that was left was the wooden stick the flags had been attached to.

Hmmm…was it the work of terrorists? Anarchists? Vandalizing hoards of teens?

Nope.

Just a dang squirrel….and a patriotic one at that.

My kind of squirrel! I bet it knows the pledge as well.

The little varmit detached a flag stapled to a staff and carry it up a tree to its nest in front of the cemetery superintendent. The squirrel was using the flags to line its nest.

Here's a link in case you missed the story.

So, I hope by posting this I have now appeased the animals ,and they will just stay the heck out of my way for the rest of the summer.

Remembering D-Day...

Today is D-Day….another day that does live in infamy. Over the last three years I’ve posted various things about D-Day and/or WWII in general.

We need to NEVER forget the sacrifice Americans made during WWII as well as any war before or any war after.

Here are the links:

Gliding Into D-Day….a look at how some Americans spent their morning on D-Day including one of my uncles

13 Facts Concerning the D-Day Invasion…just as it says 13 facts with some links

Other World War II articles of mine:

Razzle Dazzle and All That Jazz….covers our entry into the war a bit and discusses the unique way camouflage was used

Balloon Bombs….Did you know Americans were killed on our own soil by Japanese weapons?

Beach Red…a post regarding Tarawa…a very important but often forgotten battle during WWII and how garbage can often serve as poor reminder of a war

Fleet Problem 13....Pearl Harbor Foreshadowed…..Pearl Harbor was foreshadowed?!? Yes, yes it was

Timberwolf Up!... A very special post I wrote to remember an uncle and his war experience as he served in the 104th…..

I’ve also placed Eisenhower's D-Day Letter over at American Presidents Blog and General George S. Patton’s very colorful speech over at Georgia on My Mind.

Have a great Saturday and thank a solider or veteran today!

Implications From Dorr's Rebellion

By simply relying on the textbook my students learn that between 1840 and 1860 the number of immigrants arriving in the United States rose sharply. However, people didn’t begin streaming in the doors as the year 1840 arrived.

They had been arriving in steady ebbs and flows for years, and during the 1830s large numbers of people arrived from Ireland.

In fact, a Library of Congress site states during the 1830s approximately 150,000 immigrants from Northern Ireland reached the United States. Between 1820 and 1860 the Irish were one third of all immigrants to the United States, and by 1840 half of all immigrants were Irish.

A rise in immigrants along with new technologies due to the Industrial Revolution led to many changes in America. Urban areas grew larger while rural areas declined.

But there were other issues as well….one that escapes most textbook writers.

The story I want to share with you today is an interesting tidbit of Rhode Island history that is rooted in their colonial and immigration history, however it provides opportunities for any American History student.

The event I’m referring to is known as the Dorr Rebellion.

In order to fully under the Dorr Rebellion we need to remember how the colony of Rhode Island came to be. After Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony regarding his religious differences a charter was granted from the King of England to form a new colony. The original charter from 1663 was like many at the time….providing the vote for men who owned property. This made sense since the majority of men who immigrated to the colonies had agriculture on their minds and the process seemed fair….at the time.

Over the next several years, however, the economy of Rhode Island along with the economies of many of the Northern states changed due to the Industrial Revolution. Waves of immigrants meant that huge chunks of the population lived in urban areas and owned no land resulting in disenfranchisement. In fact, this Rhode Island history site advises by 1840, 60 percent of free adult males were unable to vote in the state.

There had been several attempts to change the charter of Rhode Island over the years, but those attempts met no success. People argued the charter had been signed by a British monarch and therefore had no place in an independent nation. Others argued that the charter violated the Article 4, Section 4 of the United States Constitution where there is a guarantee to every state in the Union that they shall have a republican form of government. The charter also provided for no amendment process.

Finally, the people of Rhode Island became tired of the ineffectiveness of their state legislators to handle the problem and they began to act on their own. In October, 1841, the People’s Convention was formed where they actually drafted a Constitution on their own. Their new Constitution provided the vote to all white men who had been residents of the state for one year. The People’s Convention and the push for a new state constitution was led by Thomas Wilson Dorr and the people around him…his supporters are often remembered as Dorrites. Unfortunately the state legislators didn’t take kindly to the people acting on their own and formed a rival conference where their Freeman’s Constitution was drafted. The People’s Constitution was ratified in popular referendum in December 1841 and under this document Dorr was elected governor in April 1842.

The reformers were resisted by a “Law and Order” coalition of Whigs and rural Democrats, who returned incumbent Governor Samuel Ward King to office in a separate election and then used force and intimidation to prevent the People’s Constitution. When Dorr responded in kind by unsuccessfully attempting to seize the state arsenal in Providence on May 18, 1842, most of his followers deserted the cause, and Dorr fled into exile. To add insult to injury Dorr’s father and uncle sided against him and took part in defending the arsenal.

The “other” governor of Rhode Island at the time also wrote President John Tyler requesting Federal toops. President Tyler had his own concerns regarding his rise to the Oval Office and knew he had to tread lightly regarding the situation. See his reaction in my article over at American Presidents Blog here.

When he returned in late June to reconvene his so-called People’s Legislature in Chepachet, a Law and Order army of twenty-five hundred marched to Glocester and sent the People’s Governor into exile a second time.

In September, 1842 another convention was called to write a new Rhode Island Constitution. This time the document provided the vote for all men regardless of color with a poll tax of $1.00. The Dorrite document had not mentioned any race other than the white population…not because Dorr wanted to refuse the vote to blacks. He had merely caved under pressure in 1840 from the white immigrant population.

For his part in the rebellion Dorr received a very harsh sentence….he was found guilty of treason and was sentenced in 1844 to solitary confinement at hard labor for life. Many people condemned the sentence and he was finally released in 1845 and his civil rights were restored in 1851. By 1854 the court judgement convicting him was set aside.

This little known chapter in Rhode Island history can have great application in the classroom today for students to analyze.

This situation provides more observation regarding the effects of the Industrial Revolution and immigration in early America that would make an interesting discussion with the addition of today’s issues surrounding legal and illegal immigration.

We also have the issue regarding the Guarantee Clause of the Constitution (Article 4, Section 4) and how President Tyler handled the request for Federal troops given that Tyler was already under attack for assuming the presidency has he did and considering he was attempting to get re-elected in his own right.

Then there is the Supreme Court case arising out of the Dorr Rebellion – Luther vs. Borden. The Constitutional question addressed in the case involved Article 4. Martin Luther was a participant in the Dorr Rebellion. He was arrested by Borden, a state official. Borden searched Luther’s home and allegedly damaged property. Luther asked the court to find that Borden had acted with no legal authority. The Supreme Court found it was up to the Executive and Legislative branch of the government to enforce Article 4, and it was outside the legal jurisdiction of the court to rule upon. The ruling established that the “republican form of government” clause was non-justiciable, and the ruling that still holds today, however, the Fourteenth Amendment includes the Equal Protection Clause.

Other questions involve “We the People” - For example, can “We the People” rise up when circumstances dictate that our government is no longer seeing to the needs of the people?
When is it acceptable to go against the people currently in power?

An essay at this site and part two of the essay provide more information regarding the Dorr Rebellion.

Valuable Time

Well, school is just about over in my neck of the woods. Time flies when you’re having fun, huh? It does just seem like the school year started, and now we are facing a long, hot summer.

Teachers are finishing up their grades and getting ready to enter into that wonderful season of post-planning bliss….a flurry of activity as teachers hurriedly move their classrooms from one side of the building to the other, book inventories are taken, test scores are filed, permanent records are checked off, and class rolls are set for the coming year.

It’s also a time to assess things…many, many things.

Were teaching goals met?

What was a success?

What was a failure?

Where could things have done differently?

How are you going to incorporate any changes into your lessons based on local, state, or national changes that inevitably are made regarding what you do?

The summer is short. Our time is valuable. Making the most of the next eight weeks could make or break the new school year already looming before us.

The situation reminds me of an often told story from the life of Ben Franklin….a story I use with my students from time to time to remind them how valuable their time is. How easy it is to take our eyes off our goals….how easy it is to lose focus.

Here’s the story:

One morning Ben Franklin was preparing his newspaper for printing when a customer stopped by in his store and spent an hour browsing the various books for sale. Finally, he took one in his hand and asked the shop assistant the cost.
The assistant answered, “One dollar.”

The customer said, “A dollar. Can’t you sell it for less?”

“No, the price is a dollar,” replied the assistant.

The customer said he wanted to see Mr. Franklin. When Ben appeared from the back room, the customer asked how much he wanted for the book.

Franklin said, “One dollar and a quarter.”

The customer was taken aback. “Your assistant asked for only a dollar.”

Franklin said, “If you had bought it from him, I could sell it to you for a dollar. But you have taken me away from the business I was engaged in.”

The customer pressed on, “Come on, Mr. Franklin, what is the lowest price you’ll take for it?”

Franklin said, “One dollar and a half. And the longer we discuss it, the more of my time you are taking up and more I have to charge you.”

Ben sets a good example for us, doesn't he?

Oh sure, I understand. The summer has started. We all deserve some time off, but we have important business to be about even if it is done while sitting by the pool or just merely enjoying getting reacquainted with our homes.

Make a plan, set your goals, and take Mr. Franklin’s advice.

Your time is very, very valuable.

Memorial Day - Choose Your Hero

Memorial Day – a day set aside to remember those who have died while in military service. Originally known as Decoration Day following the Civil War the holiday has morphed into many things to different people. Some see it as the day was originally intended and decorate the graves of fallen men and women, and some families visit cemeteries and national monuments. Just last year at this time I was huffing and puffing my way all across Arlington National Cemetery.

Others have latched onto the fact that Memorial Day is the first official holiday of summer signaling the start of time off from school, beach visits, and don’t forget the cooler of beer sitting next to the grill. Let’s party!

As my husband was placing our flags out this morning – one on the front porch and one on the back – I couldn’t help but think about the concept of hero. The first thing that met my eyes this morning as I turned on my lap top was this article at MSN regarding heroic things…..the article stated:

Two things pass for heroics these days: adopting lots of orphans and being a spokesman and/or fundraiser for a noble cause. That’s nice and all, but compared to what Hollywood stars used to do, their modern counterparts are a bunch of wimps.

The article goes on to provide interesting information regarding the military service of Elvis Presley, Gene Roddenberry, Clark Gable, Julia Child, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Sir Alex Guinness, Paul Newman, Charlton Heston, and Marlene Dietrich.

Interesting stuff considering the other news of the day seems to be about folks attending one rapper's funeral and yet another rapper’s final concert before reporting to jail. I can’t help but think of the tabloids and their headlines…the hundreds of websites dedicated to celebrity gossip…what do we really value in America today and have our core values changed so, so much?

Peggy Noonan has some great thoughts…she always does…in her latest column found here titled Those Who Make Us Say Oh!....all about our American heroes.

and finally....

In case you missed them here are two former posts of mine detail two of my own relatives and their military service…..Gliding Into D-Day and Timberwolf Up: My Salute to the Veterans of the 104th and a Very Special Uncle.

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.

A Search for Bread and a Few Carnivals Thrown in For Good Measure

No matter what is going on in my household each particular week two items always make the top ten list for the grocery store – milk and bread. Bread has been one of my focus topics lately for research.

I’ve been on another one of my wild goose chases for the last several weeks, but unfortunately the golden loaf of bread I’ve been searching for has eluded me for now. No, I’m not searching for sourdough, wheat or rye….my golden loaf involves a little fact I ran across regarding President Franklin Pierce.

See where my search took me in my latest posting at American Presidents Blog.

Also….

some of the web’s best blog carnivals have posted in recent days…..you can find the Education Carnival from last week over at Bellringers, the Home School Carnival at The Common Room, the Carnival of Family Life at The Expanding Life and the Book Review Carnival at Literary Menagerie.

Testing Tornados

It’s testing time here in the sunny, warm south. That means it’s time for the memos to begin a-flyin’ regarding “the test” and those ever so important ….insert fake echo effect here…”TESTING PROCEDURES”.

I do not think it is any coincidence whatsoever that the testing window in Georgia opens about the same time as our tornado season begins. It can certainly add a little more confusion to the chaos that CAN be created because it’s testing time.

While the follow is a good piece of satire regarding the atmosphere surrounding “the test” it isn’t too far off the mark regarding just how serious….and I mean ser-ri-ous things have become.

Hang on….here we go:

Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.

Should a flying object come through your window during testing, please make every effort to ensure that it does not land on a testing booklet or an answer sheet. Please make sure to soften the landing of the flying object so that it will not disturb the students while testing.

Should shards of glass from a broken window come flying into the room, have the students use their bodies to shield their testing materials so that they will not be damaged. Have plenty of gauze on hand to ensure that no one accidentally bleeds on the answer
documents. Damaged answer sheets will not scan properly.

Should gale force winds ensue, please have everyone stuff their test booklets and answer sheets into their shirts being very careful not to bend them because bent answer documents will not scan properly.

If any student gets sucked into the vortex of the funnel cloud, please make sure they mark at least one answer before departing and of course make sure they leave their answer sheets and test booklets behind. You will have to account for those.

Should a funnel cloud pick you, the test administrator, up and take you flying over the rainbow, you will still be required to account for all of your testing materials when you land so please take extra precautions. Remember, once you have checked them out, they should
never leave our hands.

When rescue workers arrive to dig you out of the rubble, please make sure that they do not, at any time, look at or handle the testing materials. Once you have been treated for your injuries, you will still be responsible for checking your materials back in. Search dogs will not be allowed to sift through the rubble for lost tests. Unless of course they have been through standardized test training.

Please do not pray should a severe weather situation arise. Your priority is to actively monitor the test and a student might mark in the wrong section if you are praying instead of monitoring. I'm sure God will put war, world hunger, crime, and the piracy on hold until
testing is over. He knows how important this test is.

Yes, testing time is important. Yes, testing time is serious. So serious you have to laugh sometimes to keep from crying.

The sound you hear now is me……heavily sighing.

The Gift

Back during another lifetime in the 1970s you would have found me on Friday night sitting in front of our family television….the one where the knob had fallen off and we had to resort to using needle-nosed pliers to change it…patiently waiting for my favorite television show to air. There I was – gazing up at the screen – watching a parade of commercials and happily munching on taco-flavored Doritos – then I would hear the theme song I can sing to this day and even if you won’t admit it, you can as well.

Here’s the story…of a lovely lady…who was bringing up three very lovely girls…All of them had hair of gold like their mother’s…the youngest one in curls.

Here’s the story…of a man named Brady…who was busy with three boys of his own…They were four men…living all together…yes, they were all alone.

I loved the Brady Bunch. They were different. They were not a cookie-cutter version of my very average family. Not everyone was related by blood, not everyone got along all the time, but there was a lot of love and acceptance. Take two families with former tragedy and throw in a dash of Alice and presto! An Instant American family I would have loved to be a part of.

Look around your classroom or neighborhood. We have more families with steps and halves and live-ins than ever before, and if you are like me you have often side-stepped an important facet of American History….our family history.

It’s easy to ignore these days, isn’t it?

We have students who have their fair share of tragedy….parents on drugs, in jail, molestations, mental illness, a different uncle in the house every week or so, physical violence…a plethora of mixed families that make the Brady Bunch-type family impossible to achieve, so I can understand why educators might be leery of asking children to examine their families, to answer the question why their families are important, and to decide how their family fits into the American quilt even with all the baggage that sometimes accompanies family life these days.

But, how can we ask students to connect to a bunch of folks discussed in the study of history that they’ve never heard of and will never meet unless they can connect to how they fit in….how their family fits into our society no matter the baggage and no matter the circumstances?

A brand new book has dropped into my lap that I think would serve as a great reminder that families come in all shapes and forms. A family doesn’t necessary have to be a group of people all related by biology….they have to have things in common and those things bind us together in love.

The book I’m talking about is called The Gift. Its author and illustrator, Karen Craft, just happens to be my dear sister. In The Gift she tells the true story of Baby Boy who came to live with a family who wanted a little boy very much. The book covers numerous themes from family love, overcoming tragedy, and even an honest look at what makes the concept of family what it is and to be more precise what makes the concept of a mother….a mother.

As the first page of the book states, “A Mama isn’t just someone that gives birth to you. She’s someone that sits with you when you’re sick, and doesn’t mind. She’s the one who bakes you cookies late into the night, when you forgot to tell her earlier. She will clap louder than anyone at your piano recital. She reads your favorite book to you over and over. And over. She really listens to you when you need to talk and when you’re scared she makes you feel safe. She teaches you to be polite and chew with your mouth closed. She’s the last person you see when she kisses you good night, and the first person you want to see in the morning. You know in your heart that she’s your Mother, you Mom, your Mama. She’s your gift and you are hers. Sometimes biology just isn’t so important after all.”

The Gift is a great book to open the door to discuss adoption with students of all ages, to discuss blended families, to discuss losing a family member, and to discuss how non-family members….our friends and neighbors….are important parts of our families as well.

Children will love the story details regarding Da, Mama, Sister Dear, and Baby Girl. The story even has its own version of Alice in the guise of Nanni-K who in reality happens to be my dear niece.

It is a great resource for your classroom library, a media center, or a home library. Students, young and old, will love The Gift as a read aloud as they make Mother’s Day cards and presents, and the book lends itself well to small group reading activities for older students.

Karen Craft’s illustrations are brought to life even in more exact detail by artist Meghan Branscomb from Mornin’ Glory Studios. As you can see from the story illustrations I’ve scattered through this post they are exceptional and make the story even more entertaining. I’m already thinking about making a few slides of the illustrations in enlarged detail to show to students as the book is read.

It’s a great book to purchase for your child or another child you know. With Mother’s Day around the corner it is also a perfect gift for your mother, mothers you know young and old, and even those motherly-types you have in your life. I have a few of those….and I know you do too.

Visit Karen Craft's website, Just Sharing a Story , to purchase your copy of The Gift.

An Unexpected Nod

I’ve been so out of touch lately, and I’ve missed a few nods from fellow bloggers. One such nod came from Teacher of One over at Boys + Academy. She’s been so very gracious to award me the Premio Dardo award.

"This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.”

Teacher of One was also nice enough to post the history behind the Premio Dardo award she obtained from K Squared Ramblings. Interesting stuff…..

Now I’m supposed to pass the nod along to 15 other blogs. It wasn’t hard for me to decide, so in no particular order:

Shrewdness of Apes

Scheiss Weekly

Learn Me Good

Polski 3's View From Here

Walking the Berkshires

Civil War Memory

Boston, 1775

Millard Fillmore's Bathtub

*Paw Paw Bill

*Will Think 4 Wine

*Principal's Office

*Old Tybee Ranger

From the Trenches of Public Ed.

Jon Rowe

The blogs with the asterisk beside them are Georgia blogs. They are located on my very, very long blogroll of Georgia bloggers located at Georgia on My Mind.

April Fool's Continued....

Well….I don’t think anyone noticed, but if you stopped by yesterday my cartoon image of myself and my other identifiers on this blog were missing. Instead you would have seen the image and name of another blogger…..100 Farmers.

We participated in a little April Fool’s prank that was led by Mister Teacher over at Learn Me Good. You can see his “day two” post here where he identifies all of the participants. Mister Teacher states, “A group of us got together and decided that we would switch blogs for the day and see if anyone noticed. Looking around at some of the blogs involved, it doesn’t look like many people did notice.” He continues, “At any rate, noticed or not, ballyhooed or critically disdained, we had fun.”

Yes, indeed….we did.

Long story short my particular post regarding a college history activity I do with students was posted over at Scholastic Scribe , and the post from 100 Farmers regarding progress reports was posted here at History Is Elementary.

The whole thing was motivating for me, and I sincerely thank Mister Teacher for arranging the swap.

Here are the other participants:

100 Farmers

Bluebird's Classroom

Chucheria

History is Elementary

IMC Guy

It's Not All Flowers and Sausages

I Want to Teach Forever

Learn Me Good

Ms Teacher

Scheiss Weekly

The Scholastic Scribe

So You Want to Teach?

Tales of a School Bus Driver

No Matter

Today is Progress report day. I hate progress report day. My students hate progress report day. We hate it for different reasons however.

To me, it is like a new beginning. Students get a wake-up call as to just how bad an average can be when you only turn in one assignment out of 10 but the chance to turn things around looms on the horizon. To my students however, it is a death knell. No matter how many times I remind them that it is a PROGRESS REPORT, they all scream about their averages and much moaning and gnashing of teeth is heard.

No matter how many times I ask them to see me for tutoring before or after school, I am still chased around the classroom by students waving progress reports like villagers waving flaming torches at Frankenstein. No matter how many times I tell them to take it home and get it signed for a homework grade, 40% will still throw it in the trash anyway and take another zero. No matter that I always call parents when I don't get the progress reports back. In everything I do as a teacher, grading papers and giving grades to 178 students is my least favorite thing.
I wish that all grades matched what my kids are capable of doing. I wish that all students would at least attempt to do even a small bit of what we're doing. I wish all students could taste a little bit of success without so easily accepting a progress report full of zeros.

Because in the end, it's actually no small matter when a fifteen year old has already given up.

History Today

If you are a regular reader/subscriber to History Is Elementary then you are aware that I have had several fits and starts to my posting schedule since the latter part of August due to health concerns and two major surgeries.

Thanks for hanging in the there with me. It has been a real challenge to keep to a regular blogging schedule. I’m behind in several posting topics, and the only way I know to get rid of the many entries on my “to-do” list is to just begin wrestling them to the ground one by one.

Some time ago I became aware of History Today magazine and their blog found here. Information at the site explains…History Today delves into the deeper, historical issues that lie behind the headlines. We have been published in London since 1951.

Paul Lay, the magazine’s editor has his own blog here and the main website for the magazine can be found here along with archived articles and much, much more.

I’ve already added the sites to my blog roll. Go check them out!

Great Depression in Music and Video

Today’s wordless or near wordless offering is a video regarding the Great Depression from the Thomas Brothers. If you aren’t sure who the Thomas Brothers are check out their website here and follow this link to another video clip showing how they mix history, video, and song to entertain and teach with.

Even if you can’t get the Thomas Brothers in front of students these clips are interesting enough to add to a lesson or unit of study.

Be sure to check out the video here that clearly shows how they work their magic with all age groups.



You can locate other bloggers participating in Wordless Wednesday here.

The Greater Depression?

In an October, 2008 online article at the site for a South Carolina news station, USC economist Dr. Bill Hauk states, “There are enough similarities [between the current economic crisis and the Great Depression] to say there’s definitely something wrong here. We definitely do need to be concerned. I think the comparisons to the Great Depression are certainly premature and hopefully unneeded.”

I agree with him to a point. The current situation is exactly that…current. We are living through a huge historical event that others in the future will analyze and judge. It’s too early to look at the situation clearly, yet that is our nature, isn’t it?

As a teacher of history I’m anxious to get my facts NOW, so when little John or Jane asks why did my dad lose his job, how did this all happen, or why does my mom yells at the television and throws things every time Obama’s face shows up on the screen I can give a proper answer.

Yet, we must realize the situation is still fluid, and we certainly don’t know the whole story regarding how all of the dominos have fallen or in some cases been pushed. While I want to agree with Dr. Hauk and state I don’t think today’s situation is greater than the problems our nation experienced in the 1930s especially listening to some of the folks including my parents who lived through the events I honestly have to say I don’t know…because this historical chapter is still in play.

Dr. Krassimir Petrov, a professor of Macroeconomics, International Finance, and Economics at the American University in Bulgaria, wrote a great article at The Market Oracle in November, 2008. He states, “At its core, environment of the 1990s, and the response of the Fed to the tech-telecom bust has created an economic environment that has encouraged the repetition of the very same mistakes that led to the Great Depression.”

Dr. Petrov then lists several obvious parallels to the current crisis that include:

*Asset Bubbles…first in the stock market during the 1990s, then in real estate during the 2000s, pretty much mirroring the stock and real estate market bubbles of the 1920s.

*Securitization…Although not in the very “ultra-modernistic” form and shape of the 2000s, with slicing and dicing of pools and tranches of seniority, it was widely recognized in the 1930s that securitization during the 20s drove the domino effect in the U.S. financial system during the Great Depression.

*Excessive Leverage…It was very clear back then that the root of the problem was not deleveraging per se, but the excessive leverage that took place prior to the deleveraging process. “Investment Pools” were then instrumental in both the securitization and excessive leverage, just like the Hedge Funds of today.

*Corrupt Gatekeepers…accounting firms aided and abetted the Environs and Worldcoms and in the current crisis we are seeing the same thing (see the most recent report from ABC's Brian Ross) and following the Depression the SEC was created due to the corruptness in the 1920s.

*Financial Engineering…We are led to believe that financial engineering is a rather recent phenomenon that flourished during the New Age Finance Era of the last 15 years, yet financial engineering was prevalent in the 1920s with very clear goals: (1) to evade restrictive regulations, (2) to increase leverage, and (3) to remove liabilities from the books, all too familiar to all of us today.

*Lagging Regulations…Understandably, regulations should have forseen today’s financial problems and should have been introduced before the crisis.

*Market Ideology…Laissez-Faire reigns, but we need to remember the money markets are not really free

*Non-Transparency…Originally, lack of transparency was designed to fool the markets; ironically, modern-day financial executives have gotten to the point of fooling themselves.

But then Dr. Petrov takes a turn and states the current mess will be judged greater than the Great Depression. I wonder what moniker history will finally give this time period….the Great, Great Depression? The Greater Depression?

Here are Dr. Petrov’s six reasons why this period will be judged greater:

*Overvalued real estate…The real estate market has been driven by a number of innovations in real estate finance

*Total U.S. credit – Credit makes leverage…the more credit in the market, the more leveraged it is

*Explosion of Derivatives…Warren Buffet has linked derivatives to ‘financial weapons of mass destruction.’ Derivatives, as well as ‘Value at Risk” (VaR), has skyrocketed in recent years with the potential to destabilize the financial system for decades…The unwinding of these derivatives could only be compared with a nuclear explosion in the financial system.

*Dow-Gold ratio…[This] ratio represents the most important ratio between the relative pieces of financial assets and real assets…When leverage in the financial system increases significantly, so does the ratio. When leverage increases, so does the ratio. A high ratio is interpreted as an imbalance between financial and real assets – financial assets are grossly overvalued, while real assets are grossly undervalued. It implies a correction eventually will be necessary – either through deflation, deleveraging and a collapsing stock market, or through inflation, which implies stagnant market for many years and steadily rising prices of real assets, commodities, and gold, usually associated with stagnant economy and typically resulting in stagflation. Deflation occurred during the 1930s while stagflation occurred during the 1970s.

*Global Bubbles…It is impossible to make direct comparison with the 1920s, but today the global economy is rife with bubbles. Back then in the 1920s, the U.S. had its stock and real estate bubbles, while the European communities were struggling to rebuild from the devastations of WWI that ended in 1919.

*Collapsing Bretton Woods II …The global monetary system was on a quasi-gold standard during the 1920s….While the media describes the problem as one of illiquidity and confidence, a more serious analysis indicates that boom-time credit has been employed unproductively and so losses must be incurred. In other words, scare capital has been misallocated, poorly invested, and effectively wasted. No amount of money or fiscal policy can fix the errors of the past, just like no modern treatment can quickly restore to health a drug addict debilitated from a decade-long drug abuse.

If Dr. Petrov is correct even harder times are coming. Harder times regarding life choices and harder times in trying to figure out how to teach this mess because for every economist like Dr. Petrovthat argues we are entering a period worse than the Great Depression there are just as many stating we are just in a slump and no comparison can be made.

For me….for now...the jury is still out.

The Chicken or the Egg

Which came first….the chicken or the egg?

The question goes back to ancient times when philosophers debated the origins of the universe including Aristotle, Plutarch, and Macrobius. More recent discussions have taken place with Steven Hawking and others. Here's an article regarding the question from 2006 that purports the issue has been solved.

In education we have our own chicken or the egg dilemma. Which came first….the student or the teacher?

Think about it. Students can’t exist without a teacher. Even students conducting independent study have some sort of advisor, guide, or text to teach the student. On the other hand teachers can’t exist without a student. If we are going to teach there has to be a student to teach.

So, when it comes to making educational sacrifices how do we decide who is more important…the teacher or the student?

Who should come first in education?

I’m partial to the notion of putting students first…..ALWAYS, but tough economic times really shows the mettle of some folks. They either get it, or they don’t.

It seems like Americans across all socio-economic boundaries are all re-learning economic lessons these day in a very hands-on, real life fashion. Every week I learn of more and more of our friends and family who have been let go from their jobs.

Conduct a Google blog search using the key words “hiring freeze for teachers” and this is what you find: link after link to various articles regarding hiring freezes in public school systems and university systems across the United States. Here’s an article where teachers are contemplating returning their raises to their cash strapped district.

From time to time I join in on some of the education discussions on the Topix page for my hometown of Douglasville, Georgia….a suburb of Atlanta. One particular discussion touched on the subject of a hiring freeze and the general public was debating where cuts should be made. I entered the conversation to add more information regarding why school nurses are needed in today’s schools considering all of the medicines and chronic…often life threatening burdens our students carry around with them every day.

Then I made pushed the evelope….I issued my opinion stating that if employees were given their pink slips then cuts should be made across the board and not just in the classroom. My exact statement was, “As far as [dismissing] teachers…I think we could lay off a few of the paper pushers at the county offices for local school boards.”

A gentleman using the screen name “Coach” stated, “If you think about the implications of such a horrible statement before you post it, you might reconsider it. It is some of those paper pushers, not all mind you, that is fighting for teachers jobs.”

I countered, “Not quite sure what you mean by implications…No…I think I’ll stick by my statement. I’ve been involved with three different school systems as an employee, very involved parent, and observer and can truthfully say in “most “ systems there are too many chiefs and not enough braves.

Note the keywords in my post…”most” and from the original posting…”few.” Not all paper pushers as I described them are essential and yes, I do realize there are several great educators out there who end up riding a desk. Many are my friends. We need them, and they do a great job, but there are several [examples] of dead weight out there as well. In all three systems I’ve been involved with the county office has its fair share of folks who were involved in some sort of situation where I would have lost my job [for some of their antics]…yet they get to ride a desk. Yep, I’ll stick by my statement especially since it was not a blanket statement regarding all board employees.”

Clearly, clearly I rattled this guy’s cage for some reason.

He stated, “I am not as smart as you think you are, but here goes…It seems like it’s easy to say, and it has become the first think that is said. I am not at the central office, but I am an administrator…, and I have over the past month or so been sick to my stomach at the prospect of losing teachers. I have lost sleep. I think about families and mortgages and student loans and marriages and kids…[I] get mad and then I get industrious and try to think of who might need who I am losing and I make phone calls and go see people. I help teachers to have better observations. I talk to teacher eligible for retirement about the situation. I re-evaluate what can be done and change my minds hundreds of times on just my opinion on the matter (I do not have the final decision anyway).

And then I walk down the hall, and hear horrible comments like fire “paper pushers” at the board or ‘They are going to fire teachers? What they really need to do is cut down the number of administrators we have.’ And again I think about families, and relationships, and homes, and it pisses me off that the person for whom I have been fighting to keep and losing sleep over despite the fact he/she has problems calling parents, expects me to do his/her classroom discipline, and can’t figure out why 40% of his/her students are failing. I have been fighting to keep them for several reasons. They show signs of hope, they really do love kids, and they have families…just like people I know at the board of education.

It’s a shame that bad economic times brings this out in people.

So stand by your limited convictions, and go start another blog.

Coach’s response caused me great pause. I don't really understand why someone has to resort to personal attacks when discussing an issue, but I finally responded, ”….thank you for clearing up your obvious frustration in the process of letting staff go. I certainly understand where you are coming from as far as having the responsibility of telling teachers they may not have a contract next year, and I in no way meant to belittle the burden all principals have to shoulder at this time…I understand how you have a heart even for those staff members that ‘piss you off’…the staff members that despite ‘the fact he/she has problems calling parents, expects me to do his/her classroom discipline, and can’t figure out why 40% of his/her students are failing.’

Your comment ‘They show signs of hope, they really love kids, and they have families…just like people I know at the board of education’ tugs at my heart.

I’ve seen those educators as well, but at some point we have to understand that the students come first, and if a staff member isn’t coming around not only could they be out of a job…you could be out as well, and the education profession continues to have egg on its face.

How long do we wait for those educators to “get it”? The educators you describe aren’t just newbies, and you and I know it. I’ve seen quite a few 30 year veterans with complaints against them as long as my arm and yet…someone is still waiting for them to “get it.”

I’m sorry my comments seem to make you think my convictions are so limited. One or two comments on a message board certainly do not clue me into who you are or tell you who I am…However, I would think twice before I would belittle an educator’s efforts at educating the general public about his or her subject matter as I do at my blog History Is Elementary. I began my site with the full knowledge of my last principal. She understood the importance of what I was doing even when I have spoken out on issues in a direct opposite line from hers.

She understood that the only way we are going to ever get out from under many of the misconceptions and perceptions the general public has about what we do and how we do it is by speaking out.

Coach didn’t respond to me again, so I don’t know what he thinks about how long it should take for a teacher to “get it”. One year? Two? Five? Ten?

If students should come first….we can’t keep holding onto staff waiting on them to come around. There are plenty of people out there waiting in the wings that “get it” and want to get on with it.

In the meantime, I’m sticking to my original statement on the messageboard. If cuts are made….if sacrifices are requested it should be across the board and not just classroom teachers.

What do you think?

Links for You

I get emails all the time regarding new projects and great sites to enhance my classroom. I thought I’d share a few with you:

Cotton Campus – is designed for elementary and middle school students, their educators and parents. The site has resources to help introduce the history of cotton. The site features slideshows, games, classroom activities and a video on cotton’s sustainability, as well as downloadable and printable lesson plans for teachers. Some of the activities involve writing and research, way to develop math skills through constructing and solving equations from cotton word problems, and science experiences involving comparisons between cotton, other natural and man-made fibers. There’s also a quiz or two.

21st Century Abe – has as its main purpose to celebrate Lincoln’s 200th birthday and to take a look at his life, work and words through modern eyes. This site was created by the Rosenbach Museum & Library and highlights the museum’s collection of rare Lincoln manuscripts with a digital documement viewer, artists’ interpretations, commentary from a renowned Lincoln scholar & contests for the best user submissions.

Have you checked out the PBS show called History Detectives? I was recently informed that PBS Engage is featuring History Detectives, Tukufu Zuberi, as part of the ongoing PBS Engage series called “Five Good Questions”. The series features a PBS celebrity or insider and asks vistors to to send in questions to be answered the following week. The blog series has been very successful. Tufuku Zuberi will be the feature this week coinciding with a special episode of History Detectives next Monday….February 23, 2009…dedicated to African-Americans’ impact on history and society. You can post comments and questions here.

Democracy Web – This is a new website from Freedom House and the Albert Shanker Institute. The site not only describes the U.S. experience with democracy, but also compares it to that of every country in the world, including those where citizens lack a vote and a voice. There are two sections to the site….an interactive, global Map of Freedom and an online study guide designed to assist secondary schools and college-level educators as they prepare lesson plans.

Fresh Brain – is a great place for teens to explore technology. The site states….We give teens who are great at programming, graphics, or video a place to show off their work and develop new skills in the process…..Students can learn to make a YouTube video, program a video game, or develop a Facebook application.

And finally…..last but certainly not least

Academic Earth – this site brings together video lectures and full courses from leading educational institutions and adds in a user-friendly learning environment. There are more than 1,500 lectures (including history) and there are plans to add more in the future as well as some collaborative features and content in the next few months.

Happy clicking!

Framing History Correctly

In a post of mine over at American Presidents Blog titled Monroe Crossing the Delaware I go into great detail regarding how I use Emanuel Leutze’s painting Washington Crossing the Delaware in my classroom.

I’ve posted about the painting again over at APB. It seems the Metropolitan Museum of Art discovered a photo that depicted the painting in a special frame Leutze ordered specifically for the painting.

Per a web article I read over the weekend Leutze’s frame bore sheields at each corner and was topped with an eagle crest and a ribbon that marked lines from George Washington’s eulogy: “First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of his Countrymen.”

You can read the rest of my post here, and see the Matthew Brady image that got the reframing started.

A Carnival For You...Even If You Aren't From Georgia

This month's Georgia Blog Carnival has posted over at Georgia on My Mind.

Head on over and check out several great reads. Posts include something about saving The New York Times, a review of Andy Crouch’s book Culture Making, sources to watch television online for free, and an opinion piece regarding a formal apology regarding slavery from an author you might be familiar with.

13 Battles Involving Thunderstorms

Some of our greatest battles occurred during severe thunderstorms. Here are a few….check out the links for more information.

1.Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly)- took place in Chantilly, Virginia on September 1, 1862 during the Civil War. Out numbered 3 to 1, in the dark of night, with a terrible storm all around them…first [Union] General Stevens, then [Union] General Kearny were both killed in action. Stevens [was killed] while actually leading a charge up Ox Hill towards Jackson’s main column on Little River Turnpike, and Kearny [was killed] while riding his horse, alone, into a cornfield trying to determine where the Confederates were and where to send his men….after Stevens charge had been repelled. Stevens charge and Kearny’s rallying ride held the Confederates in check for the night, and gave the rest of the Union army enough time to escape. Congress later named a special medal for honor and valor after Kearny…the Congressional Medal of Honor.

2.Battle of Nanshan-occurred during the Russo-Japanese War on May 25, 1904 outside the present-day city of Dalian, Liaoning, China. During a heavy thunderstorm, the Japanese Fourth Division attacked the walled town of Chinchou (modern-day Jinzhou), just north of Nanzan hill. Despite being defeated by no more than 400 men with antiquated artillery, the Fourth Division failed on two attempts to breach its gates. Two battalions from the First Division attacked independently …finally breaching the defenses and taking the town. With his flank thus secure, General Oku could then commence the main assault on the entrenched Russian forces on Nanshan hill. The Japanese infantry was assisted by a prolonged artillery barrage from Japanese gunboats offshore.

3.Battle of Kursk- was an important battle that took place between the Germans and Soviets from July to August, 1943, during World War II. The battle occurred at Kursk, in Western Russia….[The battle involved] more than 2 million men and 3000 tanks. Kursk has been called the greatest tank battle in history and cost Germany more than 100,000 men and irreparable losses to its previously invincible tank divisions. From this site...the ground was waterlogged, and the weather during the battle featured occaisional thunderstorms….some hampered movements and the roads were in very poor shape.

4.Battle of Monterey Pass-occurred on July 4, 1863 during the Civil War. This battle is one of the most confusing battles of the Civil War and occurred during the retreat from Gettysburg ordered by General Robert E. Lee…Darkness set in during a blinding rainstorm. The Confederates wearing gum blankets, were mistaken as Union troops by General Kilpatrick’s Union calvary and were mixed in with the Union troops.

5.Battle of Evesham- happened during England’s Second Baron’s War and resulted in the defeat of Simon de Montfort against Edward I. The battle began around eight in the morning as a severe thunderstorm began. The battle was a massacre with Simon de Montfort body severely mutiliated….his head, hands, feet, and testicles cut off.

6.Battle of Oriskany – fought during the American Revolution near Oriskany, New York on August 6, 1777. Wikipedia advises this battle was one of the bloodiest battles in the American Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign. It also has the distinction of being one of the few battles of the war where almost all of the participants were North American: Loyalists and Native Americans fought against Patriots in the absence of British soldiers…A violent thunderstorm caused a one-hour lull in the battle.

7. Battle of the Hydaspes River – involved Alexander the Great and his men in 325 BC. Alexander wanted to enter India, but this battle proved it would not happen. The Hydaspes was the last major battle fought by Alexander. Although victorious, Alexander’s exhausted army mutinied and refused to go any further into India.

8. Battle of Messines-was fought during World War I in June, 1917. One of the key features of the battle was the detonation of 19 mines immediately prior to the infantry assault, a tactic which disrupted German defenses and allowed advancing troops to secure their objectives in rapid fashion. The attack which was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele…At 3:10, the order was given across the line to detonate the mines, which totaled 600 tons of explosives. Of the 21 mines laid 19 were exploded. General Plumer remarked to his staff the evening before the attack, “Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography.”…The crest was blown off the Messines-Wytschaete ridge. Audible in Dublin and by Lloyd George in his Downing Street study, the combined sound of the simultaneous mine explosions comprised the loudest man-made explosion until that point. Of the two mines which remained undetonated on 7 June, the details of their precise location were mislaid by the British following the war, to the discomfort of local townspeople. One of the mines was detonated in a thunderstorm on 17 June 1955: the only casualty was a dead cow. The second mine remains undetected, although in recent years its location is believed to have been pinpointed. No-one has as yet attempted its recovery.

9. Battle of Puebla – Ever hear of Cinco de Mayo? This battle occurred on May 5, 1862 between Mexico and France. At some point during this battle heavy rains created a quagmire on the field. Learn more here.

10. Battle of Rain – this battle occurred during the Thirty Years War and is also referred to as the Battle of Lech….I included this battle only to be cute. No rain fell from the sky, but the battle did take place close to the city of Rain, Bavaria. Read about it here.

11. Battle of the Clouds – this battle is also known as the Battle of Warren, Battle of Whitehorse Tavern, or the Battle of Goshen and was fought on September 16, 1777 close to Malvern, Pennsylvania. Moments before a British attack a torrential downpour ensued. Washington and the Patriots were severely outnumbered and tens of thousands of cartridges were ruined by the rain. Washington opted for tactical retreat. Bogged down by rain and mud, the British allowed Washington and his army to escape.

12. Battle of Agincourt- October 1415…Having invaded France, Henry V met a formidable army at Agincourt, a village in the north east. The odds against him seemed hopeless—his troops were exhausted, hungry, suffering from dysentery and hopelessly outnumbered by the enemy. Their plight grew even worse the night before battle, when rain pelted down and, with very little shelter, the English were left soaking wet. Visit the link to find out who won.

13.Okinawa- 82 days of battle between the United States and Japan from March to June, 1945 with one of the highest number of casualties of any World War Two engagement: the Japanese lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies (mostly United States) suffered more than 50,000 casualties. The much talked-about “plum rains” of Okinawa were to set in and continue day after day. Mud was to become king, and it was impossible to mount large-scale attacks during and immediately after the storms.

Out and About Sunday

The History Carnival posted this past week over at Diapsalmata. Once I finish this post I’m putting my feet up and heading over there to click through all the great reads. Yes, I’m a little late getting around to it, but in case you are unaware I had surgery again a couple of weeks ago, and s-l-o-w is the word I live by these days. :)

A few months ago the folks over at OpenSalon.com contacted me and asked me to set up a blog over at their hub. It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do over there, but after copying my efforts here a few times I finally decided to focus on current events.

Sounds appropriate for a social studies teacher, doesn’t it?

At any rate my offering over there this week is titled A Real Apology and it focuses on my thoughts regarding a formal apology for slavery and an apology made just this past week from a former member of the KKK to U.S. Rep. John Lewis this past week. You can find the post here.

Finally, this past week Jennie, over at American Presidents Blog posted a picture for readers to identify. When she went to gather up her information to write a post to identify the man she discovered I had already written a post about him….former White House Chief Usher Ike Hoover… and published it here at History Is Elementary. Jennie’s a smart lady, a busy educator, and an even busier wife and mom…rather than reinvent the wheel she asked me to republish my post at American Presidents. I was happy to do so.

Ike Hoover is an example of great Americans that are behind the scenes…in Ike’s case he was behind the scenes for eight different presidents. In case you missed it on its first run you can read more about him over at American Presidents Blog.

Finally, I was sad to learn last week the folks who have run the Thursday Thirteen blog meme for the last several months have had to take the site down leaving many die-hard fans saddened. A few fans are continuing on with their regular Thirteen list, and I plan to do so as well. Even though I try to present an academic offering here I liked the idea of participating in Thursday Thirteen because the concept fit well with historical topics where I could relate thirteen facts in a very basic cut and dry fashion. Plus I liked the idea of reaching out to the non-history, non-educator crowd in an effort to show them history can be interesting and can be……should I really say it? FUN!!!!!!! Look for a Thirteen list later this week involving weather and war.

Have a great week!

Wordless: Images from the Dust Bowl

You can see a list of other bloggers posting wordless images here