Columbus and the Age of Discovery

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Logo, Columbus and the Age of Discovery
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Created to help mark the 500th anniversary of Columbus's 1492 voyage to America, this site is a "text-retrieval system," offering more than 1,110 scholarly and popular articles, drawn from journals, magazines, institutions, speeches, reviews, newspapers, student papers, and "other [secondary] sources relating to various encounter themes."

The search functions are cumbersome—the articles are both indexed by portions of the author's last name and arranged by underdeveloped category designations.

Tennessee Electronic Atlas

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Map graphic, Tennessee Electric Atlas
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This site provides information about the state of Tennessee and offers a gateway for learning more about the state. One of the main goals is to disseminate data through thematic maps and interactive mapping (which contains tutorial exercises that introduce the basic concepts involved in geographic information systems). For those interested in utilizing the full capabilities of the site, the Metro GIS service area of the site allows users to look at the main metropolitan regions in the state and to customize the themes (such as churches, golf courses, and hospitals) to their preferences. Included are data concerning agriculture, education, physical landscape, economics, and society. The site includes information from the 2000 national census, as well as state legislative districts. There is also detailed information about education in Tennessee. Visitors can check out the school system report cards to see results of standardized tests, both in raw numbers and in comparative terms versus other districts. Although the site contains no historical maps, the site allows visitors to compare some change over time, and visitors can use the site to compare the size and shape of the 106th and 108th Congressional districts.

Jamestown Virtual Colony

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Logo, Jamestown Virtual Colony
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Useful resources for teaching the founding and settlement of Jamestown colony in Virginia. This site offers a series of lesson plans around four themes. "Corporate Colonization" covers the establishment of the London Company, colonial charters, and background to English colonization of the New World. "Development of Government" reviews the economic and social conditions in England that motivated many to migrate to America and the rights of Englishmen. "Economic Matters" discusses the economic goals of colonization, hardships and successes settlers experienced, and development of a tobacco and slave economy in Virginia. "Organization of Society" outlines cultural differences between Indians and English settlers, Indian/white relations, and the roles of religion and women in Virginia. The final section, "Broader Themes of Jamestown", provides general information on geography, competition among European powers for colonization of the New World, and the evolution of Virginia society. Each section contains lesson objectives, outlines, plans, and an annotated bibliography of helpful scholarly works. There are links to 13 online exhibits and ten sites for primary documents. For elementary school teachers looking for creative teaching ideas, this is an extremely useful site.

Colonial Williamsburg jmccartney Wed, 10/07/2009 - 15:12
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Photo, Asynchronous Fashion Photography Interactive, Colonial Williamsburg.
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Intended to promote tourism to Colonial Williamsburg, this website is also rich in educational resources. Visitors may "Experience the Life" by selecting one of 12 categories, ranging from animals to food to the African-American Experience; and will find information and resources about each topic. For example, visitors can learn about colonial clothing for men, women, and children. There is a paper doll game where players must assemble the various layers of colonial clothing in the proper order. Selecting the link "See the Places" allows users to virtually visit 27 buildings, including the prison (Public Gaol), the Capitol, and eight colonial sites, including Market Square and Duke of Gloucester Street. "Meet the People" allows visitors to learn about prominent Williamsburg natives, such as the Randolph family, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry; or meet more diverse groups, like African Americans or colonial children.

The "Teacher Resource" section allows educators to virtually tour Colonial Williamsburg or learn about the science of mapping colonial America. It also provides 18 lesson plans for exploring such topics as the colonial reaction to the Stamp Act or the murder trial of Abigail Briggs. Listen to the audio review:.

Children's Books Online

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Illustration, Pinkie says good-bye, Margaret Clayton, From Bunny Brothers
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This website's library offers full versions of more than 700 classic children's books indexed by age/interest reading levels (pre-readers and very early readers, early readers, intermediate readers, advanced readers, and adult readers). Such classic tales as Jack and the Beanstalk, Mother Goose, Three Blind Mice, Tom Thumb, The Ugly Duckling, Peter Rabbit, Puss in Boots, The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Pinocchio are available on the site.

A number of the books are available in multiple languages. The site's Eye in the Ear section offers audio tracks accompanying select children's books. And its Super Index offers a full listing of the available stories, poems, rhymes, book chapters, and illustrations. For those researching children or children's literature, this site is a treasure trove.

Encyclopedia of Alabama

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Photo, Mobile 1932, Erik Overbey, University of South Alabama Archives
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If you're looking for information on Alabama, you've found a good place to start. This website is a compilation of informative articles on the state of Alabama—current and historical information.

To access the articles, you can choose a category subset (agriculture, arts and literature, business and industry, education, folklife, geography and environment, government and politics, history, peoples, religion, science and technology, or sports and recreation), and browse. Another option is to select "indexes" from the main menu, and then choose another means of browsing (titles, authors, people, places, events, or organizations). As of the time of writing, the encyclopedia offers 1,400 entries, and new articles are added weekly.

Other sections worth exploring on the site include "features" which groups together articles on Alabama musicians and "galleries" where you can find image collections of John Kelly Fitzpatrick and Dale Kennington's paintings, photos by Erik Overbey and Mary Morgan Keipp, Magnolia Cemetery, the Ava Maria Grotto, folk pottery, barbecue, and far more.

Don't forget to explore the Beta version of the For Teacher's Section. Here, you will discover a wide variety of articles organized in accordance with Alabama teaching standards.

Labor Arts

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Lithograph, "John Henry," William Gropper, Between 1897 and 1977
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A modestly-sized exhibition of visual materials from a variety of labor-related organizations that focuses on ways in which artists and others have celebrated working people and labor unions in 20th-century America. Includes 44 photographs, 19 images of leaflets and pamphlets, 13 buttons, badges, and ribbons, 25 examples of cartoon art, eight songbook and sheet music covers, six images from murals, and nine covers from the journal Labor Defender. Covers themes of workers at work, strikes, parades, demonstrations, and the civil rights movement. Provides exhibits on original art depicting labor, the New York City "culture of solidarity," and the early struggles of the Hotel and Motel Trades Council. Materials are identified with short descriptions of up to 100 words. Offers links to 61 related sites. Useful for those studying political uses of visual culture in 20th-century America.

Hard Hat Riots: An Online History Project

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Photo, Construction Workers with American Flag, New York Times
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A well-designed and innovative approach to teaching history, this site, designed by three PhD candidates at New York University, presents multifaceted perspectives on the May 8, 1970, attacks in New York City on Vietnam War protesters by hundreds of construction workers.

Users can enter the site by selecting any of 12 photographs, nine newspaper headlines, three places in the city where rioting occurred, or 10 summaries of views on the events and their meaning by historians and journalists. Selected items link to additional resources, including a police report and interviews with a student and a construction worker. The creators challenge users to fit the riots into wider contexts and to assess variant attempts at historical understanding.

Offers about a dozen suggested activities for high school and college teachers. Though limited in scope and quantity of material, this site is of great value to those studying social class in the Vietnam War era, labor history, and media influence in American life.

Flint Sit-Down Strike

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Photo, Genora Johnson with a very..., c. 1936-1937, Flint Sit-Down Strike
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This rich, multimedia resource provides an introduction to "the greatest strike in American history." The six-week occupation of the General Motors plant at Flint, Michigan, in 1936–37, was led by the recently-formed United Auto Workers. Using the new tactic of remaining in the plant rather than picketing outside, the strikers stopped production and won many demands.

The site begins with a short introductory essay and a small bibliography and webography. The three main sections—organization, strike, and aftermath—provide nearly 100 audio interviews recorded between 1978 and 1984 with former strikers recalling work conditions prior to the strike, experiences during the sit-in, the hostile reaction of Flint residents, the role of the Women's Auxiliary, and conditions following the strike. Each section includes a narrative essay. In addition the site presents slideshows, an audio timeline, and a Flash-generated strike map with textual and audio links.

Coal Mining in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

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Logo, Coal Mining in the Guilded Age and Progressive Era
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This collection about coal mining in the 19th century consists of 17 separate pages, mostly containing primary source material, produced between 1869 and 1904, about coal mining and mining disasters. Material includes a 600-word essay on the dangers of coal mining, an account of an 1869 cave-in, Stephen Crane's 1894 article, "In the Depths of a Coal Mine," eight photographs of coal miners from 1904, and a 30-page account of labor violence written by a Pinkerton agent in 1894.

A page about mining machinery offers four study questions for student visitors. The site will be useful for those studying 19th-century coal mining and labor issues.