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Accelerating Student Learning and Motivation
in Your U.S. History Classroom
Cutting-Edge Strategies and Hands-On Activities
This website is intended to serve as a support for
those who attended the "Accelerating Student Learning and Motivation in the U.S. History Classroom - Cutting-Edge Strategies
and Hands-On Activities" seminar.
To the left you'll see navigation titles representing each
unit from the handbook. Simply click on the appropriate link to see the resources related to that unit.
| Centennial Mirror |
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Creating The Museum
The Workshop Premise (updated 2/18/07)
How do we engage students in meaningful ways in the classroom.
The research of Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelan suggests that people are interested in history that they can see, hear or
touch. Additionally, people relate to history when they can personalize it. Historic images, music, video and
text are all ways that can engage our students.
To your left you see a thumbnail of the Centennial Mirror. I have scanned the
image you saw at the workshop, and have provided a link to this enlarged version. Open a word document, and create a
landscape 11 x 17 document. Insert this image, and print. You'll have your very own Centennial Mirror.
Please let me know if you're having any problems.
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Assignments, Articles, Images, and Sources To Engage Students (Updated
4/5/08)
Lessons and Assignments
2. An American Time Capsule - from American Memory, this excellent site contains three centuries of "broadsides and ephemera". You
and your students can search in multiple ways. Any way you look at it, there is some amazing information here - like
this newspaper page depicting the flow of information following Lexington and Concord.
3. Progressivism PowerPoint Project - we discussed this lesson during the seminar. This is the updated lesson - all research summaries are included.
This should help shorten the length of this assignment. Remember to conclude the assignment with a slideshow exam.
4. Manzanar National Historic Site Lesson Plans - I was at a seminar this summer and met a park ranger from Manzanar. She gave all participants an amazing collection
of primary source artifacts that one could use with their students. The above website gives one a sampling of these
documents, but also the detailed lesson plans that go with them. The staff at Manzanar are quite generous and will probably
send you a complete packet of the resources if you ask!
Books, Articles, Images, and Sources
1. Eyewitness - from the National Archives Online Exhibits comes this amazing collection of eyewitness accounts throughout U.S. History.
Some highlights include Dr. Stone's testimony of Lincoln's death, and the last hours of Richard Nixon's Presidency.
Easy to use and contains many images!!
2. There Goes My Everything - Jason Sokol - this book opened me to a different view of the African American Civil Rights movement. This books focuses
on the wide variety of responses among white Southerners. In my opinion, this book is invaluable because it provides
a window into how white southerners viewed the movement.
3. "Hiroshima: A Survivor's Story" - amazing story of Francis Tomosawa, and American-born boy who was sent to Japan to in 1941 to learn and live his Japanese
cultureduring. Unfortunately, he was sent to Hiroshima, where he then lived through the atomic bomb. a. You may also want to view (not sure it's appropriate for students...VERY graphic) HBO's White Light, Black Rain. The Teacher's Guide website(PDF) includes other useful website and information.
4. Clash of the Titans - I found these lesson materials when looking for the image of the "Unveiled" statue of Booker T. Washington that can be
seen on the campus of the Tuskegee Institute. You will find the image there, but look at the comparison of the obituaries.
5. "Amazing Grace" - I came across this story during a workshop. John Newton was a slave trader who had a conversion experience.
He dropped his old ways, and became an abolitionist. It just so happens that he wrote the words for "Amazing Grace".
Read the article above to see what happened to it after he wrote the lyrics. I can see really using this during the
teaching of the 2nd Great Awakening and its relation to the reform movements of the first half of the 19th century.
6. Sundown Towns, James Loewen - Excellent book by James Loewen (author of Lies My Teacher Told Me. Focuses on a
little known aspect of racism - that of the sundown town. Sundown Towns are towns where few if any African Americans
live. Loewen explores the reasons this has occured. The geography and timing of sundown times may surprise you.
This is the support website for the book
7. Presidential Campaign Songs - Oscar Brand. Smithsonian Folkways records released this album last year. It contains Presidential songs for EACH President
from Washington to Clinton. This is a great way to introduce elections, campaigns and get some insight into how campaigns
tried to "sell" their candidates.
8. Owney and American Railroads - I just went to the California History Museum and was taken by the story of Owney. I could see this story engaging
all students at some level.
9. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory - I was reading an article in the August 2006, Smithsonian, about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. In
the article they mention the website which has an amazing collection of documents and photographs.
10. "The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi" - William Bradford Huie. This is the interview given by Emmett Till's killers after they were acquited. I think
it provides valuable insight into the realities of Jim Crow South. On another level, it provides an excellent opportunity
to discuss "double jeopardy".
11. Top 100 American Surnames - I found this chart on Wikipedia. It is based on the 2000 census and shows the change in number of surnames in the
United States. I use it to show the changing nature of diversity in the United States. Notice the incredible increase
in Hispanic names. Also notice that Nguyen is at #57!! I also like students to see the % of names by race.
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Kevin Williams
2008 Presentation Schedule
For information or to register:
2008 Dates
March/April 2007
3/31/07 - Harrisburg, PA
4/01/07 - Cherry Hill, NJ
4/02/07 - Newark, NJ
4/03/07 - Long Island, NY
4/04/07 - Syracuse, NY
Click "Kevin Williams Contact" to get in touch, ask a question, offer comments, or inform me of features or links that aren't working.
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