Weir Farm: Home of an American Impressionist
This site examines the farm acquired by painter Alden Weir (1852-1919), where he summered for nearly 40 years (northeast of New City). At a time railroads were expanding, populations were increasing, and America's agrarian system was being replaced by industry, Weir was an artist who found inspiration in the quiet everyday settings of New England, and, in many ways, defined our vision of the American landscape.
The News About the News
This lesson will invite students to explore how news shows are constructed and to assess the way a newscast prioritizes different categories of news.
The Lotus Seed: Understanding Heritage and Immigration
These lessons are introduced through the Reading Rainbow episode featuring this story which is about a Vietnamese girl who saves a lotus seed to remind herself of her homeland and journey to America. Through viewing and discussion of the video and subsequent investigation of the web resources, students will develop an understanding of culture and history.
Seeing it My Way
Students will work to recognize constructed media messages, identify the elements that make up media images, analyze the conventions in media messages that create point of view, and examine the different ways that viewpoints position the spectator or reader in different ways.
Reporting the Truth from Baghdad
Students will understand the major turning points in the history of Iraq, explore the ideas of freedom of the press and responsibilities of reporters, and examine various news reports through a critical lens.
Reading Photographs
This lesson will encourage students to develop the skills of visual literacy in response to photographs.
Urban Renewal
Urban renewal policies enacted in San Francisco's Fillmore district in the 1950s-60s provide a vivid case study in public policy, federal and local government, and citizen activism. This important history sheds light on present-day urban renewal policies, such as empowerment zones and welfare-to-work.
African American farm and home demonstration agents, Tuskegee Institute, 1925
Caption: "Group portrait of African American farm and home demonstration agents on the front lawn at Tuskegee Institute. Statue of Booker T. Washington in the background. Agent M. B. Ivy is in the first row, second from left (see also Item 71.25.5.2 in this collection). Place: Tuskegee Institute, Macon County, Alabama." July 15, 1925.,JPEG image from black-and-white photograph.
Setting Up Study Groups
The aim of this lesson is to enable students to take control of their learning through setting up self-help study groups. It is the fourth lesson in the study skills series and is intended to support adult learners who are embarking on a course of study and need to acquire skills which will help them to be successful. The lessons are designed as a package with key skills reinforced in each subsequent lesson so that a study culture is developed over time. They can be delivered sequentially or use
The Constitution: Drafting a More Perfect Union
This lesson focuses on the drafting of the United States Constitution during the Federal Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. Students will analyze an unidentified historical document and draw conclusions about what this document was for, who created it, and why. After the document is identified as George Washington’s annotated copy of the Committee of Style’s draft constitution, students will compare its text to that of an earlier draft by the Committee of Detail to understand the evolution
The Aaron Copland Collection: Ca. 1900-1990
The inaugural online presentation of the Aaron Copland Collection at the Library of Congress celebrates the centennial of the birth of the American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990). The multiformat Aaron Copland Collection from which the online collection derives spans the years 1910 to 1990 and includes approximately 400,000 items documenting the multifaceted life of an extraordinary person who was composer, performer, teacher, writer, conductor, commentator, and administrator. It comprises b
Play with purpose
Electronic whiteboards make the internet an active communication vehicle of engagement and learning.
North Carolina Thinking Skills: An introduction
There are five dimensions in the model of thinking skills used to classify questions for the state's assessment tests.
Making the best of testing
Two teachers offer a four-point plan for preparing students for end-of-grade tests without "teaching to the test": Teach to students' needs, integrate tested concepts into the curriculum, focus on learning before test-taking, and reduce students' stress.
Ten questions for planning an oral history project
Plan ahead to avoid frustration and to ensure that your students get as much as possible out of an oral history project.
Teach what you love
Stephen Mullaney works as a half-time ESL resource teacher/half-time second grade language arts teacher at Club Boulevard Elementary in Durham. This article focuses on his advice for teachers working with ESL students.
A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 16 Kinwardstone Hundred
The volume relates the history of the 15 parishes in Kinwardstone hundred in east Wiltshire, including Froxfield and Great and Little Bedwyn. The hundred lay between two medieval royal forests, Savernake and Chute.
Ongoing assessment strategies for writing
Making final assessment easier by helping students improve the quality of their writing along the way.
Observing other teachers
Learning from other teachers is an important means of professional development. Here are some suggestions for observing successful teachers in your school, in other schools, and on the web.
Number sense every day
Number sense -- an intuitive feel for numbers and their relationships -- develops when children solve problems for themselves.
