LINKS FOR TEACHERS
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| A Civil War Soldier |
Letters from a Pennsylvania soldier during the Civil War. |
| A-1 A Teaching Guide for World War I |
Especially for high school teachers but can be adapted for grades 5 and 8, this website is outstanding! Written by Johns Hopkins University, it is a teaching guide for teaching WWI in the classroom. Even has a recipe for Victory Cake along with primary source documents and how to incorporate them into your lessons. Great activity for comparing "then" and "now." |
| An African-American Odyssey |
. This Special Presentation of the Library of Congress exhibition, The African-American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship, showcases the Library's incomparable African-American collections. The presentation was not only a highlight of what is on view in this major black history exhibition, but also a glimpse into the Library's vast African-American collections. Both include a wide array of important and rare books, government documents, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, plays, films, and recordings. Also available at this site, you can find The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress and a site with information about Jackie Robinson. |
| Atwood Center |
Atwood Outdoor Center is an excellent place to learn about Rockford's commitment to World War I with Camp Grant. Throughout the park, structures remain from the days of soldiers training in target pits and bunkers in conditions that would be similar to those they would encounter in France. |
| Authentic History |
The Authentic History Center is comprised of images of artifacts, sounds, and written letters and diaries. It is believed that these items reflect the history and societal values of the time period in which they were produced. They are presented here for individual study of American History. Browse by era to see what is available! |
| Bill of Rights |
Links to the National Archives and information on the Bill of Rights. |
| Born in Slavery |
. This is another Library of Congress site. Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). |
| Burpee Museum |
Excellent site for finding out what all is to be found at the Burpee Natural History Museum. Teachers can take advantage of workshops and there are excellent exhibits on early cultures in the northern Illinois area. |
| Civil War Soldier from Illinois |
Find out about the life of Private Jefferson Moses, an Illinois Soldier in the Civil War who trained at Camp Fuller in Rockford!! |
| Classroom-tested Handouts and Fact Sheets. |
Excellent list of handouts and lessons for grades 5, 8, and 11 arranged in chronological order. |
| Conscience and the Constitution |
delves into the heart of the Japanese American conscience and a controversy that continues today. Experience the choice faced by any group when confronted by mass injustice -- whether to comply or to resist. Comes in handy when discussing TAH’s fourth theme …”And Justice for All.” |
| Constitution |
LInks to the National Archives and information on the Constitution. |
| Constitutional Convention |
Information on the Constitutional Convention of 1787 |
| Creating the Declaration of Independence |
The National Archives site which contains a great deal of material on our famous documents including the Declaration of Independence is a must for teachers and students alike. Also check out the links concerning the Bill of Rights and many of the arguments that were behind this vital addition to our Constitution. |
| Diary of a World War I Soldier |
This is a memorable site. Transcribed by his son in the memory of his father, this is a literal transcription of the diary kept by Benjamin Edgar Cruzan, as he served with the American Expeditionary Forces during the Great War. Though coarse in appearance and betrayed by his third-grade education, this diary testifies to Cruzan’s powers of observation; that he was ever the student. Like his father before him who served with the Union Forces at Vicksburg, Jackson and Missionary Ridge, Ben Cruzan was an unabashed patriot; a nineteenth-century idealist. “It was ordinary men like my father who, with roots deep in a growing and vital nation, memorialized the Great War as historical experience.” Before he passed away, Cruzan told his son that he often regretted never having asked much about his father's experiences during the Civil War. What is never told, what is never heard, what is never written, is lost. This is an outstanding site to give insight to teachers and students of what war was really like. |
| Digital History |
Using new technologies to enhance teaching and researching history, including Landmarks in Immigration History. Contains interactive timelines and much more. Especially helpful will be the Classroom-tested Handouts and Fact Sheets. |
| Digitalized History Documents |
Find primary sources from the northern Illinois area thanks to NIU and the Rockford Public Library's Digitalization Library. Such topics as the Black Hawk War of 1832, Civil War, and documents (esp. old newspapers) for many other topics can be found using this resource. |
| Eyewitness to History |
History through the eyes of those who lived it! |
| First Native American Woman M.D. |
Susan La Flesche graduated at the top of her class in Philadelphia then returned to her tribe in Nebraska to provide health care. |
| Founding Fathers |
In defense of the Founding Fathers, the book "Vindicating the Founding Fathers," a look at the Founders' views and actions on slavery, women's rights, property rights, voting rights, and other controversial issues. In Defense of the Founding Fathers (a book that will provoke a lot of thought and will generate some great discussions with high school students). |
| From Slavery to Freedom |
The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909 presents 396 pamphlets from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, published from 1822 through 1909, by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics. The materials range from personal accounts and public orations to organizational reports and legislative speeches. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. |
| Hands-On Primary Sources |
Catalogue of hands-on primary sources from Jackdaw Publications. Kits are available on a number of History themes at each level. |
| History Teacher Resources |
An outstanding site by what must be an incredible history teacher in New York State! Check this one out! Excellent quizzes, DBQ's, and many links to check out! |
| Immigration: the Changing Face of America |
This feature presentation introduces teachers and students to the topic of Immigration. In this section, the introduction, you will find an overview of the feature, a guide to navigation, and credits. Contains teacher created lessons in Lessons and Projects from the Learning Page. |
| Jackie Robinson. |
Jackie Robinson and other baseball highlights. |
| Landmarks in Immigration History |
Contains interactive timelines and much more. |
| Lesson Plans by Joan Brodsky Schur |
Joan's website contains links to outstanding lesson plans she has created over the years on a variety of topics from "Understanding Islam" to the Civil War and Race Relations. All grade level teachers should check out this website! |
| Lessons and Projects from the Learning Page |
Find out about immigrants from a variety of ethnicities. |
| Midway Village |
Keep up with what is happening right here in Rockford! There is always something happening at the Museum Center. You might also want to stop in and check out their traveling Civil War trunk for teachers! Great hands-on artifacts from the Civil War era! |
| Monticello-Stratford Hall Seminar |
Spend three weeks in Virginia this summer studying "The Life and Leadership of the American Revolution." Check out this site for information on this incredible opportunity for teachers of American History! |
| More Civil War Sources |
The American Civil War Homepage gathers together in one place hypertext links to the most useful identified electronic files about the American Civil War (1861-1865). The page opens a gateway to the Internet's multi-formatted resources about what is arguably the seminal event in American history. Not only was the War the occasion for the abolition of slavery, but by conflict's end the re-United States had emerged as a modern, industrialized power. |
| More on Teaching the Constitution |
More sources on teaching the Constitution. |
| National Women's History Museum |
The National Women's History Museum is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational institution dedicated to celebrating the rich and diverse history of women's contributions to Ameican culture and society. |
| PBS Teacher Source |
Great resource for teachers with over 3,000 free lesson plans and activities that are history related. |
| Primary Sources and DBQ's |
Just what it says! A treasure trove of Internet hotlinks to numerous resources on just about any History-related topic for all levels. |
| Saving Our History |
Excellent site for History teachers with wonderful lesson plans for incorporating local history. Don't miss reading about the Teacher Contest which offers $5,000. prizes for its winners! Also student contests! Check this one out!! |
| Seminars on Teaching American History |
Information from seminars on teaching American History. This particular one is on Winston Churchill. |
| Slaves and the Courts |
Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 contains just over a hundred pamphlets and books (published between 1772 and 1889) concerning the difficult and troubling experiences of African and African-American slaves in the American colonies and the United States. The documents, most from the Law Library and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, comprise an assortment of trials and cases, reports, arguments, accounts, examinations of cases and decisions, proceedings, journals, a letter, and other works of historical importance. |
| Smithsonian Museum of American History |
Visit the Smithsonian Institute of American History without leaving your computer! |
| Summer Institutes for 2006 |
A terrific site with information on various seminars and upcoming summer institutes. |
| Talking History |
Talking History is a thirty-minute weekly radio program produced by the Organization of American Historians that separates fact from fiction and myth from reality through interviews with nationally recognized historians and writers. |
| Teacher "Oz" |
This is a GOLD MINE of information, especially for those of you who work with primary documents and DBQ's! Be sure to check this one out! This is a history teacher like no other! |
| Teaching the Constitution |
Lesson plans for teaching the Constitution! |
| Teaching with Documents |
Great ideas from National Archives. This section contains reproducible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government, and cross-curricular connections. |
| Teaching with Historic Maps |
This resource for K-12 teachers and students developed by the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library is designed to bring historically significant map documents into your classroom. Not only are you able to download these incredible documents, there are lesson plans to accompany each map for K-12! The maps are high quality images of historic significance, primary documents that illustrate the geographical dimensions of American history. |
| The Cold War |
CNN’s site explains CNN's landmark documentary series, COLD WAR, which tells, in 24 hours, the story of our lives in the second half of the twentieth century ¬ through the eyes of those who lived it. Not only does this site have excellent information, it has teacher guidelines and student handouts to accompany the oral history project. |
| The Cuban Missile Crisis |
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a major confrontation between the United States and the USSR over Soviet supplied missile installations in Cuba, regarded by many as the world's closest approach to nuclear war. This site has a very brief description of the crisis. There are also links to the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War, again very brief. |
| The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress |
A collection of the papers of Frederick Douglass. |
| The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
An excellent resource for teachers of U.S. History. |
| The Learning Page |
This is the Library of Congress’s website for teachers. What an incredible site! Loads of materials and ideas. An example: Why does each region of the United States have its own distinct flavor? How did the diverse cultures of its people create the American West? Students use documents from the American Memory collections to explore these questions in Images of Our People: A Patchwork of Cultures. This is just one of many teacher-created and classroom-tested lessons found in the Lesson Be sure to check it out! |
| The Louisiana Purchase |
The Louisiana Purchase has been described as the greatest real estate deal in history. In 1803 the United States paid France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory--828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River. Find out more about this incredible deal by reading the three documents (transcribed) that more than doubled the size of America. |
| The Museum of Tolerance |
Great On-line resource for World War II and the Holocaust. |
| The National Women's History Project |
Lots of resources for this year's Women's History Month theme: "Women--Builders of Communities and Dreams." |
| United States Army Center of American Military History |
At this website, you can find material on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as well as an electronic celebration of the Army's proud heritage. From its first stand at Lexington through current peacekeeping missions, our Army has answered every call. Take some time to explore this site and discover over two centuries of our country’s proud heritage. Learn about our beginnings and our campaigns, read about our history and tour the Army Art collections. |
| VanSledright Article |
The authors of the National History Standards and a growing body of research literature have leveled a serious challenge to this stance. These reformers maintain that children should learn history with greater fidelity to the craft: analyzing primary and secondary sources, and in his article, VanSledright explains why he feels this can surely be accomplished. |
| War Letters |
From PBS “The American Experience:” In every American war from the Revolution to the Persian Gulf War, military men and women captured the horror, pathos and intensity of warfare by writing letters home. Many of them were still teenagers at the time. Taken together, the letters form an epic record of wartime events. Read individually, they reveal the deep emotions of people in the midst of a unique -- and terrible -- experience. Featured here are excerpts from some of the letters in Andy Carroll's book, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars, dramatized in the American Experience film. Read each excerpt to find out more about the letter writer, and what happened to him or her at the end of the war. |
| War Letters |
War Letters offers insights into American history topics including the personal narrative, veterans, wartime service and sacrifice, military actions, and U.S. involvement in foreign affairs. You can use part or all of the film, or delve into the rich resources available on this Web site to learn more, either in a classroom or on your own. |
| Web Sites for History Teachers |
SBC's website for lessons, webquests, and other information for teachers. |
| Witchcraft in Salem |
Check out this site which uses the interpretation of primary sources to get kids engaged in experiencing history. |
| Women in History |
For thousands of years, women have left their mark on the world, at times influencing to the point of drastic change. This web site lists 300 women who made a difference! |
| Women in History-Biographies |
Thomson Gale's Website features an area that is particularly rich in women's biographies. |
| Women in History--National Register of Historic Places |
The National Register of Historic Places has created a website that takes viewers on tours of historic properties commemorating the events, people, designs, and achievements that illustrate wonen's contributions to our nation's history. |
| Women's History on the History Channel |
The History Channel honors Women's History Month with a website featuring a history of women's suffrage, an historical time-line, a women's hall of fame with mini-biographies, firsts in women's achievements, a "did you know?" area, and more! |
| World War I Lesson Plans |
Historians continually debate underlying causes of World War I, including changing political and economic situations in major European nations, the Industrial Revolution, and social turmoil. Whatever, the cause, The World War of 1914-18 - The Great War, as contemporaries called it -- was the first man-made catastrophe of the 20th century. This site contains a number of lesson plans for upper grades concerning the Great War. |
