| Fifteen
New Reading Resources In Arts, Language Arts, Science,
& Social Studies Added To “Free” Website
Arts
“Drop
Me Off in Harlem” is a multimedia exploration of the Harlem Renaissance
(1920s-1930s). Students can hear Langston Hughes read his poems,
listen to Duke Ellington direct his orchestra, or watch.
“Shorty”
George Snowden dance the Lindy Hop. An interactive map displays
important cultural, social, & political establishments. Lesson
ideas & learning activities facilitate an arts-integrated
approach to the study of key works & themes that emerged.
(KC).
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/harlem
“What
Is Jazz?” presents audio excerpts from four lectures by Billy
Taylor at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1995.
Taylor — a noted jazz pianist, historian, & educator — discusses
jazz from its roots in the African-American slavery experience,
through the early days of ragtime, & onward through swing,
bop, & progressive jazz. Excerpts can be sorted by artist
or jazz style. They’re organized around questions, such as: Where
was jazz born? How did swing become bebop? How is bebop influencing
today’s jazz artists? Where do ideas for improvisation come from?
(KC)
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/whatisjazz/
Language
arts
“Piers
Plowman Electronic Archive” offers a hypertext archive of the
three versions of the William Langland’s 14th-century allegorical
poem “Piers Plowman.” The poem was reproduced by scribes &
early editors, & the surviving 54 manuscripts are full of
errors — some the result of incompetence, others the product of
sophisticated re-writing. This electronic edition differs from
most printed editions in that it does not suppress editorial disagreement
among the manuscripts. It embraces the provisional nature of scholarly
editing & proposes a set of solutions to editorial problems
without suggesting they will have the final authority. (NEH).
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/seenet/piers/
Science
“Exploring
Earth: Investigations” provides more than 75 earth science investigations.
Each investigation is organized around a question: What stories
do rocks tell? Could Mars support life? How can one volcano change
the world? Photos & text (& sometimes video) help students
answer each question. Among the topics: earth’s layers, rocks,
volcanoes & plate tectonics, earthquakes & mountains,
surface & ground water, wind & currents, atmosphere &
weather, climate change, oceans, our moon & solar system,
& earth’s history. (NSF)
http://earthsci.terc.edu/navigation/investigation.cfm
“Red
Rock Adventures: A Teacher’s Guide to Canyon Country Outdoor Education”
provides 100 science activities for Grades 1-6. The guide also
outlines 18 one-day field trips. While best suited to the high
desert of southeastern Utah, many field trips can be adapted for
other sites. (NPS)
http://www.nps.gov/seug/ccoe/guide.html#
“Watershed
Ecology” introduces basic watershed ecology concepts. It examines
physical forces that shape watershed ecosystems, plants &
animals that inhabit watersheds, typical watershed structures,
& how watersheds function — at different geographic scales
& over time. (EPA)
http://www.epa.gov/owowwtr1/watershed/wacademy/acad2000/ecology/
Social
studies
“Archeology
for Interpreters: A Guide to the Knowledge of the Resource” can
help students learn about archeological methods & how archeological
interpretations are made. It is organized around questions that
include: What is archeology? What do archeologists do? How do
archeologists determine how old things are? (NPS)
http://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/afori/
“Cowpens
National Battlefield” commemorates a battle at the “cow pens”
in South Carolina (January 1781) that helped turn the tide of
war in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution. Coming
on the heels of a patriot victory at nearby Kings Mountain (October
1780), it was the second successive staggering defeat for British
forces under General Cornwallis. Nine months later (October 1781),
Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. (NPS)
http://www.nps.gov/cowp/
“Effigy
Mounds National Monument On-Line Teacher’s Guide” offers 40 lesson
ideas in archeology, art, language arts, math, science, social
studies, & other subject areas. The website also provides
articles on the history, geology, & ecology of the mounds.
(NPS)
http://www.nps.gov/efmo/parks/table_of_contents.htm
“Eisenhower
Home Virtual Tour” walks students through the only place President
Eisenhower
&
his wife ever called home. In 1950, as they approached
retirement, the Eisenhowers purchased a farm adjoining Gettysburg
National Military Park. During his Presidency, President &
Mrs. Eisenhower used the farm as a weekend retreat, a refuge in
time of illness, & a comfortable meeting place for world leaders.
(NPS)
http://www.nps.gov/eise/tour1a.htm
“Grant-Kohrs
Ranch” commemorates America’s frontier cattle era. The ranch —
located north of Yellowstone in Deer Lodge, Montana – is among
the best surviving examples of an economic strategy based on the
western cattle industry of the 1850s-1970s. A German immigrant,
Conrad Kohrs, purchased the ranch in 1866 & began by supplying
to mining camp butcher shops. In 1874 he inaugurated rail shipment
to Chicago’s Union Stock Yard. He upgraded the bloodlines of his
stock by introducing purebred Shorthorn & Hereford cattle,
which were better suited to the northern climate & put weight
on faster than the rangy Texas Longhorns. He located & moved
cattle among rangeland in four states & two Canadian provinces.
This website tells his story. It includes information about cowboys,
cattle drives,
&
the winter of 1886. (NPS)
http://www.nps.gov/grko/kohrs.htm
“Helping
Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen” defines “strong character”
& how parents can help children develop it. The booklet includes
chapters on “dealing with media pressures” & working with
schools, lists of books & magazines that can support character
development, & 18 activities. (ED)
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/citizen/index.html
“Revolutionary
War Timeline” describes 125 battles, incidents, & other developments
during
the Revolutionary War. Descriptions are brief (often one sentence)
& presented chronologically over the nine-year war.
http://www.nps.gov/cowp/Timeline.htm
“Rise
& Fall of Jim Crow” accompanies a PBS series examining the
century of segregation following the Civil War (1863-1954). “Jim
Crow,” a name taken
from a popular 19th-century minstrel song, came to personify government-sanctioned
racial oppression & segregation in the U.S. This website describes
pivotal developments during that time — the Emancipation Proclamation,
the Compromise of 1877, the Brown v. Board of Education decision,
& others. It tells of actions taken by Presidents, Congress,
& the Supreme Court, as well as organizations that opposed
& supported Jim Crow. Interactive maps show Jim Crow laws
across the U.S. (& over time), as well as migration patterns,
population changes, & more. Individuals who endured Jim Crow
tell their stories. A 20-minute video, narrated by Ozzie Davis,
recounts the 1919 Elaine, Arkansas, riot & its aftermath.
(NEH)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/
“Ships/Piers,
San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park” presents photos
& stories of six of the park’s collection of 100 of schooners,
ferryboats, tugs, & other traditional & significant small
boats. (NPS)
http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/ship.html
Vocational education
“A
Career Afloat: Gateway to Maritime Employment” describes jobs
in the maritime industry, ways to get training for various career
paths in the industry, & employment opportunities.#
http://marad.dot.gov/acareerafloat/
Education
Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express
consent of the publisher. © 2003.
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Fifteen New Reading Resources In Arts, Language Arts, Science,
