Primary Source in US History--Virtual Tour Of White House

Thousands of visitors pour through the White House every year, but they only see a select handful of rooms (probably for security reasons).  On this site, you will be able to explore over 140 areas in and around the White House thanks to photographs and illustrations which date back over 200 years!  

Here you will be able to explore the EAST WING, WEST WING and RESIDENCE with the click of a mouse.  Each section offers a look at that section over time (1857 to date with most) and provides some data on key events of the time associated with that section.  Part of this tour also includes little known facts about its residents of the time and the activities they pursued there.  For example, the history of the family theater has quite a past.  It was originally a long coat room.  Another tidbit is the first film ever shown there was "Birth of a Nation" which was a racist film depicting the Klu Klux Klan as America's saviors.  President Wilson showed this film to repay a debt to southern democrats and that act sullied his repetition.  


How might this site support ELLs in their study of American history?  As often mentioned in my blog and on my website, ELLs need supports to access knowledge.  Visuals are crucial tools that every teacher must utilize (as all of you know) if ELLs are to be able to connect to the material thereby making sense of it.  Another support is the use of timelines.  Everything is new to ELLs when it comes to US history.  Providing them with timelines brings some order to the "chaos."  With timelines and photos/images, students can take notes in ways that work for them.  Provide them with graphic organizers or outlines to enable them to save (and eventually remember) key data.  As with every content area, decide on the most important events ELLs must know and teach to those.  Everything else can be dealt with as needed, but not tested otherwise the lesson will consist of dates and events with no building of deep knowledge.

WHITE HOUSE

Your students will definitely develop an interest in American history with this site:)

Denise


ELL TEACHER PROS

Be Prepared to Be Amazed! Visit the Google ART PROJECT!

Google has done it again in its mission to make the wonders of humanity available to everyone with a computer and access to the internet.  Their current project, which is the subject of this post, opens the doors to major museums from across the globe.  Here, 40 countries make their treasures available to all for free online.  

This site offers all of us the chance to do the unthinkable--visit EVERY major museum here on the planet in our lifetime and view over 30,000 pieces of art from over 150 collections.  Imagine how this will excite your students as you weave in works of art into your English, social studies, and math classes.  For English, it helps to capture life of the time of the novel being read.  Students learn to appreciate the tone and setting of the novels a bit more as they study the artwork of the period.  Social studies students are offered artist interpretations of major historical events and this makes the content more vivid and accessible to ELLs and others.  For math, students might study how math was used to design architectural masterpieces. 


Below are three major sections of the site:

GOOGLE ART PROJECT 
Provides an alphabetically arranged list of every museum.  Click on any one and you will be instantly transported to that museum!  I tried the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).  Click on the little orange human icon on the bottom left and you will be transported to the floor in which the exhibit you selected is exhibited.  It is the next best thing to actually being there walking around on your own.


ART WORKS VIEW
Here, type in the artwork you are specifically looking for and you will be sent there.  I picture art teachers really enjoying this link. I typed in photojournalism and selected photos from the 1930s.  Here is a photo (with notes) on General Miaja's militiamen writing letters.  World history students would definitely benefit for this tool in studying World War II for example.

MUSEUMS BY CONTINENT
This link maps out museums by continent.  Click on the yellow balloon in the country you wish to explore and you will be presented with all the museums in that area.

Great site!  Maybe it will help you plan out your well deserved summer vacations:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

Take Your Students on Virtual Trips to the SMITHSONIAN to EXPLORE HISTORY!

With Common Core Standards coming in social studies (along with math, science, and ELA), students need to learn not only what primary sources are (see BLOG post Thursday, May 17th), but how to find them.  Here guidance is needed so time spent on the internet is not wasted time.  Creating your own GOOGLE search engine for them is the ideal (I will address this over the summer both in this blog at at my website  ELL TEACHER PROS in the AUGUST BACK TO SCHOOL newsletter), but if time is limited, having a collection of pre-approved sites by you is a must.

To illustrate how an example of how this site could become a class resource in a World War II lesson, look at the following link to the plight of Japanese Americans and the discrimination they faced in the US at that time.  A MORE PERFECT UNION:  JAPANESE AMERICANS AND THE U.S. CONSTITUTION  Students will see several forms of primary sources including testimonies of survivors, photographs of the camps and their internees, clips from news articles of the time, historical video, etc.).  So when students must write an opinion paper on the prejudice of the time (Japanese Americans were sent to camps, but Italian and German Americans never suffered such humiliation), they can study sites such as this one (and others) to provide concrete evidence to support their thesis statements. 

AMERICAN STORIES
This section offers a look at America's past through cultural artifacts familiar to many.  Look at those ruby red slippers!  There is probably no item more famous world wide than Dorothy's shoes from the Wizard of OZ!  It is available in over 100 languages and still viewed regularly all over the globe.  This is a look at the culture of Hollywood and its lasting imprint on the American soul.  Then there is that lovable Kermit the Frog.  Every child on the planet knows those muppets (from both the TV series and of late the movies).  Then there is a rock from Plymouth.  Many Americans have an emotional connection to that since it is "romantically tied" to the Thanksgiving myth, but actually, Jamestown, Virginia was there first.  In fact, the first African slaves were brought there.



SMITHSONIAN ONLINE EXHIBITIONS  offers many more sites of interest to students pursuing primary source supports for their social studies classes.  In fact, material found here could supplement any subject area class and therefore make adhering to the new common core standards easy for both teacher and students alike:)

Denise


ELL TEACHER PROS

Explore EDSITE'S Library of Great Lesson Plans in Humanities!

I know that the school year is drawing to a close, but this site is one worth exploring for future lesson planning in the coming school year.

You will find lessons arranged by subject, theme, and grade level.  Subjects covered include anthropology, art history, folklore, mythology, religions, world languages, AP US history, world history, civics, literature, language arts, and much more.  Activity sheets are included as well.

Further, you will find a collection of approved websites for teachers.  I found one on SHAKESPEARE.  Here students have several options as to what they would like to learn about him.  How about "10 ways to be Shakespeare expert"?  If they find words fascinating, why not have them check out words coined by the Bard?  If they are curious about the time period he lived in, they will find the answers here.  Please note that this is only 1 highlighted website here.  You will want to check them all out:)


 EDSITE:  HUMANITIES ON THE WEB

Have fun exploring this site!  I did:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS

How About Creating a Time Capsule? Differentiation With EASE!

How do you think your students would feel if you offered them the unique opportunity to provide people in the future a window to 2012? My guess is very excited:)

This activity is one that lends itself easily to differentiation. Each student contributes according to English proficiency levels. The class as a whole would have to decide on the contents keeping in mind that every student needs to be able to contribute something of importance to him/her. ELLs might want to add special items from their culture. A teacher could then provide a reality check as to how much the box can hold (a visual as in the actual box) would be the best way to do this. Once students see the box, they will start to take a more realistic view as to what can and can't go into it. Teachers are the guides and coaches here since not all choices will be practical ones:)

Activities that can be built into the activity could be having each student make a pitch for his/her choice. Here they are writing persuasive paragraphs (or essays depending on their grade levels). Their job is to convince the rest of the class that their selection merits a spot in the box. The class would have to decide if the item in question would provide a unique look into 2012. Teachers would moderate. If this is handled well, students who didn't make the first cut could come back with another item fitting box specifications. In a word, everyone would be able to add to the box's content!

Below is a video on how to make the time capsule:

HOW TO MAKE A TIME CAPSULE (Youtube video)

Here are some suggestions on how to undertake the project:

INTERNATIONAL TIME CAPSULE SOCIETY

Have fun with this one:)

Denise

ELL TEACHER PROS