Cool Web Resources
Teaching about early American history and the foundations of American government
Stanford History Education Group’s “Reading Like a Historian” Curriculum http://sheg.stanford.edu/?q=node/45
· Primary Sources modified for younger learners
o Curriculum has 6 lessons on the Colonial era and 9 lessons on the Revolution & Early America
o Lessons created around a historical question and include multiple interpretations and primary sources, both in original form and in modified form for easier understanding by students
Foundations of U.S. History http://chnm.gmu.edu/loudountah/
· Primary Sources
o Both ‘Lesson Plans’ & ‘Source Analysis’ sections have primary sources, sometimes with excellent contextual information about the source (for example, Stamp Act Effect lesson)
o Topics range from Columbus to analysis of map of Jamestown to Stamp Act
The Bill of Rights Institute www.billofrightsinstitute.org
· Primary Sources http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/page.aspx?pid=466
o Collection of documents, with some background info about each
o Includes “The Rights of the Colonists” by Samuel Adams (strong similarities to parts of D of I); “Common Sense” & “The American Crisis” (‘These are the times that try men’s souls’) by Thomas Paine; Washington’s Inaugural & Farewell Addresses
· Founders Online http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/page.aspx?pid=547
o “Individual Founders” (more detailed information about 12 of the Founding Fathers)
· Constitution Day http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/teach/freeresources/constitutionday/#new
o Activities for teaching a Constitution Day lesson
The Charters of Freedom http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html
· Primary Sources: high resolution images of Declaration, Constitution, Bill of Rights
· Background information about the Declaration, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the impact of these founding documents
Ben Franklin Exhibit Online Resources
· Ben Franklin “Join, Or Die” political cartoon with contextual information http://www.benfranklin300.org/frankliniana/result.php?id=406&sec=0
Runaway Servant & Slave Ads in Virginia
· Primary sources that are short, descriptive, easy to understand & give great insight into clothing, travelling, value placed on the enslaved
o http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/index.html
o http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/subjects/runaways/
Library Of Congress Primary Source Sets http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/
· Collections on a variety of topics: hispanic exploration, Jamestown, Constitution, Thanksgiving
Digital History by University of Houston http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/
· Primary Sources
o “eXplorations” activity suggestions with primary sources on a number of relevant topics. I felt the best was the one on Revolutionary America, which had song lyrics for both patriot & loyalist tunes & also multiple images and written accounts of Boston Massacre for multiple perspective analysis
Massachusetts Historical Society http://www.masshist.org/endofslavery/?queryID=61
· Primary Sources & background context on African Americans in Massachusetts
o Petitions submitted to Massachusetts Governor by slaves using the rhetoric of the revolution to demand their freedom (my favorite is the 1777 one) http://www.masshist.org/endofslavery/?queryID=55
o Story of Mumbet, slave who sued for her freedom because the new state constitution basically forbade it, won, and then worked as a paid servant in the same household where she had been enslaved http://www.masshist.org/endofslavery/?queryID=54
Plimoth Plantation http://www.plimoth.org/
· Online Learning Center has web-based investigative activity called “You are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving” http://www.plimoth.org/learn/MRL/interact/thanksgiving-interactive-you-are-historian
o One primary source embedded in this is the only written account (from an Englishman, of course) of the “first Thanksgiving” in 1621. The Resources section of the Teacher’s Guide has both the original text and a modified version for easier understanding.
· Plimoth for Kids has recipes, games, stories about colonial kids, colonial lingo http://www.plimoth.org/kids/
Colonial Williamsburg http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/
· “Colonial Williamsburg” Journal is online and has articles for expanding background knowledge of this era http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/
· The “Teacher Gazette” E-Newsletter is geared towards you! Look at past issues or have it emailed to you monthly http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/enewsletter.cfm
· Primary Source: colonial manners as transcribed by a young George Washington http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/manners/rules2.cfm
· Family life in Colonial America (English, Native American, African American families) http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/family/background.cfm
· Picture slideshows and information about colonial trades http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradehdr.cfm
· A variety of lessons plans on interesting topics, including one about 17th century modes of travel and one about the trial of Abigail Briggs, a Native American woman accused of murdering an enslaved African American man http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/history/teaching/classroom_plans.cfm
1704 Raid on Deerfield (French & Indian raid on Massachusetts town) http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/home.do
· English Colonial songs http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/voices/eng_songs.do
· Creation and ‘Deeptime’ Stories from three Native groups of the Northeast http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/voices/stories.do
· Maps (especially the Deerfield/Pocumtuck Area map, which shows differences between Native and English settlement & land use patterns) http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/maps/index.do
The Monticello Classroom http://classroom.monticello.org/
· For Kids http://classroom.monticello.org/kids/home/
o Fairly detailed resource information about Jefferson, Monticello, many family members, and enslaved workers, with pictures and written at the elementary level
· For Teachers http://classroom.monticello.org/teachers/home/
o Some ready-to-go lessons, including one that has students analyze a runaway slave ad published by Jefferson
Freedom: A History of Us http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/index.html
· Has webisodes on ‘Independence,’ ‘Revolution,’ and ‘Liberty for All?’ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/menu.html
o Each webisode contains video segments, print information, transcripts of primary source documents referenced, historic images, quizzes, timelines, and teacher lessons
“Liberty! The American Revolution” http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/
· PBS video series with interactive online resources, quiz game, lesson plans
Smithsonian Museum of American History http://americanhistory.si.edu/
· Using Rice Plantation Tools http://historyexplorer.americanhistory.si.edu/search/resource.asp?id=43
History Happens http://www.ushistory.com
· Modern songs written to help teach history, including one about Abigail Adams
History Now http://www.gilderlehrman.org/historynow/past.php
· History Now is a quarterly online journal published by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. This site offers a number of topics of interest for early American History.
o Issue twenty-one: “American Revolution” http://www.gilderlehrman.org/historynow/09_2009/index.php
§ Within Issue twenty-one American Revolution - Elementary Lesson on Boston Massacre http://www.gilderlehrman.org/historynow/09_2009/lp4.php
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Updated: 1-25-12