Podcast #190 - Review of "Our Documents" - Book and Website from the National Archives

Hello. Today's podcast is a review of a great book that every teacher should have in their classroom - "Our Documents : 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives". This book should be in each history classroom in America and each school library. The book also has a companion website with additional resources for teachers and copies of all the material in the book.

You can purchase the book here and check out the website here. Both great resources for any American history teacher.

Direct link to Podcast #190 - Review of "Our Documents" - Book and Website from National Archives

Podcast #185 - Review of Matthew Pinsker's "Lincoln's Sanctuary"

Hello. Today's podcast is a brief review of a great book for anyone who enjoys learning about Lincoln : Lincoln's Sanctuary, Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home by Matthew Pinsker. Two summers ago I was able to tour and visit the Lincoln Cottage in Washington DC just prior to the opening of the visitor center. The Soldiers' Home, or Lincoln Cottage, was the summer White House for President Lincoln. It has been estimated that Lincoln spent almost 25% of his presidency at the Lincoln Cottage.

This book sheds light on what Lincoln accomplished at this second home, how the location might have impacted his thought process during the war years and some personal details that make Lincoln appear more human than the stoic icon we view him as today.

I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoyed learning more about Lincoln and would recommend a visit to the Lincoln Cottage the next time you are in Washington DC. If you can't physically visit the next best thing would be a visit to their web site or blog.

If you have any additional thoughts on this subject please feel free to leave a comment to this blog post.

Direct link to Podcast #185 - Review of Lincoln's Sanctuary by Matthew Pinsker

Podcast #164 - Review of Henry Knox - Visionary General of the American Revolution by Mark Puls

Today's podcast is a review of one the best best I have read recently on the American Revolutionary War era and its leaders - Henry Knox - Visionary General of the American Revolution by Mark Puls For the past couple of year Knox has fascinated me as one of the most under appreciated figures of the American Revolution. His contributions during the war and in the years immediately following the war are incredible - and most Americans are not aware of his contributions.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning more about the Revolutionary era and teaches this time period to students. My wife gave me this book for my birthday in the fall and I really enjoyed reading it. I would love to have the opportunity to sit down and chat with Mr. Knox and I think I would instantly like him.

If you have a comment about his book, have read it and would like to share your impressions or share my admiration for Knox -please leave a comment to this blog post. Thanks.

Direct link to Podcast #164 - Review of Henry Knox - Visionary General of the American Revolution by Mark Puls - MP3 Audio File

Check Out Our Current Book Blog Project on Guerrilla Season

Hello. Please take a moment to drop by and check out our 2nd annual Guerrilla Season Book Blog Project. For the second year we have over 300 students and parents in Liberty, Missouri reading a historical novel about the Civil War and are joined by students in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The author of the book - Pat Hughes, who lives just outside of Philadelphia - is also joining us again to answer student questions and describe the writing process.

The blog includes comments and discussions by participants - using pen names only - along with links to more information, podcast interviews with the author and other interesting facts about the book.

Please stop by and check it out, even join us if you want. We just started. The project is live from March 3, 2008 through April 4, 2008 and the blog will remain up after the project is finished.

Podcast #114 - Book Winners and Must See Teacher Travel Blogs

Hello. Today's podcast has two topics - the winners of the Listener Appreciation Book Give Away and the blogs of two Liberty teachers who have chronicled their summer adventures.

First the winners of the book drawing. To help celebrate the 100th podcast in July and the two year anniversary of the podcast. I had listeners from around the country enter and my daughter picked two names out of the hat. The winner of the author autographed copy of Guerrilla Season by Pat Hughes is Sanjay from Flower Mound, Texas. The winner of the copy of Manhunt - The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson is Nancy from Chillicothe, Ohio. Congratulations to both winners and thanks to everyone who entered. I plan to do another book give away during the holidays.

The podcast also gives some background information on two teacher blogs that I urge you to check out. I work with and admire both of these Liberty Public School teachers and think they have done an awesome job of sharing their summer adventures.

Lance Huebner is a special education teacher at South Valley Jr High and recently traveled to China and spent 11 days taking a ton of pictures and blogging about his experiences. His My China Trip blog allows to you to visit China through his eyes. Lance also has a blog named Changing the Label in which he focuses on the use of technology in the special education classroom.

Marty Kelsey is a 5th grade teacher at Manor Hill Elementary. Marty has had a busy summer including his marriage, two trips to Florida, grad classes in Colorado and visits to a Civil War battlefield. This past week Marty blogged about his incredible experience in Florida as a guest of NASA to see the Space Shuttle launch. His blog Room 42 Daily has some great first hand accounts of a behind the scene look at a shuttle launch and great pictures.

You can also check out the other online content from both Lance and Marty on the show notes including videos, podcasts, classroom sites, etc.

Direct link to Podcast #114 - Book Winners and Must See Teacher Travel Blogs - MP3 Format -14:07 minutes

You can subscribe directly to the Speaking of History podcast on i-Tunes here


Podcast #113 Show Notes:

- Lance Huebner's My China Trip blog

- Lance's 9th grade Broadcast class at SVJH with video archive of 2006/2007 shows

- Lance's classroom site

- Marty's Room 42 Daily blog

- Dear Mr. Kelsey autograph blog

- Marty's classroom site

Podcast #100 - Listener Appreciation Book Give Away

Hello. Today is a very special podcast for me - #100! I would have never imagined almost exactly two years in 2005 when I started this podcast that I would one day have 100 episodes. This is a a very short podcast but from a very historic site - Gettysburg. I am in Gettysburg for the week attending a Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History this week and taking an in depth look at Lincoln and Race. I will have more on what will be a very exciting and full week in Gettysburg but today I just wanted to say thank you to all that listen to this podcast. The topics vary greatly from show to show and often there is little reason to the topic selected other than it somehow relates to education, technology or history. Thanks for all the e-mails - I try to answer them all and am still working through a few. This podcast has been a sort of audio journal for me over the past couple of years and I thank you for going along with me.

Direct link to Podcast #100 - Listener Appreciation Book Give Away in Gettysburg - MP3 File - 6:06 Minutes

As a small, very small, token of my appreciation I will be giving away two great books to listeners of the Speaking of History podcast - Manhunt - The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and an author autographed copy of Guerrilla Season by Pat Hughes. Manhunt is a favorite of mine and of course Guerrilla Season is the basis for our book blog project and I'll actually be visiting Pat next week when I'm in Philadelphia for a Constitution Center workshop.

To enter the drawing all you need to do is send me an e-mail at speakingofhistory@gmail.com and include your name and city. I will accept all names and cities until August 1, 2007. On August 1st I will place each name on an index card, lay them all out on my living room floor and have my 3 year old daughter select two cards as the winners. I will then announce and contact the winners to obtain their mailing address so that I can send them their book. I have no idea how many people will send in their name but hey, if there aren't many names you have a great shot at winning a great book for free.

Thanks again for listening to the podcast. I have a ton of fun doing it and I look forward to continuing the produce it. I hope to have some great episodes over the next two weeks from Gettysburg and Philadelphia.

Podcast #86 - Play Ball! : Baseball in the Curriculum

Hello. I had my last day of school last week so it's time to think about summer and recharging the batteries. Personally, there's no better way to relax than heading out to the ballpark and watching a baseball game. So today we're talking about baseball and how it can be used in the classroom. This podcast is also special because my 3 year old daughter does the introduction and shows off her singing voice.

We start with a great book to add to your summer reading list "The Soul of Baseball - A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America" by Joe Posnanski. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this uplifting book. I bought it on a Saturday morning and finished it by Monday. It is a must read. It will make you cry, laugh and just make you feel good.

The next item is a great find from the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. A couple of weeks ago I attended an event at the Truman Library and as I left through the gift shop I noticed a folder for sale marked "Presidents and America's Pastime - A Selection of Baseball Documents from the Presidential Libraries". For $10 you get full color scans on quality paper from 12 presidents relating to the topic of baseball. There are a variety of uses for this resource in the classroom.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has numerous educational resources available for teachers. The Hall of Fame has created thematic units on the following topics: geography, math, leadership, science, pop culture, civil rights, special abilities, cultural diversity, communication arts, economics, character education, fine arts, labor history, women's history and industrial technology. The Hall of Fame also has opportunities for video conferencing, electronic field trips, a podcast and a "Baseball in the Classroom Blog". Check it out if you can't take your class to Copperstown.

If you enjoy baseball you must check out the "Baseball History Podcast" from Bob Wright. This great podcast has been produced on a regular basis for the past two years and discusses this week in baseball history, biographies of players and famous figures in baseball and various tidbits about baseball. Also check out the interview with Bob Wright on the Podcast 411 podcast.

If you have any comments about the Speaking of History podcast please leave a comment to this post or e-mail me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com

Subscribe directly to the Speaking of History podcast through i-Tunes here.

Direct link to Podcast #86 - Play Ball! : Baseball in the Curriculum - MP3 Format - 16:21 minutes

Show Notes for Podcast #86:

- The Soul of Baseball - A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America by Joe Posnanski

- Truman Library Gift Shop - ask to purchase the "Presidents and America's Pastime - A Selection of Baseball Documents from the Presidential Libraries" folder

- Baseball Hall of Fame - Education

- Baseball in the Classroom Blog

- Baseball History Podcast from Bob Wright

- Podcast 411 Interview with Bob Wright about the Baseball History podcast

Guerrilla Season Book Blog Video on Teacher Tube

Hello. I have recently been tyring out the new Teacher Tube and have found it to be a great resource for teachers who want to view and/or post educational video. Last night I produced a short (3:45 minutes) video that describes the Guerrilla Season Book Blog my students participated in this past fall. I posted it on Teacher Tube and will embed it with this post. It is created with Photo Story 3 - a slick application for making videos from digital still pictures. The narration was done in audacity and then included with the video.

Here is a link to a higher quality version of the video - it will load slower.

Podcast #79 - Interview with Author Tom Wheeler - Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails

Hello. Today's podcast is an interview with author Tom Wheeler about his book "Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails - The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War". I read this book a couple of months ago and found it to be very fascinating. I had never viewed Lincoln as an early adopter of technology but the way he used the telegraph during the war was really bleeding edge in the 1860's.

During the interview with Tom Wheeler we discuss researching the book, his favorite Lincoln telegrams, the importance of teaching history in our nation's classrooms and which famous figures from American history he would invite to dinner. A special thanks to Mr. Wheeler for taking time from his busy schedule to visit with me about his book.

Direct link to Podcast #79 - Interview with Author Tom Wheeler - Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails - MP3 Format - 24:30 minutes

Please feel free to leave a comment to this blog post or e-mail me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about the podcast.

Subscribe directly to the Speaking of History Podcast in i-Tunes here

Podcast #79 Show Notes:

- Official site for Tom Wheeler's Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails - The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War

- Purchase the book

- Tom Wheeler's Take Command! Leadership Lessons From the Civil War

- National Archives Exhibition - School House to White House : The Education of the Presidents