Podcast #201 - Using David McCullough's 1776, The Illustrated Edition in the Classroom

Hello. In today's podcast I want to recommend a great resource for your classroom if you teach the American Revolution. David McCullough's 1776 is an amazing book which every history teacher should read but there is another edition which should be in each classroom in America - 1776, The Illustrated Edition. The edition has over 130 beautiful illustrations with an abridged version of the text. Most impressive, though, are the 37 facsimile documents scattered throughout the book in pouches which allow you to take them out and pass them around the classroom.

Please listen to the podcast and if you have any ideas on using this resource in your classroom please leave a comment on this blog post. Thanks.

1776: The Illustrated Edition

Click to subscribe to the Speaking of History podcast at the Zune Social

Click to subscribe to the Speaking of History podcast at i-Tunes here

Direct link to Podcast #201 - Using David McCullough's 1776 - The Illustrated Edition In the Classroom

Podcast #198 - Resources for Teaching About the Jamestown Settlement

Hello. We begin our curriculum each year with an awesome topic - the Jamestown settlement. There are a ton of great resources to use when teaching this unit and today in the podcast I discuss six resources which I have found to be very successful in my 8th grade American history classroom. Links below provide more information to each of the resources mentioned in the podcast.

I would also enjoy hearing about what resources you use to teach about Jamestown. Please leave a comment on this blog post to share your discovery with everyone. Thanks.

Written in Bone - Webcomic from the Smithsonian

History Channel's Online Jamestown Exhibit

Jamestown Leadership Activity

Handout for Jamestown Leadership Activity - Handout for Graphic Organizer used in Jamestown Leadership Activity

Jamestown Online Adventure

Written in Bone : Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland - Book by Sally M Walker

Jamestown, The Buried Truth - Book by William Kelso

Nightmare in Jamestown - video from National Geographic

Worksheet used with "Nightmare in Jamestown" video

Virtual Jamestown

Direct link to Podcast #198 - Resources for Teaching Jamestown Settlement

Podcast #170 - Resources to Teach the Inauguration In Your Classroom

Hello. Classrooms across the country on January 20th will be focused on the inauguration of our next president - Barack Obama. Today I would like to share just a couple of resources that you can use in your classroom with your students. There are many, many sites to help you teach the inauguration, those listed below are just a few.

The New York Times has created a rich and interactive site to provide perspective on the inaugural speeches of every president in United States history - see the full text of each speech, a PDF of the New York Times the following day and a word cloud which demonstrates the number of times each word was used. The Times also has an excellent interactive page showing the route Mr. Obama will take during the day, ala Google Earth style. The third site is a link to a cool visual Obama mosaic created from the front pages of over 600 newspapers from the day after the election in November.

- New York Times - Inaugural Words : 1789 to Present

- New York Times - Inauguration Day and Parade Route

- Obama Mosaic of 600 Newspapers From Day After Election

If you have any comments about the podcast or would like to share what your classroom did on Inauguration Day please leave a comment on this blog post.


Direct link to Podcast #170 - Resources to Teach the Inauguration in Your Classroom - MP3 Audio File

Podcast #126 - Ideas for Teaching a Lewis and Clark Unit

Hello. Today's podcast is a description of how I teach the Corps of Discovery to my 8th Grade American history class. I recieved an e-mail question from Jessica in Illinois asking me to describe what type of activities we do in class and I thought it would be a great topic for a podcast.

The picture you see above is me dressed an reenacter clothing as a member of the Corps of Discovery. The student in the picture is one of my students from this year who just happens to be the great, great, great, great, great granddaughter of William Clark - honestly! Her family often attends ceremonies at National Parks etc. celebrating the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Please feel free to add comments or suggestions as a comment to this blog entry or e-mail me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com



Direct link to Podcast #126 - Ideas for Teaching a Lewis and Clark Unit - MP3 file - 21:00 minutes

Show Notes for Podcast #126

- DVD - "Lewis and Clark - Great Journey West" from National Geographic

- DVD - "Technology of Lewis and Clark" from The History Channel

- DVD - "Lewis and Clark" from Ken Burns and PBS

- Book - "20 Plays for U.S. History Classes" from Walch Publishing

- Book - "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose

- Book - "Tailor Made, Trail Worn - Army Life, Clothing adn Weapons of the Corps of Discovery" - everything you would ever want to know about the clothing of the Corps of Discovery