Every Friday we highlight our favorite education posts from the week. In this week’s Blogger Spotlight, check out these unique lesson ideas that engage students. From the brand-new We the People interactive ebook to a Revolutionary War problem-solving game, these tools are ready for use in the classroom.
We the People: The Center for Civic Education has developed a fully interactive ebook for high school civics.
Looking for class … Read more »
On July 25, 1897, Jack London left California at the age of 21 to begin a perilous trek to the Klondike, joining hundreds of thousands of Americans who sought to make a living from the gold rush. A rugged individualist and soon-to-be famous author, London arrived in the Yukon Territory by way of the Chilkoot Pass, an unforgiving locale that would be the setting of many of his later works.
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Unbeknownst to the public until after his death, famed short story writer O. Henry actually began his prolific writing career while serving a sentence for embezzlement at the State Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio. On July 24, 1901, the author, born William Sydney Porter, was released on account of good behavior two years ahead of schedule.
The details of O. Henry’s conviction are murky, but the embezzlement charge stems from … Read more »
On July 23, 1885, President Ulysses S. Grant, best known for his victories as commander of the Union Army, passed away from throat cancer in Wilton, New York. At his funeral, a poem composed by Union soldier Richard Watson Gilder (1844–1909), “The Dead Comrade,” was read. The poem speaks to the special duty of military comrades to bury their fellow soldiers:
Come, soldiers, arouse ye!
Another has gone;
… Read more »
On July 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet, seeking comments for revisions. The executive order freed the slaves from the ten states in rebellion, applying to approximately 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the United States.
The draft of the Emancipation Proclamation was not met with universal acclaim by Lincoln’s cabinet. According to Michelle Krowl, the Civil War and Reconstruction specialist … Read more »
In this week’s edition of the Blogger Spotlight, we highlight great new tools for teaching your students about primary sources and suggestions for keeping your students engaged with literature during the long summer months.
Want to help students analyze challenging primary sources? Use EDSITEment’s helpful collection of guides.
Looking to learn about our Presidents and their speeches? Check out the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s great inaugural addresses.
What … Read more »
On July 18, 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first, and only, president to be nominated for a third term in office at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. The longstanding tradition of an unofficial two-term limit was tested in 1880 when Ulysses S. Grant unsuccessfully attempted to leave retirement and seek a return to the White House.
The threat of Nazi Germany’s spread throughout Europe made FDR’s decision to seek … Read more »
Distinguished scholar-teachers Amy and Leon Kass demonstrate how short stories, speeches, and songs can be used to enhance civic education and how a pedagogical approach that stresses learning through inquiry can make primary sources come alive for students of all ages.
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