TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jan 14, 2024
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Ma Rainey - Biography.com
Grades
6 to 12
tag(s): african american (111), artists (77), black history (125), blues (22)
In the Classroom
Introduce this article and enhance student learning by using Read Ahead, reviewed here, to highlight important sections, keywords, and create a vocabulary list. Next, have students read the biography in pairs, and further enhance student learning by asking them to use Twee, reviewed here, to highlight famous songs, people, bands, and others mentioned in the article. Then, have pairs or small groups use Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, to summarize their reading. At this point, students could do a little research on a person or band mentioned in the article and report their findings to their peers using Genially, reviewed here. With Genially, students can insert maps, audio, video, and more. You may also want to have your students listen to the "Black Bottom" song by Ma Rainey, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
20th Century America (1900-1945) Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): 20th century (59), great depression (28), holocaust (41), immigration (64), japanese (47), segregation (18), stock market (9), world war 1 (72), world war 2 (149)
In the Classroom
Find resources to educate yourself and your students about various topics related to American history during the years of 1900-1945. This collection includes lesson plans and interactives too. Share these resources with your colleagues and families.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Ken Burns in the Classroom - PBS Learning Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1700s (36), 1800s (72), 1900s (73), 20th century (59), authors (103), blues (22), civil rights (195), civil war (134), history day (40), industrial revolution (20), jazz (17), sports (77), vietnam (35), westward expansion (38), womens suffrage (44)
In the Classroom
Use this resource as a starting point to find many primary sources and videos of historical importance. Take advantage of the lesson ideas and activities to include with your current lessons and activities. Engage students in learning by asking them to watch videos and browse through images before teaching your lesson. Ask them to post their thoughts and questions on Google Jamboard, reviewed here, to help guide the focus of your lesson. Extend learning and help students visualize the order of events by creating a digital timeline using Knights' Lab Timeline JS, reviewed here. Add media from online sites to your timeline from YouTube, Vimeo, Google Maps, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
American Experience - PBS
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): 1800s (72), 1900s (73), blues (22), civil rights (195), great depression (28), heroes (22), jazz (17), medicine (55), presidents (121), weather (164), womens suffrage (44)
In the Classroom
The films, videos, and articles provided on this site offer many opportunities to include primary sources within any American or world history unit. Bookmark this site to share first-hand information on world events with your students. Enhance learning by asking students to create video timelines using Timelinely, reviewed here, that includes maps, videos, and links to relevant information as a way to understand the complete picture of world events. For students who enjoy drama or journalism, ask them to produce podcasts using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Use podcasts for students to role-play events throughout history as told from a variety of perspectives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Perfect Blues:1920s, 30s and 40s Vintage Blues; Duke Ellington; Leadbelly (Past Perfect) - Past Perfect Vintage Music
Grades
K to 12tag(s): 1920s (7), 1930s (20), 1940s (14), 1950s (9), blues (22), harlem (8), jazz (17)
In the Classroom
Play musical selections for students to talk about musical elements and styles in music class. Scroll down the page to find links to other Past Perfect sites, or use the search bar and type in Past Perfect Vintage Music to get only that selection. Have partners explore the sites to find examples of different rhythms or styles they prefer. Enhance learning by having a class Padlet, reviewed here, where students share their favorites and listen to others' favorites. In social studies or history classes, use this Perfect Blues music as an introduction to any unit of study from the 1920s - 1950s in your classroom. Share with students for use in multimedia presentations (with proper attribution, of course). Try sharing this resource with students when they are creating podcasts, slideshows, and other media projects. Make sure students realize that "royalty-free" does not dismiss the need to give proper credit for their source!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Take Me Back To - takemeback.to
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1900s (73), 1910s (7), 1920s (15), 1930s (20), 1940s (14), 1950s (9), 1960s (27), 1970s (10), 1980s (7), 20th century (59), decades (7), timelines (50)
In the Classroom
Build context around historic dates using details of pop culture, magazines, and more. Have students search for their birthdate and write about significant events on that date. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of two different dates or of a past date with today. Ask students to generate questions about an important date, such as Pearl Harbor day, and use cultural details to generate a "snapshot" of what life was like before the world changed. What can you tell from the information shared here? How do you know? Challenge your students to use a site such as Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, to create timelines of events in the 1900's.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Prohibition and Temperance - OSU Department of History
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): 1920s (7), 1930s (20), drugs and alcohol (27)
In the Classroom
This site is best used as a supplementary set of resources for further exploration. Teachers might use some of the contemporary illustrations or narratives to expand understanding, or students working on an independent project might find the resources helpful. You could use TrackStar, reviewed here, to design a brief web scavenger hunt within the site to engage students and introduce the topic in a new way.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Dancing Minds and Shouting Smiles - ReadWriteThink
Grades
3 to 5tag(s): figurative language (15), poetry (189)
In the Classroom
Use this lesson in conjunction with TeachersFirst Figureative Language lesson, reviewed here which has a PowerPoint presentaiton and other activities pertaining to personification.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Charles Lindbergh
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Open this site on the interactive whiteboard or projector and use it to introduce a lesson on the history of flight. Play the video clips for students before or after a lecture, depending on whether or not you want to preview or re-enforce the information. You will need RealPlayer or Microsoft Media Player to view the video clips.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Jazz in America - Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): africa (137), african american (111), blues (22), harlem (8), jazz (17)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans offered on this site! The lesson plans are meant to be taught in American history classes, so search and see how this site can benefit your classroom. Make sure and save this one as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
National Museum of American History - Jazz - Smithonian Institution
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): africa (137), african american (111), harlem (8), jazz (17)
In the Classroom
Use the audio on this site to supplement a lecture or class discussion about the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz era. Click Education from the left menu then use the next menu on the left to allow students to explore an area of interest. Enhance learning by having students use Flip, reviewed here, to share what they learned and comment on their peers' contributions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Interactive: Roots of Jazz - PBS
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): jazz (17)
In the Classroom
This site would be a great addition to a US history class studying the Harlem Renaissance. The site could be used for the lesson plans OR as a learning center in your classroom. If using the site as a learning center, we recommend creating a graphic organizer to accompany it for students to take notes on each section. For help creating a graphic organizer, we recommend using Graphic Organizer Maker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Langston Hughes: Artist and Historian - Yale University
Grades
6 to 8tag(s): poetry (189)
In the Classroom
Using the Narrative and create a guided reading activity using vocabulary, keywords, and phrases with Read Ahead, reviewed here. In pairs or small groups, have students read the short biography about Langston Huges and Jim Crow laws. Read Ahead is perfect for introducing any reading passages to struggling readers, special education students, and ENL/ELL learners. After using this lesson, extend student learning by having them further reseach and present to their classmates some of the events mentioned in the narrative. Ask them to choose a product for their presentation from Genially, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form