World War I
“I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier:” Ideas and Strategies for Using Music from the National Jukebox to Teach Difficult Topics in History
--Stacie Moats and Stephanie Poxon
As a favored outlet for self-expression, music is a valuable classroom resource for addressing complex topics such as different perspectives on war.
* http://publications.socialstudies.org/se/7506/7506291.pdf
Teaching Difficult Topics with Primary Sources
--Lee Ann Potter
The featured documents illustrate the value of primary sources as points of entry into challenging subjects.
* http://publications.socialstudies.org/se/7506/7506284.pdf
World War I Posters: Thinking Critically about History and the Media
--Tom Carty
Students' abilities to analyze pictures vary just as their reading skills do. Handouts with four propaganda images challenge students to apply what they have learned about history. See pp. 9-15.
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a pdf of about 0.9 MB:
* http://members.ncss.org/mll/31/MLL31.pdf
Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, 1793
--Sandra W. Moss, M.D.
Book review of "An American Plague" by Jim Murphy. Also in this issue: Handouts and teaching ideas, such as handout/graph "On the Trail of an Epidemic: Yellow Fever in New Orleans, 1845-1860" and "Connect-the-Dots: Making Meaning from Historical Evidence" by Chris Edwards, which discusses smallpox and the Columbian Exchange. --> read more »
King Coal: A Piece of Eastern Pennsylvania History
--Jill M. Beccaris and Christine Woyshner
A variety of activities help students learn about the coal miners and steels workers (many of them new immigrants) during the Industrial Age. A handout is based on an oral interview, and provides a photo of child coal miners, 1911.
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a pdf of about 1.2 MB: --> read more »
Radio Days in the Classroom
--Dan Schuchat
A radio drama project helps students learn about the 1920s and 30s as well as the important role that technology plays in our lives. Handouts include "Early Radio in the U.S." and "Bandwidth Problems ca. 1912: The Need for Federal Regulation."
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a pdf of about 1.0 MB:
* http://members.ncss.org/mll/23/MLL23.pdf
"Workin' on the Railroad": African American Labor History
--Rebecca C. Maher
North Carolina eighth grade students work on a project involving history, music, art, and interviews with elderly citizens. Includes handouts with primary sources and the story of Train Schedules, Standardization, and "The Day of Two Noons."
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a pdf of about 0.8 MB:
* http://members.ncss.org/mll/21/mll21.pdf
A Century of Veterans: Researching History Through Our Local Cemetery
--Lindsey B. Downey
Third graders research the memorials in the cemetery in the town of Otterbein, Ohio, and write tributes in response.
