NCSS Online Teachers' Library
Using Cartograms to Explore the Electoral College: Comparing 1908 with 2008
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Tue, 08/18/2009 - 1:18pm--Peter William Moran, Kimberly Dawn Miller, and Kurk Aegerter
Students create "data maps" as they learn about cartography, the Electoral College, historical presidential elections, and how U.S. demographics changed over the course of a century. This issue includes "Maps, Representations of the Earth, and Biases" by
Peter C. Cormas, and "How Politicians Gerrymander" by Steven S. Lapham.
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a pdf of about 0.8 MB:
* http://members.ncss.org/mll/36/MLL36.pdf
Printer-friendly versionYellow Fever in Philadelphia, 1793
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 9:03am--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.
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
World War I Posters: Thinking Critically about History and the Media
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 9:11am--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
Tracking a Hurricane: A Mapping Exercise in Real Time
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 9:18am--Donna Kay Mau
A classroom activity (in geography/history/current-events) for September of any year. Other items recall the "mighty storms" of Galveston (1900) and St. Croix (1772)--which a young islander, Alexander Hamilton, witnessed and wrote about (see Handout p. 16).
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a black-and-white pdf of about 3.0 MB:
* http://members.ncss.org/mll/11/MLLMayJune2001.pdf
The Great Irish Famine (and Immigration to USA)
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 9:28am--Maureen Murphy, Alan Singer, Maureen McCann Miletta, and Judity Y. Singer
Theme issue with brief history, excerpts from primary historical documents, references, handouts, historical fiction/diary.
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a black-and-white pdf of about 3.0 MB:
* http://members.ncss.org/mll/09/MLLSept2000BW.pdf
One Step at a Time: A Landmine Removal Initiative
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 9:40am--Mark Hyman
An interdisciplinary project teaches students about the human costs of past and current wars. Mines and UXO (unexploded ordnance) continue to injure civilians long after a conflict has ended. (See p. 10-15)
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a black-and-white pdf of about 3.0 MB:
* http://members.ncss.org/mll/11/MLLMayJune2001.pdf
A Crossword Puzzle for Higher-Order Thinking
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 3:02pm--James Monack
Challenge your students with this crossword puzzle about the Revolutionary Era, or fashion your own about any era of history, with the use of a website's puzzle generator. This 32-page issue of MLL also includes a review of a book about community activist Jane Jacobs, who fought against "urban renewal" schemes in the 1960s, as well as and article (featured cover image) about a curious incident with tulips during the Dutch Golden Age (1600s).
This URL downloads all 16 pages of Middle Level Learning as a pdf of about 2 MB:
National History Day: Student Historians
Submitted by Jennifer Bauduy on Fri, 04/16/2010 - 3:05pm--Ann Claunch
When students are challenged by National History Day to probe into history’s unanswered questions, they sometimes become the first to provide the answers.
Highlights in History: Teaching with Differentiated Instruction
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 2:30pm--Kay A. Chick
The author describes three examples, illustrating how teachers can differentiate classroom activities by
(a) students’ readiness, (b) student interests, and (c) learning preferences. These books are used in the teaching examples -- "1968" by Michael Kaufman; "I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War" by Anita Silvey; and "Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World" by Ken Beller and Heather Chase (the latter includes chapters on M.L. King Jr., H. D. Thoreau, and several other Americans).
The URL below will download an entire issue of MLL that is about 5.6 MB in size.
Turn Out Those Lights! The Merchant Marine and U-Boat Lane, 1942
Submitted by Steven Lapham on Mon, 09/20/2010 - 11:04am--Caroline C. Sheffield and Andrew J. Nichols
As an editorial cartoonist, Dr. Seuss alerted his readers to German submarine attacks along the east coast of the United States in May 1942. Student handouts provide 3 cartoons, charts that tally lost ships, and lyrics to a folk song about the Merchant Marine.
This PDF downloads a 16-page issue of MLL, about 3 megabytes.
