TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jan 16, 2022
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
Benny Goodman: The Official Website of The King of Swing - CMG Worldwide
Grades
6 to 12
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Benny Goodman is remembered as one of the greatest clarinetists, but there is much more to his story. Lesser-known, but equally important, Mr. Goodman was the first to have an ...more
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Benny Goodman is remembered as one of the greatest clarinetists, but there is much more to his story. Lesser-known, but equally important, Mr. Goodman was the first to have an interracial band and promoted many African-American musicians throughout his career. Visit this official website to learn much more about Benny Goodman, including a biography, a list of achievements, quotes, and a timeline of his life events. This site also includes a gallery of historic images featuring Mr. Goodman.
tag(s): biographies (92), black history (127), music theory (47), musical instruments (53)
In the Classroom
Introduce your students to Benny Goodman using the information found on this website. The site does not include recordings of Benny Goodman, find those on Spotify at Benny Goodman. Engage students in learning about Benny Goodman using Padlet, reviewed here, to share and organize resources. On Padlet create columns with links to books and articles, videos, audio recordings, and interviews for students to explore. Have students experiment with music using Chrome Music Maker, reviewed here. Select the Song Maker, then change the instrument type to woodwind and start creating! Enhance student learning by asking them to research and share information on favorite musicians or different types of instruments. Use Genially, reviewed here, to create interactive presentations and images that include links to audio and videos related to their topic.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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20th Century America (1900-1945) Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
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The first part of the 20th Century in America takes us from the turn of the century through the end of World War 2. It is pivotal to help students ...more
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The first part of the 20th Century in America takes us from the turn of the century through the end of World War 2. It is pivotal to help students understand how these years changed the country. Find resources in this collection related to the economic, social and technological milestones seen during this time. We will include resources that introduce the opening of the Panama Canal, the Wall Street Crash of 1929, The Great Depression, Mahatma Gandhi, World War I and II, the first winter Olympics, US Immigration Act of 1924, the Holocaust, Japanese internment camps, the segregation era, the Roaring Twenties and prohibition, The Ford Model-T, Lindburgh's first nonstop flight from NY to Paris, the construction of the Empire State Building and the Hoover Dam. Discover these topics and many others in this collection.
tag(s): 1900s (80), 1910s (26), 1920s (17), 1930s (40), 1940s (68), 20th century (169), great depression (30), holocaust (42), immigration (80), japanese (51), segregation (20), stock market (13), world war 1 (84), world war 2 (166)
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
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Ken Burns in the Classroom - PBS Learning Media
Grades
6 to 12
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Ken Burns' historical films are iconic; this collection gathers forty years of film history into one easy-to-use resource. Use the keyword search to find specific resources or browse...more
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Ken Burns' historical films are iconic; this collection gathers forty years of film history into one easy-to-use resource. Use the keyword search to find specific resources or browse by era or film name to find primary sources, images, videos, and more. Each collection includes a correlation to state and national standards and support materials, including discussion questions and classroom activities.
tag(s): 1700s (32), 1800s (81), 1900s (80), 20th century (169), authors (101), blues (19), civil rights (218), civil war (142), history day (38), industrial revolution (20), jazz (16), sports (84), vietnam (39), westward expansion (41), womens suffrage (64)
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 FigJam, 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.
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Carnegie Hall - Education - Carnegie Hall
Grades
K to 12
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This Carnegie Hall site provides free and low-cost educational programs that support music learning worldwide. Free offerings include recordings of live stream concerts from Carnegie...more
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This Carnegie Hall site provides free and low-cost educational programs that support music learning worldwide. Free offerings include recordings of live stream concerts from Carnegie Hall, family resources including activities and videos for all ages, and resources for music educators. Browse through the educator resources divided into three sections - grades K-5, grades 6-12, and professional development. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
tag(s): black history (127), cross cultural understanding (174), cultures (245), music theory (47), musical instruments (53)
In the Classroom
Use the Carnegie Hall free resources to provide music education to students as part of your music education curriculum or within your role as a classroom teacher. For example, as part of social studies lessons about countries worldwide, be sure to see the activity for learning about countries through song. Many resources feature videos; engage and enhance instruction by adding questions and comments to videos using MoocNote, reviewed here. If your district blocks YouTube, flip your classroom and have students watch the MoocNote/Youtube videos at home. Include activities as part of a larger learning unit that includes online information, quizzes, and additional videos using a learning delivery platform such as Curipod, reviewed here. Curipod provides simple to use tools that make it easy to share a variety of resources with students and differentiate instruction.
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American Experience - PBS
Grades
8 to 12
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American Experience is a PBS documentary program featuring stories about important and interesting experiences in American history. This site provides films, videos, and feature articles...more
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American Experience is a PBS documentary program featuring stories about important and interesting experiences in American history. This site provides films, videos, and feature articles to support and provide additional information to the series' documentary presentations. Titles of a few documentaries are: The Busing Battle Ground, Zoot Suit Riots, School Integration, and many more. Browse through the homepage to find images that include a link to the supporting information, including a link to the original documentary. Most of the original programming is not online; however, there is typically the option to view the trailer for the program along with a transcript of the full story.
tag(s): 1800s (81), 1900s (80), blues (19), civil rights (218), great depression (30), heroes (24), jazz (16), medicine (56), presidents (150), weather (166), womens suffrage (64)
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.
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Perfect Blues:1920s, 30s and 40s Vintage Blues; Duke Ellington; Leadbelly (Past Perfect) - Past Perfect Vintage Music
Grades
K to 12
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Are you having trouble finding Blues sites with the music? Listen to handpicked classic, popular Blues sounds of the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s on this YouTube playlist. You'll find ...more
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Are you having trouble finding Blues sites with the music? Listen to handpicked classic, popular Blues sounds of the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s on this YouTube playlist. You'll find Leadbelly, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe Venuti, Bessie Smith and many, many more. The music is crystal clear with none of the scratchy sounds you hear with many old songs that were recorded from old technology. If your district blocks YouTube, you may not be able to enjoy this music.
tag(s): 1920s (25), 1930s (40), 1940s (68), 1950s (32), blues (19), harlem (9), jazz (16)
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
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Take Me Back To - takemeback.to
Grades
4 to 12
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See what the world was like at that time with Take Me Back To. Type in any date you want to visit. Results offer a short text passage about who ...more
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See what the world was like at that time with Take Me Back To. Type in any date you want to visit. Results offer a short text passage about who was president and what music was popular (if available). See samples of movies, magazines, book charts, advertisements, and more. Unfortunately, the site doesn't go back beyond 1900, so any search before that time will default to that date in 1900. Searches can be done on dates up to the present. Note that clicking on some of the images offered takes you to paid services or current issues of the same magazine.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1900s (80), 1910s (26), 1920s (17), 1930s (40), 1940s (68), 1950s (32), 1960s (54), 1970s (30), 1980s (21), 20th century (169), decades (7), timelines (57)
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
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Drop Me Off in Harlem - Artsedge
Grades
6 to 12
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Presented by the Kennedy Center's Artsedge program, this site is a wonderful kaleidoscope of information about Harlem from 1917 through 1935. It explores the artists of that time, including...more
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Presented by the Kennedy Center's Artsedge program, this site is a wonderful kaleidoscope of information about Harlem from 1917 through 1935. It explores the artists of that time, including writers, artists, actors, dancers, and musicians. Under Faces of the Harlem Renaissance there are categories for musicians, writers, actors, activists of the time such as W.E.B. DuBois and Charles Johnson, and more.
One of the nice things about this site is the easy access to the section they call "Classroom Activities." Scroll down to the bottom of any page to find it. Here they provide activities for grades 6-8 and 9-12 that are specific to grade level as well as links to lesson plans if you choose to use those. Under A Place Called Harlem, you will find the Media Player which still requires Flash, however there is so much information on this site that the media player will hardly be missed.
tag(s): 1910s (26), 1920s (17), 1930s (40), dance (29), harlem (9)
In the Classroom
Because of the sheer variety of links offered, this is an ideal lesson to spread among a class. As a culminating activity have a "Harlem Day" where students present their information. They might dress and speak as the person they studied; they might present music, poetry, or art from that time, or even create a Harlem "nightclub" to share their information. Why not extend student learning and have them create video clips using Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, to share on your interactive whiteboard or projector via TeacherTube. Other project ideas could be a blog using Edublogs, written from the perspective of someone living in Harlem during the great depression, or a wiki written between one of the famous artists and the president at the time (Herbert Hoover, for example). A good wiki tool to use is PBWorks.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Prohibition and Temperance - OSU Department of History
Grades
9 to 12
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From the Ohio State University history department, this site includes resources related to the prohibition and temperance movement in the US. There is a good, straightforward summary...more
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From the Ohio State University history department, this site includes resources related to the prohibition and temperance movement in the US. There is a good, straightforward summary of prohibition including hyperlinks, information about the Women's crusade against alcohol and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and contemporary opinion pieces about prohibition. Of particular use is a series of political cartoons from the period which illustrate contemporary political viewpoints.
tag(s): 1920s (25), 1930s (40), 20th century (169), 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
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Jazz in America - Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz
Grades
6 to 12
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The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz offers Lesson Plans for grades 5-11 and a wealth of information. Click on the Jazz Resources and you'll discover a rich collection of biographies,...more
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The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz offers Lesson Plans for grades 5-11 and a wealth of information. Click on the Jazz Resources and you'll discover a rich collection of biographies, background information, musicology, and other jazz-related information. The content includes some really in-depth analysis of different jazz musical styles. Both music and social studies teachers will find plenty of material here.
tag(s): 1920s (25), 1930s (40), 1940s (68), 1950s (32), 20th century (169), africa (149), african american (117), blues (19), harlem (9), jazz (16)
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
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Interactive: Roots of Jazz - PBS
Grades
4 to 12
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The companion web site to the PBS Jazz series offers an interactive history of jazz and its evolution as part of the African American experience. Click "Classrooms" on the top ...more
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The companion web site to the PBS Jazz series offers an interactive history of jazz and its evolution as part of the African American experience. Click "Classrooms" on the top menu and find lesson outlines included on the site. Searching YouTube for Learn About Jazz PBS will result in a list of free vdeos about the history of jazz. If your district blocks YouTube the videos may not be viewable.
tag(s): 1900s (80), 1920s (25), 20th century (169), jazz (16)
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
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