+ Web Sites for Teaching Native American Heritage

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips,” which provides edtech resources for teachers, here are this week’s offerings.  The topic is

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE

• Reconnecting the Circle –Encourages people to learn about Native American people and cultures, and to develop a more meaningful and complete perspective on Indian Country.  http://www.reconnectingthecircle.com
• Native Americans: Themed Resources for Teachers –  from the Library of Congress, this site features a compilation of Native American related materials from across the Library’s Web site, including exhibitions, presentations and lesson plans.  http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/themes/native-americans/
• National Museum of the American Indian: Collections Search — Includes a representative sample of NMAI’s object and historic photo collections.  Each item is accompanied by basic, standardized information.  http://www.americanindian.si.edu/searchcollections/home.aspx
• Native Words – Native Warriors: NMAI Codetalkers – Learn about “Code Talkers,” the twentieth-century American Indian warriors and heroes who significantly aided the victories of the United States and its allies.  http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/codetalkers/
• Education World: Native Americans –  Explore Education World’s resources on the history and culture of America’s original inhabitants.  http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/native_americans.shtml

source: EduHound’s newsletter “Classroom Tools & Tips” from www.eduhound.com.   Send suggestions for topics to Judi Rajala at jrajala@eduhound.com.  The site also provides templates (offer your own!) and clipart, among other great resources. 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards    614-579-6021    or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ New Pfizer Unit to Take On Autism

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

In an article in The Day, by Lee Howard, we learn that associate research fellow at Pfizer Diane Stephenson and her colleague Howie Mayer were able to bring to fruition their idea of forming a separate research unit focusing on autism.

Stephenson has two nephews and a niece with the neurological disorder; Mayer has two children with autism.

They were later joined by  another colleague, Larry Fitzgerald.  The group contacted key experts outside Pfizer who knew the latest breakthroughs in autism research.

According to Stephenson, science in the past years have started making significant headway in genetic research geared toward autism.  Two years ago might have been too soon.  But late last year, the colleagues felt they had enough science on their side to make their case. 

“Most everyone told us we were crazy,” says Stephenson.  The pharmaceutical industry — and Pfizer — has been in a downsizing mode lately.  But senior management embraced the idea and launched the autism unit in January with 15 scientists.

Fitzgerald became the first head of the unit, but departed a few weeks ago, and mayer has also moved on, now working for another business unit at Pfizer.  Stephenson is the remaining founder still working on-site.

The long range goal will be to prevent autism, but Pfizer plans to address short-term solutions at first. 

Researchers plan to begin by targeting symptoms that appear to cross the spectrum of autism disorders: anxiety, agitation, sleep disorders, social deficits, language disabilities and repetitive behaviors.  The focus is to be identification of medications which address symptoms.

A longer-range goal is to understand the neurobiology behind the disorder so that core symptoms can be treated.

One asset in the research process, according to scientists, is the fact that several markers of autism have recently been identified.  One of these telltale signs is eye-tracking.  While normal children focus on the eyes of a face, autistic children look away, toward the mouth.

This baseline awareness can help scientists see if a drug is having an effect.

Senior scientist Edward Guilmette, in the neuroscience unit labs, is starting to target certain genes that could have an effect on autism. In mice models, the effect of turning on or off various genes than is studied.

Fifteen researchers can seem like a big commitment, but Pfizer scientists say that number  is small compared to the vast research that remains to be done.  They have reached out to collaborators at MIT, the Yale Child Study Center, and NYU, to develop and expand their work.

The current work being done at the moment involves mostly biology and animal studies.  But as specific small-molecule drug targets are developed, more chemists will be enlisted to help.

The first Pfizer autism medicines will likely come from its established drug portfolio.  One possibility is the pain medication Lyrica, although Stephenson emphasizes that drug trials have yet to establish any clinical support for the hypothesis.

Finding uses for established drugs will be much less costly than the $1 billion price tag that would be involved in bringing new drugs to market.  Current drugs have already been proved to be safe.

Another factor reducing costs for developing autism drugs is that several of the spectrum disorders, including Fragile X, currenly have no approved treatment.  That means companies won’t have to prove to the FDA that their drugs are more effective than others on the market.

The long-term hope, according to Stevenson and her colleague Michael Tranfaglia of the FRAXA Research Foundation, is to actually reverse the course of autism — an idea that a few years ago would have seemed absurd, but is already being shown to be within the realm of possibility.

“The sooner you intervene, the better,” says Stephenson. 

Tranfaglia contends, “You can actually normalize development.  It’s entirely reasonable to think you could completely alter the course of the disease.”

my source was: www.courant.com; article on 10/25/09.   See the entire article by Lee Howard at The Day:   http://www.theday.com/article/20091012/BIZ02/310129965  

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021 or email aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ A Green Halloween?

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From www.tonic.com we got an article by Annie Scott on changing the face of Halloween.

The goal is to make the holiday more about community and creativity, and less about candy and consumption.  With a national obesity epidemic and a planet that is clearly in pain, kids and parents are joining forces this year to celebrate in a healthier, “greener” way. 

The ”Green Halloween” and “Healthy Halloween” concepts were launched in 2007 across the country from each other.  They were initiatives to make the holiday a little less scary for health and the environment.

The two organizations are teaming up this year, in New York City and across the country.  On October 31 in New York, a festival in the Nolita neighborhood will be followed by a special healthy trick or treat trail.

But if you don’t happen to be in New York, there are many ways you can participate.  Draper conducted email interviews with Jim Glaser, Corey Colwell-Lipson and several families who have participated in the past about their vision for the project. 

Colwell-Lipson says “It’s the same fun holiday it’s always been — with a healthy and sustainable makeover.”  In New York, groups including the Action Arts League and Dr Mehmet Oz’s HealthCorps back the Green halloween party and help provide good times.

“With headlines screaming about lead in candy, phthalates in costumes, the childhood obesity and diabetes epidemics, the incredible environmental and human costs of spending billions of dollars on decor that gets tossed, and so much more, the timing was just right,” says Colwell-Lipson. 

“But someone needed to make the greening of Halloween practical, affordable and fun.  That’s where we stepped in to start the ball rolling.”

Jim Glaser makes a good case for Halloween with no candy.

Really, what’s fun about candy?… In the ultimate vision, Green Halloween locations will actually offer more fun — more art, more interactive experiences and a wider selection of gifts that will actually be more fun to go through than pounds and pounds of the same discounted high fructose corn syrup products.

Think about halloween pouches seeming more like Christmas stockings and ask which might be more fun?  And by the way, Green Halloween does not advocate ‘NO candy.’  It advocates moderation and more wholesome, natural sugar treats.

Coldwell-Lipson feels that it’s hard to get enthused when the problem is simply presented.  For example, one reporter found a child on the street and asked how he’s feel if people stopped handing out candy.  The kid almost started crying — how could people take away his fun like that?

But the reporter failed to tell the child — or better, show him — the fabulous alternatives.

The two organizations are helping families participate by encouraging people to get involved on the website [www.GreenHalloweenNYC.org  ], where they can find other local advocates and with the eventual goal of greating green trick-or-treating networks.

Colwell-Lipson also suggests making a Green Halloween door sign to spread awareness and help kids find places to get better treats.

People are getting involved for different reasons, but everyone seems to have the same goal: smarter choices.  Susannah Pryal of Sammamish Washington says “I think the older kids who come to our house are surprised and disappointed.  But really, it’s the same.”

She has been participating from the beginning.  “I felt like such a hypocrite giving out candy when I didn’t like giving it to my kids.  Plus, I am such a candy addict and I didn’t want candy in my house.”

Barbara Keskiner of Tampa Florida is helping organize a Green Halloween in her community.  She became involved because of her 2-year-old daughter.  “As she has not yet been started on a candy diet on halloween, we don’t think that she will miss it!”

A mother in Los Angeles is part of “Green Teen” and founder of the Green Youth Movement, Ally Maize, has this to say: “This has really become a mother-daughter project for the both of us, and her involvement has made it more meaningful for me.”

Their family will be participating in Green Halloween in a number of ways, including a YouTube video for green halloween tips, informative email blasts to local schools, and by handing out special treats.

“For halloween,” says Maize, “we will be giving out eco-friendly and socially responsible treats like fair trade chocolate and Trick-or-Treat for Trees coupons, which are inexpensive coupons that can be purchased in bulk (a tree is planted for each coupon purchased).  Also, 90 percent of all of our home decorations are either homemade or recycled.”

Visit www.GreenHalloweenNYC.org for more information.

source: Annie Scott’s article at Tonic.com’s on October 16, 2009. 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Web Sites: Museum Lessons

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips” this week, some sites for teaching lessons about museums.

• Guggenheim Museum: Curriculum Online – Provides teachers with curriculum materials to support the use of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum’s exhibitions and collections both during school visits and in the classroom.  http://artscurriculum.guggenheim.org/lessons/start.php
• MuseumStuff.com – This website can help you find museums online, a staggering variety of educational links, scads of interactive virtual exhibits, dozens of interesting museum shops, specialized content for museum professionals and much more!   http://www.museumstuff.com
• Smithsonian Education: Lesson Plans – Smithsonian lesson plans emphasize inquiry-based learning using primary sources and museum collections.  http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/lesson_plans.html
• The Art Institute of Chicago: Online Resources – Provides user-friendly online educational resources that demonstrate ways to integrate museum resources into classroom curricula.  http://www.artic.edu/aic/education/onlinelearning/index.html
• Building Visual Arts Lessons (Education at the Getty) – Features ideas for preparing lessons, a step-by-step guide for teaching visual arts for each grade level, and ideas for evaluation and assessment approaches.  http://www.getty.edu/education/for_teachers/building_lessons/
• Educational Programs: Illinois State Museum – Provides many online resources designed for teachers, and using the available resources of the Illinois State Museum web site.  http://www.museum.state.il.us/ed_opp/

 source: EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips” online newsletter.  Judi Rajala want your suggestions for topics.  Also share your templates, teacher tips, trials, or tech tips.  JRajala@eduhound.com

+ Popular Harvard Course on Justice and Ethics: Online. Free.

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

For years, students at Harvard have flocked to Michael Sandel’s courses on political philosophy.

Harvard University is making Michael Sandel’s well -loved lecture series on video to anyone who would like to sit in.

Justice is one of the most popular courses in Harvard’s history.  Now its your turn, they say, to take the same journey in moral reflection that has captivated more than 14,000 students as Harvard opens its classroom to the world.

Visit: http://www.justiceharvard.org/ for a preview.

In this twelve part series, Sandel challenges us with difficult moral dilemmas and asks our opinion about the right thing to do.  He then asks us to examine our answers in the light of new scenarios.

The results are often surprising, revealing that important moral questions are never black and white.

The course also addresses the hot topics of our day — affirmative action, same-sex marriage, patriotism and rights — and Sandel shows us that we can revisit familiar controversies with a fresh perspective.

You Can Participate

There is a lot more to Justice beyond the classroom.  Get engaged with features offered with every episode of Justice. 

You can voice your opinion in the polls, take the pop quiz to test your knowledge, dig deeper with in-depth readings, hone arguments with the Discussion Guides.

And continue the classroom discussion online with other viewers around the world.

Or you can start your own Discussion Circle, if your school, church, club, or organization wants to take the course as a group.

Session Topics

1. The Moral Side of Murder / The Case for Cannibalism 
2. Putting a Price Tag on Life / How to Measure Pleasure
3. Free to Choose / Who Owns Me?
4. This land is My Land / Consenting Adults
5. Hired Guns? / For Sale: Motherhood
6. Mind Your Motive / The Supreme Principle of Morality
7. A Lesson in Lying /A Deal is a Deal
8. What’s a Fair Start? / What Do We Deserve?
9. Arguing Affirmative Action / What’s the Purpose?
10. The Good Citizen / Freedom vs. Fit
11. The Claims of Community / Where Our Loyalty Lies
12. Debating Same-Sex Marriage / The Good Life

Michael Sandel

Michael Sandel is the Anne T and Robert M Bass Professor of Government at Harvard, where he has taught political philosophy since 1980.

His books include Democracy’s Discontent, Public Philosophy, Essays on Morality in Politics, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering.

 His  most recent book is  Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?  (to be published this month; check your local bookstore).

His writings have been translated into eleven foreign languages and have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, and the New York Times.

He has lectured widely in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand on topics including democracy, liberalism, bioethics, globalization, and justice.

He delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Oxford University, was a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, and in 2009 delivered the BBC’s Reith Lectures.  From 2002-2003, Sandel served on the President’s Council on Bioethics. 

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He received his doctorate for Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

I was sent to this site by Jon Gordon’s e-newsletter “Future Tense,” a Public Broadcasting venture.  Get the podcast and newsletter and lots of  info about cool video, internet and online music options.  newsletter@americanpublicmedia.org.  

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Web Sites for Teaching Harpers Ferry

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips, this week’s topic is Harpers Ferry.

On October 16, 1859 John Brown, along with 21 followers, came to Harpers Ferry, Virginia, to strike a blow against slavery.  The raid failed and Brown was hanged in December.  Sixteen months later, the country erupted in civil war.

• John Brown’s 1859 Raid on Harpers Ferry – Anniversaries provide unusual opportunities to draw attention and stimulate interest in historic figures and events.  This observance will provide an unprecedented opportunity to reflect on and revisit the life of John Brown as it relates to the larger context of slavery, the abolitionist movement, and the American civil rights movement.  http://www.harpersferryhistory.org/johnbrown.htm
• Harpers Ferry National Historical Park — for Teahers (US Natl Park Service) –  Resources include: Plan a Field Trip, Curriculum Materials, Professional Development, Traveling Trunks, NPS Focus, Additional Resources.  http://www.nps.gov/hafe/forteachers/index.htm
• National Geographic Xpeditions: John Brown and the Underground Railroad – This lesson asks students to analyze John Brown’s attitudes and actions against slavery and the differences between his views and those of other people who were active in the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movement.  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/17/g912/undergroundrail.html
• The American Experience: John Brown’s Holy War – Learn how John Brown led a righteous crusade against slavery, born of religious conviction — and carried it out with shocking violence.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/
• History Now.  From the Teachers Desk: John Brown – This lesson attempts to introduce middle school students to John Brown and to separate history from myth and the man from the legend.  http://www.historynow.org/09_2005/lp3.html

EduHound also offers this tip:

eFIELDTRIPS.org (visit http://efieldtrips.org )

• Trip Journal – First, the teacher downloads and gives students copy of a printed Trip Journal.  It is a simple one page fill-in-the- blank-type worksheet that helps to keep the students focused and provides a way for the teacher to grade student participation, if desired.  Students fill in the Trip Journal while they are completing the next component.
• Virtual Visit – An interactive Flash movie that teaches the students about the eFieldTrip topic.  It can be completed at any time, and at the student’s own pace.  Typically, it takes about 15 minutes for a student to go through the Virtual Visit.
• Ask the Experts – After completing the Virtual Visit, students  have an opportunity to interact with the experts.  Students can ask questions via an “Ask the Experts” web form, and receive an answer in 1-2 days.
• Live Chat – Another way students can interact with experts is by participating in a live web chat at a scheduled time.   

EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips” is a newsletter offering valuable ed tech resources to incorporate into K-12 curriculum.  Educational topics, preformatted templates, technology tutorials, and practical tips are featured.  Contact Judi Rajala at JRajala@eduhound.com with your suggestions for topics; share your templates and tips.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Mathematics! Logic! Philosophy! Comic Book?

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

Graphic novel “Logicomix,” is based on the early life of brilliant philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell and his impassioned search for truth.  

Authors Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou are academic mathematicians and writers who wanted to create an “honest-to-God yarn, simply a story.”  But in this case, the heroes are all logicians.

In Publisher’s Weekly, Calvin Reid says

It’s difficult not to be dazzled by Apostolos Doniadis and Christos Papadimitriou’s Logicomix.  It’s a biography of the mathematician/philosopher Bertrand Russell, a fiercely engaging examination of his elusive attempt to isolate the logical foundations of mathematics, and a rousing historical yarn.

And all of Logicomix’s storytelling and intellectual pyrotechnics are delineated in extraordinarily crisp, cleverly designed and beautifully colored artwork by the team of Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna. 

What a Comic book!  Easily one of the most impressive combinations of popular art and serious history that I’ve encountered in prose or comics.

A dramatic story of madness and reason, love and war, this is a story about the conflict between an ideal rationality and the unchanging, flawed fabric of reality.   In his agonized search for absolute truth, Russell crosses paths with legendary thinkers like Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert, and Kurt Godel.  He finds a passionate student in the great Ludwig Wittgenstein.

But truth eludes him.  According to historian Howard  Zinn

This is an extraordinary graphic novel, wildly ambitious in daring to put into words and drawing the life and thought of one of the great philosophers of the last century…  The book is a rare intellectual and artistic achievement, which will, I am sure, lead its readers to explore realms of knowledge they thought were forbidden to them.

“Logicomix” is at the same time a historical novel and an accessible introduction to some of the biggest ideas of mathematics and modern philosophy. 

Barry Mazur is Gerhard Gade University Professor at Harvard.  He has written that

This magnificent book is about ideas, passions, madness, and the fierce struggle between well-defined principle and the larger good.  It follows the great mathematicians — Russell, Whitehead, Frege, Cantor, Hilbert — as they agonized to make the foundations of mathematics exact, consistent, and complete.  And we see the band of artists and researchers — and the all-seeking dog Manga — creating, and participating in, this glorious narrative.

Writer Apostolos Doxiadis studied mathematics at Columbia.  His international bestseller “Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture” was the first novel to make fascinating fiction out of mathematics.  He has awards from his work in film and theater, and is also a pioneer in the study of the interaction of mathematics and narrative.

Co-writer Christos Papadimitriou is the C. Lester Hogan Professor of Computer Science at UCLA Berkeley.  He has won numerous international awards for pathbreaking work in computational complexity and algorithmic game theory.  He is also the author of the novel “Turing: A Novel About Computation.” 

The graphic artists are a husband and wife team, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna.  Papadatos worked for over twenty years in film animation in France and Greece.  In 1997 he became a cartoonist for the major Athens daily To Vima. 

Annie Di Donna studied graphic arts and painting in France and has worked as an animator on many productions, among them Babar and Tintin cartoons.  The couple have been running an animation studio since 1991.

Michael Harris, professor of mathematics at the Universite Paris 7 and member of the Institut Universitaire de France,

The lives of ideas (and those who think them) can be as dramatic and unpredictable as any superhero fantasy.  Logicomix is witty, engaging, stylish, visually stunning, and full of surprising sound effects, a masterpiece in a genre for which there is as yet no name.

“Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth,” by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou, is published by Bloomsbury USA.  ISBN-10 1-59691-452-1; ISBN-13 9978-1-59691-452-0.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com  

+ World Space Week: Web Sites for Teachers

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

October 4-10th is the 10th anniversary of the UN-declared World Space Week, and the theme is “Space for Education.”  The dates are October 4-10, 2009.

From EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips, here are some Web sites for teaching World Space Week.

• World Space Week — World Space Week is the ideal time for you to use space in the classroom to excite students about learning science, technology, engineering and math.  http://www.worldspaceweek.org
• NASA: Educators — NASA’s Education Materials Finder  will help teachers locate resources that can be used in the classroom.  Users may search by keywords, grade level, product type and subject.  http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
• World Book at NASA for Students — Features in-depth entries on eveything from astronauts to spacecraft to the wonders of our solar system and beyond.  http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/wbkids/index.html
• SEGway for Educators — These lessons were designed by both teachers and scientists.  Here you’ll find lessons organized by grade level and topic.  Topics are varied throughout all Earth and Space Science.  Each lesson has a summary with a brief overview of the lesson, its teaching goals, and alignment to standards.   http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SegwayEd/index.html
• SSERD (Space Science Education Resource Directory) — A searchable, web-based database of space science education resources for K-12 teachers and students, including lesson plans, educator guides, student activities, and websites.  http://teachspacescience.org
• Challenger Center: For Teachers –  Using space as a theme, their programs, resources and lessons get students excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  http://www.challenger.org/teachers/index.cfm
• Amazing Space for Teachers — Provides Teaching Tools, Astronomy Basics, and E/PO Resources.  A description, suggestions for using the resource in the classroom, and related materials accompany each tool.  http://amazing-space.staci.edu/eds

Classroom Tools & Tips also offers this tip:  check out PBS Teachers. 

Not only featuring a new interface, the newly redesigned PBS Teachers site offers educators more searchable content, from across PBS’s educational services.  It also provides easier, quicker ways to find the materials they need for their classroom or home learning environment.  http://www.pbsteachers.org

source: EduHound’s Classroom Tools & Tips, a  newsletter that provides valuable ed tech resources to incorporate into K-12 curriculum.  Educational topics, preformatted templates, technology tutorials and practical tips are featured.  Send your suggestions for topics, or your own templates to share, to Judi Rajala: JRajala@eduhound.com

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ National Math & Science Initiative (NMSI)

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

The first full year of NMSI’s project is complete.

At the 67 high schools with NMSI programs, the number of passing scores for students taking college-level Advanced Placement (AP) math, science and English exams increased by 51 percent.

That’s nine times the average increase among schools without NMSI support.

Results for underrepresented populations were even better. 

 With NMSI support, African American and Hispanic students passed 71 percent more AP exams.   Girls passed 55 percent more.

Such success today promises further achievements in the future.  Research shows students who pass AP exams are three times more likely to earn a college degree.

There is no secret behind NMSI’s success — just proven methods.  Better training and performance incentives result in better teachers.  Individualized instruction and scholarship incentives result in college-ready American high school students who can compete internationally.

The challenge at this moment is to replicate this project on a national scale and so help rebuild America’s performance in math and education.  Three decades ago, the US ranked third among developed nations for college students earning science and engineering degrees. 

Today, we rank 17th in science and engineering and 26th in math.

This should concern all Americans, because expertise in science, math, engineering and technology is what drives our high-tech global economy.

American companies understand the critical need to close the achievement gap.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and ExxonMobil have committed millions to help NMSI succeed.

NMSI is currently funded for expansion to 350 schools in six states over five years.  But more growth is necessary.  More public and private funds are needed so these proven strategies can be delivered to high schools across the country.  Millions of students can be equipped with the math and science skills they need to succeed in college.

Visit www.nationalmathandscience.org to learn more.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Web Sites for Teaching Hispanic Heritage

other topics: click a “category” or use search box

From EduHound’s “Classroom Tools & Tips,”  sites for teaching Hispanic heritage. 

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Carribean, and Central and South America.

• National Hispanic Heritage Month @ The Library of Congress — A portal that brings together the exhibits and features of their various offices that highlight Hispanic Heritage.  http://www.loc.gov/topics/hispanicheritage/
• Hispanic Heritage Month: National Register of Historic Places — This site highlights various properties listed in the National Register, travel itineraries, education lesson plans and National Parks that deal directly with the cultural and political experiences of Hispanic Americans.  http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/features/hispanic/index.htm
• National Hispanic Heritage Month @ EDSITEment — EDSITEment celebrates the history and artistic heritage of the Hispanic people whose cultural heritage has roots in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.  http://edsitement.neh.gov/monthly_feature.asp?id=145
• Smithsonian Latino Center — By facilitating the development of exhibitions, research, collections, and educational programs at the Smithsonian and its affiliated organizations, the Center turns a powerful spotlight on Latino heritage and culture in our country.  http://latino.si.edu/
• NMAH: Mexican America — Features a sampling of objects from the collections of the National Museum of American History (NMAH).  The stories behind these objects reflect the history of the Mexican presence in the United States.  http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/group_detail.cfm?key=1253&gkey=100
• Spanish Colonial Research Center — Contains a computerized data base from Spanish Colonial documents to serve the research needs of the National Park Service’s Spanish Colonial Heritage sites as well as other appropriate federal, state and local organizations.  http://www.nps.gov/history/spca/index.htm

source:  Eduhound’s Classroom Tools & Tips, an EduHound newsletter,  offers valuable ed tech resources to incorporate into K-12 curriculum.  Educational topics, preformatted templates, technology tutorials and practical tips are featured.  Judi Rajala says let her know what topics you’d like covered: JRajala@eduhound.com .  In addition, send your templates.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com