Video History of Vietnam

Sadly I am now reviewing for our state exam so will not be using this. But, here is Vietnam in 4 minutes found on FreeTech4Teachers.

AP US History Summer Assignments

Here is a list of summer assignments I found on the web.

1. Here, here and one and here gives you a list of early US vocabulary and several possibilities to use it.


2. This one uses the Zinn book (in its entirety) as well as the Amscoe US history (I love this book) text.


3. This one is nice as all of the resources you need are linked and includes excerpts to early American readings, as well as a map question and gives the students several choices.


4. There are also several ones that have students read selected texts such as this one, this one, this one, this list of historical fiction, and here is a list of lots of examples.


5. To see more assignments, go here.

Duck and Cover Film
This film starts w. Bert the Turtle and then talks about how one can be safe from nuclear bombs simply by "ducking and covering." The film was produced by the US government during the Cold War.

75 Sites for US History Students
And here is another site from a fan of our page. This one has some of the usual suspects (Library of Congress, Wikipedia), but it is well worth a look see esp if you look at the 50s and 60s.

Ten Worst Riots in US History

Having just read a great new book on MLK, Jr & James Earl Ray (Hellhound on his Trail) which talks about the riots that came about in light of MLK's death, this site is fairly interesting (and was just sent to me from one of the people who visit the site. Above is one of the videos he found from the DNC National Convention in 1968.

Gulf Oil Spill
I've mentioned the NY Times "Lede" on the World History Teachers Blog, but today they have an absolutely awful video of the oil (and how fast it is coming out) on their website. The Lede is known for getting video almost live on world and US events often from people at the site and is well worth checking out. Above is the video.

Gadsden Purchase from Michael G on Vimeo.

The Gadsden Purchase
I've run this before, but I saw it today on the AP US history list serve and always like to include items that make the kids enjoy the class more. So above is a Jimmy Fallon clip on the Gadsden Purchase.

Still Inspiring
I showed this speech by MLK, Jr. to my students. Most people remember the speech, but not that it was an attempt to sway votes in Congress to help pass what became the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Computers for All Students
Certainly the aim of this blog is to get to have students using computers much more often in the classroom. If you think about it, the interconnectivity that computer bring, the ability to create and the chance to meet students in their own world (as opposed to the worksheet one) is a great reason to go online. Above is a nice video from PBS on a school in NY that was turned around with a visionary principal and the use of computers.