Color Photos from the Great Depression (LOC)

The Library of Congress has a collection of nearly 1,600 color photos from the Great Depression.  I think that there is a chance students will connect to these photos in a more powerful way then many black and whit images of the same period.

It would be great to choose about 20 that are not dated in some obvious way, mix them with more modern depictions of poverty, or life in other countries (not sure yet....) and have them make guesses about the date, place, and circumstances of each photo.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsac/

Strange Fruit: Anniversary Of A Lynching (from NPR)

This is a radio piece commemorating the anniversary of the lynching that inspired the poem and song "Strange Fruit" made famous by Billie Holiday.

Obviously, teachers should preview this and determine whether it is appropriate for their students.  I always find it very powerful for my students to hear the voices of the people depicted in iconic images. In an increasingly desensitized world we need to do our best to bring gravity and authenticity to the our materials.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129025516

Teaching "Lord of the Flies" with the Times

The eighth grade at my school teaches Lord of the Flies, I am sure some this will be useful for them. 

Hopefully, it will be useful for you too!

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/teaching-the-lord-of-the-flies-with-the-new-york-times/?scp=1&sq=lord%20of%20the%20flies&st=cse

The New "Duet" - Discussion from NPR's Pop Off Series

There was a great discussion about what is now considered a duet in pop music.  The conversation about the songs referenced, three of which are in the top ten this summer,  naturally brought up issues of sexism and a male centered/exploitative nature of the songs. There was also the lesser relevant point about a duet being an actual conversation or narrative.

I could see using this to as part of an affective ed lesson about how women/men are portrayed in pop culture.

Here is a link to the Story

Plagiarism Article and Lesson Ideas for the Fall

There was a great article in the Times last week about plagiarism in the digital age.  I will be reading the article with my students in September before we write our first major paper.

It is funny, but at the same time as I want to bring in aspects of their experience outside of school to make the day, lessons, months enjoyable, we also need to put up a wall around academics, tradition, excellence, and the students ownership over their work.

Here is the article and the Learning Networks open thread for students 13 and over:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?scp=1&sq=plagiarism&st=cse



http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/are-you-part-of-generation-plagiarism/?scp=2&sq=plagiarism&st=cse

NYTimes: Photos and Reflections From Arctic Alaska

From The New York Times:

Photos and Reflections From Arctic Alaska
Steve Zack takes a photographic look back at his Wildlife Conservation Society expedition to Arctic Alaska.
http://nyti.ms/ahYL3w
Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

NY Times Interactive Features are amazing...

The Times has amazing interactive features, these three come to mind:

I use this as a September 11th lesson that teaches itself and also naturally leads into a discussion of why we save artifacts from history:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/10/nyregion/20080911-hangar-panos.html


Geography of a Recession:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html


Anatomy of an Inaugural Speech:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/17/washington/20090117_ADDRESSES.html


Here is one that was inspired by the recent discovery of a ship at the World Trade Center site:


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/22/opinion/20100722_Opinion_Archaeology.html?ref=archaeology_and_anthropology

New Exhibit at Smithsonian Air and Space Museum...

Here is the Times article I read about the exhibit. The pictures are completely gorgeous.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/arts/design/29museum.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Here is the link the Smithsonian site and images from the exhibition:

http://www.beyondexhibition.net/splash/flash/


http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal211/beyond.cfm

For example: To Kill a Mockingbird

The seventh grade at my school teaches "To Kill a Mockingbird" (thank god) so I will get to read it every year and get all choked up as I read the final chapter aloud to the students and they get to see their teacher cry (kind of...maybe).

Here are some of the links I shared with colleagues...

First is an episode of the Diane Rehm Show:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-06-16/readers-review-kill-mockingbird-harper-lee


Three guests plus callers discuss the books lasting impact. Great for teachers, some clips great for students...

This is a story about parties planned for the 50th Anniversary of the Book, and how their will most likely be one person missing from the festivities:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/books/25mock.html?scp=1&sq=mockingbird&st=cse


Of course, the New York Times Learning Network Blogs are outstanding resources:

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/50-years-of-to-kill-a-mockingbird/?scp=2&sq=mockingbird&st=cse


There are over 40 links on this site alone.

Welcome to my new blog, Making Class Revelant!

For as long as I have been teaching, I have been sending out daily e-mails to my co-workers about a great article I read or story I heard on NPR that had something to do with what they are teaching to their students.

The first time I experienced the power of how a news story could change the dynamics of a class was while I was students teaching in Oregon. I had developed a three week unit on Ancient China examining oracle bones, long held as the oldest evidence of character writing known to archeologists.

While the details of whole thing escape me years later, the connection was an article in a newspaper that changed and recast the dates of the information in the textbooks. Students saw that history was not fixed and ancient but that it was an active process, one they could be a part of discovering.

Everyday, I will be providing a link, or several links, to stories that will connect your students to what you are studying in class, or perhaps take their studies in a new direction. If you find a link that has helped you, share it with me.

I will be tagging all posts so that in time, we have a collection of stories and sites that span across the curriculum.