Teaching History Online
Number 115: 7th December, 2003
1. Active Learning in the History Classroom
3. House Select Committee on Assassinations
4. Ku Klux Klan
5. The Romans
8. German-American History & Heritage
Introduction
Spartacus Educational publishes Teaching History Online every week. The newsletter includes news, reviews of websites and articles on using ICT in the history classroom. Members of the mailing list are invited to submit information for inclusion in future editions of Teaching History Online. In this way we hope to create a community of people involved in using the Internet to teach history. Currently there are 32,610 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
Active Learning in the History Classroom: Active Learning activities are highly important teaching tools that are often discarded by teachers because of the level of ‘risk’ involved in them. In this seminar Dan Moorhouse argues that the use of active teaching and learning techniques actually minimizes the ‘risk’ by providing a greater variety of learning options to students. "Through a range of carefully constructed questions and tasks students think critically, develop their empathy with the people involved in the ‘real’ events and, in my experience at least, form a much better understanding of how a range of complex factors can combine to cause further events." If you have views on this subject, register with the History Forum and join the debate.
Warren Commission: After the death of John F. Kennedy, his deputy, Lyndon B. Johnson, was appointed president. He immediately set up a commission to "ascertain, evaluate and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy." The seven man commission was headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren and included figures such as Gerald Ford, John J. McCloy and John Sherman Cooper. Ten months later the Warren Commission reached the conclusion that the shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. The online version of the report allows you to discover how the Warren Commission came to this decision.
House Select Committee on Assassinations: In 1978 a committee in the United States was set up to look into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The report is now available on the web and includes the testimony of John Connally, Nellie Connally, Marina Oswald, Earl Ruby, Santos Trafficante, Richard Helms, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, Gerald Ford, John J. McCloy, John Sherman Cooper, Nicholas Katzenbach, Richad Helms, Thomas J. Kelley, J. Lee Rankin, Dr Charles S. Petty, Jacqueline Hess and Jack Revill.
Ku Klux Klan: The first branch of the Ku Klux Klan was established in Pulaski, Tennessee, in May, 1866. A year later a general organization of local Klans was established in Nashville in April, 1867. Most of the leaders were former members of the Confederate Army and the first Grand Wizard was Nathan Forrest, an outstanding general during the American Civil War. This website looks at the history of the Ku Klux Klan from the period when it helped restore white rule in North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia to May 2002 when Bobby Cherry was convicted for the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing.
The Romans: This Grid Club website for young people includes information organized under the headings: Roman Empire, Roman Republic, Imperial Age, Roman Army, Roman Fort, Towns, Building Technology, Roads and Travel, Farming and the Countryside, Trade and Ships, Town House, Family Life, Food and Drink, Public Baths, Entertainment, Religion and the End of the Roman Empire.
Trenches on the Web: Trenches on the Web is an evolving project being developed by Mike Lavorone in the USA. New material is being added all the time and this reflects the concerns and interests of the people who use the site and are willing to send information to the webmaster. Lavorone describes himself as the trench-keeper ("a history technician, not a historian, recording these events with the tools currently available"). Students can explore a wide variety of themes and topics. It is also possible to look at certain issues in great detail. The range and display of statistics in this website is especially impressive. The visitor is never allowed to forget the human tragedy of this conflict and heart-rendering photographs appear next to the tables and graphs on the screen.
Victoria Cross Website: Created by Mike Chapman, the Victoria Cross website is dedicated to the 1354 people who have been awarded this medal since 1856. There are sections on all the military campaigns since the Crimean War. The section on the First World War is particularly impressive and visitors can access information about the 624 men who won the Victoria Cross between 1914-18. This includes details of the deed and location of the medal. Entries are also listed by regiment, rank, campaign and nationality.
German-American History & Heritage: An impressive collection of resources to use when studying German immigration to the United States. The website includes biographies of over 200 German-Americans, online books and miscellaneous essays relating to German-Americans. The teaching resources section includes materials on 'German Immigrant Culture in America', 'Revolutionaries of 1848' and 'German-Americans and their Contributions to American Mainstream Culture'.
Book Section
Faces of Courage: Sally Rogow's book is an inspiring compilation of twelve stories of courageous teenagers from all across Europe who resisted the Nazis. There is Kirsten, a Danish girl who helped save a group of Jewish children from the Nazis. Jacob, a young Pole, survived the Holocaust by concealing his Jewish identity and working in a German armament factory. Jacques Lusseyran, a blind French boy, organized a student resistance group called the Volunteers of Liberty. The Edelweiss Pirates were a group of German teenagers who opposed the Hitler Youth and aided homeless runaways from reform schools and labour camps. (Sally M. Rogow, Granville Island, ISBN 1 894694 20 1)
