Category: history

positive black woman talking to radio host
history, Independent Study, K-12, Research, Teaching Tools, Writing

International Podcast Day

Terri Eichholz

So, I’m in the middle of curating resources for my September Holidays and Celebrations Wakelet collection (still working on it, but it is public if you want to take a look), and I found out that September 30th is International Podcast Day. Have I mentioned that I love podcasts, and that there are so many ways to leverage them for engagement in the classroom? I even wrote an article about “Podcast Pedagogy” last year for NEO. Whether you want to have students listen to podcasts (see my article for tons of suggestions, including Smash, Boom, Best) or create them, podcasts are a nice way to give students opportunities for more choice and creativity in their learning and assessments.

I discovered a couple of new resources since I wrote that article that I am adding to my September Wakelet, but I’ll also include here. First of all, I saw this nice idea for a podcast listening station from Stacy Brown (@21stStacy) on Twitter:

Also from Twitter, Chris Hitchcock (@CHitch94), shared this spreadsheet of podcasts that relate to history to use with secondary students.

If you’re looking for ways to celebrate International Podcast Day, this page has good suggestions. I realize that it’s over a month away, but these are activities you definitely you want to plan ahead of time rather than the night before.

This page from Building Book Love has excellent recommendations for podcasts for both elementary and secondary. There are also links to some TPT pages the author has created for listening and responding to podcasts.

There are a few other links on my Wakelet if you want to delve deeper. If you haven’t tried using podcasts yet, I hope that you will take the leap because they are definitely a valuable educational resource that I think has been largely untapped so far!

Anti-Racism, history, K-12, Social Studies

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2022

Terri Eichholz

Among the many observances during the month of May, it is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United States. To learn more about the history of this commemoration, you can read this article from NPR. It describes the evolution from a week of observance to a month, and why it falls in May each year.

I gave a few resources for AAPI Month last year, but I want to add these specific lesson plans from NEA to the collection. You can also find some great links on the National Park Service website and a “Care Package” of poems, meditations, and films from the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center here. The Smithsonian APA also has a page of resources for teachers here.

The theme for this year’s AAPI Heritage Month is, “Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration.” In these days where there seems to be so much dissension and polarization, I find this theme to be a hopeful one that is a reminder of the benefits of working together.

I’ll be adding this post to my Anti-Racism Wakelet, where you can find other articles I’ve collected for the purpose of educating ourselves and combatting hate.

Arab Boy and Girl
Anti-Racism, Geography, history, K-12, Language Arts, Social Studies

April is Arab American Heritage Month

Terri Eichholz

I know that it can be overwhelming to see all of the “special months, days, and weeks” that get paraded on social media. And I also know that it is not the best reflection of our country that we feel that we must assign months in the calendar to remind people that our nation is comprised of many cultures and ethnicities. However, one bright spot that I do find in bringing attention to some of these is that more resources become readily available. So I do want to highlight some of the ones that I’ve found for Arab American Heritage month.

As a reminder, many Muslims are observing Ramadan this month. However, you may be surprised to learn that, according to this source, only about 24% of Arab Americans are Muslims, and the majority of them are Christians. This is one of the many misconceptions we often have regarding Arab Americans, and you can read more here.

The American Arab Institute is one place to start when looking for resources, as it has a picture of the letter President Biden has written to acknowledge the month and also highlights the contributions of some incredible Arab Americans. There is also an interactive map where you can learn more about the demographics and trends in your area.

The Arab America Foundation has a curriculum kit for educators that you can find here. They also offer an abundance of links on this page. If you would like to combine your study of Arabian history and culture with an appreciation for poetry (since April is also National Poetry Month), you may want to do a study of the some of the works of Khalil Gibran or Naomi Shihab Nye (a fellow San Antonio resident!). I particularly enjoy this poem on Teaching from Gibran that I just discovered while researching this post.

I will be adding this post to both my Anti-Racism Collection and my April Holidays one. If you can take a moment to learn one new wonderful fact about Arab Americans and share it with your students, we will be taking another small step toward eradicating racism in our country.

women sitting on the couch
3-12, Art, history, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies

Women in Culture

Terri Eichholz

International Women’s Day will be celebrated on March 8, 2022 this year. I have some links to activities and lessons on my March Holidays Wakelet, but I ran across the “Women in Culture” page on Google Arts and Culture the other day and wanted to make it more widely known. I could spend days exploring this site! I know you don’t have days, hours, or even more than a couple of minutes, so I’ll point out some highlights that will make it worth your while.

Let’s start by passing all of the great images and scrolling to close to the bottom of the page, where you will see this section:

Screenshot from Women in Culture

If you have no other time to bathe yourself in the beauty of this site, definitely download some of the free lesson plans, which will give you guided tours through some of the amazing images and information available to you about inspiring women in all types of careers.

Still have a little time? Maybe you can browse through this exhibit of “11 Women Who Changed the World,” and try to learn more about the incredibly gifted females (Still have a little time? Maybe you can browse through this exhibit of “11 Women Who Changed the World,” and try to learn more about the incredibly gifted females who have made universally positive contributions (many of whom rarely appear in school textbooks) who have made universally positive contributions in field ranging from art to science.

Speaking of science, women in STEM are all over this page. For a small taste of what you can find, take 2 minutes to watch this superhero video about one of those women, who is using biomimicry to discover new materials to monitor our health. A few more videos from the series can be found by scrolling about 1/4 way down the page to the section, “The science of tomorrow.”

If you’ve got upper elementary or secondary students beginning Genius Hour/Passion Projects, this would be a great page for them to browse for topic inspiration. Help them find unique subjects like the “Sea Women of South Korea” or the evolution of “Women in Sports.”

Discover the women who made a difference while increasing your motivation to help more young people learn of these achievements so they, too, can see what is possible.

people woman street sign
Anti-Racism, history, Social Studies

iCivics Civil Rights Resources

Terri Eichholz

I’ll admit that part of the reason I write these blog posts is that I am very forgetful and having a digital record of great educational resources has been a lifesaver for me many times. So when I saw the iCivics Civil Rights Resources I had to do a quick search of my blog to make sure I hadn’t written about this specific portion of iCivics before now. I was surprised to see that I have written posts about iCivics since 2011, practically when I started this blog. If you’ve never used it before, definitely take some time to look at it. It’s free, includes games and lesson plans for all grade levels, and has a teacher dashboard you can use for assignments.

The iCivics Civil Rights Resources are primarily for middle and high school levels. They include animated videos from the “Changemakers of the Civil Rights Era” as well as some practice using primary sources and some curriculum units. With President Biden poised to nominate the first Black female Supreme Court judge, you may be particularly interested in the video and lessons for Constance Baker Motley. She was the first African American woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, be elected to the New York state senate, and be appointed a federal judge.

I’ll be adding this to my Anti-Racism collection, which you can find here. To access all of my Wakelets and/or to follow me as I update them daily, visit this page.

Constance Baker Motley, image from Flickr
Anti-Racism, history, K-12, Motivation, Websites

The Legacy Project

Terri Eichholz

The Legacy Project is a virtual museum from Microsoft that celebrates the Black and African-American people who have made positive contributions to our world historically and through the present. It is an immersive “360 degree” experience with different virtual exhibit halls and multimedia presentations. Here is a brief introductory video:

Of course, I immediately chose to visit the “Young, Gifted, and Black” exhibit because there is nothing that makes me smile more than seeing students who are making a difference.

Sign in Young, Gifted and Black Hall in Microsoft’s Legacy Project

I immediately gravitated toward Bellen Woodard’s portrait. Bellen is titled, “World’s First Crayon Activist” because of the work she did to help people to recognize that “flesh color” is not just one color. You can read more about Bellen and view a video of her explaining how she began her “More Than Peach Project” which includes a book she authored and a new line of crayons that will be for sale later this year.

Bellen Woodard, one of the many inspiring students featured in the Young, Gifted and Black Exhibit

There is a lot more to explore in Microsoft’s virtual museum, and it appears to be an ongoing project. I’ll be adding this to my Anti-Racism Wakelet, where you can now find 70 free resources.

Have a great weekend!