The past generation had Schoolhouse Rock, this new
generation can now learn from Sydney and Max. “Sydney and Max Blast Through the Past” is a new DVD series
that provides a fascinating study of American history through the eyes of
teenagers. It is unlike any series ever produced because it is built around the
idea of teens teaching teens; kids are loving it.
This
series is designed for children ages 10 – 16 and is guaranteed to encourage
critical thinking as viewers follow Sydney and Max’s investigation into
America’s past. The music,
dialogue, and episode length were all specifically designed to hold the
attention of today’s young people. The primary purpose is to present each short
episode in a way that is entertaining and fast paced and will introduce kids to
valuable historical information without them realizing that they are actually
learning. The unique aspect of the series is that it educates kids by using an
entertaining format. The Sydney and Max series does this by acting as a hook
that raises the curiosity of kids so that they genuinely want to learn more
about a specific historical event or time period.
The DVD consists of:
Fifteen
episodes that each run approximately 8 minutes
Open-ended
discussion questions available for downloadfrom the disc
Special Bonus Offer
Individual
episodes can be purchased from the websiteand
downloaded immediately
Teachers have been thrilled by the response from
their students and some parents have even purchased sets for their home. Check out our website at: www.sydneyandmaxeducate.com
Marquis de Lafayette... a name you know I'm sure. At least a name you've heard of. The name may start the gears in your mind and then suddenly come to a screeching halt when you're forced to stop the machine and wonder... "How do I know that name?" You may have heard of Lafayette College, or maybe there's a town you've heard of called Lafayette or Fayetteville. Perhaps you've driven on Lafayette street. It's a familiar name for sure, but perhaps the story behind the name is a little more vague.
You may have heard of a place called Lafayette, or Fayetteville, or Lafayette Hill or you may know a street with the same name. But who is Lafayette?
an often neglected and controversial figure of American and French history. Through letters and memoirs PBS has put together a documentary that follows the life and legend of Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette.
Why would a young, wealth French aristocrat leave the comforts of his French life to fight for the independence of another nation on another continent? The documentary will answer this question, as well as bring to light many other untold tales about Lafayette and his family.
Visit the Facebook Page for Lafayette: The Lost Hero: set up by film maker Oren Jacoby.
With my busy life (redesigning/renovating our basement, and having a fantastic 10 month old son), I was finally able to catch up to my DVR and watch some of one episode of America: The Story of Us.
The episode I caught was during World War II, and our jump into mass war production. This was fitting considering it was Memorial Day weekend. To say the least, I was impressed. It's a great perspective of the war that is often times overlooked. It is not uncommon to find films of this nature caught up in the minutiae of war instead of the looking at the big picture. I was impressed to the point where I'd like to pre-order the videos to add to my teaching library. As a teacher, I know that kids would rather see the big picture so they can easily make connections to knowledge they already hold.
You can pre-order your copy today too at Amazon.com... America: The Story of Us (Three-Disc Set). It's $40 bucks for 9 hours of video. Or right from the source at History.com.
Below is a short preview of one of the many vignettes that 'America:...' offers. You can view more at Fancast.com
No agenda here... just a link to some Free US History videos.
With over 1,000 hours and 4,000 titles, American History in Video is the largest and richest collection of video available online for the study of American history.
Using commercial and governmental newsreels, archival and public footage and important documentaries, it's a great collection that allows students and researchers to analyze historical events.
And the best part is that access to all of this is FREE until April 30.
So gather what you can and plan your lesson plans accordingly as not to miss out on this opportunity. It's always good for kids to see news casts and footage from actual events, instead of having to read about it.
Once again, in an effort to create more back links to their site to increase page rankings in the search engines, the wonderful team at online universities dot com has put together a cool list for us history buffs.
This one, is a list of the documentaries that have focused on presidents and their administration. Our commanders-in-chief are often the subject of documentaries and films, and now you've got many of them all in one place.
About 6 weeks ago my wife and I went to a friend's house for dinner. Knowing I'm a history teacher and looking for something to chat about, our friend Tom asked me if I was excited for The Pacific. Not being an avid TV watcher and because I don't have HBO, I had no idea what he was talking about. I made a quick assumption it was a show about the Pacific theater of World War II. He told me he was looking forward to watching it, and that it looked like it was going to be pretty good with Steven Spielberg behind.
I dismissed it, as something I'll probably hear a lot about, and never take the time to rent it from Blockbuster. But the world has changed.
I can watch HBO for free - and thus, can watch The Pacific for free. Just go to HBO.com and register your email address. This is quick and easy, and has some behind the scenes footage you can take a look at.
In the meantime, here are some links to the behind the scenes footage / historical background:
PS - Tom Hanks was on the cover of this week's Time magazine labeled as a History Maker... he's the producer of The Pacific.... (if you recall... he's had a hand in other history projects including, Saving Private Ryan, HBO's John Adams series, Apollo 13, Charlie Wilson's War and one of my all time favorites The Burbs ;) )
Did you ever wish someone would take the time to scour YouTube for a bunch of useful history videos? Your wish has been granted...
Below, you'll find links to some of the greatest presidential speeches, moments of turmoil, moments of triumph and some moments we wish we could erase from American history. But without all of these moments, our history would be quite different.
Enjoy these links... use them in class, save this page, it could come in handy...
Sure.. it's a link sent to me from an online university trying to increase their Google rank by getting a lot of relevant incoming traffic.... but they still do a good job of compiling the information.
I just finished watching the original CBS recording of the moon landing on the History Channel.
As a celebration for the event I bought some Tang. I had never had Tang before. I was looking for the original orange flavor, but found orange mixed with strawberry instead. It's pretty good. More about Tang: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_(drink)
There were several things about the CBS telecast that left an impression on me. First, it appeared as if Cronkite and his wing man remained on the air all night. They would regularly show the time in the upper left of the screen and it appeared to start around 9:30 PM and they were still broadcasting at 4 AM when the lunar module left the moon.
For the telecast from the Moon, Armstrong and his associates won the Best Foreign Television award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1969.
Something else I noticed was the pure joy and elation from Cronkite. Much like the emotion he showed during Kennedy's assassination, his feelings let us know that Cronkite is real. And so is the moon landing. But just in case there are some of you out there who like the conspiracy theories behind this event... here's your link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Moon_Landing_hoax_conspiracy_theories
Below is a video with reflections from Walter Cronkite.
And finally, in response to recent events I bring you the second man to moonwalk...
Though not the voice of my generation, he was the voice for many. He was the news.
He was invited into the living rooms of millions of Americans and reported the news. Unlike today's biased networks who purposely leave out all the facts and all the information, Cronkite would tell you what he knew.
Consider the clip below.
Clearly shaken by the sudden death of JFK, you can hear a crack in his voice. A crack that signified that he, like the rest of the world, was effected by the news of Kennedy's death. You can see it in the video at about the 5:15-5:20 mark. Cronkite's professionalism soon takes over and he reports the news as he knows it to be.
So you've found some useful videos to use in your classroom on YouTube. You can view them fine at home, only to discover that your school district has decided to block YouTube forcing you to go to plan B.
If this happens to you, there are several things you can do.
First you can check out http://teachertube.com/, which is the YouTube for teachers, but there aren't as many good videos to choose from. It's a great idea, but it needs more users to put up some better content. There are a few organizations who have taken to it, and posted some good historical content, but it might be a struggle to find exactly what you're looking for.
And finally you can use Zamzar (http://zamzar.com/) Zamzar is a file conversion website that can convert almost any type of file to the format you desire. In this case, you can input the URL of the YouTube video you desire and convert it into a format that you can save to your computer or your zip disk/thumb drive and access directly from your computer. Sometimes the files are rather large so I don't recommend emailing it, but you can certainly email the URLs of the videos and convert them from your school's computer.
Zamzar is quite simple. Just have it sent to your school email address and save it there. Hopefully you have a network, because the files are quite large, and it would be easier to share with other teachers.
Though more suited for world history, Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution" music video certainly presents itself for some good discussion of human nature and how history repeats itself. Though not 100% classroom ready, it can be prefaced with some discussion and used as a tool to introduce history.
And though the lyrics suggest a satirical look at the religiously faithful, the video ponders much more than just religion. In college me and a friend analyzed this entire album and easily pulled biblical references from every song. This one is no exception. (Armageddon - "2010 watch it go to fire")
The video begins with evolution from cells to dinosaurs on to early man. It continues towards the Crusades showing a medieval knight preparing for battle. The video evolves to match the lyrics discussing the stock market crash. The KKK is shown doing some kind of ritual dance. It references Nazi troops and World War 1 trench warfare. There's a sequence of a slave master whipping a slave...There's a scene depicting what looks like the bombing of a Vietnamese village, by the "evil" United States. And it goes on towards a Pink Floyd-esque futuristic era, with the idea that computers are taking over and mankind is in the decline.
So who's to blame for mankind's de-evolution? Vedder and Pearl Jam seem to blame world leaders, religious leaders and large institutions in general.
Woo..
I'm ahead, I'm a man I'm the first mammal to wear pants, yeah I'm at peace with my lust I can kill 'cause in God I trust, yeah
It's evolution, baby
I'm at piece, I'm the man Buying stocks on the day of the crash On the loose, I'm a truck All the rolling hills, I'll flatten 'em out, yeah
It's herd behavior, uh huh It's evolution, baby
Admire me, admire my home Admire my son, he's my clone Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
This land is mine, this land is free I'll do what I want but irresponsibly It's evolution, baby
I'm a thief, I'm a liar There's my church, I sing in the choir: (hallelujah, hallelujah)
Admire me, admire my home Admire my son, admire my clones'
Cause we know, appetite for a nightly feast Those ignorant Indians got nothin' on me Nothin', why? Because... it's evolution, baby!
I am ahead, I am advanced I am the first mammal to make plans, yeah I crawled the earth, but now I'm higher 2010, watch it go to fire It's evolution, baby
Do the evolution Come on, come on, come on
-- Eddie Vedder/Stone Gossard
PS - Korn's "Evolution" has a similar message... but with a lot less history and more things that make you go hmmmm...
I found this song a few months ago when spending some time on YouTube.
The song, US History, by Flipsyde is a representation of the history of the United States as seen through the eyes of a personified America.
After discovering this song, I decided to check out a few more songs by Flipsyde. What I found was inspiring. Their songs are inspirational, educational, relevant and all send a positive message.
For teachers looking to use this song in class, I do recommend it, but be aware of the language. You might want to run this by the powers that be, or just be sure that your class is mature enough to except the song for what you're using it for... a history lesson.
I apologize in advance if the language offends anyone. It is for educational purposes.
It's got references to the mistreatment of Native Americans, The Revolution, The Civil War and slavery, imperialism, Teddy Roosevelt, The World Wars, including Pearl Harbor and the Atom bomb, Vietnam, the Cold War, Korean War, War in Iraq, etc... etc...
It really is impressive when you look at it from the standpoint of simplifying complex ideas and relationships in US History. If I were teaching US History right now... I'd use it.
Watch the video... then listen to the song again and read the lyrics. And tell me what you think...
US History - by Flipsyde
Hustlin's in my blood my father's name is Britain His history consisted of robbery killin' and pimpin
Filthy rich and the biggest killer that you ever seen Once I'm older I'm takin' over I'ma be king
I was locked up in jail when he got the new land Opened his cells I guess that's how the story began
First mission was to clear it out and claim it as mine Indigenous people were peaceful it took no time
Great grandmother Africa was blind and disabled Sons was traitors we played divide and conquer invaded
Sold her children into slavery and profited quick Started makin' side deals and that's how I got rich
Daddy Britain found out and tried to put me in check He don't understand I'm a man and I deserve some respect
Tried to bring it to me but I play for keeps and I won Still my daddy but you ain't the only man with a gun
More money More problems little brother is wild They call 'em The South he's country with a big ass mouth
Tried to show 'em new business but he don't wanna change I love 'em but I knew eventually I'd blow out his brains
I'm America!
You know you know God Bless America You know you know God Bless America You know you know God Bless
Me and my daddy still cool and my uncles is with us France Russia and Italy and we all killas
But it's this nigga named Germany that's out of control Rollin with Japan and Turkey and them niggas is bold
Started fuckin' with my uncles and we all went to war Uncle France damn near died at the tip of his sword
When the smoke cleared we won let 'em retreat Shoulda' killed 'em cause they knew they had us close to defeat
Kicked it off again 20 years later it was on This time my uncle Italy traded and he was gone
I was neutral when Japan hit me guess that he knew I aint gone' let my family fight without me jumpin' in too
Woulda' lost if I didn't hit Germany's weapon supply Kamikaze Japanese was always ready to die
Dropped atomic bomb let them niggas know that it's real Speak soft with a big stick do what I say or be killed
I'm America!
You know you know God Bless America You know you know God Bless America You know you know God Bless
I'm racin' with my uncle Russia we the ones with the guns He supported the North so I rolled with South Vietnam
Thought it would be easy but almost 60 thousand died They was harder than Korea so we ran for our lives
It's a family called the Middle East and they got bread Sellin' oil they don't cut me in then off with their head
I got a nephew named Israel that's right in the middle Pay his allowance as long as he can dance to my fiddle
I had a partna' named Iraq gave 'em weapons and money Nigga started getting' power and he start actin' funny
Saudi Arabia's cool gotta son Bin Laden I was trainin' his soldiers to go against the Russians and stop 'em
Then he tried to say I need to take my soldiers and cut Gave 'em the finger that's when he flipped and blew my shit up
I took it to 'em, and then I took it back to Iraq and if you ain't my blood brother you gonna be flat on yo' back
The sons of Africa just invented this shit called rap Tellin' my secrets that's why I'm puttin' their heads on flat
Built an empire quick and it might not last But I bet I go down in history as the one that smashed
I'm America!
You know you know God Bless America You know you know God Bless America You know you know God Bless
Hustlin's in my blood my father's name is Britain Hustlin's in my blood my father's name is Britain
The red the white the red the white the blue The red the white the red the white the blue
Teachers, students and educators, check out USHistorySite.com for American History lesson plans, timelines, games, resources and primary source documents.
. It's $40 bucks for 9 hours of video. Or right from the source at History.com.
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