Discussions and Lesson Introductions

Have you ever spent a lot of time looking for an engaging quote, picture or activity to use to introduce a lesson or unit? You know, that great "anticipatory set" your supervisor is looking for in a lesson plan. How long does it take to find the right visual to generate an exciting class discussion? Well, Beyond Books can save you those unproductive hours. Once you locate the visual you want, project it onto a large screen or monitor. Then use your quote, map, portrait or picture to generate a discussion.

Here are a few examples to get you started.

1. Quote
   "We hold these truths to be self-evident." (This famous line of the Declaration was originally: "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable"; Jefferson changed "sacred and undeniable" to "self-evident" during the drafting of the Declaration. Go to the Link "Evolution of the Declaration of Independence" at The Declaration of Independence and begin discussing the differences.

2. Map
   Introduce the idea of Manifest Destiny. Go to 54° 40' or Fight

3. Portrait
   See W.E.B. DuBois in the Picture Gallery on the link page at W.E.B. DuBois.

4. Picture
   Lots of pictures of Napoleon and others at The Age of Napoleon. Scroll down to the picture on the bottom of the page "Josephine is Crowned Empress" and click on it. Then select your picture and enlarge it.

Simulation

Students tend to remember 90% if they are involved in "doing" an activity, much more than the 10% remembered if the activity is just reading.

Engage your students in a simulation such as the Spice Trader. Go to the "Do It Yourself" Teaser in European History, at Why Italy?. In this activity students can play the captain of their own sailing ships or work as a small trade association competing with others. See which of your students would have been the most profitable entrepreneur during the Renaissance.

Or perhaps you want to take your class on an archaeological dig? Not easy these days but Beyond Books can help. Go to Irish and German Immigration and visit the link "The Five Points Site -- Rediscovery of a 19^th Century Neighborhood." Dig deep under the Foley Square Courthouse and visit the lives of the people who lived there in the 1800s. Use this site to engage students in their own "dig" and establish a classroom museum of your "artifacts."

Research

We ask students to do research all the time, but the World Wide Web makes plagiarism as easy as cut and paste. Creative assignments designed so that students aren't just doing a report can virtually eliminate this problem. Ask students to apply the information gathered in research to their community and their lives. Why, how and what questions will foster higher-level thinking.

Beyond Books is a great place for students to begin their research. Students who have a clear idea of their topic can use the search tool to enter keywords. "Search" is accessible from the yellow toolbar found at the top of each Beyond Books page. Students who are looking for research ideas might start with the resources on a Beyond Books focus page where the resources are organized around a specific topic. Either way, 1000s of integrated links make great amounts of material readily available to the students. Now that it is easy to find material, students will have more time to develop higher level thinking skills in their research project

Interdisciplinary Themes

Organizing material by themes helps students make connections between many ideas and thoughts. Beyond Books is a natural resource for teachers who design their units this way, or for teachers just starting to plan Interdisciplinary units. Beyond Books makes this task easier since related material is just a click away. The Internet allows students and teachers to quickly go back and forth between sites so that information in history and literature can easily be connected. For example if you are working on the theme "Quest for Religious Freedom in Colonial America" you have access to the following material:

American History: British Arrival to British Departure

1. The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony
2. Puritan Life
3. Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
4. Maryland: The Catholic Experiment

American Literature: American Literary Voices Part 1

1. The Colonial Era to 1789
2. Settlers Arrive: The Colonial Experience
3. Women's Perspectives
4. Preachers and Pedagogues
5. Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano

Virtual Field Trips

Not enough money allotted for field trips this year? Don't worry. Beyond Books can provide you with the next best thing.

Take your class to visit Independence Hall and other historic sites in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. Beyond Books will be your guide. Check out the following links in the Middle Colonies unit area: "The Most Historic Mile" and "Seven Walking Tours of Philadelphia." All aboard! City of Brotherly Love. Have a great trip.

Debates

Want to set up a debate to help students understand difficult historical points. Send your students to the Senate floor in 1830 to "hear" Daniel Webster argue for a strong central government and Robert Hayne from South Carolina advocate for states rights. Use the material for a class debate on the issue of nullification. Go to the "Hayne-Webster Debate" link at The South Carolina Nullification Controversy.

Museum Visits

There are lots of great museums to visit but many are too far away. Beyond Books can help get your students there. You can have the whole class go on the same trip or, have different groups visit different museums and report on what they learned. Prepare an observation sheet to make the visit more informative.

Louisiana State Museum provides a 360° panorama among other things to see. Go to the Louisiana State Museum Link at Westward Expansion: The Louisiana Purchase.

Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Go to Elizabeth I, Queen Who Shaped an Age and go to the "Check It Out" Teaser. You will enter the museum in Arms and Armour. Click home to see the whole collection.

If your students have passports you might want to visit these museums:

The Hermitage is in St. Petersburg, Russia. Travel to the link "The Hermitage Museum" at The Westernization of Russia for the visit. Take a tour.

You don't have to wait for springtime to go to Paris. Visit the Louvre anytime by going to the link "The Official Website of the Louvre Museum" at France Under Napoleonic Rule. Tours are available 24 hours a day in English and French. Bon Voyage!

You Are There

Bring live sound into your classroom. Hear Fountain Hughes, a 101-year-old former slave talk about growing up in Charlottesville, Virginia. Go to the sound clip teaser at The Peculiar Institution.

Or have your students sit at the feet of Robert Frost and listen as he reads "The Road Not Taken" and other works. Go to the "Check It Out" teaser at Sage and Seer: Robert Frost.

Or go way back and have your students listen to the "Prologue of The Canterbury Tales" in Middle English. Go to the "Fun" Teaser at The Canterbury Tales.

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