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Teaching tips and fun activities
Audio/Video Presentations of Teaching Techniques
Meet Anne Padilla, an English teacher in Bowling Green, KY, who is a member of the Kentucky Teacher’s Hall of Fame.
Here is a video of Anne Padilla teaching a lesson based on an evaluation of the arguments used in the Declaration of Independence, focusing on how language is structured for meaning: “Close Reading: A Pre-Writing Strategy.” She explains how this technique can help students.
“What close reading does is it forces them to pay attention to how the words are arranged in a sentence and for what purpose. It’s an exercise in understanding how people—including themselves—can structure language for meaning.”
You may be interested in teaching tips and fun activities such as The Shapes Game:
Shapes Game Podcast
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Shapes Game Handouts
Other educational materials will be added continuously, with suggestions of how to use the resources on our website.
Chapter 1: Introduction: Understanding the Culture of the United States
- The Game of Shapes to introduce sensitivity to cultural differences, or the game of Bafa Bafa (rules for the game are in the lesson plan for the blog below)
- The blog “What do you mean, Culture?” that has an audio recording, a link to a short video about culture shock, and lesson plans with student questions and activities
- A video interview with Laura, a graduate student who talks about her identity as a Japanese American, with a transcript you can download
- The video “Overview of Vintage American Ways” by Maryanne Datesman, with Closed Captioning (CC)
Chapter 2: Traditional American Values and Beliefs
- The blog “Civil Conversation: Finding Common Ground” that has an audio recording, a link to an article about Millennials, and a lesson plan with a link to a short video
- Two videos (CC) by Maryanne Datesman, “About the Textbook” and “The 6 Basic Values”
- The blog “Beware of Bumptious Fritterers!” that has an audio recording, and a lesson plan
- Anne Padilla’s lesson plan on The Declaration of Independence
Chapter 3: The American Religious Heritage
- The blog “Reflections on 9/11: Timeless, Inevitable Questions about War” that has an audio recording, and a lesson plan
- Other material from The Youth’s Companion
Chapter 4: The Frontier Heritage
- The blog “Granny Rhoda: She Can Bring Home the Bacon and Fry It Up in a Pan” with audio recording and lesson plan, with a link to the Enjoli commercial
- The blog “Frontier Boy vs. Legendary Grizzly Bear” with audio recording and lesson plan
- A video with Andrew Borba, Director of an inter-arts project done at Chautauqua, summer of 2014, called “Go West: The Mythology of American Expansion” and there is also an article in the Chautauquan Daily
- A special issue of articles reprinted from The Youth’s Companion about Native American Indians: a story in 10 parts, and an article written by an American General who was a famous Indian fighter (assessing the qualities of various Indian Chiefs)
Chapter 5: The Heritage of Abundance
- The blog “Battling the Armyworm for 100 Years”
- The blog “Throwback Thursday: A Fast Food Restaurant 100 Years Ago”
Chapter 6: The World of American Business
- The blog “Beware of Bumptious Fritterers”
- The blog “Where Am I??? Where’s the GPS?”
- A video/Power Point presentation about computer security done by George Datesman
Chapter 7: Government and Politics in the United State
- The blog “Suffering from Women’s Suffrage”
- The blog “Who’s your gran-daddy? The Origin of the Grandfather Clause”
Chapter 8: Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the United States
- The blog “Who’s your gran-daddy? The Origin of the Grandfather Clause”
- The blog “Battles That Have Two Names: It’s a Matter of Perspective”
- Reprint of Civil War stories from The Youth’s Companion
Chapter 9: Education in the United States
- Video by Maryanne Datesman (CC) “About the Gerta Rinker Collection”
- The blog “Who’s your gran-daddy? The Origin of the Grandfather Clause”
Chapter 10: How Americans Spend Their Leisure Time
- The blog “Battling the Armyworm for 100 Years”
- The blog “Frontier Boy vs. Legendary Grizzly Bear”
- The blog “Where Am I??? Where’s the GPS?”
Chapter 11: The American Family
- The blog “Granny Rhoda: She Can Bring Home the Bacon and Fry It Up in a Pan”
- The blog “Suffering from Women’s Suffrage”
- The blog “Throwback Thursday: A Fast Food Restaurant 100 Years Ago”
- Story by Donna Reed: “Ditch the Dining Room; Keep the Table”
Chapter 12: American Values at the Crossroads
- The blog “Civil Conversation: Finding Common Ground”
- The blog “Reflections on 9/11: Timeless, Inevitable Questions about War”