http://www.ccsd.edu/Link/lms/RevDBQ/directions.htm

-TR

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington

-Alex Rubel

-Alex Rubel

http://www.studentnow.com/features/essayswritingtips3.html

-Alex Rubel

http://www.teachertube.com/

-Alex Rubel

-TR

Annotated Bibliography

Toby Ring

Adams, S.H. (1957). General brock and niagara falls. New York: Random House.

In this biography of Brock, Adams gives an introductory view of the largely unknown general, and his campaigns in New York State on the Canadian border during The War of 1812. The reading level of this book on the Dale-Chall index is 9-10^th grade making it ideal for high school students studying American History. This book is interesting because Adams looks at an often neglected area of The War of 1812 from the British perspective giving students a different point of view.

Aherns , L. (Producer). (1975). The preamble [Web]. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TXJRZ4CFc

This video gives background for the writing of The Constitution, and explains the meaning of the preamble. The preamble is set to a catchy tune making it possible to easily be memorized. As the preamble serves as the basis of governmental legitimacy in the United States it is an important piece of literature for students to remember while studying United States history. This video in particular and the School House Rock series in general can be an invaluable resource for teachers of levels as it serves to help students remember information that can be boring, and fosters interest in the topic.

American Historical Publications and Records Commission. (Ed.). (1998). The Emerging nation. Amawalk, NY: Jackdraw Publications.

This is perhaps the most useful resource I have come across for teaching the early colonial period. This portfolio contains a plethora of resources from primary sources, to maps, and work books that go along with them. The workbooks highlight potential vocabulary words in the document and provide exercises that pre teach the words before reading the document. This resource is so appealing because it varies in the form of the media appealing to learners with multiple intelligences as well as giving premade lesson plans to save teachers time.

Brady, T. (2004). Liberty!. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/index.html

This interactive website was published in support to the PBS series Liberty. It contains invaluable resources ranging from videos, to animations, to maps, games, and more. The content covered is relevant for a middle school student eager to learn more or any high school student. The site reads at a 7^th grade level on the Flesch-Kincaid scale which is appropriate to content level. This website would be good for students to explore as part of a web quest, or at home on their own time.

Congress of The United States. (1776, July). Declaration of independence. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.constitution.org/us_doi.htm

This website contains the original text of the Declaration of Independence. This document, our rational and catalyst for The Revolutionary War is a document that all students should read.  This document reads at the 7^th grade level on the Flesch-Kincaid scale so it could be studied in middle school with support activities, or as a document in a DBQ activity for high school students.

Crawford, C. (1970). Four women in a violent time. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.

In this book Crawford goes into detail about four neglected women in colonial, Pre-Revolutionary history. Besides Anne Hutchinson, the other three women are not included in most classes on the American Revolution so this book would serve as good resource for those students interested in exploring women’s stories throughout history. The bibliographies go in depth and read at approximately a 11^th-12^th grade level on the Dale-Chall index lending them well to serve as optional readings for further research on a project where the students might explore the biography of an important figure of The Revolution.

Diagram Group, The. (1978) The Making of america. New York: Paddington Press

This book is a fold out poster timeline. It contains all of the important events in American history in an accurate and visually appealing manner. It also includes pictures to associate with important events and gives parallel events in world history occurring at the same time. This poster is easy to read and could be used in a stations activity or placed on the classroom wall to allow visual learners to better place the events they are learning about in chronological order relative to each other as well as in relation to important world events.

Fisher, D.C. (1950). Our independence and the constitution. New York: Random House

This book takes an interesting look at the social and political climate at the time of the signing of two of our country’s most important documents: The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. The book gives the reader the opportunity to place him or herself in the spirit of the time and inadvertently teaches the background and frame work necessary for these documents to have been written. This book reads at the 9th-10th grade level on the Dale-Chall scale making it accessible as a supplementary reading to middle and high school students.

Franklin, B. (1754). Albany plan of union. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.constitution.org/bcp/albany.htm

This primary source document written by Ben Franklin before The Revolution proposed 25 tenants for a unified colonial government. This primary source can give students direct insight to the intentions of the founding fathers and early efforts for freedom before The Revolution. This document only reads at the 6^th grade level on the Flesch-Kincaid scale making it accessible for almost all middle and high school students.

Herbert, J. (2002). The American revolution for kids. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

Despite the title implication that this book is for “kids” it contains detailed information with many pictures at both a content and Dale-Chall reading level of high school. This book reads more interesting than many text books, but contains just as much information. The book also contains hands on activities that students could do in class or on their own. Overall this could be a good alternative for students to learn about The Revolution rather than a traditional textbook.

Hurst, R.L. (Producer). (2006). Mapping colonial america [Web]. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.history.org/history/museums/mappingExhibit.html

This website is a flash lesson and game dealing with geography of early America and its impact on the settlement of the country. The game includes a glossary of any troubling vocabulary words the students may encounter. This website would be a valuable addition to any activity on pre revolutionary America due to its many images and interactive nature.

Katz, W.L. (1974). Early america. New York: Franklin Watts.

This book takes an interesting perspective on early American history: that of the Native American. It shows America before the Europeans, their coming, and their effect. It is organized into chapters on different events with primary sources interspersed. The reading level is 9^th-10^th grade according to the Dale Chall Index making it a good outside resource for high school students.

King, D.C. (1998). Colonial days. New York: John Wiley & Sons

This book, although it appears to be at an elementary level, can be a good resource for students with reading disabilities and learners with multiple intelligences. The book contains hands on activities which give students insight into the lives of children in Colonial America. Due to its easy instructions this book would be appropriate for middle school students.

Lawson, R. (1957). Watchwords of libery. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.

This book looks at early American history through quote analysis. Each chapter is based on a famous quote which is then given context and explained to better show its significance. This is a unique way for students to study primary sources (quotes) and their relevance at a fairly easy reading level. This book could be used as a supplement to any text on The Revolution at the middle or high school levels.

Leigh, K. (2004, September 21). Colonial america. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/index.html

This website contains many primary source documents including census records and diary entries, to excepted sections from text. The format of the site allows for students who learn better from reading from computer rather than books to do so with good, factual information. One of the pages of excerpted text appears at a 10^th grade level on the Flesch-Kincaid scale making it good for the high school level. This is another good resource for web quests and out of class, internet based reading.

Mountain City Elementary School. (n.d.) Colonial america. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from http://www.mce.k12tn.net/colonial_america/colonial_america.htm

This website, although published by an elementary school, contains valuable resources for teachers and students. The site contains lessons, activities, and online quizzes. According to the Flesch-Kincaid scale the website’s lessons read at the 5^th grade level, but their information is relevant at the middle and even high school levels making it accessible for students with reading problems to learn the content. The site also gives teachers hands on in class lessons, and online assessments based on the text they provide making them good to use to assess reading comprehension at home or in class.

Pearson, M. (1974). Those yankee rebels. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

This book, like Adam’s, shows the British perspective of an American war in narrative form, only this time it is the Revolutionary War. Pearson summarizes the conflict taking place in the colonies in the 18^th century through the lens of London, not Philadelphia as it is commonly studied.  This book reads at approximately an 11^th -12^th grade level on the Dale-Chall index so it would be an appropriate grade level text to supplement the commonly American written text for 11^th grade US History.

Phelan, M.K. (1967). Four days in philadelphia. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.

This book is a chronological record of the three days leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, and effect that events around the country had on the founding fathers and their decisions to declare liberty. The information in this book is comprehensive for the high school level and is presented in an interesting and easy reading level, around 9^th-10^th grade according to the Dale-Chall index making it useful for students who learn better from a third person narrative supplemented with pictures, than a text book.

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies. (Ed). (1991). A More perfect union. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company

This book is a work book containing activities for pre and post reading based on other books published by Houghton Mifflin. It contains a number of different exercises that encourage critical thinking and the application of knowledge learned through reading ranging from primary sources to historians commentaries on events ranging in reading level from 8^th-10^th grade reading levels. This book can be useful because the activities can either be used before the reading as a guide to the reading, or after to assess the comprehension skills of the students.

Jungreis, A. (1992). Know your hometown history. New York: Franklin Watts.

This book is very unique because it introduces middle school, and even elementary school students to the practice of historical research and historiography through short and fun hands on activities based on local history. Through its exercises students can learn how to do original research and create their own history based on their hometowns, a place not usually studied in published texts. This book is a valuable tool for teachers to give students projects which will diversify the way they teach and accommodate learners with multiple intelligences.

Lenski, L. (1944). Puritan adventure. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company.

This book is written as a fictional narrative depicting the settlement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Although in his forward Lenski outlines his research for the book, I have found much of it to be biased and racist against Native Americans depicting them as intruders and criminals. The reason I would include this book in my class is because it uses simple language and shows an important point of historiography: not all history is accurate. It would be a good book to use as the basis of an activity where students analyze a fiction reading for bias.

Osborne, M.P. (1998). Standing in the light. New York: Scholastic.

This fiction book is modeled in the form of a dairy written by a young Quaker girl growing up in Pennsylvania in 1763. This book gives students a different perspective not usually studied, that of a young girl. While important events are occurring around her, she is focused on the nuances of her everyday life in the countryside of Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. This book is written very plainly and period syntax is limited almost exclusively to places where contextual clues can help the reader gain understanding without knowing exactly the meaning of the word. This book is a good resource both to give students a perspective that could not be historically found as well as a source at an easy reading level.

Silcox-Jarrett, D. (1998). Heroines of the american revolution. Chapel Hill: Green Angel.

In this anthology of biographies, Silcox-Jarrett explores the stories of twenty-five women who shaped the course of The American Revolution. This book is unique because it differs from most of the male dominated biographies of founding fathers and generals during The Revolution. This picture book is at the 7-8^th grade level on the Dale-Chall scale making it appropriate for a grade level reading for middle school, or as a supplemental scaffolding reading for high school.

Stevenson, K. (2009). Bacon’s Rebellion. Famous events, 1-2. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from Searchaurus. New York: EBSCO

This article gives students a brief background and history for Bacon’s Rebellion. It is at a 11^th-12^th grade reading level on the Dale-Schall index making it a useful supplemental reading or homework reading for high school students. There are a few vocabulary words which could be isolated beforehand and used for a pre reading activity.

Rice, R. (1980). Word games in american history. Portland, ME: J. Weston Walch.

This book contains twenty-six word games using vocabulary, fill in the blank exercises, sentence and quote completion and other types of word games. The level of the information presented is at the high school level, and if the content area vocabulary is known the reading level is not hard. This resource can be used to reinforce as well as, with a supplemental word bank, pre teach vocabulary and other content knowledge.

This website has a very comprehensive timeline of virtually every event leading up to, during, and after the Revolution.

-TR

1) Who are the two men in the center of the drawing?

2) How many flags do you see? Which country do they represent?

3) Why is the man in the center, on the right holding a sword?

4) Where is this?

5) Whose ships appear in the background?

6) What is going on?

7) Based on all of your observations which side drew this, and how can that effect how the event was portrayed?

-TR

http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/perspectives_global.html#

-TR