Website Spotlight: American Journeys

Website URL: http://www.americanjourneys.org/

Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

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Material on this website was initially designed to help students prepare for 2002 National History Day.

I ask the students to work through the following links:

I. Excellent "Help" page
http://www.americanjourneys.org/help.asp

II. Let's take an example of how to work with any given document:

1. Go to the "Find a Document" tab at the top of the screen:
http://www.americanjourneys.org/texts.asp

This screen shows all the documents (listed in chronological order) contained on the American Journeys website.

2. For our example, let's choose the 1493 "Letter of Christopher Columbus to Ferdinand and Isabella."

Click on the AJ (American Journeys) number, AJ-064, for that particular document.

3. This step takes you to the AJ-604 Document page.
http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-064/index.asp

4. We can click on "Read This Document" to pull up the document itself.
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/aj&CISOPTR=4512

5. But for me, the most exciting part of this website is the "Read Background" material for each document.

Click on "Read Background" for AJ-604.
http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-064/summary/index.asp

Notice all the great information on this screen:

a. Author Note
b. Event(s) pertinent to the specific document
c. Document Note
d. Other Internet or Reference Sources

III. Choosing a Topic
http://www.americanjourneys.org/teachers/choosetopic.html

IV. Geography
http://www.americanjourneys.org/teachers/geography.html

V. Interpretation: How Could They Think That? The Problem of Worldview
http://www.americanjourneys.org/teachers/interpretation.html

VI. Sensitive Content
http://www.americanjourneys.org/teachers/sensitive.html

~~For a review of this website:

TeachingHistory.org (National History Education Clearinghouse)
http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/website-reviews/14721
 
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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits mostly within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Exploration

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT 

Website Spotlight: Constitutional Convention

Website URL: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/
 
Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

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I ask the students to work through the following links from this superb website developed by Gordon Lloyd:

1. Biographical sketches of Framers
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/alpha.html

2. Age of Framers 
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/age.html

3. Educational Backgrounds of Framers
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/education.html

4. Continental Experiences of Framers
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/experience.html

5. Christy's Portrait: Interactive Scene at the Signing of the Constitution
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/christy/
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/christy-about.html

6. Interactive Map of Philadelphia
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/map/

Click on each location to learn about the Founding Fathers in Historic Philadelphia.

Here are some of the ones you might especially enjoy reading about:

Start at top right, move left on each horizontal street.

Mrs. Dailey's Boarding House
John Dunlap's Print Shop. [Notice that items were printed in German.]
Indian Queen Tavern
Mary House's Boarding House
Robert Morris's Town Home
Graff House. Thomas Jefferson
City Tavern
Mrs. Marshall's Boarding House.
Independence Hall
Philadelphia Debtors' Prison. Robert Morris [see his Town Home above]

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Constitution

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT