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: The West

 

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/

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:

I. People:
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/

Stephen F. Austin
William Clark
Francisco Coronado
Charles Crocker
Charles Goodnight
Sam Houston
Meriwether Lewis
James K. Polk
Sacagawea
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Father Junipero Serra
Joseph Smith
Leland Stanford
Levi Strauss
John Sutter
Frederick Jackson Turner
Narcissa and Marcus Whitman
Brigham Young

II. Events Timeline
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/events/

Extensive, very well done timeline.

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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:

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: Conquistadors

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/

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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Click on Cortes.
http://www.pbs.org/conquistadors/cortes/cortes_flat.html

To explore the Cortes segment of this website, click on each of the nine icons in the left sidebar.

Within each of the nine categories outlined below, click on each of the three subheads listed at the top of the screen.

1. Aztec Empire: [1517-1519: First Contact]
A Fragile State
Hernan Cortes
Yucatan Expedition

2. Cortes Expedition: [February 1519, Cortes defies the Governor]
Expedition force
Malinche
Cortes route

3. Montezuma's Messengers [April 20, 1519: A Display of Force]
Royal greeting
Montezuma II
Human sacrifice

4. From Explore to Conquer: [Cortes burns his boats]
Stunned Aztecs
Lust for gold
Queztalcalatl

5. Spaniards in Tenochtitlan: [November 1519: The most beautiful thing in the world]
Tenochtitlan
Spanish eyewitnesses
Montezuma's speech

6. Cortes Seizes Power [November 1519: Montezuma arrested]
Spanish horror
Aztec people
Marketplace

7. War Breaks Out [June 1520: Massacre at Tenochtitlan]
Massacre eyewitness
Montezuma's death
Noche Triste

8. Siege of Tenochtitlan [December 1520: Siege, Starvation, & Smallpox]
Cortes letter
The great rash
Siege eyewitnesses

9. Fall of the Aztecs [The Last Stand: An Aztec Iliad]
Fall eyewitness
Aztec lament
Cortes fate

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Learn more about the Aztecs:
http://www.pbs.org/opb/conquistadors/mexico/mexico.htm

A. Montezuma and the Aztecs
Aztec Life and Times>>[more--7 pages]
The Aztec Empire>>[more]--4 pages

B. Cortes and the Spanish
The Promise of the New World>>[ more--3 pages]
Cortes the Conquistador>>[more--3 pages]

C. Legacy of the Conquest
Two Worlds Meet>>[more--6 pages]
Cortes' Legacy>>[more--6 pages]

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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/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: Voyages of Exploration

Website URL: http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/

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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Here are the main web pages I ask my students to focus on:

1. Portuguese Exploration:

Prince Henry the Navigator
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/henry1.html

The Atlantic Islands
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/atlantic.html

Asia
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/asia.html

Sea Route to India
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/vasco.html

Early Voyages to the Far East
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/vasco3.html

Ferdinand Magellan
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/magellan.html

2. Spanish Exploration:

The Caribbean: First Contact
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/carib.html

Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/columbus.html

Conquest of the Aztec Empire: Cortes
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/aztec.html

3. Various Other Pages of Interest:

Technical Advances in Shipbuilding and Navigation
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/ship.html

European Way of War
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/eurowar.html

Communicating with Indigenous Populations
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/communicate.html

Religion and Exploration
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/relex.html

The Sugar and Slave Trades
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/Trade.html

Conclusion
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/conclus.html

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Here is a complete outline of all the web pages available on this site:

Introduction
   Crusades
Iberian Pioneers: Portugal and Spain

Major Section #1: Portugal:

Overview
Prince Henry the Navigator (several screens):
   Knights Templar
   Ceuta
   Lure of Trade
The Atlantic Islands (plantations, slaves, sugar):
   Madeira
   Azores
   Canaries
Africa
Ceuta: First step
Search for gold and slaves
Asia:
   China was exploring toward Africa but halted
   The Ming Dynasty's Maritime History
Vasco da Gama 1: Sea Route to India
   Bartolomeu Dias
Vasco da Gama 2: Red Sea Trade
Voyages of Imperialism (lengthy article)
Initial contacts with China and Japan
   Saint Francis Xavier
Magellan: His Biography and his Circumnavigation of the Globe (Great article!)
Brazil

Major Section #2: Imperial Spain

Castile
Aragon
Isabella and Ferdinand consolidate their power
Caribbean
   First contact
   Christopher Columbus
The Americas and the Conquistadors
   Cortes and the Aztecs
   Pizarro and the Incas

Major Section #3: Special Topics

Knowledge and Power
Geography/Cartography
Technical Advances in Shipbuilding and Navigation
European Maritime Superiority
European Way of War
Communicating with indigenous populations
Religion and Exploration:
   St. Francis & the Franciscans
   St. Dominic & the Dominicans
   The Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Trade: Sugar and Slaves
Sugar plantation
African slavery
Middle passage
Predominant Winds and Explorers' Routes

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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/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: The Vikings (NOVA)

Website URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/

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:

Who Were the Vikings? 
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/who.html

Secrets of Norse Ships
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/viking-ships.html

The Viking Diaspora (click through each of the 21 places)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/diaspora.html

Write Your Name in Runes
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/write-your-name-in-runes.html

Build a Tree-Ring Timeline
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/treering.html
 
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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/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: Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga (Smithsonian)

Website URL: http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/start.html

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:

I. GUIDED TOUR [click at the top of the home screen]

Click "Next Room" to move through the Guided Tour:

Room 1 Journey of Discovery
Room 2 Recapturing the Past
Room 3 Going Viking
Room 4 Transforming Society
Room 5 Leaving Home
Room 6 Taking the North Atlantic
Room 7 Discovering North America
Room 8 Holding Fast at World's End

II. VIKING VOYAGE [click at the top of the home screen]

Select the stops from the map at the left of the screen.

Each stop may have addition tabs entitled Archeology, Sagas, History, Environment, and Genetics. Click on and read those.

Stop 1. Homeland: Who were the Vikings
Stop 2. Western Isles: Vikings: Raiders, Traders, or Settlers?
Stop 3. Iceland: Who Settled Iceland?
Stop 4. Greenland: What Happened to the Greenland Norse?
Stop 5. Markland and Helluland: Who Were the Skraelings?
Stop 6. Vinland: Where is Vinland?
Stop 7. Land of Legend: Why are Vikings Still Popular?

III. LEARNING CENTER [click at the top of the home screen]

Read about these:

Hnefatafl Board Game
Runes (Runic alphabet)

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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/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