Yoon, J., & Onchwari, J. A. (2006, June). Teaching young children science: Three key points [Electronic version]. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(6), 419-423.

This article addresses the fact thatearly education  teachers are admitting their lack of confidence when it comes to teaching science.  The article gives several good strategies that teachers can use in order to aid them in teaching science to students.  The article also gives a sample lesson plan that can be used in the classroom.  What I really liked about this article was the fact that it addressed the differences in learning styles amongst students which will of course play a role in the classroom and how the teacher teaches.  It also brought up something called the 5 E’s: engaging, exploring, explaining, elaborating, and evaluating and stated how important questioning students is during science experiments.  Following the 5 E’s helps teachers and students understand the important parts of a science lesson and acts somewhat as a guide to the science experiment.  I found this article to be very helpful especially since I haven’t spent much time teaching science.  Following the 5 E’s makes teaching science seem a little less scary and makes sense that it would help the students and teacher learn more from a lesson.

Thornton, S. J. (2004). Teaching social studies that matters: Curriculum for active learning. Teachers College Press.

This is a book that addresses the topic of active learning and what teachers need to do in order to successfully teach history to their students.  Thornton states that teachers need to first and foremost know the curriculum backwards and forwards so they know and understand what they need to teach their students and he also explains that teachers need to learn how to plan their lessons and use the teaching methods they already possess.  The book describes how the choices we make as a teacher are going to shape our students and how they think and we must always be aware of this fact while we’re teaching.  It also goes on to describe how you can assess your students work and understanding of history topics while personally reflecting on the lesson, how teachers can shape the curriculum to satisfy their teaching needs, and it also gives a lot of information on ways in which teachers can help education themselves not only on the subject they’re teaching but also on various teaching styles.

Shillington, K. (2007, January). British made: Abolotion and the african trade. History Today, 57(3), 20-23, 25-27. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from http://athena.rider.edu:4079/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml?_requestid=108538

This article gave a lot of really good information and wasn’t too complicated to read.  The article discusses the fact that March 2007 marks the 200th anniversary of the Act of Parliment which made it illegal for British ships to move slaves across the Atlantic for sale.  The article explains that while Britian was banned from transatlantic slave trading, this did not stop other countries from doing the same which caused slave trading to continue for many more decades.  I thought this article was really good because it spans a big time period, from the 1400s to present day and goes over many different occurances within slave trading and how it spanned several centuries.  The article also gives you information about what other things were going on during these time periods so it really helps you figure out what kinds of things were going on in the world while all of this slave trading was happening.  It also discussed what slaves would do to try and resist being traded and sold and what those who bought the slaves would do with them, as well as what the profiters did with the money.  I thought that this part of the article was the most interesting because it was much more personal and interesting to read.

Robinson, R. (2007, August). Do we need an apology for slavery? ‘An apology for slavery is not enough’. Ebony, 10, 76. Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://athena.rider.edu:4079/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml?_requestid=162067

This article was really interesting and spoke about slavery, the consequences of it, and whether there has ever been any retribution in America.  The author brings up the fact that certain states (Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and Alabama), have apologized for their states’ actions in relation to slavery.  He brings up the fact that America as a country have made strides to fix the past dealing with the Jewish and Japanese-Americans but have done nothing for the African Americans.  The article also describes how not only were there cultural and economical problems due to slavery but that the psychological effects of slavery have caused more pain.  I think this article would be really great to use for anyone who has to study slavery debates for the social studies project.

Robinson, B. A. (2007). Slavery: From biblical times to today’s world. Retrieved October 6, 2007, from Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance Web site: http://www.religioustolerance.org/slavery.htm

This site had a lot of information about slavery and what I liked the most about it was the fact that the information was divided up into different time periods.  Not only could you read about information that would tell you about slavery during various time periods, the site also had information about religion and slavery, and about more current slave problems.  The site discussed slavery during World War II and about Japanese women who were kept as slaves along with Nazi concentration camps and how the Nazis forced their prisoners to work under harsh conditions.  Another really great thing about this site is the fact that they pull quotes from various historical books, and also have personal quotes from people who were once slaves or had family members who were slaves.  The site has a list of about six or seven other sources where they got their information from so if you wanted to specifically concentrate on one topic of slavery, you could find out where this site drew their information from.  They also gave an indepth time line for slavery throughout the 19th century which will help anyone who has to do the Slavery Debates for their Social Studies procject.

Okolo, C. M., Englert, C. S., Bouck, E. C., & Heutsche, A. M. (2007, September). Web-based history learning environments: Helping all students learn and like history. Intervention in School and Clinic, 43(1), 3-11. Retrieved October 14, 2007, from http://athena.rider.edu:4079/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml?_requestid=210289

This article had a lot of really great points about how the subject of history or social studies isn’t given enough time or attention in the classroom.  It mentioned how other subjects, especially math and language arts are studied and taught every day while most teachers don’t put as much passion into teaching history.  This article offers a suggestion on how to increase teachers wanting to teach history, students wanting to learn it, and both teacher and students learning history.  In this article there is something mentioned called the Virtual History Museum which is an online tool that can help teachers learn how to teach history in a more exciting and interesting way for their students.  The website is broken down into various time periods throughout history making it easy for teachers to access what they need and also gives them different graphic organizers to work with such as Venn Diagrams.  This site alsooffers advice on what kinds of activities you might want to do with your class during history time and it also gives a lot of information on what to do with students who are slow learners or need extra help.

Moore, N. Y. (2007, July/August). Why all the slave apologies now? Crisis, 114(4), 9. Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26400430&site=ehost-live

This article discussed the fact that Virginia was the first state to give a public apology for the role it played in slavery.  This article goes on to mention other states that have either made apologies or are in the process of apologizing.  What I found very interesting about this article is the fact that there is a dispute over whether these apologies are genuine.  It’s mentioned in the article that some of the states feel they don’t need to apologize or that they’re being “bullied” into apologizing.  It’s also mentioned in this article that while an apology is a start, it can’t possibly make up for all the negative things done to slaves and can’t erase all the horrible memories the African American culture have to deal with.  I found this article interesting because it gives different view points on whether apologizing is necessary, what exactly it accomplishes, and the reaction from the African American community.

McGuire, M. E. (2007, April). What happened to social studies?: The disappearing curriculum [Electronic version]. Phi Delta Kappa International, 88(8), 620-624.

This article I found to be very interesting because it addressed the fact that Social Studies is diminishing from many schools and the things that teachers are doing to try and correct this is not working.  The article states that a lot of teachers are bringing social studies topics into the literacy or reading part of the day and think that this will help teach students about history simply from reading about the facts.  This article however, begs to differ and says that with social studies, students can’t just read about the topics, they need to have these topics demonstrated and teachers need to make sure that students aren’t just memorizing facts but understanding what those facts mean and what caused certain events in history to occur.  The article gives the reason that since social studies is not tested for like math and language arts, not much emphasis or passion is put into teaching history.  The article also brings up a great point that students don’t simply learn social studies because they’re going to be tested on it or because they need to memorize certain key facts, social studies and history are suppose to help shape students into diligent and understanding citizens of their community and world.  If students don’t understand the things taught in social studies, they’re that less likely to understand how certain things in the world operate and how
to act within their communities.

Lee, M. (2007, Summer). Spark up the american revolution with math, science and more. The Sout Atlantic Quarterly, 106(3), 485-494. Retrieved October 14, 2007, from http://athena.rider.edu:4079/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml?_requestid=210289

This article was interesting because not only did it give information about the topic but it also provided several unit ideas for history and lesson plans.  This article deals with the topic of intergrated curriculums and whether or not it’s appropriate to use science, math, and literacy in a history lesson.  While some educators feel that using other subjects in history is a good thig because it exposes students to various subjects, others feel that it takes away from the actual topic being taught.  Several models for a curriculum for middle schoolers are analyzed in this article and there are many hands on activities which include math, science, and literacy suggested.  Instead of just teaching students about the American Revolution, the article suggests you use music and other subjects to help the students understand this time period and different ways which also allows students to be creative and think outside the box.

Kelly, K., & Zeman, A. (1997). Everything you need to know about american history (Updated ed.). New York: Scholastic. (Original work published 1994)

This is a great book for both teachers to read as well as students.  I’d recommend this book more for older students, possibly 4th or 5th graders because it does use several advanced words.  This book gives you a summary of many different events that have happened in American history and explains it in such a way that even if you don’t know much about history, you can still follow along and learn something.  I think this would be great to use in a classroom either using it to read up on a topic that you’re going to teach or just to have it in the classroom as a resource for your students to skim through.  There’s lots of visual aides used such as time lines, pictures of famous people who are mentioned in the book, and maps.  It also does a great job of dividing everything into chapters which makes it easier to search through it and find a whole chapter on a particular subject.  I’d definitely recommend this to someone who is worried about teaching history or doesn’t know that much about American history because it’s really easy to understand and gives such amazing descriptions and summaries.