Thursday, September 30, 2010

DocsTeach


This one is mostly for Social Studies teachers.  DocsTeach from the National Archives is a site all about using Primary Documents.  When you visit the site you can find already created activities using various primary sources.  There aren't that many yet, but the idea is for people to create and share their own.  I looked at one about the New Deal and was impressed.  You can also search through the various documents (3000+) and find one you are looking for.

The best feature is the ability to create your own activities from the various documents on the site.  There are seven different activities that you can create using the various sources.  The activities are based around seven different strategies: Finding a Sequence, Focusing on Details, Interpreting Data, Making Connections, Mapping History, Seeing the Big Picture, and Weighing the Evidence. 

You can create an account and save activities for a later date.  You can also bookmark documents that you will want to use in future activities.  You can customize the activities for students to work on in the computer lab or even in your classroom using just your computer to start a discussion.  You can provide students with a specific web address for them to visit.  Man, this site does it all for History Teachers.

This has to be the most thorough example of why we no longer will need textbooks in a history classroom.  They talk about the use of Primary Documents, this has to be the best I have seen.  If I go back to the classroom, I have found a definite resource to use.