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Spotlight: February and Beyond
Aftermath of Earthquake Disaster in Haiti
On January 12, 2010 the nation of Haiti experienced a massive earthquake centered near its capital, Port-au-Prince. Since then, images of devastation have dominated the headlines, and governments, NGOs, individuals, and communities have contributed to rescue and relief efforts. A wide range of resources and tools to support discussions about the disaster's various dimensions — geological, political, and cultural — and about Haiti's history are available on online.
See how earthquakes happen and what they look like as people experience them in program 9. "Earthquakes" of Earth Revealed. The program discusses faults, waves, and the transfer of energy from the epicenter, and presents histories of the seismograph and Richter scale. Program 5. "Birth of a Theory" and program 6. "Plate Dynamics," provide history and details of plate tectonics, the geophysical system behind earthquake events.
To better understand how population concentration contributes to the death toll in natural disasters such as earthquakes, review the online text chapter "Urbanization and Megacities" from The Habitable Planet, unit 5. "Human Population Dynamics."
Find a lesson plan on migration of people, including Haitians, to the United States and see how high school students explore the topic in the Social Studies in Action Library unit "Migration from Latin America." The lesson connections to both NCSS themes and content standards are listed on the site.
Learn about the history and culture of Haiti, the first nation to grant full citizenship to former slaves, in Bridging World History, unit 17, "Ideas Shape the World. " It includes a segment on the 1791 Haitian revolution and images of its leader, Toussaint L'Ouverture.
Haitian-American writer, Edwidge Danticat's novel, Behind the Mountains is presented in workshop 4, "Research and Discovery" of Teaching Multicultural Literature: A Workshop for the Middle Grades.
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Journey North Begins Spring Investigations
It's almost time for world-famous Punxytawney Phil, the weather-predicting groundhog to come out of his burrow. That also means it is time for students across the continent to begin tracking the progress of spring with Journey North. This month, students will check on the appearance of tulip bulbs they planted last fall, collect data on the changing sunrise and sunset times, and begin noting migrational patterns of a host of critters. Back to top
Valentine's Day (February 14)
Elementary Grades
Our Teachers' Lab activity, How Many Valentines? offers a fun way to connect the Valentine's Day holiday with elementary mathematics. The Web site for Teaching Math: Grades 3-5 presents an interactive version of the How Many Valentines activity, which illustrates principles of reasoning and proof.
The program "Valentine Exchange" in Teaching Math: A Video Library, K-4 shows a classroom math lesson just right for the holiday. See how kindergarten teacher Cindy Wilson uses the making of valentines as a means of promoting her students' oral language skills in Teaching Reading K-2: A Library of Classroom Practices. Back to top
Washington's Birthday (February 15)
Federal law designates the third Monday in February as the official observance of the birthday of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America.
Explore Units 4 and 6 of America's History in the Making to gain a better understanding of the role and times of George Washington. From this page on the site, link to a 2005 radio program about Washington and his evolution toward freeing his slaves. Also see this teaching unit on George Washington in PDF format from the National Center for History in the Schools.
Read George Washington's "Letter to Thomas Jefferson" in the readings for Democracy in America, Unit 12. The American Passages archive offers numerous images, such as this one depicting George Washington crowned in a laurel wreath.
"The Coming of Independence," Program 4 of A Biography of America, looks at Washington's role in securing America's freedom from British rule. The next program in the series, "A New System of Government," looks at the earliest years of the American presidency.
The Western Tradition considers the meaning of Washington's presidency as it contrasts with the heredity-based monarchies of Europe in Program 38, "The American Republic."
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Black History Month
The theme for this year's Black History Month is "The History of Black Economic Empowerment."
Learn about the Great Migration of Black from the South to the North seeking economic independence and escape from Jim Crow laws through the poems of Keith Gilyard in The Expanding Canon. Add to your knowledge of history with America's History in the Making, which covers slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and 20th century developments. Program 20, "Egalitarian America," discusses efforts to end race-based discrimination.
Learn new details about American history from A Biography of America. The series covers the periods before, during, and after slavery as well as the Civil Rights Movement and other eras. Explore the Web site for interactive activities. Learn how to incorporate actual documents (i.e., slave bill of sale documents) into the teaching of historical literature at the high school level. Watch Artifacts & Fiction: Workshop in American Literature Workshop 3, "Social History," and use the Web-based materials to develop lessons on the writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe and other authors.
Social Studies in Action: A Teaching Practices Library, K-12 Program 18 shows a classroom lesson based on a reenactment of the famous Amistad case. Click on "Lesson Background" for information about the topic.
For literature and art:
The Expanding Canon: Teaching Multicultural Literature in High School presents new ways to teach the writings of African American authors including James Baldwin and Abiodun Oyewole. Learn about the Great Migration of Blacks from the South to the North seeking economic independence and escape from Jim Crow laws through the poems of Keith Gilyard.
In "Building Community," Program 6 of Engaging with Literature: A Video Library, Grades 3-5, observe engaging lessons on the books I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Margaret Davidson, Walking the Road to Freedom: A Story About Sojourner Truth by Jeri Ferris, and Which Way Freedom? by Joyce Hansen.
On the Web site for American Passages: A Literary Survey, click on "About" and "How to Use This Site" to find author-based materials including biographies of Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Harriet Jacobs, and other African American authors. The Web site also offers links to Video on Demand, lesson activities, and "Context Activities" articles associated with each unit, like "Harlem in the 1920s: The Cultural Heart of America." Then click on "Archive" to search for photos of Black civil rights leaders, slaves and ex-slaves, and key figures in literature and the arts. Examples of artifacts include this photo of Colored infantry and this one of "contrabands" in Virginia in 1862.
Budding artists will be inspired by the work of accomplished artists Lorna Simpson and Beverly Buchanan, both featured in A World of Art: Works in Progress.
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More February Birthdays
Celebrate the birthdays of these important figures of past and present: Nasir al-Din al-Tusi — mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, biologist (February 18, 1201):
The Mechanical Universe...and Beyond
Rediscovering Biology: Molecular to Global Perspectives
Teaching Math: A Video Library, 9-12
Susan B. Anthony — civil rights activist, suffragist (February 15, 1820):
American Passages: A Literary Survey
Democracy in America
Elizabeth Bishop — poet, writer (February 8, 1911):
Voices & Visions
Frédéric Chopin — composer, pianist (February 22, 1810):
Teaching The Children of Willesden Lane
Nicolaus Copernicus — astronomer (February 19, 1473):
The Mechanical Universe...and Beyond
Earth Revealed
Charles Dickens — novelist, social critic (February 7, 1812):
In Search of the Novel
Engaging With Literature: A Video Library, Grades 3-5
W.E.B. DuBois — civil rights activist, writer, editor, sociology professor (February 23, 1868):
A Biography of America
Democracy in America
Frederick Douglass — civil rights activist, writer, and social critic (February 14, 1818):
American Passages
Artifacts & Fiction
Primary Sources
Galileo Galilei — physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher (February 15, 1564):
Mathematics Illuminated
The Mechanical Universe...and Beyond
Langston Hughes — poet, writer (February 1, 1902)
Voices & Visions
Teaching Multicultural Literature: A Workshop for the Middle Grades
Making Meaning in Literature: A Video Library, Grades 6-8
Toni Morrison — author, professor (February 18, 1931):
In Search of the Novel
Alice Walker — author, feminist (February 9, 1944):
Conversations in Literature
Literary Visions
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