World War I: Remember the MAIN!

Mnemonic devices are a great way of remember lists of information. Acronyms do this job very well.


What were the MAIN causes of World War I?


Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism


Conceivably, after teaching this acronym (and explaining/discussing the causes of the war in detail), a teacher could assign an essay test question such as: "Explain the main causes of World War I," knowing that students should have no trouble recalling what the main causes were.

Abigail Adams - Free Printable Quotation

Abigail Adams:

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."

Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Teacher Resources

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has online resources for teachers.

Today in History

A fun way to review historical events on a daily basis is by looking at today in history--the interesting and important events that occurred on this day in the past.

Today in History for the Month of April

Today in History by Month


Let's also not forget to start planning for next school year!

Our Graphic Organizers page has a printable weekly planner for the 2010-2011 school year.








Student Handouts

News for April, 2010

Spring break! This means enjoying a much needed rest. Unfortunately, it also means trying to get kids' minds back on school after they've enjoyed a taste of summer freedom.

The end of the year also means that Social Studies classes are slowly but surely catching up to current events. Thanks to the United States government's foreign outreach programs, we have a ton of printable readings with questions that can be used in American/U.S. History courses (or World History courses).

The complete list of American History readings can be found here (listed chronologically and divided into sections).

Here's a sampling:

The Native American Movement

Environmentalism

Nixon, Vietnam, and the Cold War

Conservatism and the Rise of Ronald Reagan

Panama and NAFTA

American Foreign Relations in the Clinton Years

The Presidential Election of 2000 and the War on Terror

Enjoy!

Easter Crossword Puzzle

We are all eagerly anticipating Passover and Easter (and of course spring break). We have posted a great secular (non-religious), free, printable Easter crossword puzzle. This puzzle addresses the need for teaching students about religious holidays without conversion overtones.

The Ottoman Empire: Teaching Materials and Lesson Plans

For those of you currently looking at the Ottoman empire, its rise and fall, etc., we have great teaching materials for you. Our free online gallery of Ottoman empire maps and images can be used in PowerPoints and handouts, as well as viewed on a SmartBoard for discussion and activities. We also have an extensive gallery of photographs of Turkey immediately following World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman empire.

Apart from using our gallery images in your own materials, they can be used as primary sources in your lesson plans. Try assigning (either at computers or using printed images) student partners an image or group of images. Have the students examine the images, asking: What does this image reveal about the later Ottoman empire? What examples of technology do you see? What do the images and captions reveal about social attitudes? Based on your knowledge of history and social studies, was Turkey on par with the rest of the world (politically, economically, democratically)?