Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: History and Social Studies, http://free.ed.gov/HandSS.cfm. Created and maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. Reviewed Sunday May 31.
This site is very easy to navigate based on content with a wide array of topics ranging from U.S. to World History. There are over 600 resources to explore on U.S. History alone, divided by time period and topic, including Business & Work, Ethnic Groups, Famous People, Government, Movements, States & Regions, Wars, and Other Social Studies. The websites have large collections of primary sources from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Archives and Records Administration, and many universities. Most of the websites have primary source archives and virtual exhibits, but many offer lesson plans and ready-made student activities, including some that can be found on EDSITEment.
It is a very clear and easy format for all users to navigate and access the various facets of this website. An easy way to navigate the website is by going to the Subject Map page, which breaks down the resources into sub-topics, such as African-Americans, various time periods in U.S. History from 1607-present day, and even Natural Disasters. There is also a search box available to type in key words for viewers to find what he/she is looking for even faster.
The creators made this website very unique in its design. After each resource, there is a brief annotation that offers a description of the website a viewer is about to explore and this facilitates quick browsing. Everything is laid out on the main page for the viewer to skim and find exactly what he/she is looking for. When a viewer has chosen a topic to examine, below the description of the next site the viewer can click on to read, it also lists where else the information can be found on FREE. For example, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt can be found under three separate areas: Leaders, the time period 1865-1920: Modern America, and also under the time period 1914-1945: World Wars.
The content of this website regarding its scholarship is sound and current. This website mainly gives its audience members all viewpoints on every issue in History. It does not exclude any obscure or unheard of viewpoints, which opens up the minds of the viewers to alternative History and what is good, accurate History that teachers must get across to their students. This website does not have a specific viewpoint or argument about anything in History but it tries to present all viewpoints and arguments accurately with scholarship and evidence to back everything up. It also gives readers the ability to thoroughly analyze any topic they read
This site provides links to other sites, such as the Library of Congress, for additional information about U.S. History and Social Studies topics ranging from the founding of the United States of America to current cases being examined in the Supreme Court. This site is unlike many others in that it points the audience, whether it be a scholar, teacher or student, in the right direction about any topic they desire to read. Many books provide readers with a list of other resources to find additional information about a topic but this website does it in a more interactive way. Students and teachers can learn much about History from the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence website as it provides them with information that goes beyond looking at primary documents. Photographs, film clips, and even animations from PBS series and others are also available to view via FREE which is very useful for its intended audience.
This site's audience is mainly geared toward teachers and students as it offers lesson plans that teachers can use in their classrooms to instruct their students about any historical topic, such as the Constitution. From the Library of Congress, students can explore George Washington's first draft of the Constitution and compare it to Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence to his final draft as well as many other topics.
No comments:
Post a Comment