Timeless

Posted on | May 14, 2012 | No Comments

STILL the most moving photo I have ever seen.

Tournament of Champions Round 4

Posted on | April 12, 2011 | No Comments

Just a reminder, Round 4 Voting ends tomorrow (Wednesday 4/11).
Vote Now.

Every matchup is close! A quick rundown of current results.

Julius Caesar 52.7%
Charlemagne 47.3%

Johannes Gutenberg 55.6%
Martin Luther 44.4%

Albert Einstein 50.3%
Hitler 49.7%

Louis Pasteur 51.5%
Alexander Graham Bell 48.5%

US History

Abraham Lincoln 67.8%
Ben Franklin 32.2%

Thomas Edison 88.7%
Frederick Douglass 11.3%

Franklin Delano Roosevelt 56.9%
Albert Einstein 43.1%

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 69.2%
Bill Gates 30.8%

The World’s Most Awful King?

Posted on | April 12, 2011 | No Comments

The Belgian Congo
Leopold II was the King of Belgium. He owned the Congo.

Today it is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Congo
Henry Stanley, the explorer, convinced King Leopold to invest in copper mines and rubber plantations along the Congo River.

King Leopold did, but his methods were dreadful.
1. He claimed the land along the Congo River and took over by force, using his own private army.
2. Although the Belgian government financed this venture, the Congo did not become a colony of Belgium.
3. Instead, the Congo was the king’s own private business venture.
4. He and his private army treated the people of the Congo with incredible brutality.
5. Between 1878 and 1909, his private army killed up to 30 million people in the Congo.

An international scandal
First, the King’s private army enslaved the people.

When the Congolese revolted, the Belgians conducted torture and mass killings.

Whenever people were disobedient, the Belgians amputated their hands.

Whole families (men, women, and children) had their hands cut off.

---

What do you call it when a government deliberately conducts the mass slaughter of a people purely because of their race or religion?

Predict the Past.
This activity has a FREE Date of 4/12/11.
PE Unlimited members have access 24/7/365. Learn more here.

Young Teddy Roosevelt

Posted on | April 12, 2011 | No Comments

The Spanish American War
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Teddy.

When the Civil War broke out, Teddy was three years old. He was seven when it ended. His mom, a Southern belle, had sympathies for the Confederacy; his dad was a Union man.

Unlike the rest of the Roosevelts, Teddy’s father did not enlist. He was thirty, married, and the father of
four children.

At seven years old, Teddy must surely have seen New York City’s regiments marching off to war. Maybe they were singing Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle
Hymn of the Republic.” Imagine what a seven-year-old boy must have thought of the generals:
Cigar-chomping Ulysses S. Grant
Robert E. Lee on his magnificent white horse.

It is doubtful Teddy ever saw Mathew Brady’s photographs of horrors on the battlefield. Those photos were not fit for children.

One thing we know for sure:
Teddy watched Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession from the upstairs window of his grandfather’s house on Union Square.

What impact did the Civil War have on Teddy Roosevelt as a grown man? Predict the Past

This activity has a FREE Date of 4/12/11.
PE Unlimited members have access 24/7/365. Learn more here.

What to do with the Philippines? Let’s ask William McKinley

Posted on | April 11, 2011 | No Comments

The Spanish-American War began in 1898. The war began in the Caribbean Sea and ended up in the Pacific Ocean. Somehow, we ended up with the Philippines.

There was a certain logic to it all.
1. The Industrial Revolution was running at top speed in the U.S.
2. American factories were turning out a pile of surplus goods.
3. Big Business wanted to sell that surplus to Asia.
4. So Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, and the Philippines were stepping-stones to China.
5. In 1899, the U.S. began trading with China.

But the big question was:
What shall we do with the Philippines?
1. The Republicans said: Annex it!
2. The Democrats said: Don’t annex it!

Predict the Past: What did President McKinley do?

Social Studies Review: Stories that tell the History

Posted on | April 11, 2011 | 2 Comments

Cliché? Yes. But history is his-story. At Performance Education we believe that one of the best way to teach students about the past is through stories that engage. History isn’t about dates and sequences, rather about people: their interaction with other people, their motivation, their driving forces, their abilities and ultimately their legacies.

That’s why Performance Education created our Predicting the Past, Daily Warm-Up Series.

Each day should begin with a story. Something to make the lives of the people memorable and to tie them to the events that are so often our focus.

These stories also make for perfect review!

As a member of PE Unlimited (our 24/7 complete access library) you have access to nearly one thousand daily warm-ups over 100 of which have been converted to web-based versions for easy use in your classroom.

If your are not currently a PE Unlimited Member, now is a great time to consider a membership. For only $399 $99 per year you can have Unlimited Access to every book, lesson plan and online activity that we publish.

We’ve selected over 15 Daily Warm-Ups to share with you for FREE. Take a look here.

Luther v. Gutenberg: World History Tournament Round 4 Voting

Posted on | April 8, 2011 | No Comments

Some GREAT match-ups in round 4:

Charlemagne vs. Julius Caesar
Martin Luther vs. Johannes Gutenberg
Albert Einstein vs. Hitler
Louis Pasteur vs. Alexander Graham Bell

Vote Now

Download Updated Brackets

Round 3 Voting is Underway

Posted on | April 1, 2011 | No Comments

World History Tournament of Champions – Round 3 Voting is underway here.

US History Tournament of Champions – Round 3 Voting is underway here.

Absolute Best – Interactive Timeline Graphic on Middle East Upheaval

Posted on | March 22, 2011 | 1 Comment

Arab spring: an interactive timeline of Middle East protests
Ever since a man in Tunisia burnt himself to death in December 2010 in protest at his treatment by police, pro-democracy rebellions have erupted across the Arab world. Our interactive timeline traces key events.

This is one of the best web-interactives I have seen.

PE Unlimited Members – Don’t forget to check out our Middle East on Fire.

Not a member? Now’s a great time to become one. (Hint: big sale before rising prices.)

US and World History Tournament of Champions (Spring 2011) – UPDATE (voting links added)

Posted on | March 13, 2011 | No Comments

Updated Schedule

Voting Links Here

I’ve heard from many of you that you are on spring break this week or one of the following two weeks. To make it so everyone can participate regardless of spring break, we have decided to run each round for one week, spanning the weekend (and thus spanning two school weeks.)

Round 1 Voting: 3/17 -3/23
Round 2 Voting: 3/24 -3/30
Round 3 Voting: 3/31 – 4/6
Round 4 Voting: 4/7 – 4/13
Round 5 Voting: 4/14 – 4/20
Round 6 Voting: 4/21 – 4/27

On the start day, voting will begin at 8AM and will finish at 11PM on the close day.

Your students will be busy filling out their own brackets in the next few weeks, why not make it fun and historical.

If you’ve never been involved with a tournament before, you don’t want to miss out. We start with a grouping of 64 “player” – historical figures from history. We match them against one another to determine which of the two had the greatest influence on history. The bracket looks just like the ones you’d see in March for the NCAA Basketball tournament.

Bracket Release 3/12/11 (Get yours now.)

Stay tuned for details about a contest that we are going to have to pit class against class (whose bracket will be the best?)

History in the making … (France Recognizes Libyan Rebels)

Posted on | March 10, 2011 | No Comments

You have an awesome opportunity. Your students can experience history as a real, current, live, event.
I will apologize in advance for the rambling nature of this post. It is spur of the moment, and not on my “official has to get done list for the day” – but I just needed to post.

History is being made before our eyes once again.

France is the first country to formally recognise the legitimacy of Libya’s rebel National Transitional Council and will open an embassy in Benghazi, the government announced after meeting with NTC representatives in Paris Thursday

Full story.

So often, the real stories in history are what is left untold between the lines of the textbook. I can already see the text now. “In 2011, Libya removed it’s longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.”

That tells the outcome, not the story about how it came to be. With the slightest bit of paying attention right now, your students get to experience the story that is. Not only should it help them to understand what is going on in the world today – but if done properly, we can begin to lead their minds to open the doors of everything that has happened in the past. We read that Lenin took over power – but what was the struggle, what really happened in Russia? What about our own revolution? We know names like Jefferson and Revere and Washington, but what do we know about the people, the events? The Boston Tea Party should take on a whole new meaning. No?

Help me answer this question. Have your students help me answer this question: – what were the similarities/differences between the Boston Tea Party and the Tahrir Square protests in Egypt? What parallels
can be found to the American Revolutionary War and the Libyan struggle for independence? For one, France seems to be coming to both of our aids.

Please use the comments section to join the conversation. We’re going to work on making this line of thought into a more formal activity that you can use in your classroom.

Daily Warm-Ups for Week of 3/7/11

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | No Comments

A tribute to Women’s History month. Sorry we got a late start, but we promise not to disappoint!
Here’s what we have to date.

Mother Jones
Asmaa Mahfouz
Ida Tarbell
Catherine the Great

User note. Our daily warm-up listings have been moved to the resource library.

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for the Week of 2/28/11

Posted on | February 28, 2011 | 1 Comment

World History

The Congress of Vienna, 1815: When Talleyrand and the others redrew the map of Europe, what did it look like?

Adam Smith: During the Industrial Revolution, everybody and his brother opened a factory. To raise profits, the businessman cut wages. Who was willing to work for low wages?

Thomas Malthus: Was he correct? (Let’s hope not.)

James Watt: The steam engine launched a new era in world history. What was it?

George Stephenson: The locomotive and benevolence!

US History

Elizabeth Eckford: On September 4, 1957, the Little Rock Nine attempted to enter Central High School. What happened?

Andrew Johnson: Congress decided to punish the President. How so?

U.S. Grant: For anyone who has failed repeatedly in life.

Rutheford B. Hayes: Worst action ever taken by a president?

James Garfield: The Spoils System – it elected him and it killed him. How so?

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for the Week of 2/23/11

Posted on | February 23, 2011 | 1 Comment

Sorry, No new posts will be added Monday or Tuesday (doing a little site seeing at Mount Vernon).

World History

Wednesday: Simon Bolivar is known as the “George Washington of South America.” Why?

Thursday: Toussaint L’Ouverture: The Haitian Revolution was historic. Why?

Friday: Prince Metternich (founder of Congress of Vienna) wanted to crush all revolutionaries and all revolutionary ideas. How well did that work?

US History

Wednesday: In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case, Brown v Board of Education. What happened?

Thursday: After his success in winning Brown v Board of Education, where did Thurgood Marshall go?

Friday: Rosa Parks: What impact did the Montgomery bus boycott have on the U.S.?

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups 2/18/11

Posted on | February 18, 2011 | No Comments

World History

To the average Italian, Mussolini was great.
To the intellectuals, he was a buffoon.
How did Mussolini rule Italy?

US History

Jackie Robinson became the first African
American to play baseball in the Major
Leagues. Why was that a big deal?

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/17/11

Posted on | February 17, 2011 | No Comments

World History

Stalin created a totalitarian state.
What does that mean?

US History

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black pilots
in World War II. How well did they do?

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/16/11

Posted on | February 16, 2011 | No Comments

World History

Thanks to Ataturk, Turkey is unique among
Arab countries of the Middle East. How so?

US History

In 1941, Dorie Miller was a cook in the U.S.
Navy. How could a mere cook make history?

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/15/11

Posted on | February 15, 2011 | No Comments

World History

Lenin – “Peace, Bread, Land”

US History

Dr. Charles Drew – A Discovery to Save Millions of Lives

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/14/11

Posted on | February 13, 2011 | No Comments

Sorry to disappoint, but be sure to let your student’s know that Valentine’s Day’s roots are built on myth and morph. The modern legend began to grow, most historians agree, with Chaucer’s epic poem Parlement of Foules.

If you have a little extra time, it would be a great exercise to walk through a historical search of the meaning of the day. It would only take a few minutes of on-screen research to prove the point.

So what do we have for today?:

World History

Catherine the Great – An Enlightened Despot

US History

The Scottsboro Boys – A Travesty of Justice!

History Before Our Eyes – Using the Present to Study the Past

Posted on | February 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

Help us PLEASE!

If your students have been paying attention to the events unfolding in Egypt for the past three weeks, then they have seen history happen. I’m sure you have been discussing this and encouraging them and helping them to follow the events that unfolded. It has been a great time to monitor our changing world.

At Performance Education we are in a constant state of development. We want to know how to use current events to develop long-term strategies for students. It is our desire to use the events of the past couple of weeks to help students make better sense of the history that they can only see in textbooks.

We need your help. Please use the comments box below to let us know how you followed the events in Egypt with your students. What news sites did you use? What twitter posts did you follow? What projects did you assign? Essentially, we want to know —— How’d you do it?

Either use the comment section below, or just shoot me an email at gshirey@gmail.com to let me know.

We hope to develop some 21st Century and real world tools that we can all make use of to further student’s understanding of history.

Thanks in advance!

George Shirey
gshirey@gmail.com

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/10/11

Posted on | February 10, 2011 | No Comments

World History

Peter the Great adopted much from Western Europe. Which European political reforms did he not introduce into Russia?

US History

Carter G. Woodson was one of the most educated men of his day. But what could an African American do with a degree in history?

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/9/11

Posted on | February 8, 2011 | No Comments

World History

By 1812, Napoleon had conquered Western
Europe. He then invaded another country.
Invading that country was the worst mistake Napoleon ever made. What country was it?

US History

Langston Hughes became the most famous poet of the Harlem Renaissance. How did he achieve that? What happens to a dream deferred?

Posted on | February 8, 2011 | No Comments

You can always count on a different point of view from @MrDs_Nabe. Check out his latest post regarding the Confederate Constition:

Article I, Section VIII, subsection 18: “Congress shall have the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the Confederate States, or in any department or officer thereof.” – all that business about states’ rights, and they kept the Elastic Clause? Its like leaving rat traps with no bait on them.

Read the entire post here.

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/8/11

Posted on | February 8, 2011 | No Comments

US History

The “Back to Africa” movement: What was it all about?

World History

You know its not a good thing when they invent a new way of killing people. Just ask Louis XVI.

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/7/11

Posted on | February 6, 2011 | 2 Comments

World History

Ending the Age of Reason – How Rousseau did it one book at a time!

US History

It was George Washington Carver’s job to teach former slaves to grow a new crop. What was that crop?

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/4/11

Posted on | February 4, 2011 | No Comments

World History

The Glorious Revolution and the book that inspired the Declaration of Independence.

US History

Ida B. Wells – living life on her own terms!

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 2/3/11

Posted on | February 2, 2011 | No Comments

My sincere apologies for missing yesterday. I have been down with the flu for over 5 days now – and only had so many of these queued up. I hope to have some energy soon to finish some new warm-up projects (I’m excited about what’s coming down the pipe).

WORLD HISTORY

How Louis XIV (the “Sun King”) really did things in for XVI. Understanding the Absolute Monarch.

US HISTORY

W.E.B. DuBois – how he helped shape America!

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups 2/1/11

Posted on | February 1, 2011 | No Comments

US History

Celebrating Black History Month
One of the darkest decisions of our supreme court? – The Dred Scott decision.

World History

How many of Magellan’s original crew made it back to Spain?

Daily Warmups for 1/31/11

Posted on | January 31, 2011 | No Comments

US History

While Abraham Lincoln was certainly not a slave, he knew what it meant – to be deprived of the fruits of your labor!

World History

Pizarro was not a nice guy!

Social Studies Warm-Ups 1/28/11

Posted on | January 28, 2011 | No Comments

Talk about legacies:

World History

The man who’s lie made his name famous forever.

US History

The president who’s inaction can easily be called the greatest mistake a president has ever made.

1/27/11 Technical Failure

Posted on | January 27, 2011 | No Comments

So sorry for everyone who encountered technical difficulties today. Our server management company decided that today would be a good day to make a few server updates – without telling us. Everything is back up and running now and should be smooth sailing for quite some time.

Thanks for your patience – and sorry for any trouble this caused you.

Social Studies Daily Warm-Ups for 1/27/11

Posted on | January 27, 2011 | No Comments

Irony sells the plot. Just ask any good movie director or author!

In History too – sometime our stories are fueled by irony:

US History:
Meet the Southerner with sympathies to the North and the victorious Northerner with sympathies to the South.

World History:
Meet the “Navigator” who never sailed a mission.

Daily Warm-up for 1/26/11 (Revised)

Posted on | January 25, 2011 | 5 Comments

World History

There’s probably only one reason he wasn’t persecuted by the church for his book. It wasn’t published until the day he died!

US History

Millard Fillmore? What did he accomplish as president?

——- Updated ——-
Please help us. At Performance Education we realize that there is a real void out there. We are in the 21st Century – and we all talk about 21st Century Education! There are some great application out there – but many lack good content. There is a lot of great content out there – but most of it is static and lacks interactivity.

We are trying to bridge that gap – but desperately need your help!

Today’s Daily Warm Up (for both US and World History) is debuting a simple application we are working on developing. We are hoping to take this type of application to mobile apps as well. Further, we hope to make this a community effort – let you add your own content and ranking exercises.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, though. Here is the link to today’s exercise:

Order each of the 5 Major World Religions based on the date of the founding.

Please use the comments section to help us now how to improve this as well as point us to same of your favorite interactive activities. One other question – that we’d love to know – what type of computer ration/access do you have for your classroom?

Thanks so much! PE.

Daily Warm-ups for 1/25/11

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | 1 Comment

I love finding common themes from diverse places. My pursuit of daily warm-ups shows me just how often it happens. What’s the common theme between today’s?

Queen Elizabeth I

Zachary Taylor

Join us in the comments section to let us know what you see as the common threads between these 2 leaders.

Daily Warm-ups for 1/24/11

Posted on | January 24, 2011 | No Comments

A common theme throughout history. When leaders do as they please it usually means bad results for others!

World History – If King Henry VIII was privy to modern science (men determine the sex of a child), would England ever have gone to Protestantism?

US History – James K. Polk knew what he wanted – and it seems he knew how to get it! Manifest Destiny.

keep looking »

Search

Search for:

Recent Posts

• Timeless
• Tournament of Champions Round 4
• The World’s Most Awful King?
• Young Teddy Roosevelt
• What to do with the Philippines? Let’s ask William McKinley

Categories

• Current Events
• Economics
• Education Reform
• Educational Technology
• Local School Division news
• Social Studies (General)
• Tournament of Champions
• Uncategorized
• US Geography
• US Government (Civics)
• US History
• World Geography
• World History

Tags

#historyteacher #sschat abraham lincoln Attila the Hun bill gates china civil war clara barton classroom activities current events FDR free lesson plans geography great depression hitler idea exchange Johannes Gutenberg julius caesar Karl Marx King George III lady murasaki lesson plans mansa musa maps marco polo Martin Luther news Nikola Tesla political cartoons Pope Urban II prince henry the navigator products Queen Elizabeth I resources Robert Oppenheimer russia Sir Issac Newton social studies tournament tournament of champions tournaments US History William Shakespeare World History world war i

On Sale Now: $28.95 $16.49

On Sale Now: $13.95 $9.67

On Sale Now: $13.95 $7.86

Mecca On Sale $12 $7.76

ON SALE @ Performance Education

• The New Deal
• Recent History of the Middle East (1948 - Present)
• World Statistics Guide (2010-2011)
• The Middle East Told Through Political Cartoons
• Mecca Poster
• The Holocaust (Mini-Toolbook)
• The Vietnam War
• The Renaissance
• The Reformation
• The Middle Ages - Islam

Places to go:

• Digital Curriculum Library
• Free Social Studies Lesson Plans
• Mr. D's Neighborhood
• Performance Education Home
• The Kitchen Sink Of Social Studies Resources