It’s Thursday, May 16, 2019, and time for us to share our Homeschooling Resource for Social Sciences. This weeks Recommended Website is American Centuries: View from New England
Age Range: 5-18 (Grades K-12, with parental supervision)
Step back in time with this website which features a huge digital collection of objects and documents from the Memorial Hall Museum, one of New England’s oldest museums in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
Through the use of hundreds of images, videos, interactive learning activities, transcribed historical documents, and lesson plans, visitors can gain a window into the past of life in New England.
This site is extremely user friendly with straightforward navigation and clear explanation of all exhibits and activities. When arriving at this website, hover over the text links in the upper blue navigation bar to reveal more refined destinations
Or you may select from the interactive main page image map to begin exploring. There is even a “Just 4 Kids” special image link of a man in a top hat in the upper right corner of the website that brings visitors to a kid-friendly page with an image map linked to some of the interactive activities available.
On the Online Collection page you can narrow your discoveries for these topics:
Highlights of the Online Collection – Browse through highlighted collection treasures grouped by topic.
Explore the Online Collection – Using the text links in the instructions, discover the best way to locate items of interest.
People, Places and Events – a mini-encyclopedia for researching important people, places and events
Civil War Newspaper Index – Search for articles that were published in the Greenfield, Massachusetts Gazette and Courier during the Civil War. (Please note that most of the articles cannot be viewed online but can be viewed on microfilm at the Memorial Libraries.)
There are loads of fun and interesting interactive activities to find on the Things to Do page. Just a few of those activities include:
Dress Up – See, hear, and learn about the clothing of American history interactively.
First Person – Read about and listen to audios of 20th century histories from the people who lived them.
Magic Lens -Easily read the fanciful writing of old manuscripts with the use of the interactive “Magic Lens.”
Video Demonstrations of Early American Tools – brief videos of how tools from the past were used
Activities from Turns of the Centuries Exhibits – tons of interactive activities to learn more about Family Life, Native Americans, African Americans, Newcomers, and The Land of the years 1680-1920
And so many more
Be sure to check out the Online Exhibits. Select from:
Turn of the Centuries – Focuses on the pivotal time periods of 1680-1720 (the Colonial Period), 1780-1820 (the Federal Period), 1880-1920 (the Progressive and Colonial Revival period)
Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704 – Takes you to a new website that explores all sides of the story through audios, images, interactives, and texts. Also includes a link to a Teacher’s Guide with several lesson plans.
Shays’ Rebellion and the Making of a Nation – opens another website that digs deep into the story, people, artifacts, documents, music and more regarding the rebellion. Also includes a companion study guide located at the “For Teachers” link on the site.
When you are visiting In the Classroom you will find hundreds of lesson plans, online curricula, teacher resources, and other online activities.
This is an extremely well thought out and well-designed website that encourages visitors to explore at length. You will definitely want to add this to your “must see” list when you are studying the history of New England.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
