http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Tue, 21 May 2013 14:51:18 PDT Tue, 21 May 2013 14:51:18 PDT http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/images/merlot.gif http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ 44 34 http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=88019 A murder mystery that allows students to select their French proficiency level before attempting to solve the crime. The student must complete exercises in a prescribed sequence in order to solve the mystery. Innovative and engaging. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=544291 After Slavery: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Emancipation CarolinasAfter Slavery is a transatlantic research collaboration between historians based in the US, Ireland and the UK. Directed from Queen's University Belfast and funded by the (UK) Arts and Humanities Research Council, the project's website offers a large collection of images and transcribed primary documents from dozens of archives across the US. Its 'Online Classroom' includes ten units on the aftermath of slave emancipation in the Carolinas:1. Emancipation: Giving Meaning to Freedom2. Freed Slaves Mobilize3. Land and Labor4. Freedom, Black Soldiers & the Union Military5. Conservatives Respond to Emancipation6. Pursuing Citizenship: Justice and Equality7. Gender and the Politics of Freedom8. Planters, Poor Whites and White Supremacy9. Coercion, Paramilitary Terror & Freedpeople's Resistance10. Freedpeople and the Republican PartyEach unit is made up of a collection of primary sources, annotated and supplemented by a select bibliography and a series of "Questions to Consider'. Most include illustrations from contemporary sources, and plans are in place for inclusion of a series of interactive maps and link to large collection of digital images of related documents now part of the Lowcountry Digital Library. What Scholars Are Saying about the After Slavery Website: “This engaging website combines the most up-to-date scholarship on the aftermath of slavery with a set of provocative and fascinating documents and other materials ideal for classroom use. It will allow a broad online readership to understand where our thinking now stands on this pivotal moment in American history.”Eric Foner Dewitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University Author of Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 “This turning point in our history, explored in such detail at afterslavery.com is, sadly, mostly absent from the high school classroom. The stories of transformation and the long and arduous struggle for equality of 4 million former slaves–their struggle for recognition, freedom, and basic human rights–is rarely even touched on. After Slavery helps to fill this void in the American history curriculum by introducing cutting edge scholarship and well-chosen primary sources to bring voice to this untold story.”Ann Claunch Director of Curriculum, U. S. National History Day; Professor Emeritus in the History of Education, University of New Mexico“The After Slavery website explores the multiple meanings of the era of emancipation and conveys the very essence of the often tenuous struggle for freedom in starkly human terms.”Bernard E. Powers, Jr. Director of African American Studies, College of Charleston; author of Black Charlestonians: A Social History, 1822-1885“This is an exciting, well-conceived, and very valuable project. It promises to be a great resource for scholars, teachers, and students. The history of the Carolinas can capture the variety of experiences in the period after slavery and also reveal the depth of the challenges faced as African Americans sought to realize the promise of freedom.”Paul D. Escott Reynolds Professor of History, Wake Forest University; author of North Carolinians in the Era of the Civil War and Reconstruction http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=387995 This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of concepts, people, and events that shaped Western culture from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Topics include the rise of Eastern and Western Europe; the Enlightenment-era philosophies; the impact of the French Revolution on political, social, and economic world order; and the effects of the industrial revolution on Western society. Unification-era politics; various methods of imperial indoctrination; and major political, economic, and social reforms are explored, along with the root causes and strategies that affected the outcomes of WWI and WWII. Social, economic, and political changes that occurred in the twentieth century are also examined. This is a fully functional demonstration of one topic from the complete McGraw-Hill course. Full courses tend to be fourteen topics plus a review week, and have alternative content available for customization purposes. Once the course is placed within your Learning Management System, the instructor can turn features off and on via the functionality of the LMS. McGraw-Hill also provides solutions for hosting courses if your institution does not support a Learning Management System. The following are just some of the key facets of our development methodology: Each course begins and ends with input from subject matter experts teaching in the field. They are based on a foundation that includes Bloom's Taxonomy of Education Objectives. We build in engaging interactivity to reach learners with different learning styles and multiple intelligences. Each course is SCORM-compliant and works with all major Learning Management Systems. For information on how to purchase a course or have a course customized to your specific needs please contact us at Learning_Solutions@McGraw-Hill.com. We hope you enjoy! http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=387956 This course offers a comprehensive introduction to critical thinking. Students gain knowledge of deductive and inductive arguments, evaluate the strength of premises, and analyze arguments. The role of language in critical thinking is emphasized. Other topics include categorical statements and syllogisms, compound statements and syllogisms, fallacies of relevance, and fallacies of insufficient evidence. Students explore the basics of critical thinking in research and discover how to construct and write arguments. The course concludes with practical advice on how to be a critical consumer of media messages, in addition to identifying pseudoscientific claims. This is a fully functional demonstration of one topic from the complete McGraw-Hill course. Full courses tend to be fourteen topics plus a review week, and have alternative content available for customization purposes. Once the course is placed within your Learning Management System, the instructor can turn features off and on via the functionality of the LMS. McGraw-Hill also provides solutions for hosting courses if your institution does not support a Learning Management System. The following are just some of the key facets of our development methodology: Each course begins and ends with input from subject matter experts teaching in the field. They are based on a foundation that includes Bloom's Taxonomy of Education Objectives. We build in engaging interactivity to reach learners with different learning styles and multiple intelligences. Each course is SCORM-compliant and works with all major Learning Management Systems. For information on how to purchase a course or have a course customized to your specific needs please contact us at Learning_Solutions@McGraw-Hill.com. We hope you enjoy! http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=387960 This course examines the fundamental process, theories, and methods that can enhance and improve the overall writing initiative. It introduces you to various strategies for writing for various disciplines and professions and other skills that are required of a college level student. You will examine basic principles of effective college-level writing. You will become proficient in drafting, editing, and rewriting various types of content including sentences, paragraphs, and essays. You will also explore the topics choosing a topic, narration, cause and effect, compare and contrast, grammar, punctuation, argumentation, vocabulary, and word usage; All of these skills will provide you with the tools necessary for writing in today's college environment. This is a fully functional demonstration of one topic from the complete McGraw-Hill course. Full courses tend to be fourteen topics plus a review week, and have alternative content available for customization purposes. Once the course is placed within your Learning Management System, the instructor can turn features off and on via the functionality of the LMS. McGraw-Hill also provides solutions for hosting courses if your institution does not support a Learning Management System. The following are just some of the key facets of our development methodology: Each course begins and ends with input from subject matter experts teaching in the field. They are based on a foundation that includes Bloom's Taxonomy of Education Objectives. We build in engaging interactivity to reach learners with different learning styles and multiple intelligences. Each course is SCORM-compliant and works with all major Learning Management Systems. For information on how to purchase a course or have a course customized to your specific needs please contact us at Learning_Solutions@McGraw-Hill.com. We hope you enjoy! http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=598064 In this film, we’ll explore methods for engaging learners through the experience of a field trip. When students perform meaningful tasks in the field, the activity becomes a form of concrete, experiential learning. This instructional film is from Kansas State University's web-based course, GENAG 721, Occupational and Agricultural Safety and Health Interventions. Copyright 2011, Mitch Ricketts. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=483531 This lesson improves content reading comprehension with an engaging array of source documents – including journals, maps, photos, posters, cartoons, historic data and artifacts. It is framed around essential questions that link the past and present and invite students to reflect on parallel developments in contemporary America.This lesson includes: Introduction - sets the historic context, poses the investigative question and strategies Documents – a dozen full color primary documents Stop / Think Questions – focus students on the task Graphic organizers – provide differentiated activities based on research in reading and learning strategies. Help students master strategies for effective reading. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=565889 This car commercials surprise ending gives students an opportunity to practice using the future tense when guessing what might happen next in a story. Its also a great example of visual storytelling that makes this a fun and engaging exercise.An instructor who has successfully used this video to spark discussion calls it a great lesson if youre looking for a change of pace and need to re-energize your class. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=387993 This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the development of early civilizations from Neolithic times to 1715. Early and contemporary Western cultures are compared and contrasted, as are major religious, social, and political reforms. Other topics include the religious influence of Judaism and the Bible, the rise and fall of ancient Greece, and the transformation of Rome from a republic to an empire. The Crusades, the origins of feudalism, and the evolution of Christianity are examined, as is the evolution of the European economy during Westward expansion. The French and English Civil Wars and their impacts on future Western governments are also discussed. This is a fully functional demonstration of one topic from the complete McGraw-Hill course. Full courses tend to be fourteen topics plus a review week, and have alternative content available for customization purposes. Once the course is placed within your Learning Management System, the instructor can turn features off and on via the functionality of the LMS. McGraw-Hill also provides solutions for hosting courses if your institution does not support a Learning Management System. The following are just some of the key facets of our development methodology: Each course begins and ends with input from subject matter experts teaching in the field. They are based on a foundation that includes Bloom's Taxonomy of Education Objectives. We build in engaging interactivity to reach learners with different learning styles and multiple intelligences. Each course is SCORM-compliant and works with all major Learning Management Systems. For information on how to purchase a course or have a course customized to your specific needs please contact us at Learning_Solutions@McGraw-Hill.com. We hope you enjoy! http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555677 Our best writing happens when we care passionately about our topics. That sense of passion often emerges in relation to social problems, such as poverty, homelessness, injustice, or environmental crisis, that deeply concern us. Writing offers a critical avenue of civic engagement so that we can understand issues more profoundly, communicate that understanding to the public, and advocate for change. This course seeks to provide a supportive context for students to grow significantly as writers by discovering and engaging with issues that matter to them. Writing on social issues, we can see ourselves within a tradition of authors such as Charles Dickens, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, George Orwell, Rachel Carson, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who have used the power of the pen to inspire social change. Throughout the semester, we will read selections from these authors, as well as contemporary writers such as Marion Wright Edelman, Alan Dershowitz, Susanna Kaysen, Jonathan Kozol, and Robert Putnam. 21W.730 also focuses on the visual power of photography and film, which combined with print media, help raise awareness of social problems and advocate for solutions. We will analyze classic documentary photographs by Lewis Hine and Jacob Riis, and will screen some more recent documentary and feature films (e.g., One Woman, One Vote, Dead Man Walking, and Girl, Interrupted). In discussing these texts, we will explore the ways in which an artist's era, biography, political perspective, and rhetorical purpose may influence the choice of topic and style in addressing audiences. During the course, we will often raise the question of how individuals from different gender, racial, generational, religious, political and economic groups may understand the same social and ethical issues.