Day In History: February 23-28

Free online resources for your classroom on each of these topics:

The Alamo, Japanese-American Internment, Muhammad Ali, World Trade Center, Mardi Gras, Branch Davidian Raid,

February 23–The Alamo

The siege of the Alamo begins February 23, 1836.

Thealamo.org offers a variety of resources for the classroom. One interesting feature allows students to look at the Alamo Battlefield as it appeared in 1836 and juxtaposes the image with how it looks today. Using click and drag, you can see the battlefield area. A slider, positioned at the bottom, allows you to mix or ghost the two versions together. Click here or find the “Digital Battlefield” icon on the website.

The Texas Revolution Timeline is an interactive timeline created by the Alamo Education Department and is available in many languages. There are also free resources and lesson plans for teachers appropriate for a variety of grade levels available here. The website also lists Alamo Teach A Child History Trunks which it indicates are available for educators to borrow. I do not have any experience with borrowing a trunk, but there are links to resources to use with the trunks which might be useful and can be downloaded free from the site without borrowing a trunk.

February 24–Japanese-American Internment

Congress condemns the Japanese-American internment drink WWII on February 24, 1983.

The National Park Service along with the UC Berkeley Library funded the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant project and created a website https://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/jais/index.html which digitized nearly 100,000 manuscripts including journals, reports, correspondence, interactive maps, timelines, confinement sites, and more. The site allows keyword searches (not available for handwritten documents) and is easy to navigate. This is a good resource if you are looking for primary documents to support this topic.

February 25–Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali became the heavyweight champion on February 25, 1964. He defeated Sonny Liston.

The National Geographic Educational Blog posted 4 of the Greatest Ways to Teach about Muhammad Ali following his death. These four lessons teach about Muhammad as an athlete, his contributions to politics, his contributions to culture, and even his contributions to language. It includes a teachers toolkit with links from Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, Slate, and National Geographic.

February 26–World Trade Center Bombing of 1993.

The World Trade Center is bombed February 26, 1993.

This documentary is part of a series showing contemporary events through the eyes of the people who were there. It is called “Minute by Minute” and the first episode features the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing. The 44 minute video gives first person accounts and provides great background information in a well-designed video.

February 27–Mardi Gras

New Orleans holds the first Mardi Gras February 27, 1827.

History.com never disappoints with its objective, well-written resources on just about every topic imaginable. Their website includes a historic video on Mardi Gras that is appropriate for students. National Geographic also produced a 5 minute video on Celebrating Mardi Gras with an emphasis on behind the scenes preparation.

February 28–Branch Davidian Raid

The ATF raids the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, on February 28, 1993.

Although written nearly 25 years ago, the FRONTLINE PBS Story and educator’s guide offers activities to help your students understand the event. Resources include a detailed timeline. Activity 1: What Went Wrong at Waco asks students to use the Constitution and amendments two identify areas affected by Waco. Activity 2: Take a Stand asks students to determine whether or not they believed the government acted responsibly. The follow-up activity asks students to research periodicals and organize a “press conference” with students representing members of the FBI, the Department of Justice, and surviving Branch Davidian members.

February 29–Leap Year

The British Empire switched to the Gregorian calendar beginning our current definition of leap year on February 29, 1752.

Students can take a quick 7 question online quiz developed by Channel One News to get them interested in the every four year phenomena of leap year. Students are given instant feedback on their answer, with additional information provided. It is a quick way to introduce the topic.

Looking for additional resources for your classroom on the above topics? Check out these differentiated reading passages from my TPT store. Click on the title from the bulleted list below the covers to be redirected to TPT where you can see a preview and description.

2 thoughts on “Day In History: February 23-28”

  1. Very good blog! Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

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    1. I started with the paid option–but I am not an expert by any means. I just read and talked with people and that seemed like the best option or me. Good luck!

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