Free resources for Carl Sagan, David Livingston, Veteran’s Day, Elizabeth Stanton, Military Draft, Nellie Bly, and Articles of Confederation
November 9-Carl Sagan, astronomer, was born November 9, 1934.
Voyager I left NASA in September of 1977 to study the solar system and space. Today, 42 years later, the spacecraft still receives commands and transmits data. In 1980, Sagan proposed to NASA the idea of taking a picture of Earth to put in perspective the Earth in relation to the rest of the universe. Not everyone at NASA agreed with Sagan’s idea some fearing the picture might damage the imaging system due to the sun. In 1989, a NASA Administrator made Sagan’s request a reality. The Planetary Society (Carl Sagan was one of the founders) has a picture of the image taken by Voyager I. The Earth is referred to as the Pale Blue Dot from the image because it appears as only a tiny spot of light. Using this website, students can read or listen to Sagan’s speech about the Pale Blue Dot of Earth.
November 10-, Henry Stanley located David Livingstone in the town of Ujiji. From this encounter came the famous phrase, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” (November 10, 1871)
Livingstone Online is a digital museum including 15,000 images to help educate people about David Livingstone. It includes manuscripts ( field diary and more) of Livingstone and research. The site attempts to be neutral, neither praising nor condemning the controversial doctor. The project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The menu driven website contains many primary source documents.
November 11-The first Veterans Day celebration was Armistice Day on November 11, 1919.
Audio recordings from American veterans give students an opportunity to find out what war was like. The series Experiencing War: Stories from the Veterans History Project collected personal stories of first hand accounts of war.
Also check out the short video History of the Holidays: History of Veterans Day by the History Channel.
November 12-Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born November 12, 1815.
PBS has videos on the website Women Remember Suffrage with interviews conducted with women remembering the suffrage movement. There is also a 3 minute video clip from the same source.
The Library of Congress has a selection of images from their women’s suffrage collection including portraits, a timeline, cartoons, and campaign scenes.
November 13-The age for military draft was change from 21 to 18. (November 13, 1942 )
Teachervision provides a complete and well-designed timeline of the military draft from 1620 to the present. At the bottom of the timeline there are guidelines about the current requirements to register for the draft.
November 14-Nellie Bly started around the world to beat the record of Phileas Fogg from Around the World in 80 Days. (November 14, 1889)
Students will be exposed to the American journalist Nellie Bly, known for her record-breaking trip around the world and her expose where she went undercover as a patient to write about the conditions of a mental institution. View the documentary Nellie Bly; Writing the Wrongs of Political and Systemic Corruption the Creation of Immersion Journalism.
November 15-The Articles of Confederation were adopted by Congress November 15, 1777.
PBS Newshour features a Constitution Day Lesson Plan. It involves creating classroom rules with a powerful reflection component including how decisions were made. There are links for a Ted Ed clip and a humorous Crashcourse video. Next students are divided into f our groups, each representing a different state (small, large, Southern, Northern) and debate laws they feel would be beneficial for their desired state. There are extended/enrichment activities also provided.
Additional Resources
Looking for additional resources on these topics (and more)? Click on the topics below the images below to be taken to my TPT store (Reading Specialty) and check out the differentiated passages with comprehension questions to give your students background information and help them with nonfiction reading.
