Free online resources for your classroom on each of these topics: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, Salvation Army, Richard Byrd, Truman Doctrine, K-9 War Dogs, Albert Einstein, Julius Caesar, and the Red Cross
March 9: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal
March 9, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the first of his New Deal Policies, the Emergency Banking Act to Congress.
The Living New Deal is a nonprofit organization created to highlight the public works projects of the New Deal. Using research from the University of California’s Geography Department at Berkeley, the website catalogues public works programs from the Works Progress Administration, Public Works Administration, Civilian Conservation Corp, and Federal Art Project. Each dot on the map represents a New Deal site. Clicking on the dot brings additional information about the project. The map can be filtered by location, New Deal Agency, or category. Students will be engaged searching for projects they have visited and near their home. It will help them to understand the scope of the New Deal and what it did to boost the economy from the Great Depression.
March 10: Salvation Army
On March 10, 1880, the Salvation Army officially started work in the United States.
This three minute video describes the historic roots of the Salvation Army including the religious and philanthropic beginnings of the organization.
March 11: Richard Byrd
Navy Admiral Richard Byrd died March 11, 1957.
The History Teaching Institute is a part of the Ohio State University History Department. They have developed a lesson “Cold Cases: Did Byrd Fly over the North Pole in 1926?” Using primary source documents students explore the Byrd controversy and reach their own conclusion. A final project asks students to synthesize the information and support their position statement in one of several forms. All primary sources and a rubric are included
March 12: Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman addressed a joint session of Congress on March 12. 1947 introducing the Truman Doctrine to fight communism.
EDSITEment, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Trust for the Humanities offers free resources for teachers. Their lesson on Containment uses primary source documents (mostly from the Truman Presidential Library and a provided interactive map to analyze the perspectives of the Truman Cold War policies and evaluate their outcomes. Background information, standards, detailed lesson, video, and an assessment activity are included in the lesson plan. There are also clickable links to other related resources.
March 13: K-9 War Dogs
March 13, 1942, the US Army began the War Dogs K-9 unit,
A fascinating set of pictures for students wanting to see a history of dogs in the military can be found at “K-9 History: The Dogs of War.” It covers the United States use of canines beginning with the French Indian War, through the World Wars, and includes the present use of War Dogs and training today.
March 14: Albert Einstein
Founder of the theory of relativity, Einstein was born March 14, 1879.
The American Institute of Physics Center for History of Physics website has an informative website “Albert Einstein Image and Impact” with more than 100 pages of text and pictures about the life of Einstein, his physics, political life, and personal life. There are also links to Einstein speaking about energy-mass equivalence, the fate of Europe’s Jews, and nuclear weapons and peace. The site is also available with Spanish support. An “Albert Einstein in Brief” version is available for those wanting a quick overview. Clicking for more details will take you to the main exhibit.
March 15: Julius Caesar
44 BC, Roman Military Commander and Political Statesman Julius Caesar was stabbed to death at age 55 on March 15.
CoreKnowledge from the UK has a lesson plan available on the web which address Julius Caesar the Imperial Rome. The first lesson asks students to determine which claims about Julius Caesar are true and which ones are not. (Note: although most of the links in this lesson seem to be working, the Horrible Histories links were not working in any of the lessons at the time I tried them. There are, however, many other valuable links which you can use from these lessons.) The second lesson includes a video from the History Channel as it explores the decision to cross the Rubicon and attack Pompey in Rome. The third lesson involves understanding the assassination of Caesar and includes a snippet from the play Julius Caesar. Students will explore the role of Cleopatra. They will also determine the key stages in Octavian Augustus becoming the first roman Emperor and sketch an image representing each key element in the provided worksheet. The last lesson asks students to briefly research an Emperor of Rome and provides a link for students to begin their investigation.
March 16: Red Cross
March 16, 1882 the Senate ratifies treaty establishing the Red Cross.
A quick video by the American Red Cross gives basic information on the history of the Red Cross from Clara Barton to today. It will give your students a quick chronological overview of the services of Red Cross and their humanitarian services. It was created for “March is Red Cross Month.”
