Category Archives: U.S. Survey

Digital Humanities, U.S. Survey

The United States Constitution, 1789 [H5P Interactive Content]

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The United States struggled during its early years under the Articles of Confederation dealing with external powers and internal rebellions. In 1787, invitations were sent to all the states to attend a convention to discuss the changes necessary to create a national government strong enough to meet the needs of the new nation without trampling over the rights of the American people. The delegates met in Philadelphia in May 1787. After four months of debate and compromise, they submitted, a completely new government – the Constitution – to the states for ratification. Despite extensive debates about potential flaws in the proposed system, the Constitution was ratified in June 1788 and went into effect in 1789.

As you move through the different sections of the Constitution, you should make sure you can answer the questions asked on the embedded dialogue cards.

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H5P, U.S. Survey

New H5P Drag and Drop Activity

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The activity below includes quotes about the treatment of Japanese Americans from governmental documents, newspaper accounts, and representatives of local US organizations. If the quote mentions a security rational for the treatment of Japanese immigrants drag and drop the purple security label on the quote. If the quote focuses solely on race as the motivation for the treatment of Japanese Americans drag and drop the green race label on the quote. When you have labeled all the quotes, you can check to see the accuracy of your understanding.

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Digital Humanities, U.S. Survey

New HP5 Content – English Bill of Rights 1689

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I figured out how to use to the drag and drop HP5 content.  It is not intuitive even after going through the tutorial.  I found this video very helpful even though I didn’t use Drupal.  The point of activity below is to have students drag the common definition/meaning and drop it on the formal wording from the 1689 Bill of Rights.  I found in the past that although I assigned students to read the Bill of Rights not all of them really understood what it was saying.  Hopefully an activity like this will address that.

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Digital Humanities, Higher Education, U.S. Survey

Infographic Syllabus

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After being inspired by a couple of different things I’ve read and some examples from people who have done similar things, I’ve turned my syllabi this year in less ‘wordy contracts’ and more infograph.  Mind you there are still lots of words on the syllabus – but it is less wordy than previously, the font is bigger, and it should stand out from the other syllabi students will be receiving.

Made with Piktochart – better control over look and design.

Made with MS Word – not exactly what I wanted.

Syllabus for same course that was used last semester.

I used Piktochart to create it, after a failed first attempt using word.  They have lots of snazzy templates, but I couldn’t really find something I ‘loved’.  Therefore, I ended up building something from scratch.  I based the color scheme and lots of the design elements off of pages from old books (especially books with pictures).  I’m pretty satisfied with the final product, although it took much longer to produce than usual.  Hopefully, in the future it won’t be so time consuming.  Here is a link to the full-size version.Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

U.S. Survey

Jack Daniel’s and African American History

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Even if Jack Daniel’s is only doing this as a marketing move, I love how it acknowledges some of the real accomplishments and influence of slaves in creating Southern culture/life.

On its 150th anniversary, the Tennessee whiskey distillery concedes that its official history didn’t tell the whole story of its origins.

Source: Jack Daniel’s Embraces a Hidden Ingredient: Help From a Slave – The New York TimesFacebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather