Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Reading Log: Social Studies/Government Books
Rationale:
My book selection is comprised of books that explore both current political paradigms as well as longer views on globalization and its impact on America. While the books I selected are fairly advanced I believe they are well fitted for a high-school level government or social studies class. I chose the following books because they will help the students to gain a better sense of understanding regarding the world in which they live. Each of the books is well written with language that will be both challenging and educational to my future students. The content area covered within in the books will serve as background filler for many of the lessons we will be covering in class.
The first two books covered will focus on diversity within America as well as the continuing globalization of our world. I believe the first book will provide an excellent look at where we came from as a nation, while the second book will help show students where we are going. The final three books focus primarily on domestic politics and political parties. This will help my future students to better put in context much of what they see and hear within my lessons as well as in their everyday consumption of news and current events.
While I do realize that my first two books go beyond the copy write parameters set forth in the assignment, I believe the subject matter in conjecture with my content area, social studies, makes them ideal candidates for my future classroom.
Title: A Nation of Immigrants
Author: John F. Kennedy
Illustrator: N/A Pictures taken from a variety of sources
Publisher: Harper & Row
Copyright: 1964
ISBN #: 0-00-03-00887502
Genre: Non-fiction
Library Location: WTAMU Cornette Library, Canyon, Texas
Brief Summary: This book was written by John F. Kennedy in 1957 as a brief refresher on the impact immigrants have had on our nation and vice versa. The book also served as a companion piece toward Kennedy's push for immigration reform in light of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act. The book starts out by describing the motivations of millions of immigrants who came to our nation since its founding. The book then goes into chronological detail of two distinct "waves" of immigration into the U.S. Kennedy goes on to describe the many contributions immigrants have made to the American way of life. Kennedy ends the book with a look at the current, at the time (1960's), immigration policy and his proposals to change it for the better.
Personal Comments: The book is an interesting and informative look back at the many contributions our nation has garnered from immigrants. I have always enjoyed books penned by U.S. presidents, especially ones written pre-presidency. I think it gives us a look inside not only 1960's America, but also into a future president's motivations and passions. Kennedy's prose is very approachable, to the point that you can almost hear his pronounced Yankee vernacular as you read it. The book is a fairly typical position piece by a future presidential candidate in its format, yet the subject matter and author manage to speak beyond its original purpose.
Suggested Use in Classroom: I would use this book as introductory piece in a government class. I think this would be a great summer reading assignment to get students prepared for the semester. Assignments would include a brief report on the book itself followed by a review on immigration policy in the United States and how it has changed over the years.
Title: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Benjamin Franklin
Illustrator: N/A no illustrations
Publisher: Dover Publications
Copyright: 1996
ISBN#: 0585233578
Genre: Autobiography
Library Location: WTAMU Cornette Library, Canyon, Texas
Brief Summary: Ben Franklin's autobiography begins by addressing his son to whom the book is written for. The book then goes on to detail Franklin's family history. Most of the first section of the book is used to describe the many adventures of his youth with the many ups and downs that entails. As the book continues we get to see Franklin come into adulthood and deal with his ever expanding intellect and influence. In the final sections of the book Franklin continues to deal with his celebrity status as well as his efforts to better not only himself but mankind as well. The book ends with Franklins unsuccessful efforts to deal diplomatically with the King of England regarding the colonies. The autobiography unfortunately ends at this point due to Franklin's death.
Personal Comments: I really enjoyed this book due to the amount of time it gives to Franklin's youth. I was also greatly inspired by Franklin's intellect and his will to make the world a better place. While the reading will come off as quite dry to many students, those who are able to place it in context will be able to gleam far more knowledge from its words. I think it's always important to humanize those who we revere and this book does an excellent job of showing that Ben Franklin was at one time just a boy looking to make something of himself. Reading this book, especially the early sections, allowed me a greater understanding of this giant of early America in way that history textbooks never could.
Suggested Use in Classroom: Due to the more difficult nature of this reading I believe this would be an excellent in semester reading project, particularly to be used in conjuncture with studies on early American government. In class discussions over sections read would be absolutely necessary to ensure the students were fully grasping the text and in an effort to get over the language barrier necessitated by Franklins use of a more antiquated form of English.
Title: Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America
Author: John H. Aldrich
Illustrator: N/A no illustrations
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Copyright: 1995
ISBN#: 0-226-01272-7
Genre: Non-fiction
Library Location: WTAMU Cornette Library
Brief Summary: Why Parties? is a very thorough book which attempts to explain how politicians have used the political party system in the U.S. to further their own political careers. The book serves as an introduction into political party theory. While it does go into the history of our contemporary political parties the main thrust throughout the book is the motivations and machinations of the politicians who over the years created and transformed the parties within the U.S .
Personal Comments: The reading is quite advanced yet very informative. While it does put forth a personal theory as opposed to just historical regurgitation, it nonetheless played a pivotal role in my personal view of the American political system. In a way it removes the facade many Americans take at face value when viewing their respective political party. By doing this it allowed me to view the actors and actions of these parties in a purely objective light.
Suggested Use in Classroom: This is another book that due to its advanced nature would need to be read during the year with regular discussions in class involving what the students had read. I would assign this book near the beginning of any section in Government class which deals with our current political paradigm. Since the book does put forth a point of view I think it could also be used to help the students think critically about what the author puts forth. This could then be channeled into an assignment where the students write a response in either agreement or disagreement with the author's conclusions.
Title: Red Over Blue: The 2004 Elections and American Politics
Author: James W. Ceaser & Andrew E. Busch
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Copyright: 2005
ISBN#: 0-7425-3496-0
Genre: Non-fiction
Library Location: WTAMU Cornette Library
Brief Summary: Red Over Blue offers a detailed, non-partisan and analytical look at the 2004 presidential election and the factors that led up to it. The book begins by delving into the rapidly shifting paradigm of the American electorate and political system in the later half of the 90's and early 00's. The book then examines the election of 2004 from the Democratic Party primaries to the conclusion of the general election. The book wraps up with a small foray into the congressional elections which were also held in 2004 and ends with an issue by issue discussion over the American electoral system and possible reforms for said system.
Personal Comments: I found this book to be an excellent "straight to the facts" account of the 2004 election and the issues that surrounded it. It also serves as a first rate primer for the American electoral system. Although the read is dry the information it contains is very insightful and should be enjoyable for anyone interested in or studying presidential politics and elections.
Suggested Use in the Classroom: This book would be excellent to use in conjuncture with any unit discussing the electoral system in the U.S. I would assign this reading after the last book I listed, Why Parties?, as its subject matter easily leads into this books. Much like my last reading this would need to be read during the school year and partnered with a system of regular discussions regarding the subject covered.
Title: Political Behavior of the American Electorate
Authors: William H. Flanigan & Nancy H. Zingale
Publisher: Congressional Quarterly
Copyright: 1998
ISBN#: 1-56802-332-4
Genre: Non-Fiction
Library Location: WTAMU Cornette Library
Brief Summary: This reading covers the American electoral system from top to bottom in a non-partisan analytical fashion. The book starts out with an in depth examination of the political culture in the U.S. The book goes on to discuss in detail the many motivations behind the actions of the participates in the electoral system. The book also delves into the complicated relationship between candidates and mass media in modern America. The book wraps up with a look at a candidates image and how that interplays with electoral forces.
Personal Comments: I found this book to be an absolutely necessary companion when trying to navigate the many twists and turns of the U.S. electoral system. The language used within is quite easy to absorb and relatively engaging. This was one of the first academic books regarding the electoral process I read while still in high school and much of the information I learned I use to this day.
Suggested Use in Classroom: This book is an excellent companion piece to Red Over Blue although its level of detail does seem to make it a bit more detached. Much like the other books on my review this would need to be read during the school year and accompanied with frequent and in depth discussions concerning what was covered. Due to the straightforwardness of the book students could also be tested on its contents after reading. Once students have completed the book several possible class projects could also come out of it, mock elections being chief among them.
Website Evaluation 5
Website: Library of Congress
Website Address: http://www.loc.gov/index.html
Copyright date and/or Last Update: While I could not locate a copyright the site is regularly updated and was last updated on 10/20/2010.
Author/Organization Credentials: The website is maintained by the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. The Library of Congress is an agency of the United States Legislative branch.
Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: The website is user friendly although it can be a daunting task to navigate the multitude of links contained therein. The site is a U.S. government website so it contains no pop-ups or ads. The main page is very easy to navigate although the font is quite small so it can be difficult to read at its default size. There is a search bar located at the upper right hand corner of the webpage. Also along the top to the left of this search bar are commonly used links such as ask a librarian, digital collections, and library catalogs. There is a column of navigational links on the left hand side of the page. Just underneath the search bar in the upper middle portion of the webpage there is a slideshow of featured links that automatically transitions from link to link. Underneath this are several more links separated by sections; Library Highlights, News from the Library, Popular Topics and Collections, The Library at Work, and Did you Know. Once you click on the one of the links the information is displayed in the center right of the page with the navigational links staying put on the right. At the bottom of the page there are also connectors to Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. While this website contains a large amount of information the layout is very simple and easy to use, minimal navigational instruction should be needed for most high-school age students. Once you click on the one of the links the information is displayed in the center right of the page with the navigational links staying put on the right.
Response and Recommendation for Use: This website is an excellent source to find authentic digital copies of many of our nations founding and historical documents. This website would be appropriate for use in high schools due to large number of links available. The audio and video resources available make this site ideal to use for in class presentations, whether by the instructor or the students themselves. This site also makes an excellent reference resource for students doing history projects or research papers. The digital collections section of the website is immense and contains massive amounts of useful and interesting documents. You can easily spend hours looking through the digital collections and not even begin to scratch the surface of what's available. I would certainly utilize this website during most if not all of my history or government lessons throughout the year.
Website Evaluation 4
Website: CIA World Factbook
Copyright date and/or Last Update: Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used without the Central Intelligence Agency's permission. The website is updated on a bi-weekly basis.
Author/Organization Credentials: The Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Public Affairs manages the overall information content, design, and, organization of the Web site. The Central Intelligence Agency has been in operation since 1947 and is a civilian agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers.
Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: This website is a sub-page of CIA.gov. The website is fairly user friendly and easy to navigate. The only true hindrances to navigation are the sheer amount of links available. There are no pop-ups or ads to contend with when surfing this page. The smaller text on the main page is a grey font set on a white background and rather small so it can be difficult to read for those with impaired vision. The main page contains a search bar in the upper right underneath the title. The main navigation links are located along a column on the left hand side of the page. These links cover numerous topics throughout the CIA main website. Links that navigate the Factbook itself are located in tabs across the upper middle of the page. These contain links to contact information and appendices. The main form of navigation for the website is through a drop down box just above these main tabs. Use is fairly simple, you just click on the drop down which then lists all the recognized nations of the world. Once you choose a nation to study just click on said nation and page will bring up all relevant information. The format will be fairly similar to anyone who has utilized Facebook in the past. Underneath this are four featured links to things such as regional maps and flags of the world. To the right of these links is a "what's new" box containing recent updates to the website.
Response and Recommendation for Use: This website is extremely useful for many different types of assignments. I myself have utilized the information contain therein on numerous occasions throughout my educational journey. This website could be utilized for students in middle or high school permitting proper navigational instruction is given beforehand. The uses for this site range from in class instruction to use as a resource for research papers and projects. I would suggest assigning a group of students a nation to do an in-depth research paper over, utilizing this website as the primary source of information. Then, once the research is complete the students can give a presentation to the entire class over their respectively assigned nations.
Website Evaluation 3
Website: National Geographic: Maps
Website Address: http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps
Copyright date and/or Last Update: ©1996-2010 National Geographic Society.
Author/Organization Credentials: The website is maintained by the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society is a nonprofit educational and scientific intuition which is run by a panel of distinguished educators, leading business executives, former governmental officials, and conservationists. The society has been continually operating since 1888.
Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: This particular website is a sub-page of the main National Geographic website. Due to the gargantuan nature of this site I chose to focus on this particular sub-page. One of the first things you'll notice regarding this website is its use of pop-ups. While annoying these pop-ups are easily clicked off of and are only minimally intrusive on the surfing experience as a whole. This website is fairly complex with numerous links throughout the page. There are also a few ads displayed on the page, most prominently across the top. Just under this banner ad is a search bar and links to all the different sections contained within the broader National Geographic Societies website. Under these links is the main Maps section which also contains several more links to various sub-pages. Underneath this is a large interactive world map, much in the same vein as Google earth. The map has several options such as street view and 2d or 3d displays. The map is fairly easy to navigate and very informative. The mouse does tend to get stuck on the map from time to time although again this is a minor impediment towards navigation of the webpage. Located underneath the main map are several more links to additional interactive maps as well as the editor's pick of different features on the website. There are also a few additional ads displayed on the bottom right of the page. Most of the links featured in the editor's picks are merely retreads of the links displayed above the map. These links generally take the surfer to small editorials covering different aspects of geography and conservation of natural resources. By far the gems of the site are the interactive maps though. Overall the website is fairly complicated and not that user friendly. The ads as well as the pop-ups can easily confuse or misdirect a non web-savvy surfer.
Website Evaluation 2
Website: USA.gov, Government made easy
Website Address: http://www.usa.gov/
Copyright date and/or Last Update: I could not find any copyright information although the website was last updated on October 28, 2010.
Author/Organization Credentials: The website is maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration's Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies. The funds to maintain the website come from an annual appropriation from the U.S. congress.
Web Site Design and Ease of Navigation: While this website serves more as a web portal, the amount of information it provides access to is immense. The websites accessibility is excellent and very user friendly. The home page contains first and foremost a search bar located at the top center of the page. In the upper right hand corner there are link to either change to language to Spanish or change the size of the text displayed on the page. Just below the search box are four main tabs which contain an abundance of links to things such as government services and contact information for government employees and elected officials. To the right of these links the website displays the five most currently searched topics from the site. In the center of the page there is a slide show of common links displayed as well. Just under this, at the bottom of the page are a few more informational links as well as links to things such as mobile apps and social media connectors. The website has connectors to most of the popular social media sites such as; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, various governmental blogs, and RSS feeds. Although there is a great deal of information displayed on the main page the links are easily understandable and anyone with a small amount of understanding of the internet should have no problem with navigation. The only downside I see in regards to navigation of the site is the sheer amount of information linked to it. When utilizing this site you should make sure and know where it is you want to go before embarking on a search, otherwise you could easily get lost.
Response and Recommendation for Use: This website is an excellent way to find out information regarding the government. This would be extremely useful when attempting to find nuggets of hard to find information regarding different governmental agencies. Due to the advanced nature of this website I think it would be far more useful to high school students than lower grade students. Its social media connectors will allow most teenagers to feel right at home when searching for information on this page. I think this would be a great tool for any senior level student looking to write a more advanced research paper, or just looking for hard to find statistics and information regarding our government. The nature of the site does not lend itself to in class instruction other than a quick navigation tutorial.
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