Middle

Social Studies (X) - Middle (X)

The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009)

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THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA is a six-episode series produced by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan and written by Dayton Duncan.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
12:30
The National Parks: America's Best Idea

The Founding of America (2008)

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The inspiring early days of America – the personalities, the battles, the bravery, the losses, and even the romance – spring to life in spellbinding detail in this sweeping 14-DVD set from A&E Home Video.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
27:14
The Founding of America

Frontline World: Stories from a Small Planet (2008)

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FRONTLINE/World's special Social Entrepreneurs Series features the stories of people whose ideas and organizations create new and sustainable markets and services that benefit underserved communities across the developing world.Disc 1 contains four featured profiles that show a range of creative solutions and services developed by social entrepreneurs, as well as a classroom guide to support ed

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Frontline World: Stories from a Small Planet

The Great Debaters

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Inspired by real events, the fascinating The Great Debaters reveals one of the seeds of the Civil Rights Movement in its story of Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington in a captivating performance) and his champion 1935 debate club from the all-African-American Wiley College in Texas. Tolson, a Wiley professor, labor organizer, modernist poet, and much else, runs a rigorous debate program at the school, selecting four students as his team in ’35, among them the future founder of the Congress of Racial Equality, James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker).

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
02:04
The Great Debaters

Timeline: Discoveries

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Timeline: Discoveries is a card game played using 109 cards. Each card depicts an discovery on both sides, with the year in which that discovery occurred on only one side. Players take turns placing a card from their hand in a row on the table.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Content Area: 
Social Studies
Play Time: 
15 min.
Timeline: Discoveries

Timeline: Historical Events

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Timeline: Events is a card game played using 110 cards. Each card depicts a historical event on both sides, with the year in which that event occurred on only one side. Players take turns placing a card from their hand in a row on the table.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Content Area: 
Social Studies
Play Time: 
15 min.
Timeline: Historical Events

Greater Washington, D.C. National Parks: For the People (2005)

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Examines some of the attractions of Washington D.C., looking at things to see and do outside the metropolitan area, exploring the history of the national parks surrounding the city, touring some of the capital's major monuments and memorials, and describing alternative entertainments

Grade Level: 
Primary
Elementary
Middle
Length: 
00:20
Greater Washington, D.C. National Parks: For the People

Lake Ontario (2004)

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Examines the features of the lake, native peoples of the area, European discovery, canals, Niagara Falls, industries and pollution problems, and modern cities surrounding the lake, including Toronto and Hamilton in Canada, and Rochester, New York.

Grade Level: 
Elementary
Middle
Length: 
00:22
Lake Ontario

The World of American Indian Dance (2003)

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The beauty, artistry, athleticism, and competition of Native American dance are illustrated in this documentary. Filmed at the Crow Fair, Crow Agency, Montana, the program highlights the beautiful costumes and many dance styles incorporated into the culture from various Native American tribes and nations.

Grade Level: 
Elementary
Middle
High
Length: 
01:05
The World of American Indian Dance

Exploring Our Past: Native American Life (2005)

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Narrated by Joanne Shenandoah, this documentary explores the lives of early Native People of the Pacific Northwest, the Eastern Woodlands, the Desert Southwest and the Great Plains, using dramatic reenactments, rare archival footage and maps.

Grade Level: 
Elementary
Middle
Length: 
00:25
Exploring Our Past: Native American Life

The War of the World: A New History of the 20th Century (2007)

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World War II, we have been told all our lives, was our greatest triumph, the moment when the forces of light—the Western democracies and the U.S.S.R.—prevailed over the forces of darkness—the Nazis and the other Axis powers. It was a conflict that began in Europe in September 1939 and ended with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945. Or did it?

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
03:00
The War of  the World: A New History of the 20th Century

The War: 1941-1945 (2006)

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THE WAR, a seven-part documentary series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the history and horror of the Second World War from an American perspective by following the fortunes of so-called ordinary men and women who become caught up in one of the greatest cataclysms in human history.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
15:00
The War: 1941-1945

How the States Got Their Shapes (2010)

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Every line on the U.S. map tells a story. Every border reflects our history -- our struggles for independence, our internal conflicts over states rights and slavery, our westward expansion, and the mastery of our natural resources. We are so familiar with the map of United States, but do we know why our states look the way they do? Every shape on the map tells a great story about our past.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
01:40
How the States Got Their Shapes

The Gilded Age (2005)

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This episode establishes the course themes of American identity, freedom, and equality at the end of Reconstruction, then examines the reasons behind the large scale industrialization in the late 19th century.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
00:30
The Gilded Age

The American West (2005)

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An integral part of the changing American landscape in the late 19th century was the transformation of the West. The causes of the changes occurring in the West are explored, and the consequences for people living and moving there are assessed.

Grade Level: 
Middle
High
Length: 
00:30
The American West

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