Closer Readings

61 Result(s)
Glossary of Terms for Film Discussion and Analysis

Whether you are teaching film literacy as part of a media arts course or using films to complement your social studies or English language arts curriculum, you will want to arm your students with the terminology to understand film criticism and share their own thoughts and analysis using a shared vocabulary.  

Debate and Diplomacy During the Early Republic

The National History Day® (NHD) 2022 theme, Debate & Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences, asks students to think about competing and multiple perspectives on various issues across history. This article explores debates surrounding the role of government during the early years of the newly-created republic and the extent to which these debates remain important today.

Jazz Appreciation Month: Women in Jazz

Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) was created by the National Museum of American History back in 2002 to celebrate the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz. This Closer Reading focuses on women in Jazz, with features on Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, and resources for including jazz across the humanities.

Media and Communication Technology in the Making of America

The National History Day® (NHD) 2021 theme, Communication in History: The Key to Understanding, asks students to think about how people have communicated with each other across time and place. Newspapers are often a key piece of the historical research process and this essay provides ideas on how to analyze and use these sources when studying media, the press, and communication technology.

Grassroots Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement: Focus on Women

It is hard to imagine any movement more important for understanding the meaning of freedom and equal rights in the U.S. than the civil rights struggle in the post-World War II era. Yet, as Julian Bond succinctly argued, in most textbooks and the media, the popular understanding of that movement is reduced to: “Rosa sat down, Martin stood up, and the white kids came down and saved the day.”

Literature of the Civil War

Read and discuss some of the great American writers and their work in the mid-19th century. This feature explores the themes of slavery, the role of women, and the experience of war.

We the People Bookshelf: A More Perfect Union

The We the People Bookshelf theme, “A More Perfect Union,” is the literary complement of library programs observing the sesquicentennial of the Civil War in American history and culture.

Jazz Beyond Borders: Jazz Appreciation Month 2019

Now celebrated in more than 40 countries, Jazz Appreciation Month offers an opportunity to explore cultural dynamics that inform jazz music across places, as well as the idiosyncratic ways in which jazz artists reimagine and perform their local for the global.

Bring Your Classroom to Life Through Diplomatic Oral Histories

When we think of using primary source oral histories in our classrooms, there is one resource that is often overlooked but ideally suited to the world history, civics, or global studies curriculum -- the oral histories of our diplomats.