American+Heritage+Review

Main page link: http://ncteamericancollection.org/ Catalog link: http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/videos.htm American gateway link (outside link to authors): http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/americanwritinggateway.htm Literary map link: http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/litmap/amcollectlitmap.htm Lesson plans and information on authors listed on site: http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/beyondthecore/Beyond_the_Core.htm

Exxon/Mobile Masterpiece Theatre’s American Collection Educators’ site offers information on the PBS series of American classic movies lesson plans, author background, relative off-site links, literary map, literary timeline, and movie to book correlations. In-depth information is also available on correlating y/a novels to the classics and y/a novels and short stories for the classroom: Chopin, Bradbury, and Wiesel to name a few. The site is easy to navigate but can become confusing because of the sheer volume of information available. One cautionary note, the site offers a link to what appears to be a student publishing site where students’ can submit works; however, the site also offers what it claims are non-plagiarized paper writing services. One other issue is some of the links to lesson plans appear to be broken

The movies that are offered through the humanities endowment come with full educational rights and supporting materials, such as author/producer notes, background information, and ideas for the classroom. Most film prices range between ten and twenty dollars with some series going as high as one-hundred and fifty dollars. There is no charge to use the site. Accompanying lesson plans and material are included with the films. For the new teacher this site offers background information on many of the authors we will encounter along with lesson ideas, activities, support materials, and interdisciplinary units and corresponding lesson plans. For instance, Henry James’ //The American// has an interdisciplinary unit tied to history and Esmeralda Santiago’s //Almost a Woman// offers social science correlations related to immigration.