Copyright © 2012 Verizon Foundation. All Rights Reserved. This document may be reproduced and distributed solely for uses that are both (a) educational and (b) non-commercial. Any reproduction or distribution of this document for any other purpose, including commercial gain, is strictly prohibited. Reading and Writing Strategies Across the Curriculum: A Look at Thinkfinity Lisa Storm Fink, ReadWriteThink.org

2 The website ( contains thousands of free lesson plans and student materials for every core subject, designed by the leading educational organizations in the United States. Tens of thousands of FREE educational resources Accessible from school or home! A partnership between the Verizon Foundation and the nation’s leading educational organizations FREE professional development What is Verizon Thinkfinity?

3 Thinkfinity ( a free, comprehensive digital learning platform, built upon the strength of content partners, who produce a wealth of discipline-specific, standards-based educational resources. ReadWriteThink ( is a nonprofit Web site maintained by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers and English (NCTE), with support from the Verizon Foundation through the Thinkfinity Consortium.

4 Thinkfinity Content Partners

5 Interactives Lesson Plans Podcasts Video Clips Multimedia Explorations Primary Source Documents 1,200 Print Friendly Maps Student E-sheets Virtual Museum Activities Data Links What Does Thinkfinity Provide?

6 Let’s Start Exploring! Podcasts Lesson Plans 1,200 Print Friendly Maps Multimedia Explorations Virtual Museum Activities Interactives Primary Source Documents

7 Teaching The Civil War with Thinkfinity

8 From , Americans battled over preserving their Union and ending slavery in The Civil War. This pivotal and complicated period of American history is divided into sections that allow students to focus either on a specific aspect of the war, or the conflict as a whole. The sections included are: John Brown, Fort Sumter, the Battle of Bull Run, major turning points, the war at sea, Wilderness to Appomattox, political leaders, military leaders, soldiers in blue and gray; battles and casualties and Reconstruction and the legacies of the war.

9 EDSITEment lessons on Slavery, the Crisis of the Union, the Civil War and Reconstruction Slavery and African Americans in Antebellum America Causes of the War Abraham Lincoln and the Course of the War The Art and Literature of the Civil War Reconstruction and After in Art and Culture union-civil-war-and-reconstruction

10 The Civil War: A War of Resources The North won the Civil War in large part due to its superior resources. In this lesson students will learn the difference between capital resources, human capital, and natural resources. They will investigate and compare the resources held by the North and the South during the Civil War. They will classify the resources and make a value judgment as to which resources were the most important in the war. ucator dent

11 National Debt and Wars Students will collect information about the National debt, plot the data by decade, and determine whether an exponential curve is a good fit for the data. Then student groups will determine and compare common traits and differences in changes in the National debt in three major eras: the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. L670

12 Patriotic songs have the power to bring people together in a musical celebration of unity and love of country. But what do people sing when their country tears itself apart? That was the unhappy circumstance during the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861–1865. For four years, the fate of the country hung in the balance as two parts of America took aim at each other. For the victors, one song came to represent all they were fighting for. To the conquered, it was a musical slap at their honor and pride. Here is the story behind “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” behind-the-song/battle-hymn-of-the-republic.aspx

13 Winston Groom: The Battle of Shiloh 1862 Author Winston Groom writes that Shiloh was the first battle in the Civil War that shocked Americans into seeing how long and how terrible the war would become. This video was filmed on April 5, 2012 as part of the National Geographic Live! Lecture series at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. media/battle-shiloh-1862/?ar_a=1

14 A Civil War legend may have been upgraded in authenticity, thanks to an idea from a high-school student. This Science Update podcast reveals how tales that may sound like supernatural fiction could actually be science fact, based on the Civil War battlefield, Shiloh. updates/glowing-wounds /

15 Clara Barton was called “the angel of the battlefield,” as she selflessly served soldiers amid some of the worst battles of the Civil War. She often put her own life in danger because she was willing to travel to the front lines in the heat of battle. In 1869, Clara went to Europe and learned about the International Committee of the Red Cross. Upon her return to the United States, she successfully founded the American Red Cross in 1881 at the age of 60! Her vision for the American Red Cross was to provide aid in times of natural disasters, as well as wars.

16 Using Historical Fiction to Learn About the Civil War This lesson uses the book Meet Addy by Connie Porter to teach the characteristics of historical fiction, making inferences and using visualization, and Civil War history. The book tells the story of a young girl who escapes from slavery during the war. Students learn how to visualize and infer events from the author's choice of words and then refine their comprehension by questioning the text together. plans/using-historical-fiction-learn-779.html

17 Standards Alignment Verizon Thinkfinity resources are developed based on national content standards and are aligned to current state standards and the Common Core. The State Standards Alignment Overview document explains the alignment process, reviews how the Common Core is addressed, and offers a link to the State Standards Search Engine tool.State Standards Alignment Overview

18 Want to Go Mobile with Thinkfinity?

19 Test your knowledge of history as you race against the clock! Featuring characters from the online role-playing adventure game Mission US, Think Fast! About the Past is a fast-paced trivia game that introduces hundreds of fascinating facts about different eras of American history.

20 Apps on Economics and Personal Finance Below you will find a collection of apps for iOS and Android mobile devices. Use the filter tools on the right to narrow the results. If you would like to suggest an app to be listed on this page, please fill out a recommendation form.recommendation form

21 al-council-teachers/id

22 Science Apps Science NetLinks reviews STEM-related apps for both the iPad and the Android. ions/science-apps/

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24 Literacy-based Apps

25 Coming Soon! Smithsonian's History Explorer: “History Core” ArtsEdge: “Arts Days” ScienceNetLinks: Gravity Launch National Geographic Education

26 The Verizon Innovative App Challenge provides the opportunity for middle school and high school students, working with a faculty advisor, to use their STEM knowledge, their ingenuity, and their creativity to come up with an original mobile app concept that incorporates STEM and addresses a need or problem in their school or community.

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28 Verizon Thinkfinity Community Organize favorite Thinkfinity resources Create a network of colleagues, friends and industry experts Utilize Web 2.0 functionality And much more!

29 Questions? Contact me! Lisa Storm Fink at or on Twitter In the Thinkfinity Community Reading & Language ArtsReading & Language Arts Group Parents & FamiliesParents & Families Group