Slavery in America

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Gary Paulsen Web Resources

Web site Reviewer and Compiler
Judy Harrelson - Richmond Senior High, North Carolina

Site Ratings

1 = Poor

2 = Fair

3 = Good

4 = Excellent

Issues of Freedom and Leadership--A Unit
http://www.tandl.vt.edu/english/EngProgram/elecportexample/grimsley/freedompage
This site has much to offer. It provides a fresh view on activities to use with the novel. It includes examples of student work for each of the different activities listed. It is colorful and busy. The site was created by a student teacher placed in a position to teach a class that had all failed the state reading test. She chose NightJohn to use as the literature to focus on with her class.The site would be helpful for teachers who are looking for activities and suggestions to use with the novel, NightJohn. The examples of student work reinforce the items and allow teachers to actually see a finished product.
Overall Rating: 4

NightJohn Book Talk
http://faculty.ssu.edu/~elbond/night.htm
This site was created especially for classroom use after reading Gary Paulsen's book, NightJohn. It is the work of college students for a professor at Salisbury State. The page begins with a short summary of the book but does not give away any of the ending. There is also biographical information about Paulsen. The Classroom Connections section gives suggestions for intergrading the information across curriculums (language arts, science, social studies and reading). Using the book as a focal point, the students will also go online to other web sites to accomplish a study on slavery. Various topics are interwoven into the activities that lead the student to branch out into other avenues of study concerning slavery. Students are also encouraged to read Paulsen's sequel, Sarny.
Overall Rating: 4

Random House: NightJohn
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/authors/nigh.html
The site includes suggested activities for teachers to incorporate into their lesson plans. It encourages teachers to use the application of higher level thinking skills with the students by the questions and situations it purposes. The site also gives suggestions to teachers about the use of graphic organizers and thematic debate. Another important aspect of the site is the correlation given to integrate the ideas present in NightJohn throughout the curriculums of history, language arts, music, geography and science. The site does exactly what it was created for--to accompany the study of Paulsen's novel, NightJohn. It is user friendly and educationally sound.
Overall Rating: 4

NightJohn
http://faculty.ssu.edu/~elbond/night2.htm
This is the second site created by college students for a professor at Salisbury State. It follows the same format as the web site above. It has a short summary, suggestions for classroom use and activities to use with NightJohn in different curriculums. Biographical information is also included about the author. This site is useful for teachers who are looking for suggested activities to use with the novel. It is plain, however, and has no graphics or audio to entice someone. However, it fulfills the purpose for which it was created and is very useable for classroom use.
Overall Rating: 3

NightJohn
http://www.eduplace.com/tview/tviews/n/nightjohn.html
This URL takes you to a one-page site that was composed by two teachers. It is short descriptions of the activities they use with Gary Paulsen's NightJohn. Someone can further link back to the home site of Houghton Mifflin called "Education Place" where any teacher can submit lesson plans to accompany language arts, social studies, math and science--the subjects in which Houghton Mifflin publishes textbooks. Although the home site is a good one, as far as NightJohn is concerned, these two short lessons are the only information the site provides.
Overall Rating: 2