Serendipity: Explore and Enjoy

Approach, Pedagogy, Learning

1. Differences between High School and College
2. Our approach to history
3. EasyWriter Companion Website Writing help
4. Portable Apps in case you need software for use on many different computers
5. Open Office a free equivalent to MS Office
6. The Creative Process
You're a part of it!
7. What is history and why should we care??
8. Brainstorming
9. The Personal Brain concept mapping software
10. Peer Review of Essays
11. Commonly used verbs in essay questions.
12. Revised Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels
13. Past Student Questions about Writing Essays
14. How to kill the passive voice
15. Tests of Historical Evidence
16. Primary and Secondary Sources
17. Hierarchy of Historical Sources

    Videos of Latin American Life

    Cultural Treasures

18. Uncovering Mayan ruins at El Mirador, Guatemala
19. Machu Picchu, Incan "lost city" in the Andes
20. A quick tour of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
21. Discovery of the remains of what may be the first gunshot victim in the Americas [forensic anthropology]

    Environmental Issues

22. Attention to water pollution in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Swim with your mouth closed!
23. Rainforest canopy tourism in Costa Rica
24. Environmental concerns for the magificient Copper Canyon in northern Mexico
25. Orinoco River, Venezuela Site of independence battles-- still a wilderness area

    Persistence of traditional religious practices

26. Ancient black magic rites survive in modern Sonora, Mexico
27. Umbanda, a folk religion of Brazil that contacts spirts, good and evil
28. voodoo in the mountains of Venezuela, another example of cultural persistence
29. Peyote (an haluciogen) still used by traditional cultures in Mexico
30. Another example of traditional folk healing in Mexico

    Cultural Snapshots

31. A history of tequila production in Mexico
32. Argentina's gauchos--today

    Historical Content

33. Physical Map of Latin America
34. South American map quiz
35. South Map Quiz Answers
36. Central American Outline map
37. Central American map quiz answers
38. Caribbean map quiz
39. Caribbean map quiz answers
40. CIA World Fact Book with maps
41. Fast Facts

42. Chronology of the Mexican War
43. Chronology of the abolition of slavery in Latin America [PDF]
44. Chronology of women's suffrage in Latin America [PDF]
45. Types of Human Rights; Generations of Human Rights Philosophies
46. Concept map of causes of independence
47. The Columbian Exchange
48. Drug Trafficking Routes from Latin America
49. Chronology of military coups d'état [overthrows of a prior government] and dictatorships [PDF]
50. Reagan-Bush Iran Contra Scandal
51. Historical Contingency

Instant Editing Instructions

Circle the words "was," "were," "is," and "are."

Put brackets around sentences longer than 3 lines.

Place a question mark in the margin beside anything that appears to be a grammar or writing style problem.

Write the number of different sources in each paragraph in the margin.

Read the essay for clarity. Put a clarity grade at the top- 10 = perfectly clear 1 = probably written in Portuguese

Return the paper to the author and briefly discuss the content and writing of both papers.

A musical tour

1. Steel drum music from Trinidad
2. Enjoy a tango performance
3. bomba, an African-influenced musical form from Angol and Congo, tranplanted to Venezuela
4. Don Omar: Reggaeton Latino
5. Color Latino with Eddie Santiago
6. Imbayakunas [Andean]
7. Tango [Argentina]
8. Danças Gaúchas [southern Brasil]
9. Víctor Jara: Vamos por Ancho Camino [Chile]
10. Tito Puente solo from "El Sabroso Son" [Cuba]

Writing Links

1. NCSU Writing & Speaking Tutorial Services Use 'em!!
2. Student Constructs History
3. Organizing an Essay
4. Timeless Writing Advice
5. Common word use and grammatical errors Avoid them! Write right!
6. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
7. The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr
8. LEO: Literacy Education Online, homepage for The Write Place, the writing center at St. Cloud State University A wealth of resources, with answers to pratically every question of research, writing, grammar, logic, and much more. Use it!!
9. Diana Hacker's Grammar Exercises
10. Grammar exercises from Purdue Univ. OWL
11. Grammarbook.com
12. And more grammar exercises
13. NCSU OWL (Online Writing Lab) Extensive questions and answers on grammar and style.
14. Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

Gathering Evidence: Creating a Primary Source

1. Name the student uses plus last name
2. Place of birth
3. Major at NCSU
4. Any experiences or special interest in Latin America?
5. Most liked thing in the whole world
6. Least liked thing in the whole world

So who is Dr. Slatta?