Need a MAPP of black history?

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I just discovered an amazing website, an invaluable education tool: Maaping the African American Past (MAAP). This valuable resource was produced by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) in partnership with Columbia University’s Teachers College and Creative Curriculum Initiatives (CCI), to enhance the appreciation and study of significant sites and moments in the history of African Americans in New York from the early 17th-century through the recent past.

MAAP is not only a great tool for teachers and librarians, but for authors and illustrators in search of primary sources for their works. I will certainly use this site myself!

MAAP also offers lesson plans geared towards 8th through 12th grade students. African American history is a required component of the New York State social studies curriculum in 4th, 8th, and 11th grades. MAAP lessons, developed at Teachers College, Columbia University, help teachers at all levels engage content on this website through stories about building community, resisting slavery, and contributing to New York City’s development.

If maps and lesson plans aren’t cool enough, MAAP also offers podcasts of all locations on the website. Listen to a Professor of English at Columbia University discuss Duke Ellington. An architect who designed the African Burial Ground Memorial discusses the feelings he hoped to invoke in those who visit the memorial.

Go check it out, there’s so much more. Only thing is, we need a site like this for every major city!

By the way, I learned about MAPP through Amy Bowllan’s blog, another valuable resource at the School Library Journal site. While I enjoy reading Elizabeth Bird (Fuse #8), Marc Aronson, and others, sometimes I’ve overlooked the god-mother who started it all over there. If you didn’t know, Amy Bowllan pioneered the SLJ blog back in 2005, and for a couple of years, ran the show by herself.

Amy is currently the Director of Communications and Educational Technology at The Hewitt School in Manhattan, where she teaches Broadcast Journalism, and Technology, to students and teachers.

Go check her out, too!