Now in its seventh year, Awesome Stories has been honored by the National Institute for Literacy and is recommended by
educators throughout the world. Using "evidence" links to primary
sources principally found in hard-to-search national archives,
libraries, museums, historical societies and institutions of higher
learning, Awesome Stories makes its subject matter come alive on the
computer screen. It turns learning into a uniquely interactive
experience as the site's users are taken on a virtual, world-wide
journey to see original documents, photos, pictures, drawings, annotated
maps and other such items at the precise moment they are needed. It is,
in effect, like viewing evidence during a trial.
AwesomeStories.com is one of few web sites where viewers can "meet" the
real people involved in some of history's best stories and (while
reading about the topic) can "see" where the actual events occurred. It
is a place where they can go to expand "dry" facts and dates with
exciting historical "stuff."
For example...Students study Dostoevsky's famous novels, but what do
they really KNOW about HIM? How can they understand the passion behind
Crime and Punishment or Brothers Karamazov unless they know something
about Dostoevsky the man? Wouldn't it be helpful to know that he was a
compulsive gambler? That he stood before a firing squad and, at the
last second, was saved by a totally unexpected reprieve? That he went
to a penal colony for four years - with the same iron shackles around
his legs the whole time? That his famous novel, The Gambler, was
loosely based on his own life? Educators barely have enough time to
teach a novel, let alone talking in-depth with their students about the
author. But they are sending students to Bos & Glazier-sponsored
AwesomeStories.com - a reliable source that provides "the rest of the
story."
The history section of
Awesome Stories features subjects from presidential assassinations
(where students can look at the derringer that killed Lincoln) to the
Korean War (where teachers can explain the U.S. predicament at
Heartbreak Ridge). The disasters section
includes stories
(including links to official videos) of September 11 plus the loss of
both Columbia and Challenger. The movies section (where interesting
historical tidbits are seamlessly woven into each story) takes users
around the world as it acquaints them with original documents, pictures
and other such graphics.
Bos & Glazier has sponsored AwesomeStories.com since the beginning of
this Internet project.
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