5240 social-studies results | sort by:

SurveyRock - surveyrock.com
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): polls and surveys (55)
In the Classroom
Copy/paste the link to the poll or use embed code to place in a wiki, blog, or a website. Be sure that students use the poll appropriately and that personal information is not offered in poll responses. Use polls to record quick responses to questions. Have students create a poll about their interests and allow time to analyze responses and report findings. Use this site to vote on correct answers in math class, project ideas for science or social studies, social issues in current events, and practically any other subject area. Encourage students to incorporate polls during class presentations. Provide options for students to gain confidence in generating and analyzing statistics they have created. Make a quick parent poll to include on a class website to keep the lines of communication open.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Bouncy Balls - Practicon
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (159)
In the Classroom
Display Bouncy Balls on your interactive whiteboard or projector anytime you want to monitor classroom noise levels. Share this tool with your class and let them "tech it out" by making noise and seeing how the balls react. Of course, the first time you use it, students will want to see just how MUCH noise they can make. Discuss how much the balls should be moving throughout the day. Use this tool during the Daily 5, learning stations, DEAR time, or other quiet times throughout the day. Challenge students to keep the balls as still as possible for the activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
ContextU: Understand Your World - ContextU
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): american revolution (85), civil war (144), timelines (58)
In the Classroom
Consider using the ContextU organizing framework as a regular touchpoint for a unit on either the American Revolution or the American Civil War. As you progress through the important events that comprise each era, return to the larger context to help students "see the forest" as well as the trees. ContextU might also be added to your storehouse of bookmarks for each unit so students could access it while doing outside assignments or projects. Find age-appropriate literature to share with your students about Colonial America and the Revolution or The Civil War and Slavery at TeachersFirst's CurriConnects booklists for all ages. Use class discussions or student essays to draw together what they learn from independent reading, this site, and their "regular" curriculum.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Blog Post Ideas Generator - Matthew Loomis
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): writing (365), writing prompts (93)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Scroll through the prompts ahead of time to find one for the entire class. Or have a student emcee choose the idea for today's freewriting time. Many of the ideas could be adapted for writing in science or social studies classes by substituting in a curriculum term or writing from the point of view of a historic figure. Scroll through with your class allowing them to pick one on their own. If you have class blogs, that's great. If you don't, that's O.K. Use the prompts for journals and quick writes, too. Ask students for prompts to add to the site. Post the URL for this site on your class webpage for students to use at home. Want to learn more about blogs and how to use them in any classroom? Try TeachersFirst's Blog Basics for the Classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Bea is for Business - Jamie Brown and Meg Seitz
Grades
1 to 7This site includes advertising.
tag(s): business (58), stock market (13), vocabulary (321), vocabulary development (124)
In the Classroom
Though these lessons are for first through fifth grade, they can easily be adapted for older students. You really don't need the suggested book for these lessons. Your students will learn plenty about collaboration, teamwork, vocabulary, and math. They will also learn many business concepts (a product vs. a service business). Explore the Bear & Bull Markets and investments, copyright, factories, loans, merchandise, pricing, and much more! Each of the six lessons is 50 to 60 minutes long. Click on the Learn tab at the top to find a glossary. There is also a Kids Business Plan template and other worksheets, Quick Ideas, and Do-it-at-Home ideas, videos, and more. Share this site with gifted students for enrichment in your classroom. The lesson can be used once a week for six weeks, twice a week for three weeks, or however you want to configure them. The "finale" is a "Business Fair" with plenty of ideas from which to choose.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Where We Came From and Where We Went State by State - New York Times
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): census (19), demographics (19), immigrants (22), immigration (60), migration (58), states (165), transportation (43), westward expansion (29)
In the Classroom
A great introduction to population change and the changing nature of social and physical mobility in the United States, these charts can prompt discussion about why families move. Although the charts begin in 1900, they are still useful in looking at Westward Migration in the US. Also explore such issues as changing job markets, natural resources and industries, movement between high density and low density areas, and the places where non-native born residents are most likely to settle. Invite students to create their own infographics about a certain state or region based on what they discover here. Learn about infographics in the classroom and the tools to make them in TeachersFirst's Now I See!.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
StepUp.io - Benkyo Player LTD
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): video (278)
In the Classroom
There are many uses for this tool in the classroom and for the self-directed learner. For example, in music or band class, use your projector or interactive whiteboard to share one of the examples under the Explore tab, and musical instruments. Create a class account or let students set up their own accounts if school policy permits. Then allow students to use individual computers to find the instrument they are learning. Alternatively, post the URL for the site on your class webpage for students to view at home. World language students can find a conversation in a language they are learning and watch it in segments or repeatedly. P.E. teachers and coaches can use this tool to show correct movements over and over. Science teachers can use this tool to show repeated steps of a complicated lab experiment. Play and replay videos of cells dividing or of a motion experiment so students can see it over and over to analyze what is happening. In Art class, play and replay videos of painting or other techniques. Any teacher can take a YouTube video and cut it down to just the segments you want to show in class or post the URL for students to watch at home. Share your videos by posting to Facebook, Twitter, or Google. You can also share with your class by signing into StepUp.io and sharing from your saved videos.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
QR Droid Zapper - Droidla LTD
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): gamification (86), qr codes (22)
In the Classroom
Create a QR code that directs to your class website or blog. Include it on handouts for Back to School night. Create a QR code scavenger hunt for students or make a webquest more engaging. Add QR codes to documents for students to check their answers. Further develop knowledge of a topic by adding a QR code to a site that expands upon what is in the textbook. Create a data chart accessible via a QR code. Students can access the data and manipulate the information. Have students create a book trailer or review and affix a QR code to the outside of the book. Students may be more apt to read a book that has been reviewed by another student. Make a display completely interactive with a QR code that describes the assignment, the process, the research, students' reactions and more! Add extra help information to any assignment that asks students to solve problems. Create an online help tutorial accessible via a QR code, and place the code beside a similar problem. Link directly to a Google Map. Place QR code contact information for you and your school on contact cards to give to parents. Attach QR codes to physical objects around the room to provide information about the object. Instead of copying/pasting links in a newsletter, put them into QR codes for easier access by readers. Post QR codes to resource sites and new articles on your BYOD classroom bulletin boards for students to access information on their tablets or smartphones. As a time saver, post a QR code to the class wiki or web page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
PicResize - Internich, LLC
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): editing (72), images (277), photography (157)
In the Classroom
Use this site to create artistic effects with student pictures. The ideas for picture taking, creating, and sharing are endless. Be sure to discuss with your class the importance of using copyright free materials from the web using tool such as Compfight, reviewed here. Use this tool to alter an image to meet website constraints such as when creating an avatar. Make this a link from your class wiki or website so students can cut down file sizes before uploading large photos. Art teachers will love the ability to alter photos with artistic effects without expensive software. Make creative bulletin board displays from multiple digital pictures of special events. Check understanding of concepts by taking or finding images that help explain a concept being studied in any content area. Use images to show what the students know. Use images to help ESL/ELL, language, and special students learn in the classroom. In primary grades, this tool can be useful for teachers to use to edit pictures from a field trip, science experiments, and more. Share the editing process with your younger students using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Edit together! Encourage older students to use this site themselves on images for projects or presentations. Use the editor to edit pictures to fit styles of pictures when doing historical reports or to set a mood. Be sure to keep this tool handy as a link from your teacher web page for quick access anytime!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Online Tools and Timesavers Editor's Choice Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (159)
In the Classroom
Mark this one in your favorites as a sanity saver. You may not remember the name of each handy timesaver, but having the collection close "at hand" will help you find them easily. Use your free TeachersFirst membership to rate them or mark individual favorite tools and share them with your students on your public page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Highlighting Our History: American Revolution Read-alouds PLUS for the Common Core - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 6tag(s): american revolution (85), book lists (131), commoncore (99), writing prompts (93)
In the Classroom
Mark this article in your Favorites and take the book suggestions with you to the school library (or search for interlibrary loans). Consider using this as part of a "Then and Now" or "Past and Present" focus in kindergarten or first grade, or with middle elementary students as part of a unit related to the Revolutionary War. Take a look at the suggestions for connecting the read-alouds to CCSS-aligned writing prompts or for short, focused research projects to include as follow-up.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Geography From Space - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): map skills (84), maps (298)
In the Classroom
Hook students into geography (and more) with these challenges. Study the quiz questions as a model and create quizzes/activities of your own about geography related to a region you are studying. Use previous quizzes as a contest in geography class. Use them as examples for students when studying different countries, and have students determine what they would feature in their own quizzes. Use in math class to determine proportions by drawing maps or ratios. Have students create similar quizzes using Google Maps, challenging classmates to answer questions about areas, perimeters, and even shapes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Clip Syndicate - clipsyndicate.com
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use the code provided to embed any video or channel directly onto your class blog or website. Bookmark and save Clip Syndicate as a resource for current event stories for classroom use. Ask your students to visit Clip Syndicate and create a multimedia presentation from the information they learn there and by reading additional news coverage of the event. Embed any channel onto your website or blog as a current events writing prompt, and have students create blog posts about them. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Loose Leaves, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration. World language classes can look on this site for recent stories from other cultures to discuss in their new language. Science and social studies teachers will find current stories related to topics they teach, such as volcano footage or stories about conflicts and political tensions. Share a clip at the beginning of class to connect curriculum with the "real world."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Lucidchart - Karl Sun and Ben Dilts
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): brainstorming (23), graphic organizers (39), mind map (22)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the "ease" of this fabulous site! Have your class create organizers together, such as in a brainstorming session on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Assign students to "map" out a chapter or story. Assign groups to create study guides using this tool. Use this site for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics. Use this site to create family trees or food pyramids in family and consumer science. Have students collaborate (online) to create group mind maps or review charts before tests on a given subject. Have students organize any concepts you study. They can color code concepts to show what they understand, wonder, and question. Have students map out a story, plot line, or plan for the future. Students can also map out a step-by-step process (such as a life cycle or how to solve an equation).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
National Geographic and the Common Core - National Geographic
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): charts and graphs (197), guided reading (47), reading comprehension (123)
In the Classroom
Use this National Geographic site to find high quality, high interest, non-fiction reading material for your students. Ask students to visit sites found through your search. Challenge students to share what they learned by creating multimedia presentations using one of many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Use this site as an anticipatory set to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Chatzy - Chatzy.com
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): chat (51)
In the Classroom
Use this site to connect to other classes to open up discussion between your students in one convenient place. Safety is not a concern with this site, since only those with an email invitation/link can participate in a chat. (Your students need not have email. You can simply email the link to yourself and share it with students to enter into their browsers.) Teach good digital citizenship of chat etiquette while using this activity to learn. Connect with other classes to learn about other locations, learn various perspectives, find animals that are similar yet different, learn about the different books others are reading, or survey students on various economic, political, or environmental topics. Be sure to plan content ahead of time, so students have the opportunity to think through the material and formulate a response. Discuss appropriate ways to communicate to others prior to connecting with another classroom. Use Chatzy as a place for students to brainstorm and share ideas about a topic. Use as a simple help forum for students to ask questions of each other and of you. Share a chat room with parents once a month for a question and answer session at a scheduled time.Use backchannel chat on laptops during a video or student presentations. Pose questions for all to answer/discuss in the backchannel, or ask students to pose their own "I wonder if..." questions as they watch and listen. Keep every student engaged and THINKING as an active listener. The first time you use backchannel, you will want to establish some etiquette and accountability rules. The advantage of backchannel chat is that every student has a voice, no matter how shy. Use this in world language classes, ESL/ELL classes, or autistic support classes for backchannel chat. Challenge students to use their new language skills by acting out a scene from a video or describing the feelings of the actors. When studying literature, collaborate with another class to have students role-play a chat between two characters. In a history class, create fictional conversations between soldiers on two sides of the Civil War or different sides of the Scopes Monkey trial.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Ziggity Zoom - Ziggity Zoom LLC
Grades
K to 3This site includes advertising.
tag(s): crafts (39), digital storytelling (153), interactive stories (30), preK (288), puzzles (203), video (278)
In the Classroom
Introduce Ziggity Zoom on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently. Be sure to show them how to AVOID the many advertisements! Make a shortcut to individual activities on classroom computers and use it as a center. Include this site on your class web page for students and parents to access at home. Explore this site to find crafts and activities for classroom use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Send Anywhere - ESTmob, Inc
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (179)
In the Classroom
Use Send Anywhere to quickly transfer files and images between devices in your BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Student groups working on projects in class can gather and share files easily. This tool would work well when students do not have email addresses or Google Accounts for sharing work with their teachers or each other. What a great way for students to turn in work done on their devices! Just make sure you retrieve it before the time limit expires. During curriculum development and other professional development activities, members of a department (or even school-wide) can share resources and documents easily with each other.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Heck Yeah, Educational Memes! - heckyeaheducationalmemes
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): images (277), posters (40), word study (79)
In the Classroom
Share memes from this site on a class wiki or web page (with proper credit, of course -- see the About Me poster on the home page.) Lighten the mood in your classroom by introducing one of these memes as a discussion starter at the beginning of a lesson or as a way to remember terms and ideas. Have students come up with other common errors in the English language and create a meme about it. Perhaps, as you study "often confused words" such as assent and ascent, small groups can come up with a meme for those. Share memes in math or science as ways to remember terms and concepts. Have the students create their own. Show students the meme on Heck Yeah, Educational Memes about being prepared for class, and have them add a humorous twist to your classroom rules and create a meme. Use a tool like Image Flip: Meme Generator, reviewed here, or Live Meme reviewed here to create memes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Interactives: Historical Thinking Skills - Annenburg Media
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): evaluating sources (16), maps (298), primary sources (93)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers for students to complete interactives on their own or display on an interactive whiteboard or projector to view as a class. Most interactives take 20-30 minutes to complete so may need to be split into two class sessions. Assign the interactives as homework (flipping the classroom) to allow time for in-class discussion. Create a mind map using a tool such as Mindmeister, reviewed here, to display ideas upon completion of an interactive.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form