1491 american-history results | sort by:

Stuff You Missed in History Class - Tracy Wilson and Holly Frey
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): archeology (31), black history (59), civil rights (121), civil war (140), cross cultural understanding (127), mental health (27), native americans (78), podcasts (60), religions (68), vikings (10), world war 1 (56), world war 2 (141)
In the Classroom
Use podcasts from Stuff You Missed in History to enrich current lessons or lure students into thinking history can actually be "cool." Provide a link on class computers or your class website for students use. Have students use a mapping tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to create a map of one of these events (with audio stories and pictures included)! Have students use Fakebook (reviewed here) to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about one of the people in these lesser known historic events.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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100 Leaders in World History - National History Day
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): art history (81), black history (59), famous people (23), native americans (78)
In the Classroom
It goes without saying that this is a great resource for students thinking about a National History Day project. However, any course or lesson involving leadership will find lots of good supporting content here. Consider categories of leaders across time, for example. Do political leaders exhibit similar traits regardless of the time period in which they lived? Are there differences between male and female leaders? Are there different kinds of leaders? Are leaders always good? Help students analyze these questions using a tool such as Canva, reviewed here, or Draw.io, reviewed here, to make charts for the comparisons. Share this site during Women's History Month, Black History Month, and other observances that highlight "significant" leaders.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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40 Maps That Explain World War I - Vox
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): europe (71), map skills (80), maps (292), world war 1 (56)
In the Classroom
These maps are perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard. If you are teaching World War I, these maps need to be among your "go to" bookmarks for illustrating important highlights about the War. Consider also providing a link to the maps as part of materials students can access to learn more, as extra challenge, or for independent or group projects. The maps illustrating important technology first used in World War I will fascinate students who enjoy learning how things work. Have students create a multimedia project about the aspects of WWI that fascinate them most.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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9K Music - Huzzaz
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1960s (28), 1970s (11), 1980s (8), 20th century (49), video (269)
In the Classroom
Include the Throwback Machine as part of modern history lessons to help students understand the culture of the period. Have students use ytCropper, reviewed here, to grab favorite clips from online video sources such as Huzzaz (click to their YouTube page to get direct links) and other YouTube sources to include in multimedia projects. Challenge students to create a presentation using Prezi, reviewed here, and include videos discovered on this site. Have students create timelines using Sutori, reviewed here, with images, text, and collaboration. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Canva Infographic Creator, Lucidpress, Powtoon, and Rooclick.Embed a video from this site onto your webpage or blog, and ask students to explore other events and famous people from a time period.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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BBC iWonder - BBC
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): consumers (18), earth (227), ethics (20), human body (133), inquiry (32), news (258), nutrition (157), religions (68), reptiles (12), robotics (25), space (230), water (132), world war 1 (56)
In the Classroom
Use iWonder to help build students' background knowledge or spark interest in many topics. Share the site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Put a bookmark for this site on class computers for students to investigate at a learning station or when they finish other work early. If teaching World War I, use the interactives in that section as student learning stations, but be sure to load them ahead of time since the buffering process takes some time. An alternative is to assign the interactives for students to complete at home and discuss the next day in class (a flipped classroom idea). Teachers of gifted can offer iWonder explorations to inspire individual projects from middle elementary and up. Whether using this site as a whole class, in small group or as a flipped class, ask students to create blog posts sharing their learning and understanding using Telegra.ph, reviewed here. With Telegra.ph you just click on an icon to upload images from your computer, add a YouTube or Vimeo, or Twitter links. This blog creator requires no registration. An alternative could be to have them take notes using Webnote, reviewed here, about what they have learned. Tell students to be sure to save the URL to share their notes and questions with you and their peers. You might want to consider having them choose their favorite and create a multimedia, interactive presentation for their peers using Adobe Spark For Education, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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JFK American Experience - PBS American Experience
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1960s (28), civil rights (121), kennedy (25), presidents (124)
In the Classroom
The 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy provides an opportunity to refresh students' knowledge of JFK as a man and a President. What important policy innovations can we attribute to his Presidency? How might the remainder of the turbulent decade of the 1960s have been different had he lived? And from a different perspective, while we all want to romanticize the legacy of "Camelot" and the glamour of the Kennedy family, what were his failings? This site provides some rich primary sources to include in a discussion of the Kennedy Presidency, as well as a brief preview of the American Experience film itself. Whether you choose to view the episode with your class or not, you are certain to obtain excellent information at this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Moment in Time - New York Times
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): creative writing (170), cross cultural understanding (127), debate (45), expository writing (40)
In the Classroom
Each of the "moment in time" photographs provides a wonderful thinking/writing/discussion prompt. What Just Happened Here? If it happened somewhere far away from me, how is it different from what happens in my backyard? What do I have in common with what is pictured? What don't I understand? Use this site to generate ideas for writing, for art, for debate. Use this as an avenue to open discussion about different cultures. Imagine a "moment in time" from another date, such as June 6, 1944, Sept 11, 2001, or an ordinary day in 2014. Challenge students to imagine and create their own moments in time to share.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smarty Pins - Google
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (179), map skills (80), maps (292), trivia (21)
In the Classroom
Smarty Pins would be great as a reward for students who finish work promptly, for advanced students who have completed an assignment before other students, or as a way to focus student attention quickly at the beginning of class. It can be used collaboratively from an interactive white board, or it launches from both the Android and the iOS Google map app or from a desktop. Challenge your students to design their own geography quizzes using Animaps, reviewed here, adding their own "stories" with questions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Totally History - totallyhistory.com
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): american revolution (85), art history (81), civil war (140), presidents (124), religions (68), vietnam (34), world war 1 (56), world war 2 (141)
In the Classroom
Totally History offers a starting point to find basic facts and information on many topics. Use material from the site to introduce any topic such as presidents or events in World or American History. Share with students to use as a resource for classroom projects and reports. Have students create timelines using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS also offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a president or any person or event in history.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Top Documentary Films - topdocumentaryfilms.com
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): advanced placement (25), animals (319), artists (78), biographies (87), drugs and alcohol (25), environment (321), evolution (103), hiv/aids (19), humor (14), media literacy (66), mental health (27), money (184), politics (102), psychology (64), religions (68), sports (97), vietnam (34)
In the Classroom
Use this site to find videos in a wide range of topics to share on your interactive whiteboard, on a projector, or as a link on your class web page. Use videos to demonstrate different points of view. Then use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram,reviewed here. to compare and contrast information. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from any film using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here. Want to engage students WHILE they watch a video? Why not set up a backchannel chat using GoSoapBox, reviewed here. Be sure to ask your class if there could have been any bias in the video you watch together. What film techniques influence our thinking?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NCES Kids' Zone - NCES
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): charts and graphs (199), probability (135)
In the Classroom
Strike an interest in your school and community by finding out where you rank. Investigate college choices. After short quizzes, have a daily comparison of your students to see how they compare in civics, economics, geography, history, mathematics, and science at multiple grade levels. Inspire students to collect data and make their own graphs about school wide topics. Have students create an online graph using Amblegraph (reviewed here). Dig into probability problems to discover the odds.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Achieve the Core - Student Achievement Partners
Grades
K to 12tag(s): commoncore (89)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for professional development. Find the self evaluation tools to use before your evaluation by administrators. Start a Common Core study group, and explore and share together. Ready made parent materials make parent involvement easy. Learn ways to become involved with the Common Core movement. And of course, don't miss the fabulous "ready to go" lessons!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Historical Marker Database - HMdb.org
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 20th century (49), american revolution (85), anthropology (12), civil rights (121), civil war (140), disasters (43), explorers (69), heroes (24), hispanic (13), labor day (5), native americans (78), natural disasters (21), natural resources (57), vietnam (34), war of 1812 (15), world war 1 (56), world war 2 (141)
In the Classroom
Use the Historical Marker Database to find information and locations of important events near your hometown or relating to any area of study. For example, choose the Civil Rights link to find markers noting important events related to Civil Rights. Then have students enhance their learning and create a simple infographic sharing their findings. Use Easel.ly, reviewed here. Have students create maps using Animaps (reviewed here). Students can add text, images, and location stops! Transform learning by having students create timelines of historic events near your school; use Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS also offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Seeing America - Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): art history (81), artists (78)
In the Classroom
Aside from its obvious usefulness to an art history class, consider choosing an image from an era under study in a history course --or from the time period of a piece of American literature --and incorporating a look at the time through the eyes of an artist. How did events from that time influence the artist's vision of the world? What was America like to that artist? How is that different today? These are great "plug and play" resources that can be used to design an entire unit around using one of the themes or can be as short as an activating activity at the beginning of a class. Ask: When do you think this was painted? What tells you that? What is the artist trying to tell us about his or her view of America? The only limitation here is that it's difficult to view the images in full screen; you will need to use your browser's zoom function to use the images effectively on an interactive whiteboard (or projector).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Car Brochures - Hans Tangerud
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (49), advertising (33), history day (24), transportation (47)
In the Classroom
Teens are fascinated with cars. Why not give them the opportunity to research the design and features of cars from a historical era being studied in a history class, or that match the time period with that of literary work. What did the cars look like when the Joad family made its way to California? What did Jay Gatsby drive? What was the "hottest ride" during the Vietnam War? As you try to communicate the culture of an era, consider using an image or two on the whiteboard (or projector) from the appropriate year to help students envision the world of that time. Cars and the way they are advertised also speak volumes about trends in graphic design and advertising. How does automobile advertising today differ from that in the 1950s? What emotions and needs were marketers appealing to? This resource would also be great as a springboard for a National History Day project comparing car design (or advertisements) across the 20th century and linking it to events of that time period. Teacher-librarians will love this resource to teach about primary sources and actually have students be interested!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Diigo - Education - Diigo, Inc. 2010
Grades
1 to 12This tool can be used as a basic bookmarking tool, simply allowing YOU to save, sort, and access your own bookmarks from ANY computer or mobile device (once you are logged in). You have the choice whether your bookmarks are public or private. You can gradually ease into more advanced and interactive features: highlight parts of sites and save or share those annotations, add sticky notes to parts of websites, pictures, screen-shots, documents, audio, and more. Do group collaborative research. Organize your bookmarks by tags. Unlike sorting bookmarks into file folders, adding tags permits you to put multiple tags or "labels" on one site. The same site you tag for book reports could also be tagged for biographies, for example. Additional Diigo features include groups (a way to share and exchange bookmarks with a certain group of Diigo users), messaging, and search features. You can search all the public bookmarks made by others and discover other people with similar interests, already bookmarked and ready for you to mark as your own. There are many groups you can join, such as those with a specific teaching interest or hobby. See "Tools" for many helpful options, including bookmarklets to make bookmarking instant on multiple devices. Bookmarklets drag directly to the toolbars on your computer and are well worth it. It goes beyond simple bookmarking and adds options like highlight, capture, send, read later, comment, search bar and Diigo message options. You decide your own level of use and desired tools to be shown on the bar. If choosing not to install the toolbar, then there is an applet called Diigolet that will be used in its place. It is not as strong a tool as the toolbar, but will work well if the toolbar installation is not possible. Check our sample group. You can also install a widget on your blog (or class web page) that will show your bookmarks there.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bookmarks (68), DAT device agnostic tool (179), forum (7), social networking (107)
In the Classroom
Teachers even in very early grades can use Diigo simply to share links with students and parents. To get more ideas on the potential education uses of this site, see this SlideShare powerpoint here. Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have.Assign students a research topic and allow them to use Diigo collaboratively to collect and share resources. Share teacher-selected options (complete with comments or directions) easily using Diigo. The research and conversations created through highlighting and annotating what they read can greatly enhance both their research skills and their online interaction on academic level skills. Or use Diigo to post discussion assignments on specific articles or even parts of articles using the highlighting tool. Find a relevant article for your subject, highlight the part that you want students to read. (If students are younger, keep it short to reduce the intimidating reality of too much information for kids.) Attach a sticky note with a discussion question for the students. Have them comment on the link in a "class discussion" as a homework assignment. If you are fortunate enough to have all students with computer access in your class and at home, such as in one to one laptop program schools, you can organize many assignments using Diigo. Use this site to help all of your students stay organized. Share this resource with your (not so organized) gifted students to help them manage projects and not "lose" the information they "found somewhere." Post assignments, readings, online interactive labs, and more. The site even allows students to submit responses by adding a comment. Of course others will see what they said, so you may not want the comments to be the only thing they do! If you assign gifted students to do projects beyond the regular curriculum, consider having them curate and annotate a collection of resources on a higher level topic. For example, extend your study of World War II by having them collect web-based primary sources showing the propaganda leading up to the war, political cartoons during the war, and advertisements from the time. Have them annotate the collection explaining each artifact and how it reflects the sentiments and biases of certain groups. That same collection could provide other students a class opportunity to interact with "objects" from the time. If you have contact with other teachers of gifted students, they could collaborate across different schools or classrooms.
Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Teach Dear America - Colonial Period - Scholastic
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): 1600s (14), 1700s (29), colonial america (107)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site and combine it with TeachersFirst's CurriConnects leveled reading list forColonial America and the Revolution and Frontier Forts on the American Revolution for multiple offerings and angles on the Colonial and Revolutionary time period. Create a link to various activities, quizzes, and downloadables for students to explore on classroom computers. Include crafts and recipes from the site during your unit. Have students create an annotated image about Colonial times including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here to demonstrate concepts learned when making crafts or recipes. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare Colonial life to present day. Have students create timelines using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS also offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive. Have students use Fakebook (reviewed here) to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a student their age living in Colonial America.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Meet the Daggetts - The Henry Ford
Grades
2 to 7tag(s): 1700s (29), colonial america (107), connecticut (4)
In the Classroom
Be sure to include Meet the Daggetts with your Colonial America unit. View together on your interactive whiteboard or projector or have students explore independently on classroom computers. Have students create an online or printed comic depicting a day in the life of the Daggett family using one of the tools and ideas included in this collection. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare Colonial to modern times. Have students use Fakebook (reviewed here) to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a Daggett family member.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Have Fun With History - havefunwithhistory.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): 1900s (39), aircraft (25), american flag (10), american revolution (85), artists (78), bill of rights (28), civil rights (121), civil war (140), colonial america (107), flags (22), industrial revolution (26), kennedy (25), lincoln (81), martin luther king (35), native americans (78), pearl harbor (13), railroads (11), slavery (66), space (230), thanksgiving (33), underground railroad (11), war of 1812 (15), world war 1 (56), world war 2 (141)
In the Classroom
Mark this one in your favorites for use with almost any history unit. Your visual learners will find history more understandable using the video and interactive options. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here. Share links to specific videos on your class website or blog for students to view at home. Have students create timelines using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive. . Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a person in a video.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Carlisle Indian Industrial School - Dickinson College
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): colonial america (107), cross cultural understanding (127), history day (24), native americans (78), westward expansion (31)
In the Classroom
Too often US history survey classes broadly consider Native Americans and their role in the original colonization of North America, or their role in Westward Expansion, without taking the time to understand the differences among nations, or the impact of European settlement on these pre-existing societies. Even if there isn't time for in depth study, consider asking students to study the individual record of one young man or woman approximately their own age who attended the Carlisle Indian School. How old was he when he left home? What skill was she trained in? What happened to him after he left Carlisle? Have students use Fakebook (reviewed here) to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about the individual they researched. This personal contact with the real life of another student from another time and another culture will reduce the tendency to stereotype Native Americans as they so often are during the study of US History. Of course, the site is also a wonderful resource for in depth research such as a National History Day project.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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