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return to subject listingManifest Destiny - Digital Inquiry Group
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): 1800s (75), native americans (92), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource to include with American History lessons. Engage students in the optional learning activities through the use of technology tools such as Google Jamboard, reviewed here. Use Jamboard to create templates to accompany the discussion activities for students to list the similarities and differences between the textbook information and what is found in the primary documents. Enhance student understanding of the concepts by creating a visual timeline using eStory, reviewed here. Tools included with eStory offer the ability to use maps as a starting point to create paths and add links to tell the story of historical events. Extend learning further by asking students to create videos usingAdobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here with audio and templates, to share their responses to the final activity of evaluating the painting, "American Progress." Ask individual students or student groups to create a video sharing their ideas on the importance of this artwork and their judgement as to its representation of westward expansion in a good light.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Brother Against Brother: Books to Help Teach Civil War - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): book lists (163), civil war (136), underground railroad (13)
In the Classroom
Create a list of suggested books for students using Padlet, reviewed here. Encourage students to add comments in short book reviews for other students to use as a resource. Enhance learning by incorporating books found on this list into your other resources to create a learning unit using Curipod, reviewed here. Use Curipod to add videos, articles, quizzes, and more to create engaging multimedia lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native American Month Resources for Teachers - Library of Congress
Grades
K to 12tag(s): native americans (92), primary sources (118)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to use not only for Native American Heritage Month but as a supplement for any lessons that include activities that teach about Native Americans. Take advantage of the many free primary source Strategy Guides available at Read Write Think, reviewed here, for teaching with primary sources. For example, search for the Inquiry Charts (I-Guide) Strategy Guide to download and use the printout that helps students focus on the content of any primary source. Create an inquiry chart using Google Slides, reviewed here, or Jamboard, reviewed here, for students to complete as a group. Enhance learning through the use of a video add-on tool such as edpuzzle, reviewed here. edpuzzle offers options to add comments and questions into videos to help students focus on important concepts. Extend learning by asking students to share their understanding of Native Americans using a variety of online tools. For example, ask students to use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create maps sharing information of different tribes found around the United States. Another option is to use Adobe Express for Education, reviewed here, and offer students options for creating videos Adobe Express Video Maker, or web pages sharing facts and information learned during your unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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How the West Was Won: Using Literature to Enhance the Study of Westward Expansion - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): louisiana purchase (5), native americans (92), railroads (14), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
When teaching about the westward expansion, you and your students will enjoy and learn from this site's many resources and ideas. Check with your school's media specialist to see if your library, or the public library, contains the suggested books to share with students at a literacy center. Extend student learning using Canva Infographic Creator, reviewed here, and ask students to create infographics and timelines to share facts about this period of growth of the United States. Extend learning by asking students to create multimedia projects such as digital books created using Book Creator, reviewed here. Book Creator includes many tools for students to personalize projects by including video, images, audio recording, and text.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Picking Up the Pieces: Exploring Reconstruction Through Literature - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): 1800s (75), civil war (136), lincoln (64), literature (217), slavery (77)
In the Classroom
Be sure to see all of the many ideas and activities shared on this site to engage students as they learn about Reconstruction. Organize and share resources with students using a curation tool such as Netboard, reviewed here. Netboard makes it easy to share links, documents, text, and more into one easily accessible location. Extend learning by asking students to share their knowledge using the tools found at Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Options include tools for creating videos, web pages, and graphics to demonstrate understanding of learning objectives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Whole New World: Using Books to Help Teach Students About Colonial America - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): colonial america (93), colonization (20)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this resource to use when teaching about Colonial America. Engage students in learning by incorporating suggested book titles that help students understand colonial times through a personal perspective. Help students compare and contrast current times to the colonial time period using a Venn Diagram. Canva's Venn Diagram Creator reviewed here, includes easy to use tools for creating and sharing a variety of Venn Diagrams. Extend learning by asking students to create animated videos using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here to tell the story about a character or event from colonial times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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BlackPast - BlackPast.org
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): african american (110), biographies (95), branches of government (64), civil rights (198), inventors and inventions (75), journalism (72), racism (79), sports (81), STEM (274)
In the Classroom
BlackPast is a must-have for any social studies classroom. Bookmark this resource to use when learning about Black history, African-American biographies, important events, and more. Consider creating a Padlet, reviewed here, to save different articles from BlackPast for students to easily access specific information. Use the shelf option to divide your Padlet into sections by date, topic, or events. Padlet also has a timeline feature when creating biographies or highlighting important dates within a specific time. Ask students to create blogs using Edublogs, reviewed here, to share information learned from this site. As students prepare to "show what they know," modify their technology use by asking them to use Sway, reviewed here, as a presentation tool and include images, videos, and student writing to share their learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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RealClearHistory - RealClear
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): biographies (95), civil war (136), constitution (88), history day (39), politics (114), presidents (130), religions (82), slavery (77), space (216), vikings (10), world war 1 (78), world war 2 (156)
In the Classroom
Make this site available in favorites on your classroom computers for students to refer to for history-related resources. You may want to list this link on your class website for students to access the page both in and out of class. Consider using the site as an icebreaker at the beginning of a class: pick one of the articles or short video clips (share it on your interactive whiteboard or projector) and discuss. After doing research, have cooperative learning groups create podcasts or video commercials highlighting an interesting historical event. Create FREE podcasts using a site such as Spotify for Podcastors, reviewed here. This is also a good resource for reading informational text per the Common Core Standards.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media - Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (62), branches of government (64), civil rights (198), history day (39), primary sources (118), religions (82), sept11 (18)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a supplemental resource for any history lessons and teaching units. One portion of the site leads to Teachinghistory.org, reviewed here, which is an amazing resource for finding teaching materials, best practices, and history content. Be sure to visit it often to find many ideas for effective teaching of history concepts. Other links are perfect for sharing with students to use for locating and learning from primary sources. For example, Papers of the War Department (1784-1800) contains a large collection of images and transcriptions that provide context and understanding into files once considered lost in a fire at the War Department. Create a collaborative Padlet, reviewed here, and ask students to share primary documents and add comments discussing their relevance to historic events being studied. Padlet also includes a timeline feature; use this tool to create a visual timeline of events for any time. Extend learning by asking students to create podcasts using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Options for podcast topics could include telling the story of historical events from the perspective of a man on the street and sharing perspectives on an event from the viewpoint of different participants.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ken Burns in the Classroom - PBS Learning Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (74), 20th century (62), authors (104), blues (22), civil rights (198), civil war (136), history day (39), industrial revolution (21), jazz (17), sports (81), vietnam (37), westward expansion (38), womens suffrage (44)
In the Classroom
Use this resource as a starting point to find many primary sources and videos of historical importance. Take advantage of the lesson ideas and activities to include with your current lessons and activities. Engage students in learning by asking them to watch videos and browse through images before teaching your lesson. Ask them to post their thoughts and questions on FigJam, reviewed here, to help guide the focus of your lesson. Extend learning and help students visualize the order of events by creating a digital timeline using Knights' Lab Timeline JS, reviewed here. Add media from online sites to your timeline from YouTube, Vimeo, Google Maps, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Time Graphics Timeline Maker - Time.graphics
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): timelines (56)
In the Classroom
It may take some time for you to become comfortable with creating a timeline with this product. Share with students to allow them to explore the different options, then ask them to become the teachers creating and using this tool in various ways. Ask students to create screencasts using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, with directions for using certain features of the timeline. Add all of the student tutorials into a Wakelet collection, reviewed here, for easy access at any time. Create timelines to introduce material in any subject. If your school uses Google Apps or Docs/Drive, your students (or groups) can create their own very easily. Map specific battles in history (World War II or the Revolutionary War, perhaps?) Map significant scientific discoveries in the progress of understanding cell theory or genetics. Follow the works of various writers, artists, or musicians. Follow the life of famous people or noteworthy events such as elections, the Olympics, or even local history!Edge Features:
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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The Evolution of the Oval Office Decor - American Home Shield
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): design (80), presidents (130), white house (15)
In the Classroom
Use this interesting look at Oval Office decor as an introduction to your unit on presidents. Ask students to compare and contrast decorating styles and tastes. What does that tell you about the president? After looking at the renderings, use Google search or Getty Images, reviewed here, to find actual images of the offices. Ask students to use Google Drawings, reviewed here, to draw their imagined Oval Office. Include their drawing on a simple webpage created with Carrd, reviewed here, explaining their drawings and wishes for an Oval Office design.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Immigration Myths Lesson - Learning for Justice
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (165), difficult conversations (61), empathy (31), immigrants (33), immigration (66)
In the Classroom
Use digital resources to engage and enhance your lesson activities. During each workstation activity, student groups complete and share responses to questions. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to record and share responses in one of two ways. If students write responses, take a picture of the completed response and share it within Padlet using the shelf feature that offers options to create columns for categorizing information. Go completely digital within Padlet and share your Padlet with students to use as a collaborative project by adding responses directly within the Padlet as part of their workstation discussions. Collect poll responses during workstation activities using Socrative, reviewed here, to quickly gather and share responses. As you extend learning by creating the "Immigrants Bill of Rights," have students or student groups use Canva Edu, reviewed here, to design and share their posters and presentations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Girl Rising Curriculum & Educator Tools - Girl Rising
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (165), cultures (138), financial literacy (89), money (114), politics (114), sustainability (43), women (140)
In the Classroom
Use these free materials to supplement your curriculum and teaching units. When polling students for short-response questions, use a polling tool such as Answer Garden, reviewed here, to engage learners and encourage them to share ideas anonymously. Answer Garden posts short responses in a word cloud format that encourages students to focus on shared ideas and discover different views. Enhance learning by asking students to share their thoughts through writing blogs using Edublogs, reviewed here. Incorporate blogs into the process as a way for students to share ideas, research, and explore their thinking throughout the projects found in this curriculum. Extend learning by asking students to continue exploring and discovering the role of gender, politics, and other factors in the world around them in various ways. For example, some students might enjoy preparing and producing a podcast using Buzzsprout, reviewed here, others might create a video using Powtoon, reviewed here, and another group might prefer to focus on a specific topic using a timeline tool such as Vizzio, reviewed here, to present a visual timeline of world events.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native Knowledge 360 Education Initiative - Smithsonian Institute
Grades
K to 12tag(s): native americans (92), thanksgiving (22), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
Replace some (or all) of your current written Native America resources with the genuine artifacts and stories available for viewing on this site. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to organize important information and resources found on this site to share with students. As students learn about Native Americans, instead of written or oral presentations, ask student groups to create quizzes for their classmates using a quiz-creation tool like Baamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy resource for creating and sharing quizzes for teams of two. As a final project, transform and extend student technology and learning by using Book Creator, reviewed here, to create class books sharing information about Native Americans. Book Creator is a digital book creation site offering the ability to add images, text, video, and more. Be sure to share student-created books on your class website or blog after publication.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness Digital Textbook - Bill of Rights Institute
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (74), 20th century (62), advanced placement (26), ebooks (39), Teacher Utilities (158)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free textbook to use for your American History curriculum or supplement your current teaching materials. Pick and choose text, source materials, or assessment information to enhance your curriculum. This text is a perfect addition for schools lacking up-to-date content or for use with distance learning. Use a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share materials with students. Use the shelf option to create categories and organize them by videos, articles, primary source documents, etc., to make information easily accessible by your students. Encourage students to share their understanding of the content by creating videos, flyers, graphic images, and more using the tools found at Canva Edu, reviewed here. Use the text to speech option to differentiate learning for students with disabilities and English Language Learners.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Uprooted! Japanese Americans During WWII YouTube Playlist - California Museum
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (165), japanese (47), oral history (14), world war 2 (156)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plan that accompanies the videos on this playlist as part of your American History and WWII lessons. Consider sharing a video at the start of a lesson to engage students in learning about discriminatory policies' personal toll during the war. Use a discussion tool such as Answer Garden, reviewed here to gather student responses and create word clouds to encourage classroom discussion. Add videos from the playlist to other activities within a teacher utility such as Curipod, reviewed here. Use Curipod to add additional reading activities, quizzes, and more content to deliver lessons for distance learning or as a tool for self-paced learning. Easily differentiate learning by copying your original Curipod then modifying activities based upon student needs. Extend learning by having students share their understanding of internment camps by presentations using Sway, reviewed here that includes student writing responses, images, videos, and more. Another option is to offer students the choice of building an interactive timeline using Vizzio, reviewed here, which offers you the option to include maps, add events, include source materials, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Change Begins at School - Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bullying (50), climate change (93), conflict resolution (9), disasters (36), diversity (37), elections (82), holidays (178), Juneteenth (22), politics (114), racism (79), religions (82), social and emotional learning (96), women (140)
In the Classroom
Engage students in any of the provided lessons by starting with a simple poll using Slido, reviewed here. For example, ask students if they are familiar with the topic discussed, have experienced a similar emotion, or display an image on your whiteboard and ask students if they know what it represents. Enhance learning throughout any of the lessons by sharing additional resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Add links to videos, articles, or online activities related to the lesson's content. As you complete lesson activities, extend learning by asking students to share their understanding by creating digital books using Book Creator, reviewed here, flyers made with Adobe Express for Education, reviewed here, or infographics created with Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Adobe Education Khan + Create Activities - Adobe Education and Khan Academy
Grades
K to 12tag(s): branches of government (64), cells (83), digital storytelling (152), environment (239), genetics (79), geometric shapes (135), grammar (133), landmarks (19), map skills (56), molecules (44), multiplication (121), Online Learning (42), parts of speech (40), Problem Based Learning (12), problem solving (225), Project Based Learning (25), Research (84), social and emotional learning (96), STEM (274), stories and storytelling (48)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this excellent site to use as a resource for finding and developing lessons for both in-person and online learning. Lessons found on this site includes links to videos and articles found on the Khan Academy website, use bookmarking and collaborative resources such as Symbaloo EDU, reviewed here, or Padlet, reviewed here, to share the Khan Academy links along with other helpful resources for students. Use a word cloud tool like WordClouds, reviewed here, to motivate and encourage students to think about the topics shared at the beginning of your activities. If you prefer to use additional multimedia resources in addition to the Adobe products shared in the lessons, browse through the TeachersFirst Edge Tools, reviewed here, to find additional tools for creating videos, webpages, collaboration, and much more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Amanda Gorman Inauguration Poem Lessons - #TeachLivingPoets
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): authors (104), inauguration (6), poetry (190)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site as a resource to find many ideas for engaging students in poetry. Use Amanda Gorman's poetry to spark your students' interest in learning about poetry. Start by watching and sharing Gorman's inaugural reading on YouTube. Ask students to share their reactions to the reading using Answer Garden, reviewed here. Post a question to Answer Garden that requires a short student response, such as, "What is the predominant emotion you felt as you watched Amanda Gorman read her poem?" As students add responses, view the word cloud that is created to discuss how poetry is used to deliver emotions. Use a video response tool such as edpuzzle, reviewed here, to enhance learning by inserting questions and comments within the YouTube reading by Gorman. Include questions of your own and those found in the lessons shared on this website. Extend learning further by asking students to create and share poems. This Poem Generator, reviewed here, helps students develop confidence and learn the basics of poetry writing as they start on their poetry journey. Find many more ideas for teaching and sharing at TeachersFirst Poetry Month Editor's Choice Resources.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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