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60-Second Civics - Center for Civic Education
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): branches of government (59), constitution (85), democracy (19), elections (77), electoral college (21), house of representatives (8), politics (107), senate (10), supreme court (26)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this podcast to use as a quick class-starter to review and discuss civics topics. If you don't have time to listen daily, consider setting aside 15-20 minutes a week to listen to podcasts from the week and to discuss the daily questions. Engage students in any topic by creating a Google Jamboard, reviewed here, that contains any of the daily questions. Ask students to share their thoughts and response using the sticky note tool. Extend learning by asking students to choose a topic of interest to research. Ask them to share their findings using one of the multimedia tools found at Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Options found at Adobe Express include creating graphics, webpages, and more.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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A Starting Point - Chris Evans, Mark Kassen, and Joe Kiani
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): branches of government (59), civil rights (182), elections (77), foreign policy (12), immigration (63), politics (107)
In the Classroom
Share information from this site with students to demonstrate how to share different viewpoints on current events. This site also provides an opportunity to model how to use facts and information to present ideas and persuade others to consider opposing viewpoints. As students use these videos to compare and contrast viewpoints, use a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to share information from both sides. Use the shelf feature in Padlet to create columns to add content based on each side's viewpoint or use the map feature to add content found from different locations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Close Up - Close Up Foundation
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (182), congress (36), constitution (85), elections (77), environment (230)
In the Classroom
Use materials from Close Up to supplement your current civics lessons. Assign groups of students different articles or podcasts to analyze and share with peers. Enhance learning using Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add comments and questions to videos for student consideration. Use Wakelet, reviewed here, to curate resources including articles and podcasts to share with students. Upon completing your teaching unit, ask students to use Wakelet as a multimedia presentation tool to create and share their learning by including written work, images, and links to reference materials.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mapping the Nation - Susan Schulten
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): 1800s (65), maps (207), primary sources (106)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site to use in a variety of ways. Share maps with students that show information for different periods of time during the 19th Century. Because this site includes various types of maps, use these resources to provide a wider context of the time period. For example, choose the time from 1860-1870 to take a look at the Civil War era. Have students use the information found in the maps to research and understand population patterns in the United States, explore the slave population's distribution, and understand the geographic locations of the south's cotton regions. Help students understand the different content using Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share information. Create columns within the Padlet to share maps, articles, and primary sources separated by content such as geography, weather, political information, or other important categories. Ask students to share their understanding using one of the many digital tools found at Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Have a group create posters that include downloadable maps found at this site to tell the story of the Civil War through a geographic lens, ask another group to create a web page sharing information from a journalist's point of view, and have others create social media graphics featuring headlines of the day appealing to different areas of the country.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Civics in Real Life - Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): constitution (85), courts (19), elections (77), electoral college (21), holidays (143), politics (107), presidents (116), supreme court (26)
In the Classroom
Because this site offers weekly downloads, it is a great addition to use in any social studies classroom for civics lessons or providing ongoing civics discussions throughout the school year. Engage students by creating groups to explore concepts even further throughout the year. For example, divide your class into four or five groups, then have each group rotate throughout the month to take the information from a weekly update and conduct further research. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share each of the activities for students to revisit and review the content. Take advantage of tools such as Google Slides, reviewed here, to focus student groups on learning activities. Create a slide template that includes students' areas to answer questions, reflect upon finding, and share resources used. Extend learning using podcasts as a final project for students to discuss and share their researched topic. Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is an excellent option for podcasting in the classroom because of the free features that include adding links and lists to podcasts and the ability to schedule podcasts release for your chosen date and time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Sojourner Truth Project - Leslie Podell
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): black history (110), civil rights (182), primary sources (106), womens suffrage (36)
In the Classroom
Include information from this site as part of lessons on women's rights and slavery. Create an online course using eduflow, reviewed here, to guide students through their exploration of the work of Sojourner Truth. Include additional information for students to use for comparison, guide students through their comparison of the two texts, and add videos for students to view. eduflow offers tools for in-app recordings to use for student discussions. Use Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add comments and questions into the videos to guide student thinking and focus on important areas within the speeches. Challenge students to explore and research other examples of revisions to history and share their findings through a multimedia presentation. Examples of presentation tools include Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, and Genially, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fiveable - Amanda Doamaral
Grades
10 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): advanced placement (24), literature (219), psychology (66), statistics (110), test prep (69)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free resources found on Fiveable to guide instruction in your AP classes and to share with students to prepare for AP Exams. Include a link to weekly study plans on your class website to share with students. Encourage students to use online study tools to enhance learning. For example, use Knowt, reviewed here, to create quizzes from your documents and assess learning. Keep students motivated by designing Escape Room activities using Room Escape Maker, reviewed here. Use critical information required to pass the AP exam as questions to solve the puzzle to escape the room successfully. Enhance learning by having tech-savvy students create escape rooms for their peers to use as a study activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Facing History and Ourselves - Facing History and Ourselves
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): bullying (53), civil rights (182), democracy (19), holocaust (39), immigrants (31), immigration (63), journalism (71), martin luther king (41), racism (73), religions (69)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free resources found on this site to include with your teaching units. If you find that some of the reading material is useful, but is above the reading level of your students, use a summarizing tool such as SummarizeThis, reviewed here, to break down large portions of text into manageable content. Include activities from this site as part of a larger unit using a learning management system such as Blendspace, reviewed here. Use Bleandspace to build an interactive learning experience that includes videos, reading activities, quizzes, and images. Extend student learning by asking them to become the creators through sharing their knowledge with others. Provide options for students to create audio podcasts with PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, make explainer videos using Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, or use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to take viewers on a virtual journey through map locations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations - FacingHistory.org
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (182), journalism (71), media literacy (93), racism (73), social media (47)
In the Classroom
As an introduction to the lesson, one of the activities is to ask students to brainstorm a list of teens' news resources and a list of news resources used by parents or older people. Use Microsoft Whiteboard, reviewed here, or Google Jamboard, reviewed here, to create and analyze your lists. Use the whiteboard tools to create lists, Venn Diagrams, and add notes to extend student reflections on different news sources. Turn the Know-Heard-Learned Chart included in the lesson into an editable worksheet to use as a collaborative document to record student understanding of any events' timeline.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Say Their Names - Chicago Public Schools
Grades
K to 12tag(s): civil rights (182), courts (19), politics (107), racism (73)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this document as a guide to discussing racism in the classroom and as a link to many additional materials. Organize your resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns to organize information. For example, create columns to sort materials by grade levels or by type of content. As you teach lessons, use a mind mapping tool like Coggle, reviewed here, to organize and share complex information. Extend learning using Binumi, reviewed here, to create student-produced explainer videos sharing their ideas on addressing racism, media literacy strategies, or steps to help others through difficult times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Lowdown: The Obama Years, A Retrospective Lesson Plan - PBS Learning Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (50), black history (110), presidents (116)
In the Classroom
As you explore the interactive timeline together as a class or with small groups, use a simple polling tool like SurveyPlanet, reviewed here, to assess student understanding of the different events on the timeline. Use SurveyPlanet to add each event to a poll and ask students to weigh in on their opinion on if the event was an accomplishment or a setback to the Obama administration. Use an online curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share additional resources with students to enhance learning. For example, create a Padlet with columns for each year of the Obama presidency and add online articles from different resources that discuss each event. Extend learning by asking students to apply their knowledge of the Obama presidency and compare it to another president's term in office using one of the storytelling tools found at Knight Lab, reviewed here. Scroll down Knight Lab's main page to find options that include a Storyline to tell the stories behind numbers, StoryMap - maps that tell numbers, and a timeline creation tool.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Today's News, Tomorrow's Lesson - Share My Lesson
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): journalism (71), news (229), politics (107)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use with any current events lessons and as a resource for finding fact-based information to use to help understand modern history. Most of the discussion questions ask students to defend a point of view based on the shared topic. Use technology tools to help students organize their thinking and share their questions and responses. Engage students in the learning process using Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool for sharing online articles related to the topic discussed. Fiskkit offers tools for annotating and collaboratively discussing online information. Share student opinions and discussions using Flip, reviewed here. Ask students to respond to the discussion question within Flip using their fact-based research. Use the comment feature to encourage collaboration and student discussion. As a final project, extend learning by asking students (or student groups) to share their responses as part of a multimedia presentation that includes student writing, videos, maps, and infographics. Have students use a presentation tool such as Sway, reviewed here, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, to share their final projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Alison - Mike Feerick
Grades
10 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): business (50), careers (133), chinese (44), coding (80), communication (134), engineering (116), french (72), german (47), literature (219), OER (43), Online Learning (38), politics (107), psychology (66), sociology (23), spanish (103), STEM (239)
In the Classroom
Use Alison to find professional learning courses, learn the basics of a new language, or for personal development. Share Alison with students to learn skills not offered in school or share with ENL/ESL students to use when learning English. Use Alison with student cohorts interested in learning about a new topic or preparing for college-level courses.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching 'The New Jim Crow' - Tolerance.org
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): civil rights (182), courts (19), politics (107), racism (73)
In the Classroom
Incorporate this free unit as a guide to teaching the sensitive topics of race and justice with or without using the novel. As you begin your unit, use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, as an anonymous brainstorming and response tool. Use AnswerGarden by forming open-ended questions such as "The hard part of talking about racism is..." or "The beneficial part of talking about racism is..." as a way to elicit student ideas without students being concerned about sharing ideas orally with their peers. Use AnswerGarden in various ways throughout the unit to gauge student ideas and responses to lesson topics. All of the lessons include essential questions and big ideas, use Flip, reviewed here, as a collaborative tool to encourage student conversations through Flip's video response options. Extend learning using podcasts as a format for students to share their learning about race and our justice system. For example, PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, for students to create podcasts to discuss different components of race relations and the justice system.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching History with Hamilton - Department of History, Stonehill College
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): 1700s (36), american revolution (79), constitution (85), jefferson (18), washington (23)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the immensely popular musical, Hamilton, to engage students as they learn about early American History. Include activities found on this site, along with your other resources, on a bookmarking tool such as Symbaloo, reviewed here, for younger students try Padlet, reviewed here. Ask students to share their learning by creating infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Examples might include an infographic of Hamilton's life, comparisons between Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and Hamilton's influence on creating the two-party system in the United States. Extend learning by providing students options for sharing their perspectives on early American History. Have students who love drama and music use the play as inspiration to write and produce their own short play. Ask another group of students to create an interactive timeline of events using one of the timeline creation tools located here. For students who enjoy computer programming and games, encourage them to use Scratch, reviewed here, to design a game using information from their research and learning activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Becoming Us - National Museum of American History
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): chicago (4), civil rights (182), immigrants (31), immigration (63), mexico (29), migration (44), primary sources (106)
In the Classroom
Incorporate the free resources found on the site to teach immigration and migration accurately and inclusively. Many of the activities connect to items found at the Smithsonian Learning Lab, reviewed here, that features digital resources from the Smithsonian Museum, the National Zoo, and several other major research centers. Include these lessons in US History, government, or current events lessons. As students gather information during the provided activities, use a collaborative bookmarking tool like Raindrop.io, reviewed here. Raindrop.io provides real-time collaboration for teams along with the ability to add notes to share with peers. Engage students in the learning process by creating and sharing infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Ask student teams to create infographics sharing different portions of the information within a lesson. For example, when using the education resources, have a student group create infographics depicting facts about the fight for desegregation, another share facts about busing, and another with re-segregation factions and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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US Presidential Elections and Activities - GrowingVoters. org
Grades
K to 12tag(s): elections (77), electoral college (21), journalism (71), politics (107)
In the Classroom
Be sure to see the many free lessons and activities shared on this site for use as a complete civics and election unit or as a supplement to your current curriculum. For polling activities, consider the use of online polling tools such as Dotstorming, reviewed here, or Poll Everywhere, reviewed here, as quick polling options. Select activities from the site to use with other learning tools such as videos, online articles, and documents to create a blended learning activity using ActivelyLearn, reviewed here. Have students create campaign posters and flyers using PhotoCollage, reviewed here, or Canva Edu, reviewed here, using the templates provided or created from scratch. Engage students in the electoral experience by providing options for them to promote a personal platform or a fictionalized candidate using Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Adobe Express allows inclusion of student-created videos and artwork along with student persuasive writing examples.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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OK2Ask: Increase Student Achievement and Engagement in Your Classroom with Simulations - TeachersFirst
Grades
1 to 12The authentic nature...more
The authentic nature of simulations can be highly motivating for even your hardest to reach students. When used properly, instructional simulations can empower student learning, helping students to set goals, seek feedback, and demonstrate what they have learned. Learn to choose simulations that model the relationships between concepts studied. In this session, we will discuss how to best use simulations in the classroom to increase student achievement, allow students to reflect on what they have learned, and transfer their knowledge to new problems and situations. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Understand the value of using simulations in the classroom; 2. Explore instructional simulations; and 3. Plan for the use of simulations in the instructional setting. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.
tag(s): professional development (332), simulations (7)
In the Classroom
The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native American Heritage Month - Described and Captioned Media Program
Grades
K to 12tag(s): commoncore (79), native americans (85)
In the Classroom
Include these videos as part of your studies of American Indians and their heritage. Engage students by making the videos interactive using Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add both teacher and student comments. Use Google My Maps, reviewed here, for extending learning when students create virtual field trips sharing locations and information found during their research of American Indians. Have students create interactive timelines using Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, for younger students, or Timeline JS, reviewed here, for older students who can include music, photos, videos, maps, comments, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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OK2Ask: 3 Cool Tools for Social Studies - TeachersFirst
Grades
5 to 12Explore, compare,...more
Explore, compare, and contrast three different online tools designed to engage students in grades 5 - 12 in meaningful civics and historical learning. Participants will learn about the features of these three free tools and then explore ways to use them in upper elementary through high school classrooms. Pairing these tools with pedagogically sound instructional strategies will provide a foundation on which to build critical thinking skills. Participants will: 1. Understand how the use of simulations and primary sources can convey difficult material in a way that's interesting and accessible; 2. Explore three free educational tools to support social studies instruction in grades 5-12; and 3. Plan for the use of one of the three tools in the educational setting. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.
tag(s): professional development (332)
In the Classroom
The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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