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Mapping the Nation - Susan Schulten
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): 1800s (57), maps (281), primary sources (102)
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 Spark in K-12, reviewed here. Have a group create videos 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.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Civics in Real Life - Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): constitution (92), courts (22), elections (74), electoral college (16), holidays (138), politics (105), presidents (127), 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. Want to learn more about using podcasts in education? Watch the archive of the July 2018 OK2Ask professional learning session, Engage & Inspire: Podcasting in the Classroom, reviewed here.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 (56), civil rights (141), democracy (17), holocaust (42), immigrants (29), immigration (70), journalism (70), martin luther king (33), racism (57), religions (67)
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 Crio, reviewed here. Use Crio 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 Synth, reviewed here, make explainer videos using Adobe Spark Video Creator, 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 (141), journalism (70), media literacy (85), racism (57), social media (40)
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. Learn how at this archived recording of an OK2Ask professional learning session.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 (141), courts (22), politics (105), racism (57)
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 Biteable, 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 (52), black history (77), presidents (127)
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 an image comparison tool, 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 (70), news (253), politics (105)
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 FlipGrid, reviewed here. Ask students to respond to the discussion question within Flipgrid 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 Spark in K-12, reviewed here, to share their final projects.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 (33), american revolution (85), constitution (92), jefferson (22), washington (26)
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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Elections and Civics Lesson Plans - GrowingVoters. org
Grades
K to 12tag(s): elections (74), electoral college (16), journalism (70), politics (105)
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 Spark in K-12, reviewed here. Adobe Spark 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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Native American Heritage Month - Described and Captioned Media Program
Grades
K to 12tag(s): commoncore (88), 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 playposit, 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 JS, reviewed here, that can include music, photos, videos, maps, comments, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Trek: March, Book One - TeachersFirst
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): black history (77), civil rights (141), congress (43)
In the Classroom
Using the Reading Trek, explore the periods of the 1930s and 1960s using maps and other non-fiction resources. Engage students and use an online organization tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to collect and share resources with students. Organize information within the Padlet using columns to sort content by decade. Be sure to allow comments to encourage student discussion and collaboration. Enhance learning by asking students to create infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Use the infographics as an alternative to a book report and ask students to share important places, dates, and historical characters to tell the story of John Lewis.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Inquiries Archive - C3 Teachers
Grades
K to 12tag(s): civil rights (141), civil war (143), cultures (115), slavery (57)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free social studies materials on this site to enhance your current lessons. Use the materials as a model to insert inquiry learning into any teaching activity. As you use teaching materials from this site, take advantage of technology to engage and extend learning. Use a teacher utility tool like Actively Learn, reviewed here, to build interactive lessons with text and video while receiving real-time assessments as students complete activities. Extend learning by asking students to create and share information about the materials learned. Provide a variety of multimedia options for students to choose from including ToonyTool, reviewed here, for creating cartoons or Minecraft Education Edition, reviewed here, to create their own learning game. Take advantage of the many ideas for implementing rubrics for assessment along with examples and online tools at TeachersFirst Rubrics to the Rescue here, as a guide for assessing student multimedia projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Constitutional Rights - Constitution Center
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): bill of rights (25), constitution (92), countries (83), cross cultural understanding (148)
In the Classroom
Include this interactive with any lessons on constitutional rights or when studying different nations. Create a Padlet, reviewed here, for your class to add and comment on constitutional rights around the world. Create columns on your Padlet by country or specific rights, then enhance learning by asking students to share information and articles detailing information on that right. Use an online news site like World News, reviewed here, for students to find news from around the world and search by regions. Extend learning by challenging computer-savvy students to create a game using Scratch, reviewed here, that takes players around the world to learn about rights and freedoms found in different nations. Ask other students to create podcasts discussing current events and freedoms from around the world. Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is an excellent podcast creation tool and includes features for adding links and lists to shows, and allows users to schedule podcast releases for specific dates and times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Global Youth Perspectives - Global Oneness Project
Grades
K to 12tag(s): africa (155), alaska (26), anthropology (12), cross cultural understanding (148), cultures (115), empathy (24), india (30), middle east (43), native americans (85), Project Based Learning (9), psychology (66), scotland (7), south africa (11), south america (40)
In the Classroom
Utilize these free lesson ideas and videos to incorporate into any lessons on tolerance, empathy, culture, and to bring a personal touch to learning about nations around the world. Consider using the embed code found in each video and add the video to your class website for students to view at home before your lesson. Ask students to provide a short response to the video on an online bulletin board like Pinside, reviewed here, then use these responses to guide your lesson. The following ideas lend themselves to using this resource for project-based learning or blended learning: As part of students' ongoing research, share iCyte Education, reviewed here, to use as a browser add-on. iCyte Education allows you to save portions of online information and create the proper citation using just a couple of clicks. Enhance learning by using information learned to create infographics with Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Instead of a typical report or assessment at the end of your unit extend students' learning by having them use Story Maps, reviewed here, to build a virtual field trip to tell the story of students in other cultures. Include links to articles, videos, student-created infographics, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Race to Ratify - iCivics
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): 1700s (33), branches of government (60), colonial america (106), constitution (92), game based learning (159)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate the basic concepts of the challenge on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then allow students to play on their own on the whiteboard or classroom computers, keeping a log of their actions and results. Enhance learning by having students share interactions from the game in comic form using ToonyTool, reviewed here. Ask students to use ToonyTool to create a conversation with the game's character trying to persuade an anti-Federalist or another opponent on the virtues of the Constitution. Use the game as inspiration for students to extend their learning by creating their own history game using Scratch, reviewed here. For ideas and inspiration, use the search feature in Scratch to find examples of history games created by other users.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching with Primary Sources - Almetria Vaba
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): civil rights (141), presidents (127), primary sources (102), Research (45), slavery (57)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of these free investigations to incorporate into your current lessons or as a starting point to introduce the use of primary sources. Consider using the PBS activities as an alternative to a typical research paper by taking advantage of technology tools to enhance learning. Have students create a bibliography of sources using Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Share a citation tool such as RefMe, reviewed here, for students to use when citing and creating bibliographies of online documents. Encourage students to collaborate and discuss primary sources using Fiskkit, reviewed here. Copy the URL of an online resource into Fiskkit and share with students. Students then click on portions of the article to highlight and discuss relevant information found. Encourage students to delve further into any topic using Ted-Ed Clubs, reviewed here. This site allows you to create clubs with up to 50 members. Members participate in up to 13 sessions based on TED Talks by collaborating and discussing topics of interest.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Life on the Plantation - Scholastic
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): civil war (143), slavery (57), underground railroad (9)
In the Classroom
Use this Scholastic site as a starting point for lessons in the Underground Railroad, slavery, and the Civil War. Make it easy for students to find all of your lesson resources in one place by using a bookmarking tool like Symbaloo, reviewed here. As students become familiar with events, use the timeline tool found on Class Tools, reviewed here, to help them visualize the sequence of activities. Help students focus on keywords and content found in the text by copying and pasting the text into a word cloud using TagCrowd, reviewed here. Save and revisit your word cloud throughout the unit to identify common themes throughout all materials used. If you teach older students, modify classroom technology use by asking them to create an animated timeline using History in Motion, reviewed here, including links to web resources, time-period maps, and videos. Have younger students create digital books using Book Creator (Chrome and app), reviewed here, to tell the story of the Underground Railroad in their own words. Book Creator also includes tools for adding images, videos, and drawings and can be used for a variety of assignments in any classroom that is integrating technology as an enhancement, modification, or transformation. Share student-created books as part of your digital class library on your class website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Top 6 Population Migrations in American History - HomeArea.com
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): 1800s (57), 1900s (48), 20th century (52), civil war (143), gold rush (19), migration (61), native americans (85), population (59), railroads (11), STEM (215)
In the Classroom
Use this site for many different purposes in history and geography classrooms. Data found on these maps only go up through 2010, ask students to research data through the current year. Create and annotate your own charts using ChartAccent, reviewed here, to demonstrate population changes in your state or community. Take advantage of a large amount of data and information found on this site to use as a starting point for student research projects. Ask them to transform their learning by creating and presenting their information through a multimedia platform such as History in Motion, reviewed here. Use this tool to add texts, images, maps, and more to tell the story of changes over time within a community.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Americans - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): battles (18), native americans (85), thanksgiving (27), westward expansion (34)
In the Classroom
Replace some of your current written Native America resources with the genuine artifacts and stories available for viewing on this site. Introduce the site to students on your interactive whiteboard to demonstrate the different features available and how to find them. After students have time to explore, create groups to do in-depth research within the four different featured areas. Create a Padlet, reviewed here, with four columns for students to share web and video resources found during their research. 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 student 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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Engaging Congress - Indiana University
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): branches of government (60), congress (43), DAT device agnostic tool (169), primary sources (102)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free games and materials on this site to use as a supplement to your current resources for teaching history and government. Instead of written notes, strengthen learning by having students use an online tool such as Creately, reviewed here, to create diagrams, mindmaps, and other visual graphic organizers. To compare and contrast information found in different primary sources, create a Venn Diagram using Creately. As students prepare to share their findings and summarize their learning, have them modify their learning by creating infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to visually represent facts and information. As a final assessment for your unit using these materials, ask students to form teams to debate different sides of the issues presented. Share their debates as a podcast using Anchor, reviewed here. Anchor is a simple to use podcasting tool offering several free options for creating, hosting, and sharing podcasts. As an alternative, ask other students redefine their learning and to create multimedia presentations using Sway, reviewed here to share text, videos, images, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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