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return to subject listingGoogle Lit Trips - Google Earth
Grades
3 to 12"Lit trips" can be reviewed by users so teachers can see comments left by other users. This site uses Google Earth which must be downloaded first. Find full info on Google Earth in the TeachersFirst review, including the link to download.
tag(s): earth (185), literature (217), maps (208)
In the Classroom
Each "lit trip" is extensively annotated and linked to further content, making this an incredibly rich resource for teachers to use in conjunction with teaching works of literature. Students can see graphically the travels of such characters as the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath , or Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey . Using these lit trips on an interactive whiteboard or projector will greatly enhance a class study of the associated work of literature. Alternatively, students might be encouraged to explore these lit trips independently, at home, or in a computer lab, so they can follow links that are of particular individual interest. As a really ambitious project, make it a class task to create a lit trip for a work of literature you are studying, assigning student groups to choose locations and create the placemarkers, then submit it to the Lit Trips site.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Ben's Guide to U.S. Government - Government Printing Office
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): constitution (86), franklin (10), states (122)
In the Classroom
With younger grades, use an interactive whiteboard or projector to learn the states' locations with the entire group. This simple site would be great to use in your computer center for individual learning or for some indoor recess enrichment fun. Secondary teachers looking for more than the basics will want to supplement this site with other resources. There is a link for parents and teachers, be sure to take a look!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Map Collections Home Page - Library of Congress
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): battles (18), environment (238), maps (208), transportation (32)
In the Classroom
Teachers with interactive whiteboards or projectors will find these maps a natural companion to lessons involving history, geography, and cultural changes. Sometimes seeing a map drawn at the same time as the event under discussion can lend a whole new understanding of the culture of the people being studied. It's far more dramatic to imagine sailing into the unknown on a voyage of discovery while you look at the only maps available to those aboard.Be sure to have students use the whiteboard tools to draw in their own "corrections" or annotations showing the movement of people or strategies used in battles. Since thee resources are in the public domain, you are allowed to copy them into your whiteboard software and keep the student annotations atop the maps, as well. The maps also make good visuals for "mock" blog entries by historical figures!
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National First Ladies' Library - National First Ladies' Library
Grades
6 to 12The National First Ladies' Library, located in Canton, Ohio, is dedicated to teaching others about the contributions of the First Ladies of the United States, as well as other notable women in U.S. History. In fact, the library is housed in the former home of Ida Saxton McKinley, the wife of President William McKinley. The Library is both a physical resource, but also a comprehensive virtual library of information. The site contains biographies of US First Ladies, lesson plans, and a searchable timeline. There is an online catalog of the many resources available in the library itself; those who do not live nearby could still use the catalog to identify resources associated with former First Ladies. This site requires Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
tag(s): biographies (93), first ladies (4), presidents (120), women (136)
In the Classroom
These resources might be useful to those doing First Lady biographies for Women's History Month or other famous Americans reports. Students doing more in-depth research for History Day projects will find the online catalog helpful. Check out the link to facts and trivia for a good First Ladies Trivia page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World History for Us All - San Diego State University
Grades
7 to 12Present a sweeping historical overview with any of the nine Big Eras in a few class periods or delve into an era in deeper detail with their students. Each of the nine Big Eras of world history, plus the History, Geography, and Time and the Past and Future sections, offers one Panorama Teaching Unit with a PowerPoint Overview presentation. Panorama units address large-scale developments in world history through landscape and close-up teaching units.
Besides helping teachers meet state and national standards, this site offers fabulous research-based curricular activities and makes history a manageable content area for instruction. The site includes a clickable "Curriculum at a Glance" overview feature that takes you to the standards, teaching units, three essential questions, and seven key themes. This site requires Flash and Adobe. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): continents (32), evolution (85), industrial revolution (20), migration (44), oceans (146), world war 1 (72), world war 2 (149)
In the Classroom
World History for Us All provides teachers with pedagogical support to develop a curriculum and a mindset to present history, engage students and elicit curiosity. Use this informational, user-friendly site to augment your current curriculum. As you select materials from the site to share with your student, use Fiskkit, reviewed here to collaboratively annotate and discuss the information on any shared page. For example, ask students to highlight and discuss information that is opinion vs. fact, or focus on vocabulary terms to ensure student understanding. Be sure to include components of historical thinking using the poster reviewed here to encourage students to consider history from many different perspectives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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DocsTeach - Digital Vaults - National Archives
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): civil rights (193), congress (39), courts (19), first ladies (4), immigration (64), inventors and inventions (71), Juneteenth (22), lewis and clark (14), presidents (120), primary sources (113), slavery (75), womens suffrage (43), world war 1 (72), world war 2 (149)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set for a unit in history or on inventions. Share a collection of images or invention drawings on a projector or whiteboard and ask what the invention will do. Or use the site as the starting point for individual or group projects. After demonstrating on an interactive whiteboard or projector, have students use laptops or lab computers to "collect" resources related to their assigned inventor, decade, or era in American history. Check your school policy regarding accessing student email. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of GMail subaccounts (managed by you), explained here. This tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class. Students can use their log-ins to collect resources.Since the documents are in the public domain (are not copyrighted), students may also download and use the files as part of other projects, such as video compilations, Powerpoint presentations, or multimedia of any sort. To access the resources in non-Flash format, click the small link to "research this record in ARC" in the detailed view of the item. You can then view and Save As for use elsewhere. Be sure you teach students about copying the URL and relevant information from this ARC page to cite the source and give credit in any presentation they make. This site is excellent for enrichment or projects for the gifted, as well. Include it on your teacher web page for students to access both in and out of class for students who are working in History Day projects or other assignments for your class.
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American Airlines: CR Smith Museum - learningbox.com
Grades
4 to 10tag(s): air (106), aviation (38), world war 2 (149)
In the Classroom
Use this website as a resource for a research project about inventors. Share the timeline on an interactive whiteboard or projector during a unit about inventors, engineers, or aviation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Test Maker - Help Teaching
Grades
K to 12tag(s): quiz (67), quizzes (90), vocabulary (235)
In the Classroom
Use this website to create personalized quizzes and tests for your students. You could also ask students to design their own tests for each other to review using your teacher log-in or appoint a student "quizmaker" each week for the content your class has covered, making this an assignment that each student does once per semester.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Monticello Classroom - Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Grades
4 to 12Teachers can register for a teacher area to create assignments for classes, review the available lesson plans, or build your own, and save your favorites on your personal Monticello Classroom web page. Each class has its own log-in and password and students are able to submit their completed activities to the teacher for review.
tag(s): black history (121), jefferson (17)
In the Classroom
This site can serve a a hub for your unit on colonial life, Jefferson, or even inventors. If you wish your students to register for accounts, be sure to check the students' acceptable use policies or get parent permission in writing. Instead of students using their real first and last names, have students create their own colonial names for registration. Be sure to keep a list of these names to be able to review and assess student work. Give a class introduction to the Monticello Classroom using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Be sure to help your weaker readers and ESL and ELL students by sharing the vocabulary words prior to reading, either on a handout or by projecting on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Highlight the vocabulary words in the text as you come to them. Search the lesson plans, and teachers will find a few that will be particularly helpful for Black History month!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Profile Publisher - ReadWriteThink.org
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): literature (217)
In the Classroom
Teach Internet safety by having students create a mock profile to use on social networking sites. Printing out those profiles makes editing in small groups a breeze. Yearbook or newspaper staff may want to use this Profile Publisher to gain more information about people of interest. History comes alive when you profile historical figures or interview veterans and generate profiles of local heroes. Imagine students creating a blog entry by George Washington. Or ask students to profile a type of cell, an endangered animal, or a science concept such as climate change. With this tool and some creative thinking, anything is possible.Be SURE to warn students to PRINT before closing. The site does NOT save work. You may want them to draft their work in a saved document before pasting it into the profiler, just in case work is interrupted by a fire drill or the bell.
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The Biography Maker - Jamie McKenzie and the Bellingham Public Schools.
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): questioning (32), writing (315)
In the Classroom
All material at this site is copyrighted, so it must be viewed online. For students who do best with step-by-step instructions, this site is a gem! You might have one group research authors from a particular country while others do artists, musicians, scientists, etc. A class report from each of these groups would do a good job of encapsulating a country or area of the world within any given time period. Teachers seeking independent projects for students who "test out" of a unit can assign this site's step-by-step instructions as a meaningful alternate activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Power Point Games - Jefferson County Schools
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): air (106)
In the Classroom
Use these templates with any subject you wish to review: foreign language word lists, social studies terms and concepts, science, language arts, art, music, sped, etc. These activities offer an excellent method to review information through a fun and different approach. Teachers can also have students create their own versions of review games.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Presidential Election Interactive Map and History of the Electoral College - 270 to win
Grades
6 to 12Be aware: during election season, this site opens slowly. But it is well worth the wait.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): college (45), elections (80), electoral college (22)
In the Classroom
Use the site on an interactive whiteboard to illustrate the impact of Electoral College voting on the election of the US President, both today and in the past. Perhaps we will finally raise a generation who completely understands the Electoral College and how it works!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Building Big - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): bridges (11), engineering (117)
In the Classroom
Use the database of structures to search out local engineering masterpieces, or to get information about important buildings that are associated with historical or geographic areas that the class is studying. For students considering a career in engineering, there is good information about the real lives of professionals in the field. The labs are perfect for an interactive whiteboard, and can illustrate physical properties in a visually powerful way. The short simulations could be used by students individually, or by teams of students investigating the principles of "building big."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Negro League Baseball - TK Publishers & Blackbaseball.com
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): baseball (32), black history (121)
In the Classroom
Use this website to introduce black achievements in a different context. Use an interactive whiteboard or projection screen to share the many photos and achievements of these baseball icons, often forgotten.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Baseball Reference - Sports Reference, LLC
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): baseball (32), sports (78), statistics (114)
In the Classroom
Use the information at this website in math or history class. This is great supplemental material for statistics, U.S. history (since 1880s), African-American history, and others. Have students use this site for individual research projects about topics provided at this website. Use the "Stathead" information as an anticipatory set for a math or statistics lesson.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Baseball Stats 101 - Baseball Almanac
Grades
4 to 10tag(s): baseball (32), statistics (114)
In the Classroom
There are lots of class possibilities here: let students create formulas from the definitions, compare stats for the favorite teams, research the history of the sport or a specific player, or try to write their own original quotes about baseball.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Yale University Art Gallery - Yale University
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): art history (85), artists (77), coins (5), painting (55), photography (131), sculpture (21)
In the Classroom
Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to take your students on a virtual field trip using the videos. Be sure to turn up the volume! For the longer videos consider watching portions in class using ytCropper, reviewed here, to show just the clips you want. If you use the Chrome browser you could use ReClipped, reviewed here, to clip the sections you want and annotate them.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Africa Focus: Sights and Sounds of a Continent - University of Wisconsin Digital Collections
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): africa (137), air (106), architecture (64), black history (121)
In the Classroom
Teachers will find this site rich in resources for units on science, social studies, geography, architecture, music, art, and culture. Make Africa a "real" place by sharing on a projector as you share stories or learn about homes ("Structures") and habitats or landforms ("Landscape") with younger students. Use the sound recordings for lessons on oral history, myths, languages, and music. Assign student groups a topic area, which they can research and present to the class as a PowerPoint or another multi-media format using an interactive whiteboard or projector.Images, text, or other content downloaded from the collection may be freely used for non-profit educational and research purposes under Fair Use. That means that you may NOT put them on the web in a public site, blog, or wiki, since you would not be limiting access to class members. If you want students to create blog or wiki pages, create passworded access for class members only to areas displaying these images and resources. Check the website for instructions on how students can cite this source in their bibliographies.
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Interactives: United States History Map - Annenberg Media
Grades
4 to 9tag(s): colonial america (95), directions (12), india (25), map skills (56), maps (208), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
What a comprehensive website - offering geography, U.S. history, map skills, and more. Use your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to share the interactive activities (there are five, including a "test").If time permits, divide your class into five groups and assign each group one of the main topics to explore. Give each group 30 minutes or so to read through the information. Then have each group share their findings with the class. Take the final "test" together on an interactive whiteboard (or projector).
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