Move over Oregon Trail… FREE Immersive Social Studies Resources

Move over Oregon Trail… FREE Immersive Social Studies Resources

Sunday, February 4, 2024 ⬥ 1:30 – 3:00 PM
Presented by Melissa Henning

Session Description:

Bring your social studies lessons alive with simulations, immersive experiences, and virtual field trips. Learn about FREE tools to engage your students in US history, civics/government, and geography. The best way to learn and understand is by experiencing it yourself. Practice using these tools during the session, and be prepared to go back and share them with your students tomorrow!

Download a PDF copy of the slides here.

Resource Materials:

In this Resource Materials section, you will find reference materials, tutorials, and how-to information that will help you review or extend your knowledge from the presentation.

Resources from TeachersFirst

• • OK2Ask (free, on-demand recording): Tech Tool Smackdown: Virtual Field Trips and Live Feeds
  • OK2Ask (free, on-demand recording): Engage and Inspire with Reading Treks
  • OK2Ask (free, on-demand recording): Game-Based Learning Basics
  • OK2Ask (free, on-demain recording): 3 Cool Tools for Timelines
  • X/Twitter Chat Archive: Get in the Game with Game-Based Learning
  • Blog Post (collection): All blog posts tagged for Game-Based Learning
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – Google My Maps Part 1
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – Google My Maps Part 2
  • Blog Post: Celebrating the Grand Canyon’s 105th Anniversary: Unleashing Nature’s Wonders in Your Classroom
  • Blog Post: Introducing Women as Change-Makers using Multi-Media Text Sets
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – Do I Have a Right Part 1
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – Do I Have a Right Part 2
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – TeachFlix Part 1
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – TeachFlix Part 2
  • Blog Post: Exploring Nature’s Treasures: How Natural Parks Enrich Classroom Learning
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – Argument Wars Part 1
  • Blog Post: Tech Tool of the Month – Argument Wars Part 2
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Game-Based Learning Resources
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Resources for Gamification
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Revolutionary War Resources
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Civil War Resources
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Colonial America Resources
  • TeachersFirst Collection: 20th Century America (1900 – 1945)
  • TeachersFirst Collection: 20th Century America (1946 – 2000)
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Virtual Field Trips
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Constitution Day 
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Pearl Harbor and World War II
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Women’s History
  • TeachersFirst Collection: African-American History
  • TeachersFirst Collection: Geography Awareness and Exploration

Resources Demonstrated During the Session

	Grade Level	TeachersFirst Review	Description	Other information
Mission US	4-8	TF Review	Mission US is a collection of free interactive games to engage students in learning US History. The missions immerse students in historical settings and empower students to make choices about how everyday people lived in the past. Players can move through the activities and meet various characters from all walks of life and different periods of history. There are currently SEVEN missions for students to play: For Crown or Glory, Prisoner in My Homeland, and others.	Blog post related to Mission US
iCivics	3-10	TF Review	iCivics is a web-based education project designed to teach students civics and encourage them to participate in the democratic process. iCivics.org provides detailed lessons designed for very specific judicial and constitutional concepts as well as for the executive and legislative branches. Some of the lessons have videos and links to other relevant websites. In addition to the lessons, iCivics features several engaging interactives on civics topics, democracy, branches of government, citizenship, elections, and campaigns, and the constitution. Several include full teacher manuals (PDF) and a detailed report of student game performance — very useful for assessment.	Blog post related to Argument Wars (game available on the site) Blog post related to Do I Have the Right (game available on the site)
Banzai!	2-12	TF Review	Banzai is a free financial literacy tool for all ages. As students work through the units and activities, there are formative assessments sprinkled within the tool. There are three age levels to explore, each with different topics (Junior is for ages 8-12), Teen is for ages 13-18, and Plus is for ages 16 through adult. The students are presented with real-world problems. Students choose their own adventures (and consequences).	Blog post related to Banzai!
Google Arts & Culture	K-12	TF Review	Google Arts & Culture is a huge site that Includes 2,000 cultural institutions in over 80 countries, more than 200,000 high-resolution digital images of original artworks, 7 million archival artifacts, over 1,800 Street View museum captures, and more than 3,000 online exhibitions curated by experts. Search the Collections, Themes, Experiments, Historical Events, and more. This is an amazing tool for virtual field trips and to show students locations around the world.	Blog post related to Google Arts & Culture
Reading Treks	K-12	TF Review	Your students can visit the world and build their background knowledge when they choose to read a book in conjunction with Reading Treks. Find fiction and informational books at every reading level. Each Reading Trek unit has a downloadable PDF with Common Core State Standards, ISTE Standards, Grade Level, Ideas and Activities for using the Reading Trek in class, and a list of Helpful Resources. There is also a Google Maps (KMZ) file. Under the About TeachersFirst Reading Treks on the home page find step-by-step instructions for when you’re ready to use a Reading Trek.	Blog post related to Reading Treks

10 More Cool Tools to Try – Mentioned (not demonstrated) During the Session

Tool 1 – TeachFlix – Videos and virtual field trips curated collections  – TeachersFirst Review

Tool 2 – Globetracker – Choose-your-own-adventure geography unit – TeachersFirst Review 

Tool 3 – Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips – Virtual field trips for all grades – TeachersFirst Review

Tool 4 – George Washington’s Mount Vernon  – Virtual field trip – TeachersFirst Review

Tool 5 – The China Guide – Great Wall of China – virtual field trip – TeachersFirst Review

Tool 6 – Smithsonian History Explorer – many interactive to try (sidebar can be used to narrow search) – TeachersFirst Review 

Tool 7 – Mr. Beats YouTube Channel – videos (plus catchy songs) about social studies – TeachersFirst Review

Tool 8 – Freedom’s Ring – multimedia and rich interactive experience of Dr. MLK’s famous speech – TeachersFirst Review

Tool 9 – Pompeii Virtual Tour – explore this unique virtual tour – TeachersFirst Review 

Tool 10 – Google My Maps – Create maps to take students to locations around the world with videos, photos, and more – TeachersFirst Review

Videos (learn more about some of the tools shared)

Return to the TCEA 2024 Session Listings Page