We are currently verifying that these resources no longer use Adobe Flash and will update the reviews shortly.
323 Results | sort by:
A People's Journey, A Nation's Story - African American History and Culture - Smithsonian
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): africa (139), african american (111), black history (128), cultures (132)
In the Classroom
This site is a great tool for individual research; add this site to your teacher web page so students can access it from home. Replace paper and pencil and use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here from Classtools, to compare information from different time periods or locations in the United States. Enhance learning by having cooperative learning groups create podcasts providing information about African-American life throughout the years, or as a newscast from one particular time or event. Use a site such as podomatic, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
National Women's History Museum - National Women's History Museum
Grades
K to 12tag(s): jamestown (7), women (138), womenchangemaker (28), womens suffrage (44), world war 2 (151)
In the Classroom
Of course, the site would be useful to students doing research on the women's movement in general, or on the role of women during several important historical eras. In the "educational resources" section, there is a collection of quotations from women that would be great for creating displays for women's history month. Challenge students to create a poster for one of the women quoted using a tool such as Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. There is also a group of quizzes that could be adapted for classroom use. The section focused on the women of Jamestown includes the stories of Native American women as well as the role of early European settler women and could supplement the usual Thanksgiving lessons on the new American colonies. There are also free lesson plans and classroom activities that teachers should take advantage of!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
The Object of History - Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): museums (44)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a mini lesson for yourself in the use of artifacts in the classroom. We are often called to make education more "hands on," and this is a prime example of how to do this effectively with history. Use the specific artifacts featured on this site (and project the 360 views on an interactive white board or screen for maximum punch), but consider how you could also bring artifacts into the classroom using the suggestions provided. They need not be priceless museum pieces; in fact, an academic discussion of the cultural impact of a familiar object like the iPod or the cell phone could be quite effective. Extend the activity by having students in small groups create an artifact collection on a wiki using digital pictures they take themselves. Document a local landmark, an era in your school, or even today's teen lifestyle through artifacts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
16th Century Renaissance English Literature - Anion Jokinen
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): elizabethan (13), literature (218), marlowe (2)
In the Classroom
This is a great site for research and sharing with students. It gives them a taste beyond what they think they know about the English Renaissance. Most of the author-specific pages have links to discussion forums for that author, and students can quickly find other aficionados for obscure writers of this period. Share an author a day as you read Shakespeare, then ask students to research a favorite and create a digital museum piece about him/her on a wiki or write a blog entry as if from their person's journal.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
American Centuries - Memorial Hall Museum Online
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): colonial america (95), england (50), slavery (76)
In the Classroom
Browse the collection for images and descriptions of specific artifacts. Explore themes like Shay's Rebellion, the lives of African-Americans in early rural New England, or the Civil War era in New England. Interactive activities allow you to look at Early American tools, examine artifacts using a 360 degree view or see what clothing was worn (down to the underwear!) by people of the time. If you plan to share objects as part of a lesson "collect" them in a personal collection so you can pull them up easily. Challenge secondary students to use the activity labeled "Create a chronology" to group artifacts from the collections to illustrate a concept, such as slavery, clothing, or background of an author, artist, or historical event. With younger students, use one or more of the activities on an interactive whiteboard or projector or design a simple scavenger hunt within YOUR collection of objects for students to find out about colonial life and times. If you turn them loose on the entire site, you will never get them back.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Mayflower History - Caleb Johnson
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): genealogy (8), pilgrims (12), primary sources (117), thanksgiving (24)
In the Classroom
Only a visit to a far away museum could get any better than having the full-text primary sources which are available with a click on the left menu. Enhance student learning and bring the Mayflower experience to life with Fakebook, reviewed here. Have students set up fictitious Fakebook page and become one of the voyagers. Perhaps students could adopt a Mayflower 'ancestor' and write how they are alike or unlike by setting up two Fakebook pages. Around Thanksgiving, teachers may want to try some of the original recipes for an authentic Mayflower 'flavor' to their lesson plans.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Franklin Institute - The Franklin Institute Science Museum
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): colonial america (95), franklin (11), philadelphia (10)
In the Classroom
Share this and other sections of the TeachersFirst Colonial America tour as part of your study of the colonies so students can see what these historic locations look like today.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
The U.S.S. Constitution Museum - U.S.S. Constitution Museum
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): boston (10), colonial america (95), constitution (88)
In the Classroom
Share this and other sections of the TeachersFirst Colonial America tour as part of your study of the colonies so students can see what these historic locations look like today. Share this as one of several sites for student reports on colonial times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Dinosauria - University of California Museum of Paleontology
Grades
4 to 10tag(s): dinosaurs (40), paleontology (28)
In the Classroom
Use this site as the reference for research on individual or group projects. Weaker readers in elementary and middle school will need a reading partner, since the site is text-heavy.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Animal Diversity Web - University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): animals (284), biodiversity (31), diversity (38)
In the Classroom
Introduce the site on a projector or interactive whiteboard before asking students to investigate their own animal choices. Older students can do comparisons and contrasts to better understand the taxonomy and can also read about naming of species. See the teaching link for more ideas. Play the sounds on your computer speakers, especially if the animals are unfamiliar in your part of the world. Sounds require Quicktime. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..This site also has a very public message about its authorship (college students) which can prompt a good discussion about reliability and appropriateness of sources. Reinforce critical evaluation of sources and information literacy in your science class, too!
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Earth: Our World In Motion - National Museum of Natural History
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): atmosphere (22), earth (184), rocks (36)
In the Classroom
Introduce the site and the "Big Idea" on a projector or interactive whiteboard, then assign students to choose one of the activities to complete. Share results with the class on an interactive whiteboard or projector as groups complete the activity. Include this link on your teacher web page for enrichment and at-home exploration. Students could also be assigned the "non-computer" activities for homework.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Archaeology - American Museum of Natural History
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): archeology (25)
In the Classroom
Introduce the site and the "Big Idea" on a projector or interactive whiteboard, then assign students to complete one of the many interactive activities. Share the results with the class on a projector as groups complete the activity. Include this link on your teacher web page for enrichment and at-home exploration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
The Gene Scene - American Museum of Natural History
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
Assign students to explore a section and complete the genetic journey then use the computers to organize data and graph their D.N.A. findings. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to share and compare findings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
The Big Wide World Webquest - The Museum of Television & Radio
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): animals (284), cultures (132), environment (238)
In the Classroom
Use this Webquest to introduce the connections between major social studies and science concepts. After students work in groups to investigate the different areas, bring the class together to share. Guide a class discussion to show how the different areas are linked and work together. Use the Relationship Wheel (see Teacher Guide) as a bulletin board to support understanding. The site information says it can be used in grades K-4, but non-readers cannot do the tasks without a reader! For independent workers, it is better suited (and quite applicable)for grades 2-6.If you do this at the start of the school year, you can revisit the overarching connections as you begin study of each sub-area so you are connecting to prior knowledge every time. Teachers in later grades could even recall the overarching questions as they continue with the study of these topics. Be SURE to put the link on your teacher web page for students to revisit throughout the year.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Milestones of Flight - Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Sometimes you need complexity, but sometimes you just need a simple set of graphics. This site is the latter, but it does it so well! The timeline is marked by thumbnail pictures of each flying machine. Clicking on the machine brings you to a complete desciption of the craft and its significance. Of course this is part of the complete National Air and Space Museum site which is crammed full of interesting stuff. But this section cuts to the chase: what machines flew and when?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
National Institute of Standards and Technology Virtual Museum - NIST
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): engineering (120)
In the Classroom
Use this as a starting point for a research project or share portions on a projector as you begin units on different science and technology topics.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
You are the Historian Investigating the First Thanksgiving - Plimouth Plantation
Grades
3 to 6tag(s): pilgrims (12), thanksgiving (24)
In the Classroom
A complete teachers guide gives you ideas for using this resource in the classroom. Use a projector or interactive whiteboard to introduce the site, then assign students to complete the investigation in small groups or with a partner. You can spread the activity over several days at a computer cluster in your classroom or do it all at once in a lab.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Kids Activities from A Celebration of Souls: Day of the Dead - Burke Museum
Grades
1 to 8tag(s): spanish (105)
In the Classroom
Include these activities with your class to promote multicultural understanding. You could also share the ideas with parents to do at home with their children.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Harvest of History - Farmers Museum
Grades
2 to 10tag(s): agriculture (48), new york (22)
In the Classroom
A comprehensive late elementary curriculum unit is outlined for teachers. There is a huge amount of information built into this site, and it could easily provide a lot of audio visual support to a unit on farming or on nineteenth century American farm life. The video clips and the interface are all extremely well done. There is reference to Native American farming (the Seneca). There is also a nice searchable index of primary sources, and it's not a list of moldy books, but rather a photo gallery of artifacts with documentation on usage, age, and provenance. Even a lower elementary teacher could use the videos on a projector to introduce the history of U.S. agrarian culture, and high school classes could study the economics of farming and create their own multi-media projects using the materials on this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Orchard House Home of the Alcotts - Louisa May Alcott Memorial Association
Grades
6 to 10tag(s): authors (105), literature (218), museums (44)
In the Classroom
Share the photographs and virtual tour on a projector as you begin to study the Alcotts or include this site as one of your research resources for author studies.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form