1421 american-history results | sort by:

Guns Germs, & Steel - PBS
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): cultures (179)
In the Classroom
The information contained here will be most helpful in planning lessons on the interdependence of culture, geography and technology. Students may find information here for research purposes, but this site should be considered mostly for its usefulness to teachers in advance of unit planning.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Yale University Art Gallery - Yale University
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): art history (100), artists (83), coins (6), painting (55), photography (123), sculpture (18)
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 (147), air (102), architecture (76), black history (131)
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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English Renaissance Drama - Anniina Jokinen
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): elizabethan (13), renaissance (38)
In the Classroom
Have students "become" one of the rival playwrights after researching the times and the playwright might be interesting. Perhaps students could do a panel discussion or write a blog entry as their "playwright." Don't miss the Introduction section to get valuable information about the theaters and the staging conventions of the time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Case Files - The Franklin Institute
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): aviation (40), energy (131), inventors and inventions (80), scientists (64), transportation (31)
In the Classroom
Why not use this website as a resource for "case file" research projects. Assign each student (or groups of students) a different person to investigate. Weaker readers may need a partner with strong reading skills. Then have the students present a multimedia presentation about their "case file." Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, Vevox, Animatron, Renderforest, and Microsoft PowerPoint Online. Or have a day when students actually portray their scientist and interact with others "in character."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Timeline of Art History - Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): art history (100), medieval (33), renaissance (38)
In the Classroom
Art teachers will find it easy to search for themes. History teachers can access items by date. Any of the "thematic essays" could be projected on an interactive whiteboard (or projection screen) to accompany a lecture in class. Or have students use this excellent resource for independent research or to illustrate their own presentations. Challenge groups to choose a time period and create blogs about the "mood" of the art. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Telegra.ph. This blog creator requires no registration! Or have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Biographical Dictionary - s9.com
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): critical thinking (124)
In the Classroom
This site could be a terrific way to publish student research projects to the real world. When you assign research projects on a famous scientist, author, famous American, musician, etc., have students create their written projects in a format that will fit into this online dictionary, including providing links and references for their information. Younger students could write an entry together as a class (perhaps on an author whose book you have just read). Challenge middle and high school students to find articles in your research area that contain possible inaccuracies or bias (and the research to prove it) and present both the original and their proposed changes to the class before putting them online. What a critical thinking challenge!Be sure to follow your district's acceptable use policy if you are allowing students to contribute to this site. Make sure you have written parent permission to post student work online.
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A People's Journey, A Nation's Story - African American History and Culture - Smithsonian
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): africa (147), african american (111), black history (131), cultures (179)
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.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ultimate rollercoasters.com - ultimaterollercoaster.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): motion (49)
In the Classroom
This website could also be used for various research projects (either researching actual roller coasters - their history, structure, speed, etc..), or even researching different time periods and the types of rides that were available during that time. If you study laws of motion, assign students to find "real world" examples of the laws in action using research on this site. Ignore the annoying pop-ups!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Timeless Ideas for Teaching - Concord Monitor Publishing
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): local history (14), news (229), newspapers (92)
In the Classroom
Whether you use hard-copy papers or electronic editions, many of these ideas will work even better using technology: word processing, wikis, blogs (for editorials), graphic organizer tools, digital cameras, etc. Use today's tools to study this powerful medium as it goes through transition into an electronic world. Consider asking students to compare electronic vs. hard-copy newspapers and their pros/cons, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Online Guide to Traditional Games - James Masters
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Have students design gameboards or cards, game pieces, and rules to play variations of the games on the site. In your world cultures class, have students play and compare games from different cultures. Use game-creation as the culminating project at the end of a content or research unit or simply as a way to teach writing: both informational (directions) and creative. Have students role-play characters who might play original or historic games by writing character sketches and then performing them. Let the games begin!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Women's History Museum - National Women's History Museum
Grades
K to 12tag(s): jamestown (6), women (148), womenchangemaker (35), womens suffrage (52), world war 2 (160)
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
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Time of Remembrance - Elk Grove Unified School District
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): california (16), japan (57), japanese (47), world war 2 (160)
In the Classroom
There are lesson plans (tied to California standards) and good resource lists for students and teachers. Skip the "guided tour" of the website, however, unless you are very new at using the Internet. Share this resource as one of several when studying civil rights, discrimination, and the U.S. Constitution in theory and practice. Have students create products to compare the internment camps to similar acts in history or create a presentation on the constitutional violations of such camps. Or include this as part of a study of the decades of the twentieth century.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Object of History - Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): museums (51)
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
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in Our Own Backyard: The Hidden Problem of Child Farmworkers - AFT
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): immigration (68), migration (45)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a launch point for debates, class discussion, or student projects on the history of labor, the contributions of minorities in American life, and the hot current events discussions of border control. Consider this topic for possible social action projects or political letter-writing and more. Examples of projects other classrooms have created are available on the website as well as teacher testimonials on teaching about child labor.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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HippoCampus - Monterey Institute for Technology and Education
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): environment (248), OER (43)
In the Classroom
Explore the curriculum topics for your subject area and select some options for students to use in class or for review. This is also an excellent option for leaving plans for a substitute who may have no expertise in your subject area! Many of the multimedia modules are well-suited for interactive whiteboard or projector (or for students to navigate at an individual pace on laptops). Have gifted students? Allow them to "compact" new content and extend into higher levels using this site. Be sure to share a link from your teacher web page for students who need an alternate presentation of material or for absentees. Share this site at the beginning of the school year for students wanting more of a challenge.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Opensecrets.org - Open Secrets
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Put this site on your TeachersFirst favorites list or teacher web page so students can use it for research on political candidates and issues. Civics teachers will find it useful in demonstrating the importance of lobbying and campaign finance in the political arena. Economics teachers can use these data to illustrate the connection between wealth and political power. Teachers doing lessons focused on the upcoming elections can track current Presidential candidates and their major contributors.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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September 11, 2001 Documentary Project - Library of Congress
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
This site would be most useful to students doing research on the 9/11 attacks, but also could provide teachers with supplemental material for a lesson on the events of that date. Although teachers will remember the day vividly, most students were either not born yet, or young enough when it occurred that their memories will be clouded. Another use for this site is as an example of the power and necessity of primary sources in documenting any event. Compare these resources to accounts we have of Pearl Harbor and other major events as you ask students to conduct an interviewing project of their own, perhaps of local history. As an introduction and for students to get a feeling for the drama of the event you may want to use the video posted with live footage of an ABC broadcast as the events of 9/11 were unfolding. You can access the Encyclopdeia Britanica's version of the video on YouTube here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Alphabet Organizer - Read Write Think (Iron Monkey Interactive)
Grades
K to 12tag(s): alphabet (53), vocabulary (238)
In the Classroom
Think outside the 'box' when considering this application. Teachers may opt to teach the elements of the story through entering character traits, setting, plot events, etc., then printing a chart to teach those concepts. Special Ed or ESL/ELL teachers and teachers will love using this organizer to help students organize new words they must learn. If students use a three-ring notebook, new words can be added over time. Mark this tool as a favorite on your classroom computer for students to access as needed.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Centuries - Memorial Hall Museum Online
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): colonial america (95), england (52), slavery (78)
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
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