1391 american-history results | sort by:
return to subject listingDramatizing History in Arthur Miller's The Crucible - National Endowment for the Humanities
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): salem (6)
In the Classroom
While this site includes lesson plans for 10-12 days, it is easy to dip in and out of the activities, molding them to whatever it is you want to teach and the approach you want to take. It deals culturally with why Miller's plan "outdoes the historians" when making this history come alive as well as show the lessons in history as well as literature.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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How the Understanding of US History Changes - National Public Radio
Grades
9 to 12Students are fascinated with the concept that their history text books might be wrong, or biased. Although the interview doesn't mention it, this discussion was also well illustrated in James Loewen's "Lies My Teacher Told Me." The seven minute interview might be quite useful in helping advanced students understand that history isn't static, and that any account of a historical "fact" should be considered in light of its context and the political perspective of the times.
tag(s): mexico (29)
In the Classroom
This site would be helpful to students preparing to do research for your class or for National History Day projects which must be developed using primary documents: to illustrate that even primary documents are subject to interpretation and cannot always be accepted at face value!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Flash Earth
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use a projector or whiteboard to share a location as art of the background knowledge for a lesson. Be sure to add this link to your teacher web page as a reference tool, as well. Be aware that some world locations have much "fuzzier" satellite images than others. Always preview before your lesson to be sure you can show the features you want students to see. Show elementary students where their "neighborhood" is, perhaps even their streets!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Virtual Seminars for Teaching English - P. Groves and S. D. Lee
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): literature (217), poetry (188)
In the Classroom
This could be used very easily as part of a webquestor web scavenger hunt. You could also use it in the classroom on a projector or whiteboard to show different elements or types of war poetry. Make sure you have the correct plug-ins if you are using video portions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Trading Card Maker - BigHugeLabs.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): book reports (28), famous people (21), images (270)
In the Classroom
Upload and tag your photo, type information, and print cards. Download finished card to your computer. Use for book reports for literature circles with each student in the group making a card for a different character in the book. This is also an excellent idea for special occasions for special people: mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, school nurse, school secretary, school custodian, favorite aunt, or anyone else! Be sure to print onto cover stock and laminate (if possible). What fabulous (and memorable) gifts. Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The American Experience: Remember the Alamo - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): texas (7)
In the Classroom
Ask students to compare several different rallying cries from American history ("Remember Pearl Harbor," "I have not yet begun to fight," "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes," and "Remember the Maine") that could provide a nice overview of how society comes to embrace a war as a patriotic duty.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World War One: Armistice Day - BBC
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): world war 1 (72)
In the Classroom
The videos other visual activites would work well on an interactive white board.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NOVA Wings of Madness - PBS
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Flying has always fascinated us, and flying failures are sometimes more interesting than successes. Students will know all about the Wright Brothers; they are unlikely to have heard of Alberto Santos-Dumont. The interactives are terrific and the paper airplanes would make a good hands-on activity. The readings about Santos-Dumont would also make good selections for a reading teacher trying to find motivating readings to teach comprehension strategies.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Prohibition and Temperance - OSU Department of History
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): 1920s (7), 1930s (20), drugs and alcohol (27)
In the Classroom
This site is best used as a supplementary set of resources for further exploration. Teachers might use some of the contemporary illustrations or narratives to expand understanding, or students working on an independent project might find the resources helpful. You could use TrackStar, reviewed here, to design a brief web scavenger hunt within the site to engage students and introduce the topic in a new way.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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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
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Native American Nations - Lisa Mitten
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Use this site as a resource for research papers and projects. Students can search for information about specific tribes or for information that the tribes themselves have put forward. This would be a great resource for a US history class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native Tech: Native American Technology and Art - Tara Prindle
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Give students a scavenger hunt to learn the basics about the culture you are studying, then allow them to try some of the interactive games, ass based on the content of the site. This would be a great way to build background knowledge while studying American history or literature that deals with Native Americans.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Not For Ourselves Alone - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): biographies (93), women (136), womens suffrage (43)
In the Classroom
If you're looking for one site on the early women's movement or the women's suffrage movement, this one may do it. Take advantage of the lesson plans and resources therein. Once students know the history of the early women's movement, brainstorm more current information about women's rights and the women involved that could be included on this page. Have students or groups collect ideas and findings using Dotstorming, reviewed here. Dotstorming will allow students to include video, images, text, audio, voting & a chat box.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mark's Guide to Whose Line is it Anyway
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): literature (217)
In the Classroom
This can be a great lesson starter, particularly on those dreary days when kids don't want to work. For lower level kids, it is a brain exercise for such things as the alphabet game (which is more difficult than it first seems!). For higher level kids, you can substitute characters from literature with a situation from the story itself or from history with imaginative "what if" dialogue for actual events.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dates That Matter - TeachersFirst
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): calendars (40), substitutes (27)
In the Classroom
Begin your social studies class once or twice a week by sharing a Date That Matters on a projector or interactive whiteboard to foster broader understanding of the connections that form world history. Or use the links at the end as an extra credit or enrichment opportunity or for gifted students to investigate more. Focus class attention as everyone enters by projecting the date and starting sentence. Make this one a link on your teacher web page for students (and parents) to access outside of school. Substitutes will also appreciate this meaningful and engaging way to connect today with students' prior history knowledge for more than an isolated factoid. It's a lesson ready to go!Comments
This is a terrific site for daily writing and "Do Nows" for my ELA classes. In addition, the site can be used for Morning Meeting/Advisory.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Early Cultures: The Pre European Peoples of Wisconsin - Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): native americans (91)
In the Classroom
There are some nice PDF files for teacher use that compare and contrast the pre-contact cultures. This would be especially helpful in illustrating that the "native people" of North America vary widely depending upon time frame and geography. There are lesson plans and a very nice illustrated glossary of terms and artifacts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Harvest of History - Farmers Museum
Grades
2 to 10tag(s): agriculture (49), 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
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NewsHour Extra Lesson Plan: Immigration Reform - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): immigration (64), migration (44)
In the Classroom
The essential questions (labeled "My Point of View, parts 2-3") are a nice guide for helping students see this issue from multiple backgrounds.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Dave Leip
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use some of the interactive maps on a projector or interactive whiteboard or enter into the discussion boards as a class with ONE shared posting and watch the responses as a group.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NewsHour Extra Lesson Plan: Checks and Balances in Supreme Court Nominations - PBS
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): supreme court (27)
In the Classroom
There is a really nice "balance of powers" exercise that goes way beyond a simple discussion of the Supreme Court. Students look at all three branches of government and determine which branch has power in a variety of contemporary situations. This lesson plan is good as a stand-alone, but also provides a lot of jumping off places for further discussion and adaptation. Use a projector, as the plan suggests, to share the short video clips, available in several formats.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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