Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This lesson from the National Park Service series "Teaching with Historic Places" describes life on the shoreline islands of Maine during the nineteenth century. Using historical photos, maps, and readings the lesson describes how islanders lived and governed themselves in isolation from their mainland friends. This site would be an interesting sidebar to a study of life in the nineteenth century.

tag(s): maine (4)

This lesson from the National Park Service series "Teaching with Historic Places" outlines the background for the outbreak of the war with Japan and uses maps and historical photos to teach about the battle of Midway and the island's strategic importance in World War II. This site could be a nice add-on to a study of World War II, Japan, or the geography of the Pacific region.

tag(s): world war 2 (161)

NASA's Apollo program site offers a one-stop collection of resources about the American manned moon landing program. Users can select mission-by -mission accounts of the program's progress, with lots of photos and text on each mission. Because this site links to a variety of archival NASA content, the presentation can be very uneven. If you're a space buff, though, this one's a gold mine.

tag(s): moon (73), nasa (30), space (222)

This page offers an entry point to the various images and materials about the 9/11 attacks which the Library of Congress has acquired. The collection includes photos, newspaper accounts, books, and works of art inspired by the attacks. While there is likely no single definitive collection of this material, this one is an extensive resource.

tag(s): sept11 (18), terrorism (41), terrorist (12)

This companion site for the PBS program of the same name offers a nice visual history of how Mount Rushmore came to be, including a number of Flash animations that show how engineers executed the project. Apart from its historical value, this site would be useful as part of a study of large engineering projects.

tag(s): engineering (129)

The Library of Congress presentation of one of the key American political dialogues will be useful for AP history students, as a research tool for term papers, or for those who simply want an on-line look at these important documents.

tag(s): jefferson (19)

This web site from the PBS program by the same name offers a biography of the author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, as well as a teaching guide linked to the program itself. History, social studies, or English teachers may find this content useful in a unit on the holocaust or in a discussion of World War II.

tag(s): holocaust (42), jews (33), nazis (8), world war 2 (161)

Music, history, and social studies teachers may enjoy using this one. It's a collection of song recordings from the roughly 1900-1935. The titles are available several different ways, including a streaming "radio station" that plays the songs continuously. Add a little atmosphere to your Roaring Twenties unit with this one.

tag(s): 1920s (15)

Here's a small site we hope will grow quickly. There are recordings and videos of famous political speeches - including William Jennings Bryan's "cross of gold" and Churchill's famous "iron curtain" speech. Interestingly, many of these are in their entirety, making for listening sessions of an hour or more. History teachers will find numerous possibilities for this one, especially if the collection continues to grow. If your district block YouTube the videos will not be viewable.

tag(s): politics (118), speech (69), speeches (23)

Native American cultures offer wonderful examples of oral traditions and storytelling. This site from PBS provides examples of these, a look at some common story themes, and audio files with a number of different stories. Try using this one in a study of Native Americans or as part of a unit on stories from different cultures. Although this site is slightly dated, and some of the audio files are not updated, the content of this site remains relevant and useful to many classes; there is a lot of good information here.

tag(s): native americans (109), oral history (13), stories and storytelling (58)

Students reading Twain's books may be surprised to know that he lived in Hartford, not along the Mississippi. This site from the restored home offers a virtual tour, a kids' section with a word search, and some very basic information about the house. This one's worth a look for those interested in late 19th century architecture.

tag(s): architecture (75), mark twain (8)

Based on the Ken Burns PBS production that aired in 1990, this collection of lesson plans is complete, thought-provoking, and covers a wide range of topics whose relevance extends well beyond the war itself. Designed for use in grades 7-12, these one- and two-period lessons are well-annotated, include lots of web links, and come complete with downloadable PDF files. Students will find these an interesting set of source ideas for reports and the like, and teachers will be able to take this content in many different directions. Well worth a look!

tag(s): civil war (139), lincoln (66), slavery (79)

Learn about the flag that inspired the National Anthem at this Smithsonian site. The site includes a quiz, a teacher section, and descriptive information about the flag, the War of 1812, and the battle at Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key's poem.

tag(s): national anthem (3), war of 1812 (15)

This companion site from the PBS American Experience series offers a profile of John Wesley Powell's first exploration of the Grand Canyon. While the teacher's section is closely linked to the film itself, the site offers interactive maps, biographies, and background information on the discovery of one of America's natural wonders.

tag(s): explorers (64), rivers (16)

The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz offers Lesson Plans for grades 5-11 and a wealth of information. Click on the Jazz Resources and you'll discover a rich collection of biographies, background information, musicology, and other jazz-related information. The content includes some really in-depth analysis of different jazz musical styles. Both music and social studies teachers will find plenty of material here.

tag(s): africa (148), african american (115), blues (22), harlem (9), jazz (16)

The folks at Walden.org offer this collection of Thoreau's writings (full texts), photos of the areas through which he traveled, and background on the author's life and times. There's great content for an author study in this one, though we cannot comment on the quality of the literary criticism.

tag(s): literature (222), thoreau (4)

Quest Connect's exploration of Alaska - specifically for students - offers a well-written introduction to the history, native people, and present-day aspects of our northernmost state. There are plenty of photos, but they're kept separate from the narrative so some prowling around is in order here.

tag(s): alaska (21), gold rush (15)

This site wins mention for breadth, not depth. It offers hundreds of very brief biographical sketches on famous people, past and present. More importantly, it also provides links - many surprisingly good, to more detailed information on the personalities listed. Students could use this one as a starting point for wider web research on a particular personality.

tag(s): biographies (94)

The Berlin Wall and the Press is a short video (just over 14 minutes) that presents life on both sides of the Berlin Wall including escapes and protests. Find three activities (downloadable in PDF format) to prepare students to analyze the impact of the Berlin Wall. The video is a fascinating presentation with primary sources about the origins of the wall from both western and Soviet perspectives. There are also nine Optional Extension Activities; these cover everything from graffiti art on the wall, to writing personal journals as one of the residents of East Berlin, to researching the unification of Berlin after the wall came down, and even more. Two of the activities help increase student awareness of political unrest in other parts of the world (China's Tiananmen Square Nov. 1989; Tehran, Iran June 2009; Tunis, Tunisia Jan. 2011; and Cairo, Egypt Jan. 2011), asking students to research challenges and criticisms of the press while trying to report on them.

tag(s): china (81), cold war (30), egypt (56), german (49), germany (28), iran (8), politics (118)

Maybe there really can be "too much of a good thing." This site is an immense catalog of resources (ie. other websites, lessons plans, content) for social studies teachers. Due to the sheer volume of material, it would be wise for teachers to have a clear idea of what they are looking for before opening up the site. Casual "grazing" here might easily lead to a becoming lost on the web.

tag(s): europe (84)