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When the Personal Becomes Presidential - New York Times Learning Network
Grades
6 to 12The lesson plan starts with the familiar "read the story and discuss" format, but there are a number of good essential questions and extension activities provided that could be tailored into a strong classroom plan. The lesson plans have cross-curricular suggestions, and are tied to standards.
tag(s): elections (83), presidents (145)
In the Classroom
Be sure help your weaker readers and ELL students by sharing the listed vocabulary words prior to reading, either on a handout or by projecting on an interactive whiteboard and highlighting them in the text as you come to them.Use this lesson to discuss current events in politics (which changes daily). Have students discuss and debate the current issues. Have the students write a wiki about a current event in politics (for example, Governor Palin being the first woman VP on the GOP ticket).
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Iraq - BBC
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): iraq (26)
In the Classroom
If you do current events study or have students with family members in Iraq, be sure to include this site as a link from your teacher web page. As the 2008 U.S. elections approach, you may want to begin a "current events" collection of resources for students to use to develop better understanding of election issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fourth of July - Teacher Resources - TeacherVision
Grades
2 to 8In the Classroom
Get an interactive whiteboard and test your students' knowledge of Independence Day with the online quizzes. There are so many choices for observing July 4th, with any grade level, that you can't go wrong! It's a bonus that some activities will lend themselves to small group work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Taking It Global - takingitglobal
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): collaboration (80), cross cultural understanding (177), environment (249), Problem Based Learning (11), service projects (17), sustainability (54)
In the Classroom
In the interest of safety, you may want to join as the teacher and have students use your account. Never allow students to set up individual accounts on any site in your classroom without parent permission or the support of your school administration. Assign your world cultures, government, or world language students to steep themselves in the problems and issues of another country or plan a community action project to share as a class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ReadyKids - U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): fire (24), fire prevention (17), fire safety (17), floods (11), hurricanes (34), safety (67), sun (83), terrorism (41), tornadoes (15), tsunamis (15)
In the Classroom
Get an interactive whiteboard (or use a projector) and help your class prepare for severe weather, terrorism and more. Most activities are interactive, educational and fun! Replace the paper and pen journal and enhance learning by having students to write blogs sharing information learned using a site like edublogs, reviewed here. edublogs offers tools for creating class and individual blogs. Check out the "Parents and Teachers" link for lesson plans, standards, activities and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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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 (52)
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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Spy Kids - CIA
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): branches of government (66)
In the Classroom
Include this site when studying the three branches of government as a concrete example of one thing the Executive Branch does. Students could explore it on a "scavenger hunt" to learn answers to questions you pose, or the whole class could visit on a projector to learn about what the CIA does. If you ask students to research different government agancies, this would be a great reference site for them to use. When reading the "Who We Are and What We Do" article try using Read Ahead, reviewed here, as a guided reading activity.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 (79), migration (45)
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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Awesome Stories - Awesome Stories Internet Productions
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): dinosaurs (48), disasters (36), literature (217), movies (55), space (231)
In the Classroom
This is a great jumping off point for beginning researchers. You will find a wonderful compilation of photographs and other realia about the topics. Teach comprehension skills by using the first four chapters and asking students to predict or write aht they think would come next. Bring up the stories on an interactive whiteboard to highlight important terms and access the links that help students build connections to content. Maybe let students select the next topic to help engage reluctant readers.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. Share this link on your class website for students and parents to use at home.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 (30)
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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NewsHour Extra Lesson Plan: The United Nations and Reform - PBS
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): united nations (7)
In the Classroom
The information provided is fairly dense, and the issues and discussion of reform are probably beyond the scope of a general history class. However, the historical information would be useful for a more general audience, and the questions related to reform would be suitable for an upper level class on civics, government or modern US history.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Inconvenient Truth: Take Action - Inconvenient Truth
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): energy (138), environment (249), ozone (7)
In the Classroom
Warn your students not to venture into the portion of the site where they are "purchasing" contributions to i=offset their CO2 emissions. Instead, ask them to figure out which of their behaviors causes the worst pollution. Have them do a family survey at home to calculate what the family can do.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dimming the Sun - NOVA/WGBH
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): climate (87), climate change (100), earth (190), earth day (60), pollution (51), sun (83)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a starting point for your discussion of global warming and environmental issues or as a research source for student projects. The interactive timeline would display well on a projector or interactive whiteboard to give students the "big picture" they so rarely have on their own.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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How Art Made the World - PBS/KCET
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): images (258), propaganda (9)
In the Classroom
These articles and lessons would be great interdisciplinary "idea banks" for classes in art, world cultures, or government.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Choices - Brown University
Grades
10 to 12In the Classroom
While ideal for an AP class, students at many levels can benefit from working with problems that have no obvious "right" answers. This site offers much to think about.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Our Stories: The Long, Long Battle for ANWR - Natural Resources Defense Council
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): arctic (39)
In the Classroom
Try having students compare information on this site with other web sites about the ANWR. How do these sites differ in their presentation?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Grading on a Curve - New York Times
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): foreign policy (13), presidents (145)
In the Classroom
Though a bit outdated for a current events class, this would be a great lesson in a US government class looking at the Presidency of George H.W. Bush. Save this lesson as a favorite on your desktop to allow for easy retrieval later on - though be sure to look closely at the lesson and make sure that students have learned enough of the contextual information to be able to make sense of the article. For differentiation, peruse the article before-hand, creating a list of words that students may have trouble with or may not be familiar with. Create a follow-along for the article, defining those words selected to help students as they read. This will allow lower achieving readers to be able to process the information more efficiently and with more comprehension.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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GOV.com - GOV.com
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Enrich a current events discussion with this resource. Compare what is heard and seen by students in the media with the facts that appear on this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New Sense, Inc. vs. Fish Till U Drop - EconEdLink
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): natural resources (35), resources (80)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free set of lesson plans about economics of topics in everyday life. Be sure to save the site as a favorite on your classroom computer to allow for easy retrieval later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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