Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Rock your lessons using popular music and pop culture to engage students. The standards-aligned lessons provide interdisciplinary connections using music as the starting point for in-depth explorations and guided activities. Use the search feature to find lessons and collections sorted by subject, music genre, type of activity, and topic. Subjects range from Civics to CTE to STEAM to Art/Design and many others. Each lesson begins with an essential question and includes procedures, student handouts, and videos.

tag(s): artists (87), cross cultural understanding (178), dance (33), empathy (37), jazz (17), musical instruments (54), social and emotional learning (110), sociology (23), STEM (310)

The Scholastic website's page on Veterans Day printable activities provides teachers with engaging, ready-to-use resources for celebrating Veterans Day in the classroom. It includes three printable activities that focus on honoring veterans and teaching students about the holiday's significance. The activities include creative writing prompts, a veterans-themed word search, and a craft that allows students to express their gratitude. These materials are designed to help students understand the importance of Veterans Day while developing critical thinking, writing, and artistic skills.
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tag(s): holidays (194), veterans (27)

This page of The History Channel features Take a Veteran to School Day. Here, you can register for this special day and get How to Guides, Curriculum and Planning Guides, Student Participation Forms, Additional Resources, and a few others in PDF format. The History Channel's Teacher Resources section provides a wealth of materials to support educators in teaching about veterans across various grade levels. It offers lesson plans, video clips, interactive activities, and primary source documents that bring historical events to life. The site also features multimedia content such as documentaries and curated video series, making it a dynamic and engaging tool for enhancing history lessons in the classroom. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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tag(s): terrorism (41), veterans (27), vietnam (38), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (163)

Join National Park Service employees on a virtual visit to presidential monuments and memorials in Washington, DC, and across the United States. Begin with 360-degree visits to presidential memorials for Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt, George Washington, and other former presidents, or listen to an audio tour of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. After virtual visits to memorials in Washington, travel across the country to visit the homes of former presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Ulysses S. Grant.

tag(s): capitals (15), lincoln (67), presidents (136), virtual field trips (131), washington (28)

This YouTube video examines primary source documents that describe Harry Truman's decision to integrate the military as part of a presentation for several participating classrooms. The moderators share stories of Truman's upbringing, his time as a senator, and his view of his responsibilities as president. If your school has YouTube blocked, you may not be able to view the video.

tag(s): civil rights (219), presidents (136), primary sources (118)

ADL Education provides professional learning resources, educational programs, and strategies for building and sustaining equitable and inclusive environments. Program topics include Anti-Bias, Antisemitism, Holocaust Education, and Bullying and Cyberbullying Education. Browse all content or use the filters to find online learning, classroom, and family resources. The classroom resources include a booklist, lessons for K-12 classrooms, monthly featured books, and more. Most lesson plans correlate to Common Core and SEL Standards.

tag(s): bias (28), bullying (48), civil rights (219), cross cultural understanding (178), cyberbullying (44), difficult conversations (57), disabilities (32), holocaust (43), racism (83), religions (114), social and emotional learning (110), women (154)

Help students comprehend the deeper significance of Veterans Day beyond parades and flag-waving with the educational programs recommended by the Wounded Warrior Project. Complete the free registration to access materials for Honor Their Courage!, an educational service program that teaches students about the history and sacrifices of the military while participating in a fundraising activity. Register to participate in either the K-5 or 6-12 program. In addition to Honor Their Courage!, the site shares several ideas for crafts, activities, and ideas to turn education into action.

tag(s): heroes (24), stories and storytelling (63), veterans (27)

National Geographic Education shares many classroom resources for all grade levels, including videos, interactives, maps, and more. Use the keyword search to find content related to specific content, filter by grade, type of learning materials, and subject, or browse the site to view some of the latest resources. Although registration isn't required, creating an account allows members to bookmark and save favorite resources.

tag(s): africa (170), amazon (11), animals (293), antarctica (30), anthropology (10), australia (29), biodiversity (36), birds (46), cells (82), climate (85), climate change (100), conservation (101), constitution (99), continents (33), countries (73), diseases (66), earth (182), earthquakes (47), egypt (59), engineering (137), erosion (14), explorers (64), fish (18), hurricanes (33), mammals (22), mayans (32), migration (45), molecules (43), moon (72), natural disasters (19), natural resources (37), nutrition (140), oceans (149), plants (148), pollution (53), population (52), religions (114), reproduction (7), reptiles (12), romans (52), slavery (79), sociology (23), solar system (108), space (220), volcanoes (55), weather (160), world war 2 (163)

Wonderopolis.org is an educational website aimed at children and educators. It offers a vast collection of articles called "Wonders," which explore various topics in an engaging and informative way. This Wonderopolis page on Claudette Colvin provides a detailed account of her role in the Civil Rights Movement. It explores her upbringing in Alabama, refusing to give up her bus seat in 1955, and the subsequent legal battles she and other activists fought to challenge segregation laws. In addition to the detailed account of Claudette Colvin's role in the Civil Rights Movement, the Wonderopolis page offers further resources for exploration, an Immersive Reader tool, and a video that supplements the written content, providing visual and auditory elements to engage learners in multiple ways!

tag(s): black history (135), civil rights (219), literacy (122), womenchangemaker (39)

This site is part of a thirteen-part series of lessons demonstrating how to use Google search to find historical digital publications and scanned newspapers. The short step-by-step instructions include pictures showing how to search the archives for news articles from 1995 and search terms for finding scanned newspaper articles before 1995. This lesson is available online or as a PDF document.

tag(s): journalism (74), primary sources (118), search engines (47), timelines (57)

Young Ben Franklin is a ten-episode podcast that introduces listeners to 13-year-old Ben Franklin as a spirited young boy living in colonial Boston. Ben and his friends solve mysteries and conduct investigations in each episode as he develops his leadership skills. Visit the section for educators to find a listening guide, explore and choice boards, and video explanations of how to use the accompanying materials in any classroom. Also included is a PDF document that shares the correlation of the materials to reading, speaking, listening, and writing standards.

tag(s): colonial america (95), constitution (99), declaration of independence (16), franklin (12), inventors and inventions (81), podcasts (117)

The History.com page "Women Who Fought for the Vote" tells the story of how women in the U.S. fought to be allowed to vote. It talks about important women and significant moments in the women's voting rights movement, illustrating this through articles, pictures, and videos. This website is a great place to learn how women won the right to vote with the 19th Amendment.

tag(s): elections (81), women (154), womenchangemaker (39), womens suffrage (52)

The "Headlines and Heroes" blog from the Library of Congress shines a spotlight on Belva Lockwood, an extraordinary woman who broke barriers as a suffragist, lawyer, and the first woman to officially run for President of the United States. Through this blog, you can explore Lockwood's remarkable journey, highlighting her fight for women's rights and her candidacy in the 1884 and 1888 presidential elections. The blog not only dives into Lockwood's achievements and challenges but also showcases a collection of historical documents, photographs, and newspaper clippings that bring her story to life. Clicking on the images and links will open historical documents.

tag(s): primary sources (118), womenchangemaker (39), womens suffrage (52)

This site helps people learn about Shirley Chisholm's significant role in American politics and how she broke new ground for women and people of color in government. The site from the National Women's History Museum tells the story of an important woman in politics. It talks about her life from the beginning, how she became the first African American woman in the U.S. Congress, and her presidential run in 1972. The page shows how she worked hard for education and jobs for minorities.

tag(s): black history (135), pioneers (9), politics (118), women (154), womenchangemaker (39)

This short biography of Patsy Mink highlights her accomplishments and lifelong advocacy for women's equity. This article includes information about her family history, ways she fought racial discrimination, successful elections, and how she introduced and co-authored the legislation known as Title IX, The Patsy Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. Also included is a YouTube video featuring Patsy Mink. If your district blocks YouTube, then the video may not be viewable.

tag(s): biographies (94), heroes (24), politics (118), women (154)

New American History offers free digital media resources for teaching American History for middle and high school teachers, along with a few resources for upper elementary-level educators. The included content focuses on connecting America's past to the present; find much of this content under the tabs at the top of the site to journalism, audio, video, and maps resources. Use the link on the home page to find the search tool to find resources. The filters include options to search by term, learning topic, reading level, grade level, standards, and learning strategies. Lesson plans include all information and resources for teachers, and most have a link to a student version.

tag(s): american revolution (83), black history (135), branches of government (64), civil rights (219), civil war (141), colonial america (95), colonization (21), constitution (99), elections (81), emancipation proclamation (14), environment (251), great depression (30), immigrants (48), immigration (84), inequalities (25), native americans (116), primary sources (118), racism (83), segregation (18), underground railroad (15), womens suffrage (52), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (163)