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return to subject listingMark's Guide to Whose Line is it Anyway
Grades
7 to 12In 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.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Dates That Matter - TeachersFirst
Grades
5 to 12In 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 12In 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 10In 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 12In 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 8In 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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Helping Your Child Series - US Department of Education
Grades
K to 8In the Classroom
Hand these booklets out at back to school night, open house, or conferences. Encourage parents to become involved supportively.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 12In 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 12In 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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Be A Historian - Industrialization - Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area
Grades
5 to 10In the Classroom
Use the interactive graphic organizers for students to complete individual or guided learning experiences. These would also work well on an interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Writers - C-Span
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
You can pick and choose not only which author you want, but what information you want to use. You can choose short video clips shown on a projector either as a lesson in themselves (using the suggested questions or ones of your own); you can create a webquest using a combination of both this site and other sites linked from it; or you can use this as a straightforward internet lesson, using the material presented on the site itself. It is easily expandable to history and you can watch the video, a video clip, or read the transcript. Video requires Real Player.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Historic Park - National Park Service
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Teachers in upper grades could easily pick and choose from these lessons to flesh out a unit on the Gold Rush. The link to "History and Culture" takes you to a Washington State data base of photographs and newspaper clippings that could provide good primary source material for classroom use or for History Day projects on the Gold Rush.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Camp Silos - From Native Prairie to Present, Our Agricultural Heritage - Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
This web site is perfect for combining students' love of technology with standards in science, history, technology, information literacy and language arts. Especially unique are the interactive scavenger hunts and virtual field trips that allow students to step "out of the classroom." Partner students on computers for the scavenger hunt or take a virtual field trip together on a projector.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Explore Pennsylvania History
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Follow a lesson ready-made plan or design your own web treasure hunt for students to read, see, and learn about history by navigating this site. You could also feature a "historical marker a day" as an anticipatory set on a projector during your units on PA history in Pennsylvania classrooms.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Black Wings: African American Pioneer Aviators - Smithsonian- National Air and Space Museum
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Use this site and Read Ahead, reviewed here, as part of reading comprehension practice and find your students are actually interested in what they read. Have students create projects about their favorite aviator or aircraft on a poster using Genially, reviewed here, or PowerPoint Online, reviewed here. Make sure students understand they have to give proper attribution to the images and information they use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kazan, Miller, and the McCarthy Era - PBS- Anna Chan Rekate
Grades
10 to 12In the Classroom
If you do not have time for all the lessons or do not have access to the fullvideo, there is a wealth of information for you to use as background and valuable links for planning shorter activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Calisphere - University of California
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Teachers and students have permission to print, or download these collections for classroom use. Make bulletin boards or let students include the images in their PowerPoint or movie presentations. You do not have permission to place these images on a web page or use them for other purposes without specific permission to do so.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Podcasts from Colonial Williamsburg - Colonial Williamsburg
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Use these podcasts to introduce events (and even technology innovations of the times) from Colonial Williamsburg to your students. Listen together, or create a link to the podcast on classroom computers. Instead of sharing a written response to information learned on the podcast, have cooperative learning groups create their own podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here. For younger students, after listening to a podcast, you may want to challenge students to reflect on their learning and what they would like to learn more about using a tool such as Flip, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Inventor of the Week - MIT Lemelson Center
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use the Inventor Archive as an activator at the beginning of every week in a science or Physics classroom. This could be used as an activator over the interactive whiteboard, a projector, or as a learning center or station. This could be used every week or before inventive projects, serving as a motivator!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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