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What is it Like to Live in the White House? - US Government
Grades
4 to 12
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Created by the White House, this "inside look" starts with several historical, humorous tidbits about family life in the White House, and then moves on to many wonderful collections...more
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Created by the White House, this "inside look" starts with several historical, humorous tidbits about family life in the White House, and then moves on to many wonderful collections to investigate. All of the collections have photos, images and interviews. There are also a number of historical tidbits scattered through the site - just enough to show how the nation's first home has changed over the years. Add this one to your list of "What's it really like???" sites.
In the Classroom
Have cooperative learning groups explore this site during a lesson on the White House and its' history. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint Online, reviewed here. Microsoft PowerPoint Online allows you to narrate a picture. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report - summarizing the history of the White House. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try 4 Free Photos, reviewed here, or Bing Images, reviewed here. This would be a great review activity before an end of the year assessment, or a quiz on the topic.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Hispanic Historic Places - National Park Service
Grades
4 to 12
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This site from the National Park Service shows several historic sites associated with Hispanic culture in the U.S. It can also lead to an appropriate selection of lessons from the ...more
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This site from the National Park Service shows several historic sites associated with Hispanic culture in the U.S. It can also lead to an appropriate selection of lessons from the NPS Teaching with Historic Places series. These lessons are a nice way to integrate Hispanic themes and contemporary accounts into an American history unit.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans listed for Hispanic American/Latino American History here from the NPS Teaching with Historic Places series. This is a great resource for a history or geography classroom, just be sure to save it as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on. You might want to use a curation tool such as Wakelet, reviewed here to share with this site with your students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native American Heritage - National Park Service
Grades
4 to 12
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This site from the National Park Service shows several historic sites associated with Native Americans. It also leads to an appropriate selection of lessons from the NPS Teaching with...more
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This site from the National Park Service shows several historic sites associated with Native Americans. It also leads to an appropriate selection of lessons from the NPS Teaching with Historic Places series. These lessons are a nice way to integrate Native American themes and contemporary accounts into an American history unit.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans and activities offered on this site! Save this site as a favorite on your classroom computer to allow for easy retrieval.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World War II Relocation Camps - National Park Service
Grades
9 to 12
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Part of the National Park Service "Teaching with Historic Places" series, this site uses the Manzanar Japanese-American internment camp as a starting point for an exploration of the...more
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Part of the National Park Service "Teaching with Historic Places" series, this site uses the Manzanar Japanese-American internment camp as a starting point for an exploration of the internment activities that took place during World War II. As with other lessons in this series, the lesson asks students to interpret archival photos and draw conclusions from the images and contemporary accounts of the internment.
In the Classroom
This is a very detailed and intricate lesson that can easily last a few days. However it is very informative and provides information about Japanese internment camps that is often brushed over in the book. Take advantage of this great lesson plan during a unit on WWII or discrimination in the United States.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal - National Park Service
Grades
6 to 12
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These curriculum materials from the National Park Service series "Teaching with Historic Places" describes the effort to build a canal connecting the Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio River....more
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These curriculum materials from the National Park Service series "Teaching with Historic Places" describes the effort to build a canal connecting the Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio River. While the canal never made it to Ohio, it served as an important route for commerce into western Maryland. This site uses maps and historic photos to tell the story of the canal's construction and its economic impact.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans and activities hosted on this site! US history teachers and Geography teachers will enjoy this one - make sure to save it as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Life on a Maine Island - National Park Service
Grades
6 to 12
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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,...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free lesson plan, thanks to the National Park Service! Just make sure to add the site as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Battle of Midway - National Park Service
Grades
6 to 12
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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...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Teachers will appreciate the inclusion of printable versions of the maps.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Apollo Program - NASA
Grades
6 to 12
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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,...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Use this site as an in-class activity during a unit on modern space exploration. Introduce this site on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector before allowing cooperative learning groups to explore it independently. To show what they have learned from this site, challenge students to create an online graphic to share using Visme, reviewed here. The text portions are challenging, so you should pair weaker readers with a partner as they research on this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Library of Congress 9/11 Acquisitions - Library of Congress
Grades
6 to 12
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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,...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Use this site as a learning center or station during a unit on September 11th, focusing mainly on the images and posters available. The images could be used for a picture walk or to accompany a lecture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mount Rushmore - PBS
Grades
6 to 12
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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 ...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Within the teachers guide are lesson plans for economics, civics, history or geography classes. This is a great resource for any Secondary Social Studies classroom!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Federalist Papers - Library of Congress
Grades
9 to 12
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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 ...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Use this site on the interactive whiteboard or projector as a way to supplement the textbook with the Federalist Papers. Share this site on the interactive whiteboard while studying a unit on the Founding Fathers or on the documents of the Revolutionary Period. This would be a great way to highlight some of the major arguments of the Federalist papers, particularly Federalist 10.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Colonial Fun: Toys and Games
Grades
4 to 8
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This page is almost entirely text, but it provides some good background information on toys, games, and recreation for colonial children. Teachers will likely find it more useful as...more
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This page is almost entirely text, but it provides some good background information on toys, games, and recreation for colonial children. Teachers will likely find it more useful as a resource for developing lesson content.
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Elie Weisel - First Person Singular - PBS
Grades
6 to 12
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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 ...more
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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.
In the Classroom
This site is a very moving resource for covering WWII and the Jewish Holocaust. Take advantage of the free lesson plans and activities offered in the teaching guide on this site. US and World history teachers will appreciate this one.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Virtual Talking Machine
Grades
6 to 12
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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,...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Play the music over classroom speakers to display for students what the music of the 20's was really like. This would also be a cute way to teach the Harlem Renaissance. This would be particularly interesting in a US history course.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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History and Politics Out Loud
Grades
9 to 12
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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...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Use this site to supplement a lecture on Martin Luther King and the impact of his "I have a dream" speech. Browse the results by speaker and select the speech under King's collection. After discussing King's role in civil rights, play the clip or as much of it as you can for students. Use the audio as a writing prompt, in which students respond to the difference in hearing vs reading the speech. Students should also respond to the emotional appeal of the speech, in addition to the overall message presented. This activity would be a great short review at the end of a unit on MLK Jr.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Circle of Stories - PBS
Grades
4 to 12
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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...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Use the educators guide to find ways to incorporate this site into your classroom, either through lesson plans or classroom activities. This would be a very useful site for a US history or English teacher, studying Native American Culture and story-telling.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mark Twain House
Grades
4 to 12
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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' ...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Teachers wanting to introduce some of Twain's personal life before or after reading one of his books can do just that with this site. Share the site with students on the interactive whiteboard, watching the virtual tour or examining the exhibits. There may not be a ton of information, but this is a great way to get students started on understanding just a little bit more about the famous author.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Civil War Classroom Activities - PBS
Grades
6 to 12
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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...more
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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!
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans and classroom activities offered in this site! The majority are somehow tied into the video, but there are some that also are broad enough that showing the video is not necessary.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Star Spangled Banner - Smithsonian
Grades
6 to 12
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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...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Use this site as an introductory activity for a lesson on the Flag's creating during a unit on the American Revolutionary War. Introduce the site on the interactive whiteboard before allowing students to explore it in cooperative learning groups on classroom computers. Have the students search the site with, answering specific questions on a follow-along (created by you) that encourages them to explore the site in depth. For help with making that follow-along, we recommend using Graphic Organizer Maker, (reviewed here). Afterward, have a class discussion or some sort of reflection piece to allow students to vocalize questions and opinions about the information presented.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lost in the Grand Canyon - PBS
Grades
9 to 12
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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...more
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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.
In the Classroom
Try this one as a "compare and contrast" with Lewis and Clark's expedition or today's adventurers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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