Featured Sites Week of: Aug 20, 2017 -
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Classroom Materials - Primary Source Sets - Library of Congress
Grades
4 to 12
tag(s): 20th century (170), authors (116), black history (133), civics (138), civil war (148), constitution (108), evaluating sources (58), hispanic (53), history day (38), immigration (86), jefferson (20), lincoln (65), new deal (5), primary sources (177), Research (92), segregation (22), thanksgiving (24), veterans (38), washington (33), westward expansion (42), womens suffrage (64), wright brothers (17)
In the Classroom
When introducing a new unit, show students photos from the era (on the left menu) and have them describe what they see and what period they think it is. Find plenty of questions and activities (including a blank analysis organizer for students) in the Teacher's Guides. Also look at Library of Congress: for Teachers, reviewed here. Encourage your students to use this tool for projects. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted for reproduction), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Google Slides, reviewed here. Google Slides allows you to narrate a picture (choose Insert from the top menu, then audio) modifying student learning. Include this site on your class webpage for students and parents to access as a reference.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Junior Rangers Online - National Park Service
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): animals (281), landmarks (20), national parks (30), plants (141), virtual field trips (154)
In the Classroom
Use the Educator's resources to find many curriculum connections and alignment to Common Core. Introduce one of the WebRangers' multimedia resources to your class on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site as a precursor activity to an actual trip to one of the parks or as you study states and their major landmarks. Use this in science class as you study animals and habitats. Explore the landmarks in your own city or town and create multimedia presentations about them like the ones shown here. In the Teacher's Resource Guide, find the link to their X (formerly Twitter) account. Even if students are unable to physically visit and explore parks, use the virtual visits to learn about the National Parks around the country and offer students the opportunity to earn Junior Ranger certificates. Create a map using Google My Maps, reviewed here, and add places visited by your class throughout the school year. In addition to labeling locations, add images, videos, and student text to share information about each location.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nelson Mandela Biography - bio.com
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 20th century (170), black history (133), civil rights (228), heroes (22), Nelson Mandela (29), south africa (31)
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector as an introduction to your Civil Rights, Black History, or Heroes unit. To allow students to explore on their own, you may want to create a guided reading activity using eMargin, reviewed here. Ehance learning by using an online tool such as the interactive Two or Three Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here to compare Nelson Mandela to other Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King. Have students create timelines about Civil Rights (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Find music for this period in history using Radiooo, reviewed here. Challenge students use Fakebook, reviewed here to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about Civil Rights leaders.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Arts & Culture - Google
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): 1900s (87), 1910s (30), 1920s (17), 1930s (39), 1940s (68), 1950s (33), 1960s (54), 1970s (30), 1980s (21), 20th century (170), africa (161), asia (138), civil rights (228), cross cultural understanding (167), holocaust (41), impressionism (4), jews (64), pearl harbor (15), south africa (31), spain (12), world war 2 (168)
In the Classroom
Because of the visual impact of this resource, it's perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard (or projector as a complement to a study of the historical period or issue serving as the focus for each theme. Students can hear the voices of children who were affected by the Holocaust, see photographs of Apartheid era South Africa, and view primary source documents related to the life of activist Steve Biko. Allow yourself a little time to play with the site before you use it, as it may not be immediately intuitive. Overall, however, the impact of the images and video found here will add real power to your lessons. Challenge your students to use the search tool to find visual media related to events or topics you are studying and to explain the relationships. Even world language teachers will find the media available here a way to share a rich nuances of another culture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The New Humanitarian - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): africa (161), asia (138), cross cultural understanding (167), cultures (302), media literacy (137), middle east (47), news (222)
In the Classroom
If you focus on current events or on the history or culture of "non-Western" countries, this site should be among your bookmarks or favorites. Encourage students to consider news sources outside of the major US networks or internet-based aggregators. Enhance classroom technology use and student learning by asking them to create a simple web page sharing their learning and understanding using Jimdo, reviewed here. Transform classroom technology use and challenge students or student groups to create an online, interactive, multimedia poster using Genially, reviewed here, to deliver information about a topic they researched. With Genially, students can choose the type of interactive media they want to develop.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Climate Change - American Museum of Natural History
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): carbon (14), carbon dioxide (9), climate (99), climate change (112)
In the Classroom
Use this resource for some excellent background information. Search for more information on the Internet to determine facts and how these facts are used. Create Public Service Announcements outlining the key points. Create a campaign for making small changes in our lives that can add up to a big difference. Have students create multimedia presentations such as an interactive online poster using Visme. Research alternative energy sources and create proposals for change within your district.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 (142), cross cultural understanding (167), environment (245), Problem Based Learning (15), service projects (16), social justice (44), sustainability (56)
In the Classroom
For safety, you may want to join as the teacher and have students use your account. Never let students set up individual accounts on any site in your classroom without parent permission or support from your school administration. Assign your world cultures, government, or world language students to immerse themselves in another country's problems and issues, 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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