Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The Whose Land website offers interactive tools and lesson plans to help students learn about Indigenous territories and the history of land ownership in North America. The platform includes resources like videos, maps, and guided activities encouraging students to explore whose land they live on and the importance of Indigenous sovereignty. The lesson plans are suitable for various grade levels and promote critical thinking about historical and contemporary issues related to Indigenous peoples and land rights. These materials are designed to foster respect for Indigenous cultures and awareness of ongoing settlement efforts. It's recommended to check if YouTube is accessible on school networks if you are planning to use these resources in the classroom.

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The Indigenous Peoples' Day Resources webpage from the Zinn Education Project provides resources to challenge traditional narratives of Columbus Day by centering the history and resilience of Indigenous peoples. It offers lesson plans, articles, and book recommendations aimed at creating a deeper understanding of the colonial impact on Native communities and celebrating Indigenous cultures and histories. These materials are designed to help educators engage students with Indigenous peoples' historical and ongoing struggles, encouraging a more inclusive and accurate view of history. If your district blocks YouTube, then the videos may not be viewable.

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ExpeditionsPro is a platform designed to help educators and leaders create and manage virtual and in-person field trips. The website provides tools to plan immersive experiences to enhance student learning and engagement, whether in local environments or through global connections. Teachers can use the platform to customize itineraries, track trip details, and even incorporate augmented reality or virtual reality elements for a modern, interactive approach to exploration. ExpeditionsPro emphasizes making educational trips accessible and organized, offering opportunities to bring the world into the classroom or take learning beyond its walls.

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From Election Results to Inauguration: Teaching the 2024 Transition of Power allows students to navigate the significance of the 2024 election, the responsibilities involved in the peaceful transfer of power, and the impact this has on our country's future. On the site, you can access inauguration performers and author's messages, ideas on how to teach the inauguration, what happens in the 78 days between Election Day and Inauguration Day, and learning to speak across political divides. You must create an account to access the lesson plans.

tag(s): inauguration (10), presidents (135)

The Virtual Field Trip- I Do Solemnly Swear: The U.S. Presidential Inauguration is a free website highlighting President Joseph Biden's inauguration process and Vice President Kamala Harris (from January 2021). The site highlights what it is like at the Presidential Inauguration, why we had an inauguration, why it happened on January 20th, why is the inauguration held at the Capital, and what it is like to move into the White House. Each lesson contains a PDF file you can download, but you must create an account to access the lesson plans. A 22-minute video from Discovery Streaming is posted on the website. Although this inauguration is not the most recent, students can still view the activities to learn more about the inauguration process.

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This site shares many resources that provide accurate cultural information and representation of the Native Indian culture, which are available in most content areas, including math and science. Download lesson plans that encourage students to explore and research the work of Indigenous leaders, learn about Native American recipes, and read about storytelling and traditions. Visit any link to access the lesson plan in PDF format, which includes activities and links to supporting materials.

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Smithsonian American Women's History Museum offers lessons for all age levels. Depending on the women or topic you click on, resources can include a video, lesson plan, photographs, and podcasts. Topics included on the site are Women in Space and STEM, Inspiring Women, Zines and Self Expression, We Belong Here: Title IX, Girlhood (It's Complicated), Innovative Lives, and Latinas Talk Latinas.

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National Women's History Museum is a free site that offers digital resources on famous women. Lessons contain guiding questions, time, objectives, prerequisites, materials needed, examples, assessment/homework, and future research/resources. The site allows you to filter by grade level and "movement" in time. Women featured on the site include Belva Lockwood, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Sally Hemings, Clara Barton, and many more.

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Black Women's Activism and the Long History Behind #MeToo offers a free three-part lesson. The lessons include exploring #MeToo through the lens of Black Women's history, reading Rosa Parks' account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and reading a primary source describing one black woman's experience working as a domestic servant in white households. The site includes suggested ways to implement the lesson, including the annotating/paraphrasing of sources and an identity chart. If you register for a free account, the link can be saved to your favorites, and you will be able to access Rosa Parks' account. Note to teachers: Some of the readings and activities below contain references to rape and other forms of sexual violence and harassment that simultaneously may be difficult to understand for some students and all too real for others.

tag(s): black history (133), civil rights (209)

This site is a section of the more extensive U.S. Senate website, reviewed here that provides live video of sessions from the floor of the United States Senate. The Floor Schedule below the video feed provides information on the daily schedule of proceedings. Other information on this page shares links to congressional records with transcripts of previous Senate sessions.

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Pedagog.ai supports educators using AI by providing free resources such as a prompt library, lesson plans, and AI tools for teaching and learning. After creating an account, use Pedagog.ai's dashboard as a starting point to find and access information. The prompt library includes suggested prompts for all curricular subjects, professional development, student prompts, and teaching strategies. The lesson plans include categories of AI Literacy and Integrating AI to share topics such as Generating Hybrid Animals with AI or AI and Historical Perspective. Visit the Using AI section to gather ideas on using AI to gamify your classroom and how to use AI with student projects.

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Pearl Harbor Educational Resources is a free website with resources to help teach students about Pearl Harbor. The site includes links to lessons on analyzing FDR's Pearl Harbor address to viewing high school yearbooks from WWII. Finally, there is a link to register for free lesson plans offered through That National WWII Museum in New Orleans, which provides a video and free webinars around the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

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The Educators 4 Social Change website provides a comprehensive resource page for teaching about Veterans Day, aimed at helping students understand the significance of the holiday and honor those who served in the military. Find lesson plans, articles, and activity ideas that cater to various grade levels, emphasizing the importance of recognizing veterans' sacrifices. The resources focus on engaging students through discussions about civic duty, history, and respect, making it a valuable tool for educators looking to deepen students' understanding of Veterans Day.

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Pearl Harbor Day is a free PBS video that is 6 minutes in length and shares the impact that the attack had on Wyoming. The video shares firsthand accounts of veterans who were in the military during World War II and showcases how Wyoming was home to Japanese-American immigrants.

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Pearl Harbor: Teaching with Primary Resources is a free PBS learning site that contains five primary resources. The primary resources include photographs of the bombing, a person reading the newspaper, naval dispatch, video recordings of "Dear Mr. President," and a Britannica article about the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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Speeches That Defined a Presidency is a free site that is based on C-SPAN's 2023 television series. The video series starts with a clip from Andrew Carroll sharing the importance of the power and significance of presidential speeches throughout United States history. The series then continues with speeches from presidents including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. The video series has options for selecting the length of the speeches to watch. Speeches can be two minutes to up to an hour in length.

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The Institute for Curriculum Services offers curriculum and resources for teaching about Judaism and Jewish history. Available courses include lessons about Jewish history, Israel, and the Middle East, as well as professional courses for teachers on how to teach religion. Each lesson includes downloadable lesson plans, Google slide deck presentations, and links to individual materials such as pre-assessments, exit tickets, and glossaries. Additional support materials include maps in English and Spanish and videos. Visit the ICS Library for links to more support materials, such as slideshows, PDFs, and Google Form activities.

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DocsTeach is a versatile educational website designed by the National Archives to provide teachers with primary source documents and interactive activities. The "American Indians" section offers a wealth of resources for teaching about the history and culture of Native American peoples. Educators can access historical documents, photographs, maps, and videos that explore various aspects of Native American life, policies, and U.S. government relations. Teachers can use these primary sources to create custom lessons or use pre-made activities to engage students in critical thinking and historical analysis.

tag(s): cultures (180), native americans (109)

The Living Nations, Living Words Educator Guide from the Library of Congress offers a rich resource to explore contemporary Native American poetry and culture. This guide is designed to accompany the Living Nations, Living Words poetry collection, featuring works by 47 Native American poets. The educator guide provides thoughtful lesson plans and activities that help students engage with themes of identity, resilience, and connection to land through poetry. The guide focuses on Indigenous perspectives and voices. It helps teachers create meaningful discussions in English/language arts, social studies, and cultural studies classrooms, fostering a deeper understanding of Native American contributions to literature and society.

tag(s): cultures (180), native americans (109), poetry (193)

Short History Of... is a weekly podcast that takes listeners back in time to learn the stories behind historical events. Hear about diverse topics like Elvis Presley's rise from a working-class truck driver to one of the best-selling music artists of all time and the cultural and economic factors leading to the French Revolution of the late 18th century. Each podcast runs about an hour long and is available on most podcast streaming sites.

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