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Founding Principles: American Governance in Action - Bowdoin College
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): branches of government (65), civil rights (209), congress (40), constitution (96), elections (82), electoral college (22), presidents (135), supreme court (27)
In the Classroom
Watch videos together as a class, or flip your class and have students watch at home before introducing lessons on the government in class. Allow students to watch videos at their own pace on 1:1 devices or at home, then create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Infogram, reviewed here. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts of American Governance. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here.You Decide: Jefferson or Hamilton? A Biography of America - PBS Learning Media California
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1700s (36), constitution (96), jefferson (19)
In the Classroom
This interactive provides a perfect introduction to any unit on the Constitution. Ask students to complete the short quiz, then compare their response to others. Create a quick poll (with no membership required) using SurveyRock, reviewed here, to view responses from your class. Have students make an interactive multimedia presentation after researching Hamilton or Jefferson using a tool like Sway, reviewed here, or Vevox, reviewed here. Vevox offers interactive features such as real-time polls and comments to keep viewers interested and involved in the presentation. Take advantage of the discussion questions on this site to encourage students to think about the visions of our government leaders.Who Was Alexander Hamilton? Early Influences - PBS Learning Media California
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1700s (36), constitution (96)
In the Classroom
View this video together as a class as an introduction to lessons on Alexander Hamilton, the Constitution, or slavery. Flip your lessons and have students watch the video before class. Use the Discussion Questions from the site to challenge students to research other Founding Fathers. Have students or groups share what they know about Hamilton using Padlet, reviewed here. The Padlet application creates free online bulletin boards. Encourage students to research Alexander Hamilton's later life, then upload a photo they have encountered (with proper credit, of course) and add an explanation about what they learned using a tool such as Add Text, reviewed here.Decoding Elections: Process, Persuasion & Participation - NewseumEd
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): democracy (24), elections (82), presidents (135), primary sources (117)
In the Classroom
Whether the nation or your local government is going through an unpleasant, combative election campaign, or even during a yearly unit on the elections this collection from Newseum will help students understand our political system. Pique student interest by having them take the Political Personality Quiz. In small groups have students discuss whether or not they agree with the results. Next, you may want to use the Candidate Match to refine their political profile further, and then discuss how they feel about the candidate they matched up with and why they feel that way. While using any or all of the case studies with your students, don't forget to download the Activity, Handout, and Worksheet. All of the case studies have discussion topics.All students need to have a voice during discussions, whether discussing as a class or in small groups, allow everyone to share their opinions and concerns using a backchannel tool for the class such as GoSoapBox, reviewed here, or with older students, in small groups, using a tool like Slack, reviewed here. Extension activities encompass making charts, lists, (use tools like 25 Language Arts Graphic Organizers, reviewed here, or Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers, reviewed here), researching a candidate creating a slogan and explaining why the slogan fits that candidate, and creating a campaign event. For the latter two extension suggestions use a tool such as Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here.
Memorial Day Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): memorial day (11)
In the Classroom
Share these resources with your students as you learn about Memorial Day. Create a cross-curricular project by having students research the history of the holiday and then write a letter or poem.Who, Me? Biased? - New York Times
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bias (27), black history (133), bullying (48), character education (79), civil rights (209), difficult conversations (57), diversity (40), racism (79), tolerance (8)
In the Classroom
Share videos with students either with a projector, an interactive whiteboard, or use the link or embed codes on your class website to view at home. Have students view from home and enhance learning using Acclaim, reviewed here where you can stop the video and ask questions about the parts where students may need clarification right on the video! Have cooperative learning groups extend their learning by creating podcasts sharing their insight into biases and racism along with suggestions on ways to address each problem. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Share this site with your school's counselor for use with ongoing lessons in tolerance and diversity.Students Investigating Primary Sources - Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): branches of government (65), civil rights (209), constitution (96), primary sources (117), womens suffrage (52)
In the Classroom
Benefit from the free lessons on this site for use when teaching the use of primary sources. Challenge younger students to demonstrate concepts learned by creating a presentation using slides, reviewed here, and older students to use a presentation tool from Marq (was Lucidpress), reviewed here. The easy drag and drop features of Marq allow you to personalize flyers, posters, presentations, and more. Ask students to incorporate primary sources and other research materials into an interactive timeline using Preceden, reviewed here, as a visual look at historical events over a certain period.Immigrant Stories - Immigration History Research Center Univ of Minnesota
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): immigrants (34), immigration (68), migration (45)
In the Classroom
Have your ESL/ELL students share their stories here (with permission from parents) when doing a biography writing unit. Have all students search for stories of immigrants whose ethnic background resembles their own. Have each student choose one story to read about and share a quick multimedia project with the class, such as a simple online posters using PicLits, reviewed here. Ask students who have a relative who is an immigrant to interview them, and then use a tool such as the 3 Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare the experiences. This could be done using a story from the same country, or other countries. Use stories from this site as a writing prompt for a poem or digital story about an aspect of immigrant life, asking students to put themselves in the immigrant's shoes. For presentations of digital stories challenge students to use Presentious, reviewed here. This tool allows narrating and adding text to a picture. For the advanced digital atudent and teacher challenge them to create their story as a game using Pencil Code Gym, reviewed here.Military History Now - NH Mallett
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): battles (18), famous people (19), veterans (27)
In the Classroom
Military History Now is an excellent addition to any history classroom. Share information from posts with students to add background information to any topic. Encourage students to browse the site on their own to find little-known facts to share with others. Have students create an interactive image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Genially, reviewed here, to share information learned.National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection Stories - National Museum of African American History and Culture
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): african american (115), black history (133), cross cultural understanding (173), cultures (180)
In the Classroom
Share stories from this collection to provide a personal look at events from African-American history in the United States. Use stories as an example, and ask students to find additional artifacts from the National Museum and research to discover the story behind the item. Have younger students use Kiddle, reviewed here, a kid-friendly search engine to find documents about their particular object. Younger students could bring an item from their home to tell the story of its history. For either of these ideas, enhance student learning by encouraging them to create online books for sharing the stories using a tool such as Ourboox, reviewed here. Ask students to find local residents with knowledge of historical events to come talk to your class about the "behind the scenes" story, or set up a Zoom meeting with an African-American leader. Use these stories for informational reading in your Language Arts classroom, and as a wonderful resource to use for covering the informational reading standards required with the CCSS.JuxtaposeJS - Knight Lab
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): history day (39), images (263), local history (14), photography (130)
In the Classroom
Use JuxtaposeJS to highlight then and now images of any location or building. Compare current cities to images taken many years ago. Compare and contrast pictures of major war battles to how they look in the present. Highlight changes in photographs over time. Compare and contrast changes in plants or animals. It may take some practice getting images to align properly; however, it is worth the time to create the visual presentation provided by this tool. Upload finished images to your class or student's websites. If you don't have a website, try a simple web page creator like Carrd, reviewed here.Vivid Color Photos from the Great Depression - Christopher Woody/Business Insider
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1900s (72), 20th century (62), great depression (30), images (263)
In the Classroom
Share these images and descriptions with students as part of your lessons on 20th century America. Have students choose an image as a creative writing prompt or as inspiration for further research. Share typical black and white Depression-era photos and these colorized images, then use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast differences including emotional reactions to images. Have students redefine their learning by creating timelines (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here, defining important 20th-century events. Use a site such as Radiooo, reviewed here, to find music from any era in history.Civil Rights History Project - National Museum of African American History and Culture
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1960s (26), african american (115), black history (133), civil rights (209), cultures (180), interviews (17), racism (79), video (266), women (151)
In the Classroom
Share these videos on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector as part of any Civil Rights or racism unit. Include a link to the interviews on your class web page. After watching a video, have students research more about the events discussed. Engage students by replacing pen and paper and having them write blog entries of what they are learning using a blogging tool such as Penzu, reviewed here. With Penzu you can add images or your own artwork as illustrations. Take this a step further by modifying and enhancing learning and challenging students to create an interactive timeline using Preceden, reviewed here, about the events in the life of one of the activists. Alternatively, challenge students to create maps using Zeemaps, reviewed here, to share stories and events from the Civil Rights Movement. Zeemaps allows students to create audio recordings AND choose various locations on a map where the events take place.OpenStax - Rice University
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): advanced placement (26), book lists (167), ebooks (43), STEM (297)
In the Classroom
Use OpenStax textbooks to dig deeper into core subjects such as math, science, and social studies. Use materials to differentiate instruction based on student abilities and interests. If your current textbooks are older, find newer books on OpenStax and adopt them for your curriculum. Take advantage of the search feature of online books to find supplemental material for your current instruction. Find teaching materials for gifted students using OpenStax textbooks.Constitute - Comparative Constitutions Project - Univ of Texas at Austin
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): civil rights (209), constitution (96), cross cultural understanding (173), cultures (180)
In the Classroom
Share Constitute on an interactive whiteboard or projector as part of any lessons studying nations around the world. Compare constitutions when discussing current events and cultural differences. Use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to demonstrate differences and similarities. Flip learning by sharing a comparison you create, then have students study comparisons before class discussions of materials.Jason Townsend & Son YouTube Channel - Jason Townsend
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1700s (36), american revolution (82), cooking (32)
In the Classroom
Flip your classroom and use a video as homework. Have students take notes on the material and write down questions they still have and topics that confuse them. Or, use a tool like EdPuzzle, reviewed here, for students to pause videos and ask or answer questions right on the video. These activities can uncover misconceptions. Show the video to the class, and then discuss the concept at length. For more advanced classes, provide time for students to choose a video to view and research the underlying concept.The Music of Hamilton: The Musical - Genius.com
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1700s (36), constitution (96)
In the Classroom
Use lyrics from Hamilton to introduce your unit on the Constitution. Have students explore the site on their own, ask them to take the time to through the annotations that provide historical context to the music. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create their own music related to the Consitution and record their music videos. Share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Have students make a multimedia presentation about events leading to the writing of the Constitution using a tool like Sway, reviewed here.The Museum of Modern Art Exhibition History - The Museum of Modern Art
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): 20th century (62), art history (102), artists (84)
In the Classroom
Art teachers will love this collection for use when teaching various types of arts and artists. Be sure to take advantage of the audio tours for a wide variety of art information for students. Include a link with specific information on your class website for students to view (and hear) at home. Have students create a multimedia presentation using My Storybook, reviewed here. This site 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.Hold the Fort! - National Park Service, Fort McHenry
Grades
4 to 10tag(s): battles (18), game based learning (205), war of 1812 (15)
In the Classroom
This interactive requires the installation of the Unity Web Player, be sure to verify set up before students play the game. Create a link on classroom computers for students to play on their own or in groups. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts describing events leading up to and during the Battle of Baltimore as if broadcasting a news event. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Challenge students to create a fictional Facebook account using Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a soldier, commander, or British soldier during the battle.Transportation Systems - Past, Present, and Future - Educator DigiKit - The Henry Ford Museum
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): 1800s (75), 1900s (72), railroads (14), transportation (30)