Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Find a treasury of old radio shows from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. There are seven genres from which to choose (comedy, mystery, western, drama, etc.), and each genre has at least ten different old radio shows for your selection. There is a miscellaneous section that has such treasures as "Voices From History," "World War II News Broadcasts," and "Fireside Chat with Franklin D. Roosevelt." Downloading of the Mp3 files takes a while, so be patient.
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tag(s): 1930s (20), 1940s (14), 1950s (8), listening (93), oral history (13), radio (20), world war 2 (161)

Find out what happened on any date in history with this informative site. Each event is listed with a short description. Historic events are listed chronologically from oldest to current times. (Some dates are several pages long, be sure to click the "read more" link to continue to newer dates.) Information includes birthdays, discoveries, events, and more. Searches by specific years, months, and famous birthdays. You are able to add events and comments. Note that the general public can also add comments, so preview before projecting in class!
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tag(s): calendars (37), timelines (56)

This site looks at Victorian Christmas observances from the American point of view. Focusing on holiday celebrations between 1830 and 1860, this site examines the growth of the Christmas holiday as we know it, examining those traditions that have continued into the 20th Century and those that are but a memory.

tag(s): christmas (38), civil war (139), victorian (16)

This is your GO TO site for the Civil War. Here you will find information about sailors and soldiers, battles, monuments, and more! Scrol down the page and click battles and search by battle name, state, or year. Find out the basics about each battle. There are also links to more information. Click on the Soldiers link to search for information about soldiers by state, side (Union or Confederate) or even by name! Click on the Sailors link to find more information about their important role (including records of about 18,000 African American sailors).

tag(s): africa (148), african american (115), battles (18), civil war (139)

This site offers suggestions and examples of different types of questions to include in classrooms. Each type of question is explained and sample questions are included. For a visual explanation of how questions work together, choose the Essential Questions link and scroll down to the diagram showing that this is center of all questions, then all other types of question serve to illuminating the Essential Questions. Links are included to additional information on each of the topics.

tag(s): critical thinking (127), questioning (36)

The primary purpose of this site is to offer information and techniques for quilters; however, they also offer 3 lesson plans that can be used in elementary, middle, or high school classrooms. The elementary lesson focuses on learning fractions through dividing up quilt squares including basic and advanced activities. The middle school lesson focuses on proportions. The high school activity is based upon polynomials. These would be fun activities for students to apply these math concepts through hands-on activities.

tag(s): angles (52), fractions (160), polynomials (20), symmetry (27)

Browse one of Writer's Digest 101 Best Sites to quickly find and display famous quotes by topics, keywords, authors, and even author types, such as poets, musicians, lawyers, or politicians. A quote of the day and a trivia game are also included. BrainyQuote is a free service that supports itself by revenue generated from a few advertisements on the site. However, they are not intrusive, and they are easy to ignore.
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tag(s): authors (107), themes (16), writing (325), writing prompts (61)

This historical site features short videos (1 minute in length) that highlight "This Day in History." Topics include a mix of everything: government, world geography, world history, health history, discoveries, and much more. The video clips highlight several events from each day. They span the past few centuries and include various subjects and topics. Be aware with the videos, if you stay on the site and do not click "pause" or click on another link, you will automatically go to the video for the following day. So if you don't want your students to "peek ahead," be sure to click "pause." There is a short advertisement when you arrive at this site, so you may want to click on the site before you use it with your students and then click "pause" at the start of the video clip.

Although the videos are the highlight of this site, there is much more to explore! On the right side bar you will find text boxes to enter ANY date and choose the category. Some examples of categories include Civil War, Cold War, Presidential, Sports, Old West, World War I and II, Entertainment, and several others. On the left side bar there are even more topics and links to explore. Once you click on the subject area, specific "story topics" are provided under the subject. Both of the features on the right and left side of the site display text information, not video clips.

tag(s): presidents (135)

Created by the Ellis Island Foundation with assistance from the genealogy experts in the Latter Day Saints Church, this site has become instantly popular. Its online database lets you search for immigrants who passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. Viewers will be interested in the sections on the history of American immigration, as well as the "American Histories" section, which shows how people have traced their own ancestry.

tag(s): ellis island (6), immigration (68), migration (45), new york (24), states (124)

The Census Bureau offers lots of Thanksgiving statistics, from the total weight of all the turkeys raised in the US to the total amount of food consumed on Thanksgiving. You can plan a huge party with this one!

tag(s): holidays (187), thanksgiving (24)

Students are ordinarily much more familiar with the signing of the Declaration of Independence than the signing of the Constitution, even though the signing of the Constitution may arguably be the more important event. A painting by Howard Chandler Christy documents the event, and this site provides an interactive look at the characters depicted in the painting. There is also a link to more information about the painting, which is one of the most historically accurate paintings of the founding of our country, despite the fact that it does not actually depict all of the signers. A number of other resource links may be worth pursuing for further information.

tag(s): constitution (96)

This collaborative website focuses on controversial contemporary issues, including juvenile justice, eco-topics, gun control, women's rights, voting rights, civil liberties in war, and affirmative action (go to Browse Topics from the Home page to find these). Help students understand the role of the news media in a democracy. This website combines the radio broadcast resources of Justice Talking and written articles and features from the NY Times Learning Network. Lesson plans corresponding to each "hot topic" offer social studies, language arts, and science teachers opportunities to connect the real news with topics in their curricula. A glossary of words important to the democratic process and a link to the Constitution with a "what it says, what it means" feature allow students to understand authentic sources as well as historical references. "In Their Own Words" (accessible from the Site Guide) provides primary source documents and statements from each of the three branches of government, from the press, and from schools.

tag(s): character education (79), civil rights (209), ecology (103), radio (20), women (150)

Try this simple, graphically attractive interactive map of Philadelphia during the time of the Founding Fathers. Click on the featured landmarks, and further information about that building and its significance during the time of the Revolution appears in a pop up window.

tag(s): american revolution (82), evolution (89), philadelphia (10)

This PDF document explains in clear language the concept of intellectual freedom. Use this site as an extra resource when teaching the Bill of Rights. It is an excellent reference resource for ideas that older Americans assume kids know about. Subtopics include the history of intellectual freedom, the first amendment, an explanation of the role of libraries in exercising intellectual freedom as it applies to written materials and records of who's reading what, how the concepts of privacy and confidentiality apply to the use of intellectual materials, and what respecting the needs of others means. It ends up with an well-researched bibliography of further materials on the subject of intellectual freedom and the right to read. These books are fiction and non-fiction and focus on ages 10 and older.

tag(s): bill of rights (33), constitution (96)

The National Baseball Hall of Fame offers lots of information on famous players and the history of the game. It's a great starting point for students interested in baseball's impact on American culture, especially in the early 20th century. Visit the Sights and Sounds link to view videos, hear authentic news clips and interviews, and more.

tag(s): baseball (32)

This Library of Congress collection has information on Jackie Robinson and lots more. This site includes lesson plans, class activities, and many additional resources. Standards are included. As always, the images are the star of the show, and there are pictures of early teams, documentation on Robinson's entry into the big leagues, and much more. This site also includes some information about primary sources. Well worth a visit.

tag(s): baseball (32), civil rights (209)

Looking for an easy to use free jeopardy game? Look no further than this site. Download the application for free or create the activity to be played online. View and try activities already created online. If you like your project you can save it to a folder on your computer. There is a short video in the "How To" section that will walk you through the process of making, saving, and playing a Flash Jeopardy game. Those of you who have used the PowerPoint Jeopardy will find this flash version much less time consuming to create and to recreate new Jeopardy games.
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tag(s): grammar review (31), matching (8)