Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This unique collaboration between Google and many of the world's most respected art museums enables viewers to discover the museum's thousand of artworks in extraordinary detail. All content pertaining to individual artworks was provided by the museums. Visit over 2,000 museums without leaving home through the lens of Google Arts & Culture's presentations. Explore the studios of famous artists, take tours of historical cities through virtual trips, or use the search bar to find the categories for "selfie" (then take a selfie to find a piece of art that looks like you). Use the menu (the three lines at the top-left of your screen) to choose from the different collections, themes, and experiments. Collections include resources to learn about art, music, and drama through many different options. Other choices include searches by artists, historical events, and art movements. You won't want to leave the profusion of engaging content at this site!

tag(s): art history (108), artists (87), museums (52), virtual field trips (131)

Images of Early Maps is a curation of links to free maps found on the Internet organized by continent and themes. Select a link to go to the list of map links that includes a short description of the map features and time period. Pay attention to the bolded words; these indicate links to high resolution and large collections of maps.

tag(s): maps (224)

Discover historical maps from around the world through the gateways provided in Old Maps Online. Browse old maps or use the search to find maps by specific location; use filters to narrow down to specific years, publishers, and more. The timeline option allows you to drag sliders to specific date ranges. Move the map around to fit any area into the red square to narrow down the maps provided. Click on any of the results shown on the right-hand side of the screen to view a description, date produced, and map information.

tag(s): maps (224)

This site is a collaborative resource for curating and sharing art history teaching content. Begin with the Lesson Plans to find ideas divided into three broad themes, each with several subtopics. Each lesson includes background information, ideas for content, and suggestions for after-class activities. Visit the Resources section of the website to find information for AP Art History, book suggestions, podcast ideas, and much more. Art and History's e-journal provides articles and a forum for educators to share and learn about teaching art history.

tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), 20th century (62), architecture (84), art history (108), artists (87), china (83), greece (47), medieval (33), photography (131), renaissance (38), romans (52)

Open Course Library is an impressive collection of free, downloadable course materials. Materials include syllabi, activities, readings, assessments, and more. The course topics cover a variety of content in all subject areas. Use the search feature to narrow down available information. Most links lead to course information found on shareable Google Documents.

tag(s): anthropology (10), business (54), careers (182), cells (82), communication (130), french (74), geology (61), literature (221), media literacy (113), nutrition (140), oceans (149), OER (43), psychology (65), sign language (11), spanish (112), speech (69), statistics (121), women (154), writing (325)

Walk through the three major kingdoms of ancient Egypt using Describing Egypt, a beautiful, virtual reality, immersive tour. Each view is described with detailed information about the location as if you are physically there. Learn the stories from these locations--stories of their owners and their life and death--and follow the progression of art, culture, and architecture across Egypt's long and diverse history.

tag(s): africa (170), egypt (59), pyramids (24), virtual field trips (131)

If you think ancient history is dull and boring, you haven't seen the Ancient History Encyclopedia! Discover the ancient world through engaging text, video, and interactive features. Explore the site in many different ways including the index, timeline, maps, and media library. Each portion of the site includes a robust search feature including filters for narrowing down information to desired dates, media formats, and more.

tag(s): aztecs (10), cultures (226), greece (47), japan (64), maps (224), mayans (32), mesopotamia (32), myths and legends (42), religions (113), romans (52), vikings (10)

Read. Inquire. Write. is a free curriculum using investigations to support middle school social studies learning through inquiry-based lessons; also, this site provides many supports for English Language Learners within the activities. Use the provided literacy tools to guide students in analytical reasoning and argument writing within the 5-day investigations. Each investigation includes all materials needed including teacher's guides, student packets, rubrics, student models, and a PowerPoint presentation. Also, all activities provide video models demonstrating methods to encourage student thinking and investigative responses. Each lesson includes correlation to Common Core Standards. Registration is required to download materials from this site. Videos reside on YouTube. If your school blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): civil war (141), colonial america (95), concept mapping (15), debate (42), democracy (24), evaluating sources (30), greece (47), inquiry (30), maps (224), mexico (46), middle east (50), native americans (116)

Quatr.us provides a collection of over 2500 study guides related to history topics. The home page includes links to study guides and articles related to the current month. Find additional topics using the keyword search. Embedded within the articles are links to related information and bibliographies including additional reading resources.
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tag(s): 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), 20th century (62), medieval (33), renaissance (38)

Explore over 5,000 years of art in three exciting ways at this vibrant, interactive site from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Along the menu at the top find Explore the Map, where you choose and double click red or yellow markers to explore fun facts and videos about art worldwide. Next, hop into the Time Machine to learn more about specific times, geography, and big ideas such as inventions or creatures. Also, find Videos that teach about celebrations, share art made by kids, or provide detailed directions for creating your art, all on the menu bar across the top.

tag(s): africa (170), art history (108), artists (87), asia (136), china (83), europe (84), inventors and inventions (81), japan (64), middle east (50), myths and legends (42), russia (34)

Immigrant Stories is a collection of videos sharing personal and family immigration stories. Add your story to the collection by following posted instructions and video tutorials. View all of the stories here. Each short video includes information about the participant and a downloadable transcript. Click on tags to find additional videos from participants discussing the same country or region.

tag(s): immigrants (48), immigration (84), migration (45)

Military History Now is dedicated to sharing the strange, off-beat, and lesser-known aspects of military history. Scroll through the site to find interesting stories of the military from around the world, both recent and long ago. Recent posts include the story behind the famous "I Want You" poster featuring Uncle Sam and 10 Most Famous Battle Cries. Use the keyword search to find specific information, or click on related links in posts to find more information on a topic.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): battles (18), famous people (28), veterans (27)

Chronas is an interactive timeline of world history. Move the timeline bar along the bottom of the map to view the world map as it appeared during that period. Click on any country to see that nation's Wikipedia entry. Other map icons allow users to load images for the selected year and browse through data such as populations by religion and culture. Chronas includes many features buried in the maps and timelines, be sure to watch the short introductory video with an overview of the basic features. If your district blocks YouTube, this video may not be viewable.

tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), explorers (64), maps (224), religions (113), timelines (57)

Watch the growth of human population from 1 CE through 2050 with this interactive map and timeline. A five-minute video provides an overview of population growth, use the drop-down box to view the video in several different languages. Personalize your viewing experience to adjust features on the map with themes, overlays, and map dots. Click on the timeline below the map to view additional information about events throughout time. Choose the menu to find all the resources on this site, including several lesson plans.

tag(s): advanced placement (26), conservation (101), environment (251), population (51)

Find five decades of the Metropolitan Museum of Art publications available for free download or online reading at this extensive public collection. Browse by keyword, date, title, or topic as you choose from over 450 available titles. Choose your publication, and then follow the links for downloading in PDF, reading online, or other options. Not all titles have all options available.

tag(s): art history (108), artists (87)

Mr. Moore's Classroom shares resources used in his social studies courses which include AP US History, Debate, and World History. Each content area includes a course syllabus, learning calendars, and information by unit. Some sections include more information and activities than others. Choose the Presentations link to find links to videos, Prezi presentations, and interactive games and simulations. If your district blocks YouTube, then the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), 20th century (62), advanced placement (26), american revolution (83), aztecs (10), civil rights (219), civil war (141), debate (42), industrial revolution (22), industrialization (12), speech (69), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (163)

Histography is an interactive timeline spanning history from the beginning through 2015 (as of this review), pulling historical events from Wikipedia. Drag the bar across the timeline to any point in history to view stacks of dots representing events. Click any dot to view the event and then go to the link on Wikipedia, if desired. Use the left sidebar to view specific topics such as music or politics throughout history. Be sure to take some time to explore this site by clicking around to find other options such as "Feeling Lucky" or to expand your view using slider bars at the bottom of the graph.

tag(s): timelines (57)

The Los Angeles Unified School District offers a large selection of resources for teaching history and social sciences aligned to Common Core Standards. Choose from elementary, middle, or high school to find curriculum maps and lessons. One very useful portion of the site includes lessons created in partnership with Reading Like a Historian, reviewed here, that engage students in the creation of historical knowledge. Both sites are a must-visit for anyone teaching Social Studies!

tag(s): assessment (146), commoncore (73), professional development (393)

The Global Flow of Refugees offers an interactive look at refugee flows between countries during the past few years. It is based on raw data collected by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. Be sure to read the "Before You Begin" section for using the map. Click any segment to narrow down information to individual countries showing the flow to or from that country. In addition to the interactive map, scroll down further on the page to view two static versions of the map and informational charts.

tag(s): continents (33), countries (73), cross cultural understanding (178), immigrants (48)

The Great Human Odyssey is a powerful journey into the lives of three different cultures and the lives of nomads. Explore the sea, desert, and tundra as you become the nomad and view life from a first person perspective. Along the way click on icons as they pop-up to provide additional information through videos and photographs.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (178), deserts (17), oceans (149), tundra (14)