269 history-culture-americas results | sort by:
return to subject listingTeaching History with 100 Objects - The British Museum
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): archeology (26), britain (27), europe (77), great britain (16), history day (39), local history (14), museums (47), oral history (14)
In the Classroom
While the objects are classified with an eye toward their relevance to British history, there are plenty of connections to historical inquiry regardless of geographic area. If you are not focusing on British history yourself, consider using this concept to challenge students to select 100 (or some more manageable number) objects to represent their area of interest. What 100 objects might represent their community's history? Their school's history? Their family's history? From a historian's perspective, how do objects represent historical themes? How can we discover more about a culture or historical time period by examining the objects of that time? Why and how do historians choose particular objects to put into museums, and how do those objects tell a story? How could you create a "museum" of your school or of your community using objects?You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Remember Pearl Harbor - New York Times: The Learning Network
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): japan (56), pearl harbor (14), roosevelt (15), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plan for use in your World War II unit or Pearl Harbor lesson. Use this site to differentiate activities for students. Be sure to "mine" the links within the site for additional resources to add to your current lesson plans. Exchange paper and pen brainstorming by having students or groups collect ideas and findings about the Day That Will Live in Infamy using Padlet, reviewed here. The Padlet application creates free online bulletin boards. Extend student learning and have them create a simple infographic about Pearl Harbor using Venngage, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Year We Had Two Thanksgivings - Marist College
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): primary sources (119), roosevelt (15), thanksgiving (22)
In the Classroom
Use information from the article and documents as part of any lesson about Thanksgiving. Share the documents as part of a unit on primary resources. Print and share documents with students and challenge them to present an opposing point of view or write a reply from President Roosevelt. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast different points of view. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook "as" President Roosevelt or one of the writers of letters to the president.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Stuff You Missed in History Class - Tracy Wilson and Holly Frey
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): archeology (26), black history (130), civil rights (200), civil war (136), cross cultural understanding (167), mental health (36), native americans (95), podcasts (103), religions (85), vikings (10), world war 1 (78), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
Use podcasts from Stuff You Missed in History to enrich current lessons or lure students into thinking history can actually be "cool." Provide a link on class computers or your class website for students use. Have students use a mapping tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to create a map of one of these events (with audio stories and pictures included)! Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about one of the people in these lesser known historic events.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CurriConnects Book List: Alaska and Hawaii - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): alaska (21), book lists (165), hawaii (7), independent reading (86)
In the Classroom
Include these books for independent reading during a unit on U.S. geography, multiculturalism, or the states. Compare the life of children living in Alaska or Hawaii to the students in your own class. The conversations will easily evolve into projects where students can compare and contrast or create "profiles" of childhood in different states and cultures.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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40 Maps That Explain World War I - Vox
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): europe (77), map skills (56), maps (207), world war 1 (78)
In the Classroom
These maps are perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard. If you are teaching World War I, these maps need to be among your "go to" bookmarks for illustrating important highlights about the War. Consider also providing a link to the maps as part of materials students can access to learn more, as extra challenge, or for independent or group projects. The maps illustrating important technology first used in World War I will fascinate students who enjoy learning how things work. Have students create a multimedia presentation about the aspects of WWI that fascinate them most.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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JFK American Experience - PBS American Experience
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1960s (26), civil rights (200), kennedy (20), presidents (133)
In the Classroom
The 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy provides an opportunity to refresh students' knowledge of JFK as a man and a President. What important policy innovations can we attribute to his Presidency? How might the remainder of the turbulent decade of the 1960s have been different had he lived? And from a different perspective, while we all want to romanticize the legacy of "Camelot" and the glamour of the Kennedy family, what were his failings? This site provides some rich primary sources to include in a discussion of the Kennedy Presidency, as well as a brief preview of the American Experience film itself. Whether you choose to view the episode with your class or not, you are certain to obtain excellent information at this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Places We Live - Jonas Bendikson
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): africa (142), cross cultural understanding (167), india (25)
In the Classroom
Be sure to include The Places We Live with any unit on poverty around the world or in a general world cultures class. Share this site on your class web page for students to access both in and outside of class for further exploration. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare life in your area to the life of teens shown here. Share the images, with no sound, as writing prompts for students to imagine themselves in the slums. What would their lives be like? What would be the same or different? What could they do to help their family to get out of those living conditions? Is there anything anyone can do to help?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Historical Marker Database - HMdb.org
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 20th century (62), american revolution (82), anthropology (10), california (16), civil rights (200), civil war (136), disasters (37), explorers (66), heroes (25), hispanic (32), immigration (68), labor day (5), mexico (30), native americans (95), natural disasters (16), natural resources (38), texas (7), vietnam (38), war of 1812 (15), world war 1 (78), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
Use the Historical Marker Database to find information and locations of important events near your hometown or relating to any area of study. For example, choose the Civil Rights link to find markers noting important events related to Civil Rights. Then have students enhance their learning and create a simple infographic sharing their findings. Use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Have students create maps using Zeemaps, reviewed here. This tool allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location on a map (Alaska) where the report takes place. Transform learning by having students create timelines of historic events near your school; use Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS also offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Seeing America - Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): art history (89), artists (82)
In the Classroom
Aside from its obvious usefulness to an art history class, consider choosing an image from an era under study in a history course --or from the time period of a piece of American literature --and incorporating a look at the time through the eyes of an artist. How did events from that time influence the artist's vision of the world? What was America like to that artist? How is that different today? These are great "plug and play" resources that can be used to design an entire unit around using one of the themes or can be as short as an activating activity at the beginning of a class. Ask: When do you think this was painted? What tells you that? What is the artist trying to tell us about his or her view of America? The only limitation here is that it's difficult to view the images in full screen; you will need to use your browser's zoom function to use the images effectively on an interactive whiteboard (or projector).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Car Brochures - Hans Tangerud
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (62), advertising (26), history day (39), transportation (31)
In the Classroom
Teens are fascinated with cars. Why not give them the opportunity to research the design and features of cars from a historical era being studied in a history class, or that match the time period with that of literary work. What did the cars look like when the Joad family made its way to California? What did Jay Gatsby drive? What was the "hottest ride" during the Vietnam War? As you try to communicate the culture of an era, consider using an image or two on the whiteboard (or projector) from the appropriate year to help students envision the world of that time. Cars and the way they are advertised also speak volumes about trends in graphic design and advertising. How does automobile advertising today differ from that in the 1950s? What emotions and needs were marketers appealing to? This resource would also be great as a springboard for a National History Day project comparing car design (or advertisements) across the 20th century and linking it to events of that time period. Teacher-librarians will love this resource to teach about primary sources and actually have students be interested!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teach Dear America - Colonial Period - Scholastic
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), colonial america (94)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site and combine it with TeachersFirst's CurriConnects leveled reading list forColonial America and the Revolution and Frontier Forts on the American Revolution for multiple offerings and angles on the Colonial and Revolutionary time period. Create a link to various activities, quizzes, and downloadables for students to explore on classroom computers. Include crafts and recipes from the site during your unit. Have students create an annotated image about Colonial times including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here to demonstrate concepts learned when making crafts or recipes. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here) to compare Colonial life to present day. Have students create timelines using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS also offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive. Have students use Fakebook (reviewed here) to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a student their age living in Colonial America.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Seminole Tribune - Seminole Tribune of Florida
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): civil rights (200), cross cultural understanding (167), cultures (145), myths and legends (24), native americans (95)
In the Classroom
Use this site to study the Seminoles as part of a unit on Native Americans. Have students enhance their learning by comparing and contrasting to the Native Americans within your own state or region. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Use this as a resource when discussing civil rights. In language arts class, use it to explore legends.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Carlisle Indian Industrial School - Dickinson College
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): colonial america (94), cross cultural understanding (167), difficult conversations (61), diversity (37), history day (39), identity (29), native americans (95), westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
Too often US history survey classes broadly consider Native Americans and their role in the original colonization of North America, or their role in Westward Expansion, without taking the time to understand the differences among nations, or the impact of European settlement on these pre-existing societies. Even if there isn't time for in depth study, consider asking students to study the individual record of one young man or woman approximately their own age who attended the Carlisle Indian School. How old was he when he left home? What skill was she trained in? What happened to him after he left Carlisle? Enhance student learning by having students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about the individual they researched. This personal contact with the real life of another student from another time and another culture will reduce the tendency to stereotype Native Americans as they so often are during the study of US History. Of course, the site is also a wonderful resource for in depth research such as a National History Day project. Were the identities of these people stolen? Use the resources Analyzing Before and After Photographs... and the Telling Lives: The Lost Ones Documentary Film to discuss identity and whether or not that was taken from these students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay Bridge Construction 1934-1936 - The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bridges (11), california (16), engineering (126), great depression (30)
In the Classroom
These are great primary source images and documents for the study of 1930s construction projects related to the rebuilding of the US during the final years of the Great Depression. Share the PowerPoint and photographs on your interactive whiteboard. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Presentious, reviewed here. This tool allows narrating and adding text to a picture. To find Creative Commons images (with credit, of course), try Wikimedia Commons, reviewed here. Use the photos as part of a physics or technology unit about bridges. Include this as one of several structures for students to research and analyze using their new-found concepts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TelevisionTunes - jayzoo.com
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): songs (44)
In the Classroom
Add a little interest to classroom games by downloading and including game show clips (music) as part of your activity. Play a sound clip as a classroom management cue, such as for circle reading time with young ones (turn up the speakers). Share with students as a resource for audio clips to add to offline podcasts and multimedia presentations for educational purposes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Florida Memory - The State Archives of Florida
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): black history (130), civil war (136), florida (11), hurricanes (33), states (122)
In the Classroom
In the classroom, integrate primary documents in addition to your text to get a broader picture of history, even if you are not teaching specifically about Florida. Take a closer look at history, through the multiple aspects of video, audio, laws, and land grants. Look at perspectives of Civil War from a southern state. Make biographies of Florida residents come alive with the culture of their time. Compare and contrast Florida and another state. Use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Examine the history of space through NASA. You and your students can discover how Civil Rights progressed in Florida. Look at the history of the Seminole tribe as you study native Americans. Enhance learning by challenging students to create an infographic using Snappa, reviewed here about a certain period in Florida's history or to compare Florida and other states. Before beginning the infographic, have students brainstorm or collect ideas on a collaborative bulletin board like Witeboard, reviewed here. Use this resource to meet Common Core standards about primary sources or writing. Challenge students to produce digital writing and interact with others online.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching Florida - Florida Humanities Council
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): explorers (66), florida (11), maps (207), native americans (95)
In the Classroom
Integrate fiction and nonfiction sources into your studies of explorers, Native Americans, or Spanish influences. Compare and contrast the differences between primary and secondary sources. Integrate units of English Language Arts Common core standards and Social Studies standards.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Authentic History Center - Michael Barnes
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (73), 20th century (62), civil war (136), cold war (30), great depression (30), photography (118), vietnam (38), world war 1 (78), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
The Authentic History Center is excellent for making history real. Share this information on your projector or interactive whiteboard (or speakers) during lessons on any time period of US History. Play Bing Crosby singing "God Bless America" to help students feel the pre-WWII era or nationalism. Make the Angry era of McCarthyism real by letting student explore the collection. Include this entire collection on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Use the sources for students to experience a multi-sensory tour of any era in U.S. history and create their own project about it incorporating the artifacts (with proper credit) and their own explanations. You could modify student learning by having students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Livegap Chart, reviewed here. Or, have students create online posters about an era individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Enhance learning by having students create timelines using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive. If you participate in National History Day, this site is an outstanding start point. If you are the advisor for your high school play, bookmark this site as a great source for authentic era images and sounds. Need background music for a play (or video) set during WWII? Here it is!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Barat Primary Source Nexus - Barat Education Foundation
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): advertising (26), black history (130), cross cultural understanding (167), history day (39), immigration (68), journalism (72), Juneteenth (22), lincoln (65), martin luther king (45), poetry (191), presidents (133), primary sources (119), professional development (409), roosevelt (15), slavery (78), writing prompts (58)
In the Classroom
Take a look at the free professional development for using primary sources for teachers. Search for Connecting to the Common Core, where there are writing prompts for K-5 plus a link to the triangle activity. Download and use the PDF for the Thinking Triangle. Have older students research an interest and report to the class using a tool like Slides, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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