Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The Smithsonian Institution offers a printable guide to using primary sources in any classroom. View examples of how to do it and suggestion! Explore each of the main sections including documents, photographs, oral histories, and objects for ideas and tips. Each activity is aligned to National Center for History in the Schools standards. The guide is in PDF format for easy printing and use.

tag(s): primary sources (117)

The World Digital Library makes it possible to discover, study, and enjoy digitized cultural treasures from around the world. Resources include manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings. Browse by place, time, topic, type of item, and contributing institution, or use the open-ended search available in many languages. Information included with items includes a description, place of event or item, date, location of the item, and tags for viewing items similar in nature or topic. Move the timeline to view items for specific time periods.

tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), 20th century (62), africa (148), asia (116), australia (28), china (81), cross cultural understanding (173), europe (84), images (263), north america (15), south america (47)

What was life like for a teenager in ancient Rome? Watch the clever portrayal of the life of Lucius Popidius Secundus, a seventeen-year-old living in Rome in 73 AD. Packed full of information about life in ancient Rome, it is hard to believe this video is just short of seven minutes long. Along with the video is a feature called Dig Deeper where you will find explanations and links to more detailed information about ancient Rome. The video is hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then it may not be viewable.

tag(s): romans (52), rome (37), video (266)

The 360Cities panoramas are a new way to showcase places, businesses, and events from around the world. Looking for a new virtual field trip? 360Cities will have your students spinning in circles with excitement. The pictures are out of this world! View 360 degree panoramic pictures from Mars or under the sea. Travel to snowy mountain tops and many more of the Internet's largest collection of uploaded panoramic images. 360Cities panoramic aerial shots are also available as well as navigable views of cities, natural landscapes, and more. The most popular panoramic pictures are listed for your convenience. This website has panoramic views of all Seven Wonders of the World, which include the Colosseum in Rome, The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, The Taj Mahal in India, Machu Picchu in Peru, Christ Redeemer in Rio, and Chichen Itza in Mexico. Are you looking for a site to showcase your own panoramic shots or do you want to learn how to take panoramic shots? 360Cities "how to" section offers tools to create and upload your own panoramic pictures. View the existing pictures for free or use an email address to create a free account to upload your own panoramic pictures. Paid upgrades are available. 360Cities also has an app for iOS devices. View the 360Cities blog linked on the site for more information.
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tag(s): images (263), landforms (39), landmarks (22), virtual field trips (128)

Discover interactive and animated representations of historic events and time periods. Choose from American, European, Latin American, or African history. Within each of these choices is a list of modules. Each module provides information and interactive content such as timelines or maps that guide you through the specified time frame. The slideMapHub, at the bottom of the map allows you to move in time.

tag(s): 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), africa (148), alaska (21), american revolution (82), central america (20), civil war (139), cold war (30), colonial america (95), colonization (21), explorers (64), great depression (30), greece (47), greeks (46), hawaii (9), industrialization (12), italy (30), maps (220), native americans (108), romans (52), slavery (79), south america (47), spain (13), war of 1812 (15), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (161)

Explore and view archives from seven museums in Europe from the comfort of your computer screen! Choose a specific time period, country, or object group to view artifacts. Links to artifacts include an image along with its name, type, country, chronology, time period, and museum location where it is housed. Click on the image thumbnail for a 3D image and links to more in-depth information. Find main characteristics, discovery information, state of the object, and deepenings (a short analysis and description).

tag(s): art history (102), europe (84), germany (28), italy (30), rome (37)

Join John and Hank Green on the you Tube channel, Crash Course. Crash Course consists of highly engaging video presentations that explain the basics on many topics: about 10-15 minutes in length, humorous, and engaging! The general topic areas include World History, Literature, and US History. At the time of this review, biology topics include: the carbon cycle, water cycle, molecules, nutrition, animal and plant cells, photosynthesis, heredity, DNA, mitosis, meiosis, natural selection, evolution, genetics, taxonomy, evolution, simple animals, complex animals, animal behavior, various systems of the body, bacteria, protists, and even more. In literature, five videos cover subjects from Romeo and Juliet to The Great Gatsby. There are over forty world history topics: Agricultural revolution, Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, The Persians and Greeks, Buddha and Ashoka, Chinese History, Alexander the Great, The Roman Empire, Christianity from Judaism to Constantine, Fall of the Roman Empire, Islam the Quran, and the Five Pillars, Venice and Ottoman Empire, Russia, Columbus, The Spanish Empire, The French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Capitalism, Socialism, Imperialism, and many more. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. Tip: to watch or share a video without the ads and clutter, use a tool such as ViewPure, reviewed here, to watch the video ad-free!
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tag(s): animals (294), bacteria (22), bill of rights (33), body systems (40), chinese (45), constitution (96), declaration of independence (16), evolution (89), genetics (80), greeks (46), literature (221), meiosis (8), mitosis (9), nutrition (140), religions (95), rome (37), romeo and juliet (3), russia (36), shakespeare (99), water cycle (22)

The Literacy Design Collaborative supports the development of literacy through a series of templates for use with text when writing. There are also templates for other subjects. Most templates address secondary levels; however, other offerings contain some elementary templates. Template tasks allow you to fill in the blank with learning skills addressed. When completed, you create and produce a high-quality assignment. Three collections are available by choosing the tasks link: the template task collection II, Common Core template tasks, and K-2 template tasks. Use links provided to view instructions and download templates in PDF format. Choose the modules link to view and download complete modules for instruction for English, Science, and Social Studies. Also available at the Literacy Design Collaborative is a series of videos demonstrating changing teacher practice and literacy. Most of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): american revolution (82), animals (294), biodiversity (36), canada (24), careers (156), china (81), civil rights (209), cold war (30), ecosystems (83), energy (133), evolution (89), gettysburg (15), gettysburg address (12), india (32), industrial revolution (22), lincoln (66), literacy (122), marine biology (31), photosynthesis (21), poetry (193), pollution (52), professional development (385), shakespeare (99)

See the history of the world from 3500BC to 2005AD! TimeMaps offers a look at every nation, empire, and civilization as one story using maps. Choose a date or time period to begin exploration. Use pinpoints located on the map to view specific information about that location. Use timelines located under the map to narrow down topics within a time period. For example, at 100 AD choose to view information by Ancient Rome, Mayan Civilization, Medieval India, or Ancient China. This is an excellent site for providing an overview and exploration of world civilizations during any given time period. Choose the "Are You a History Teacher" link to find several suggestions for using TimeMap in your classroom along several different lesson plans.
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tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), 20th century (62), africa (148), asia (116), china (81), egypt (56), europe (84), greeks (46), india (32), israel (14), maps (220), mayans (23), north america (15), romans (52), timelines (56)

Looking for resources to use on your interactive whiteboard? If so, this site is a tremendous resource for all whiteboard users, not just those with a Promethean Board. View, search, and download from over 60,000 resources in all subject areas and grade levels. Use the Resources tab to search by state standard, content, grade level, or resource type. Register on the site to enable download ability as well as many other features such as saving favorites, reviewing resources, asking questions on the technical forum, following specific users, and uploading your own resources. Each resource includes a short description, grade level recommendation, file format, and size. Another great feature is the slide show included with each download for previewing different pages used on each chart.

tag(s): iwb (31), numbers (120), preK (270), resources (84)

Find hundreds of useful charts and diagrams that illustrate philosophy, english, history, science, current events, and more for free, online viewing. You will find PDFs, posters, timelines, etc. Learn about topics such as: Most Famous Paintings, World Leaders Timeline, Muppet Voices Chart, New Seven Wonders, Human Evolution Timeline, and more. General "subjects" include Social Studies Charts, Most Popular Charts, Psychology Charts, Philosophy & Religion Charts, English Charts, Science Charts, and many others! The site is selling charts and downloads, but you can view the site for FREE. Zoom in to see details using the View menu in your web browser or touchpad zooming on Macs.
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tag(s): art history (102), charts and graphs (171), grammar (137), multiple intelligences (7), myths and legends (37), poetry (193), politics (118), psychology (65), religions (95), solar system (110), space (222), timelines (56)

Critical Past offers a collection of more than 57,000 historical videos and more than 7 million historical photos. All of the photos and videos are royalty free, archival stock footage. The site is in the business of selling these images and clips. "Royalty free" means that purchasing an image/clip will not require additional fees to the photographer, but it does NOT mean that the images/clips are "free" to download and use at will. Most of the footage comes from U.S. Government Agency sources. All of the videos and photos can be viewed for free online and shared with others via url, X (formerly Twitter), or Facebook. Search the site either by decade, topic, or keyword. Along the right side bar of Critical Past, you will find "related videos" that correlate to the current search.
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tag(s): 20th century (62), afghanistan (7), africa (148), american revolution (82), china (81), europe (84), north america (15), south america (47), video (266)

Shmoop Mythology allows you to peek into the social networking world of the gods using online profiles, walls, in-boxes and diaries of the gods. Shmoop Mythology also provides study guides to several myths. With younger students, you may want to preview BEFORE you share. Some of the profiles may include more information that you are comfortable sharing in the classroom setting. (Those Olympians did not always behave so well.) Also, at the time of this review, nearly all links were working. However, our editor did find two links that were not active. .

tag(s): greek (47), greeks (46), myths and legends (37), romans (52)

What Happened When? This useful site allows you to aggregate a text timeline by date, theme or geographic area using links to Google searches, Google images and content from HistoryWorld (with which the site is affiliated). Enter a date or keyword(s) for the event(s). You will see a text list with icons that lead to related Google, images, and HistoryWorld info. Try exploring by themes such as performing arts and science and entering a year to see what occurred during the same year. While the overall visual impact is fairly bland, it's a great "quick and easy" utility for putting events into a chronological context. If you search two very diverse events, you can discover unusual convergences. Additionally, it can be the jumping off point for a more complex search by helping students make connections among ideas, characters and events that may seem unrelated. For example, this is a wonderful tool to explore decades of the twentieth century or periods in the arts.

tag(s): search engines (48), timelines (56)

It's certainly not difficult to find websites about Ancient Egypt, but NOVA provides an absolutely stunning interactive look at major Egyptian historical landmarks and objects. Take a 360-degree glance at the Great Pyramid or an ancient tomb, browse photo galleries, study cross-sections or examine artifacts from every possible vantage point. You can access these features from a number of search options: chronological, geographical, or by media type. Some of the features require Flash, but most of the valuable information doesn't.
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tag(s): egypt (56), pyramids (21)

Investigate the world of art history accompanied by two professors at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Smarthistory started as a a blog featuring free audio guides, podcasts, and videos. Later it became an interactive exploration of eras, styles, and artists. Smarthistory has recently merged with KahnAcademy utilizing the same concept: that high quality education should be free and available to all. You can watch Smarthistory videos on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable in class.

tag(s): art history (102), medieval (32), renaissance (38)

This site, created by the Kennedy Center, offers a wealth of interactive lesson plans for grades K-12 dealing with a variety of topics, all with an "arts" spin. Search by subject, keyword, or grade level (K-4, 5-8, or 9-12). Some examples of topics include Native Americans, Civil War, Shakespeare, myths, melodrama, adjectives, monsters, baseball, and countless others! Be sure to check out the category "Our Best Resources Organized by Subject." After that click on the the top menu for Education and get even more resources. There are many interactive lessons: some with video, audio, or slideshows. The lessons provide an estimate of time required and complete, step-by-step instructions. There are printables included with some of the lessons.
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tag(s): african american (115), baseball (32), civil war (139), comics and cartoons (55), dance (31), folktales (34), greece (47), habitats (92), immigration (68), literature (221), mexico (37), musical instruments (52), myths and legends (37), native americans (108), painting (54), surrealism (2)

This is a site that contains numerous links to lessons and websites on various social studies and world history subjects. There are numerous subjects: Ancient History, American History and American Government, World History, Geography, and others. For each subject there is a For Teachers with lesson plans, links, quizzes, and more.
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tag(s): 1920s (15), africa (148), archeology (28), china (81), civil rights (209), civil war (139), colonial america (95), egypt (56), great depression (30), greece (47), holidays (187), immigration (68), india (32), industrial revolution (22), japan (56), mayans (23), mesopotamia (32), native americans (108), psychology (65), religions (95), renaissance (38), resources (84), rome (37), slavery (79), westward expansion (39)

This site provides practice in converting from base 10 to other values up to base 16. Three clocks are displayed and options are provided for choosing the value used on the clocks. Upon entering the choice, the hands on the clock turn to show the appropriate representation in the chosen base. The learner section provides information on base number systems and how they have been used in the past. The instructor section provides links to standards, place value in the curriculum, possible issues that may arise in the classroom and links to additional resources including an activity sheet.

tag(s): base ten (5), number sense (69)

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)