Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Here's an interactive resource that lets you find and print maps of just about any country. The site also offers images, information, and grade-level recommendations.

tag(s): atlas (5), maps (220)

Learn about castles, Pre-Modern Europe, and more.

tag(s): europe (84)

Learn about Chinese inventors and deflate erroneous stereotypes about Chinese technology. From the Ask Asia series.

tag(s): asia (116), china (81), inventors and inventions (80)

This privately published site documents and illustrates the history of the trebuchet, a marvel of medieval physics that could hurl heavy things great distances. Students can learn how to build their own miniature version, and they can study why the trebuchet worked so efficiently. This one's both fun and instructional.

tag(s): medieval (32)

Dr. Charry's scholarly interest in non-Western music provides sound files and research information on African Music and links to Ethnomusicology resources on the Web.

tag(s): africa (148), music theory (46)

Large, colorful site presenting extensive information about Paris - in English and French versions.

tag(s): france (41), french (75)

Enhance the foreign language curriculum through the integration of geography, food, and literature as related to Spanish culture. Students analyze literature created by modern Latino authors who use foods as symbols for identity, patriotism, religion, and nostalgia. This series of lessons promotes understanding of the Creole culture as it exists on the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

tag(s): spanish (109)

This French site offers on-line full texts of a number of classic French Literary works, and more are being added regularly. C'est tout en Francais, but we were able to find the literature listings with little trouble. If you're searching for more reading material for your students, look no further.

tag(s): france (41), french (75)

Do you know how many varieties of cheese there are in France? Navigate this site with your students and discover the rich tradition that cheese has in the history of France.

tag(s): france (41), french (75)

Ignore the cluttered look of the page and click the categories of contents for the picture dictionary: from Adjectives to Winter (inside the white box). Each will open a section of the dictionary. You can also click on the letters of the alphabet, across the screen in rainbow colors, to find picturs with both English and Spanish words for the objects.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): spanish (109)

C'est Magnifique! Find out all about the most famous landmark in Paris. There's lots of information on the tower itself, a virtual tour, and a panoramic view from the top. This is certainly a nice way to introduce French geography and culture. The site incluea a section for kids and a quiz. Note: to read in French, click the French flag. Some of the interactive tour portions require a special Active X plug-in. When prompted, you will need to install these.

tag(s): france (41), french (75)

A useful site related to books in Spanish for children and young adults. Contains information from a number of sponsor-publishers as well as links to other sites. Use the search bar to find a topic, author, etc. you want.

tag(s): spanish (109)

This site offers on-line dictionaries for dozens of different languages, as well as pointers to additional foreign language resources. Developed at Bucknell University.

tag(s): dictionaries (47)

This site includes teacher information, along with links to activities and many other related Islamic topics. This page isn't explicitly for non-Muslims, so some of the content may require a little study or research. There's lots to see, though.

tag(s): holidays (187), ramadan (10)

This site from CNN offers a look at internal and international issues affecting China, considering everything from the rise of a new middle class to the ecological impact of a new dam to the future of relations with the United States. While there's plenty of history here, the focus is clearly on how China fits into the current world order. Beautiful design and artwork!

tag(s): china (81), chinese (45)

This site is a photojournal of a tour through the Chinese countryside, noting the ways in which local "farmers' markets" contribute to the vitality of an otherwise centralized Chinese economy. Interesting for its purely local and village focus, as well as for the photos showing what life in small Chinese villages really looks like.

tag(s): china (81)

BBC's report on the 50th anniversary of Communism in China

tag(s): china (81)

Visit the New Orleans-based museum all about World War II via the web site and its various interactive components. While some areas feature information about visiting the actual museum, there is a rich collection of information and multimedia experiences to make World War II history meaningful. Scroll down the page to From the Collection to the Classroom and sign up for a free account. Then, find lesson plans and multimedia resources for the classroom. Click WWII History button at the right to find many pages of information and a timeline. Don't miss many choices under Student Programs.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): d day (11), veterans (27), world war 2 (161)

The Library of Congress has created a mini-portal to a large collection of information pages loaded with demographic, cultural, and statistical information on less well-known nations. Nearly all of the information is intended for older audiences. Nonetheless, this is a really rich resource of high quality (though sometimes dated) information for country reports.

tag(s): countries (73)

This site is the homepage for teachers using the Library of Congress, the nation's largest library. Find primary source sets on various topics, professional development opportunities, thematic collections, and extensive materials and lesson plans for TPS (Teaching with Primary Sources) The teacher resources highlight nearly 10 million primary source resources available on line through this site.

tag(s): primary sources (117), Research (87)