4408 social-studies results | sort by:
E.ggTimer.com - David LeMieux and Ben Lew
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
What a fabulous alternative to a traditional egg timer. Project the time on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector while students take a test, solve a drag and drop, practice speeches, rotate between learning centers, or during cooperative learning groups. Be sure to turn up the volume for the "time's-up" alert! As you teach basic concepts of time in primary grades, use this timer for students to understand the real concepts of one minute or ten seconds. Show the relationships between minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, etc. You can even use it to teach counting backward from 60!You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Spezify (beta) - Spezify
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use Spezify on an interactive whiteboard or projector as you introduce a new topic in science or social studies or when the class asks "What is ____?" . With very young students or non-readers, use Spezify to help them find information they can understand and to inspire them to try to read some of the short text excerpts alongside the images. Activate students' prior knowledge as they recognize the images and remark, "I didn't know Edison was the one who invented that!" Visually show the "big picture" on any topic. As you teach research skills, try a comparison of Spezify results with Google results for both functionality of the search engine and reputability of the results. NOTE: Preview any search terms you plan to display in class if the terms could possibly bring up inappropriate images. You may need to adjust your terms. Of course your students know what they are supposed to do if something inappropriate comes up when using a search themselves, right? If you have not discussed this, now is the time!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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This I Believe, Inc. - Jay Allison, NPR, et. al.
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Searching the "For Educators" page gives you a wide variety of ideas for using this site and these essays. Since students enjoy using first person point of view in their writing, this might be an inspiration for some. You can use some of these essays as conversation starters on topics you are studying in class. (Example: Penn Jillette wrote his essay stating that he believes there is no god. This could be related to many books studied, such as 1984 or Brave New World.) Have students write their essays as blog entries or record them as podcasts using a tool such as Podomatic, reviewed here, or as an illustrated essay using ThingLink, reviewed here. Spanish teachers will want to explore the options to listen to or write essays in Spanish, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Primary Research: Bring History Closer to Home - Primary Research
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): history day (38), local history (12)
In the Classroom
Provide this site to students who are considering group History Day projects, and it will surely encourage creative ideas. Consider adapting one of the projects to your local area for an entire class, or for a group of students looking for additional challenge. Why not make the projects even more interactive, by having students create multimedia projects. Have students narrate a photo using a site such as ThingLink, reviewed here. Have students create online books using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. Challenge students create using a site such as Powtoon, reviewed here, and share them SchoolTube, reviewed here. "Map out" your local history using a tool such as MapHub, reviewed here. The project possibilities are endless!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American President - Miller Center of Public Affairs
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): presidents (153)
In the Classroom
If your students do Presidential biographies, this is a perfect site to save in your favorites for their use in preparing these. In addition, the multimedia gallery could be helpful in providing images to accompany lesson plans or other classroom presentations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History - The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): 1600s (20), african american (130), american revolution (93), black history (131), civil rights (219), civil war (145), colonization (21), foreign policy (15), great depression (32), history day (38), immigration (85), industrial revolution (21), migration (45), native americans (129), primary sources (133), westward expansion (42), world war 1 (87), world war 2 (169)
In the Classroom
Find many lesson plans, resources, and primary documents to enrich your history lessons. Make a splash with visual learners by starting class with artifacts from an era displayed on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Explore primary sources and historic texts as part of a Common Core literacy program, cooperating among English, reading, and history teachers. Have your students sign up to enjoy access to all the resources. Enhance learning by challenging cooperative learning groups to choose a specific historical time period and become "experts." Have the groups create presentations to share with the class about what they learned. Use a tool like Zoho Show, reviewed here, or allow students to choose the format of their presentation by using Genially, reviewed here, where they can interact with images, infographics, charts, and presentations of all types, and insert maps, surveys, video, audio, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TheatreHistory.com - TheatreHistory.com
Grades
9 to 12One of the nicest features on the site is the "Script Archive," which gives access to full-length plays, one-act plays, 10-minute plays, and monologues. This is a fabulous source for theatre and speech teachers alike.
Be aware: this is a commercial site, so there are links to purchase books, but it is more subtle than most sites, and all the links are freely given without a need to register. There are also advertisements, preview for appropriateness before sharing with your class, as these ads change without notice.
tag(s): plays (31)
In the Classroom
As theatre is inextricably linked to the history of a country, divide categories among a class of students and have them research on the site, creating humanity links between the theatre and culture of the time. Have them report their findings to the class in a panel discussion, PowerPoint, a video (share the video using Teachers.tv (reviewed here), or an online book using tool such as Bookemon (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): earth (194), earth day (62), environment (253), resources (80)
In the Classroom
The most difficult aspect in learning about the environment is understanding how the "stuff we use" impacts more than students can imagine. Use this thought-provoking movie to stimulate class discussions, get students thinking, and create awareness. Students can take aspects of the video and do group research of additional information needed to understand. Students can also create awareness campaigns, poll friends and families, blog, or create other multimedia articles. Looking for some creative multimedia options? How about having students create public service message podcasts ("Stop! Where do you think that ___ came from?") using a tool such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Or create videos and share them using SchoolTube, reviewed here.Students can research the origins of many popular items in their lives, tracing the materials used and the resources needed to create and transport the materials and the product. Students can create a Google My Maps, reviewed here, showing the movement of materials throughout the world from resource to send product to consumer.
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Planet Forward - The George Washington University
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): earth (194), earth day (62), environment (253), oil (21), oil spill (14), water (104)
In the Classroom
Where do you start? There is so much information on this site that is continually updated and interesting! Create student groups in major environmental categories such as Sustainability, Energy, Transportation, and others to mine the site for information. Create blog posts about issues, and create students' own surveys to identify local misconceptions to compare to those discussed on the site. Encourage students to apply their findings and information locally by writing for a local or school newspaper or to be interviewed about student work. Students can create videos, wiki pages, or other multimedia products to produce content, dispel or challenge myths, and create understanding of issues. Conventional products such as display boards, posters, and other announcements can also be created. Have students create online posters using a tool such as Genially, reviewed here. Make every day Earth Day by tying class topics into ecology issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cinco de Mayo - The History Channel
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): cinco de mayo (27), hispanic (55), mexico (68)
In the Classroom
Share maps of Mexico on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have cooperative learning groups create commercials highlighting what they have learned (be sure they include some new vocabulary words) or even a video advertisement modifying their learning for your class's Cinco de Mayo celebration. For the video use a tool such as Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here. Share the videos using a tool such as Schooltube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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FORVO - forvo.com
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): maps (224), pronunciation (33)
In the Classroom
World language and ESL/ELL classes (using a whole class account) or individual students (if a specific school permits students to join sites) can maintain their own word lists with pronunciations. They can submit words to hear them pronounced by native speakers or pronounce them themselves. A teacher could submit words or assign students to explore and find a list of personal words to learn each week. Students can also compare pronunciations of the same word by several different speakers coming from different countries (Mexican Spanish vs. Spanish from Spain etc.). ESL students will no doubt enjoy disputing the pronunciation of words from their native languages! This is a perfect collaboration of geography and world language classes. Share the maps on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This site could also be useful as a learning center, for students to practice pronunciation. (Don't forget the headsets!) List this link on your class website for students to use for at-home practice!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Padlet - Padlet
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (303), biographies (96), blogs (77), book reports (26), brainstorming (19), bulletin boards (13), DAT device agnostic tool (129), images (267), journals (22), rubrics (39), timelines (60)
In the Classroom
Use a Padlet to collaborate in collecting ideas, brainstorming, and more. Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students can access it for free, no matter what device they have. Padlet does not show which work is attributable to which student, so you may want to require that students initial their contributions in order to get credit. If allowing all students to post to the wall or make comments, you may want to discuss internet safety and etiquette and establish specific class rules and consequences. Making the setting private again will prohibit content from later being replaced by classmate "vandalism."Take advantage of Padlet's many features, such as "recipes," to make and personalize Padlet collections quickly. Examples of recipes include exit tickets, read-and-respond activities, class schedules, and blogs. Another option to use with Padlet is the Sandbox option, which allows members to draw, create, and play with others in real time. Be sure to visit the Sandbox examples that share ideas and templates for Jeopardy games, interactive lessons, collaborative reading reflections, and much more. If you previously used Google Jamboard, which has been discontinued, Padlet's Sandbox features are a worthwhile replacement for Jamboard.
Use a Padlet to collect Webquest links and information to share with students. Leave the wall open to comments and solicit input, discussions, or viewpoints from students. They can even contribute other sources they find. Color-code resources to indicate different reading levels or "high challenge" sources for your more able students. Assign a student project where students choose their theme and design a wall around it. For example, have students create a wall about an environmental issue. They can include pictures, audio or video, links, and other information to display. Use as a new format for book reports. Do your students have favorites such as music or sports? Create a wall around these favorites or hobbies. Use a wall for grammar or vocabulary words. Create walls for debates or viewpoints. Post assignments, reminders, or study skills on a wall. Do you use student scribes or reporters? Use the Padlet site to create a wall with the goings-on in class. Embed your walls in a blog, wiki or website. See a similar tool (and more ideas to use either tool) in the TeachersFirst review of Lino here. Decide which one you prefer! Unfortunately, the Padlet embedded viewer is very small but can be scrolled in both directions.
Use Padlet as a class space during snow days and school breaks. Share the link to a teacher-created, public wall where students can share notes about what they did during the snow day or respond to a thought-provoking question.
Encourage creativity and organization by having your gifted students (or anyone doing independent projects) create Padlets to collect ideas, images, quotes, and more in an "idea bin." Require them to share a brainstorming Padlet to show you the ideas they considered before they launch into a project. Have them brainstorm (and later sort/color code) the possibilities for a creative problem-solving or "Maker Faire" project. In writing or art classes, use Padlet as a virtual writer's journal or design notebook to collect ideas, images, and even video clips.
Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Father's Day and Father Figure - Lesson to Honor - Education World
Grades
K to 12tag(s): fathers day (17)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of these FREE lesson plans to honor the dads in your students' life.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lewis and Clark - LA Purchase Vocabulary - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
4 to 10tag(s): lewis and clark (15), louisiana (6), louisiana purchase (6), vocabulary (251)
In the Classroom
Use this site to reinforce and support vocabulary as you study Lewis and Clark. Share the word puzzles on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students create their own word activities from the same vocabulary list, such as matching or ranking challenges for their peers to try on the interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Internet Classics Archive - MIT
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): chinese (38), greek (45), greeks (45), latin (23), literature (215), rome (36)
In the Classroom
Use this resource in study of classical languages as well as cultural world history. Add the site URL to your list of top online libraries. In literature class, share this site and have students (or groups of students) explore one of the many works listed at this site. Challenge the groups to create electronic "posters" or word graphics (about their piece of literature) using a tool such as Piclits (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Write Like an Egyptian - University of Pennsylvania Museum
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): egypt (59)
In the Classroom
By providing picture clues, have students try to solve names using the Egyptian symbols. If students want to seek the scribe and delve into hieroglyphs a bit further, click on Scribe at the bottom of the page. They will be directed to the University of Pennsylvania Museum website for detailed information regarding the Egyptian culture. Are you looking for a site to use with younger students? Check out Journey to Egypt (reviewed here). Click on the link for Hieroglyphics to learn more.Use this site as part of a study of different alphabets and coded symbols, even comparing them to mathematical or musical symbols as a means of communicating meaning. Gifted students will enjoy exploring and comparing different symbol systems.
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A Woman's Work is Never Done - The American Antiquarian Society
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use these images to complement various lesson themes on the historic role of women as workers, or use the site as a whole for a larger discussion of women and work. While the site is not extensive, the images are good, and their organization into themes might help students understand that women's roles as workers have varied tremendously over the years. Share an image or two on your projector or whiteboard for a discussion starter to help students envision life in these by-gone times. Use this site as one of several image sources as you have students research and create wiki pages from different angles: life in colonial America, the history of labor, changing roles in U.S. society during the 19th century, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Academic Earth - Academic Earth
Grades
10 to 12tag(s): college (44)
In the Classroom
These are college-level lectures given at Ivy-league universities. The subject matter and the complexity of the subject matter will be beyond many high school students, and the delivery format (video-taped lecture) means there is a certain "MEGO" (my eyes glaze over) effect when viewing these offerings. However, for gifted or academically talented students, these lectures may be exactly the kind of enrichment they have been thirsting for. Provide a link to these lectures for times when a student or two has gotten way ahead of the rest of the class. Let parents know about this site for home use. Refer students who are doing in-depth research. And in your own copious free time, check one out yourself! It may provide an idea or two to apply to an upcoming lesson of your own.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Find Country - Improve Your Geography Knowledge - DraftLogic
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students try this site on individual computers. Provide this link on your class website for students to access for practice both in and out of class. This is a perfect addition to a geography or world cultures class!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Video: Borrowing Money in Plain English - Common Craft
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): business (50), financial literacy (93), money (113)
In the Classroom
Share this video with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector or embed it in your class web page or wiki during your unit on credit or percent. Have cooperative learning groups research other aspects of savings, borrowing, or economics and create their own videos. Transform technology use by using (click on the tool name to access the review): Animatron, Renderforest, Powtoon, or MoocNote. Share the videos on Teachertube, explained here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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