Web Resources
Clicking on the underlined titles will like you to the website.
CivicsChecks and Balances Game
The Checks and Balances game is an interactive fill-in-the blank word game which covers the many various responsibilities of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. It is very colorful and and shows the working image of scale to represent equality among branches. Project Vote Smart Project Vote Smart strives to educate citizens, especially voters, on our nation's candidates and political issues. This website is "Federally Recommended", says the New York Times, and offers and unbiased view on our countries most important topics. This is a true essential around election time. Congress For Kids This is an extremely thorough web resource which offers full-coverage from the Constitutional Convention to the election of Justices. It discusses the importance of citizenship and what how a foreigner can become one. This website's goal is to educate children with text, multimedia, and even assessment. Full Text of the Constitution This link will transport you to a complete transcription of the U.S. Constitution. One can see every article as well as the Preamble, Bill of Rights and all of the Amendments. There are also other resources such as a view into what life was like in "Early America", as well as maps and milestone-events which led to the forming of the United States. Colonial Kids Colonial Kids is a comprehensive look into the life of an 18th Century child in Colonial America. The website gives a unique look into a normal "day in the life" of colonial children by taking you into colonial buildings like schools, homes and even horse buggies. This is a great way to help children understand how colonists lived when they first came to america. |
EconomicsEconomics Lesson Plans
EconEdLink.com is an online collection of economic resources and teaching aids. Everything from goods and services to understanding the USA's national debt can be found here. Personal Finance Education This resource helps students of all ages understand how budgeting and a knowledge of finance is beneficial. It offers lesson plans to build understanding, as well as calculators to create your own budget. This site if funded by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Resources For Economics Teachers This website is a collection of games and activities for teachers to utilize when teaching economics. A great resource given by this site is a load of case studies which can be craftily acted out in the classroom. There are also debate topics and brain teasers which will engage the classroom in substantive conversation. Survey of the States This website strives to raise economic and personal finance literacy among students. It offers statistics on which states require courses in personal finance along with studies that have shown clear benefits of it being taught in the classroom. It follows up with lesson plans, case studies and assessments for everyone to use. Federal Reserve Education This websites is a database of lesson plans and activities involving aspects of economics, personal finance, and how the Federal Banking system works. The lesson plans reach K-12 classrooms and are engaging ways to get students thinking about finance and the effects of everyday choices. |
GeographyMap Quizes
ILike2Learn is a great visual-puzzle website which helps with geographical memorization. It offers a plethora of maps ranging from U.S. States and Capitals to countries of Europe and lakes and rivers. World Mapper Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest. The database includes nearly 700 maps ranging from population and land area to income. Some maps are also interactive and animate how different factors are related. All maps are colorful and eye-catching. Virtual Maps- University of Texas This resource from the University of Texas at Austin in a comprehensive and extremely engaging collection of virtual and interactive maps. The database contains maps of current interest, for example: the aftermath of superstorm Sandy and where gas was available and where it was not. Another very useful aspect is its extensive collection of historical maps from nearly every place on Earth. This is a great place to find unique primary sources. Odyssey Online This website is run by the Museum, located at Emory University. It transports students to regions such as: Egypt, Greece, Africa and the Ancient America's while teaching them about those geographic places and their historic relevance. It is driven my multimedia and includes many engaging videos and menus. This is a great source of interesting and fun knowledge. Immigration This is a teacher's resource for engaging students in learning about what immigration to America was like both historically and what it's like today. It offers timelines, maps and statistics which are complimented by engaging videos and audio. One of the main features is the "Virtual Field Trip of Ellis Island". |
HistoryLibrary of Congress
The Library of Congress is a federally funded online database of American and World History. This site is constantly adding information and is one of the most comprehensive and historically enriching sites on the internet. Resources can be filtered my images, maps, audio and many other options. The LOC also has a wide array of primary sources. Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum Website has an online collection of historical activities ranging from Ancient Egypt to "How Fossils are Formed". Engaging text, interactive puzzles and videos make up the content of the collection, with a wide array of primary sources to supplement student's learning. The First Thanksgiving This resource is provided by Scholastic Publishing Company and offers an engaging unit on the arrival of colonists and their first Thanksgiving. The collection includes a video-tour of the Mayflower as well as a description of what was eaten at the feast. One very useful and original tool is the collection of reenactment videos showing everything from Pilgrim children to Winters in New England. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History The Gilder Lehrman Institute's website is an American History database sorted by era. It craftily uses color images and artwork to convey its topics. The website is a great bank for primary sources and multimedia. Another important aspect of the website is its "History Now" category which highlights current U.S. events which will surely be written about in future textbooks. Authentic History This is an online database of historical primary sources as they pertain to popular culture. The website's goal is to tell the narrative of American History through popular culture. It begins with 18th century engravings of colonial cities, and it is still growing today. |
General EducationMichigan K-8 Social Studies GLCE's
This is an online PDF file from the Michigan Department of Education outlining the content expectations for grades K-8. These are the guidelines for our students learning in the Social Studies classroom. Time Magazine For Kids This is a kid-friendly resource offered by Time Magazine which delivers current news and educational resources for school-aged kids. The content is engaging and easily accessible. Time For Kids offers everything from student-written articles to helpful homework resources. Hands-on Culture This is a resource provided through Grand Valley State University's Library, and is a collection of books which offer a hands-on experience in cultures around the world. Ancient Greece and Rome as well as present Southeast-Asia and Japan are included in the archive. National Archives National Archives is a government website which has a plentiful supply of teacher's resources. It offers lesson plans and activities by era, as well as ideas for field trips. The other beneficial aspect of this website is its comprehensive database of primary sources. CIA World Factbook This is a comprehensive world almanac offered by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. This is perhaps the most all-inclusive collection of statistical and regional data on the web. It includes country-by-country insight into population, education, health care etc... The site also includes world rankings by country for each category as well. |
Technology ResourcesPoll Everywhere
This educational web resource allows teachers to poll students in an anonymous way by allow them to reply to a multiple choice response either by text or going to the website. This works as a great form of exit or signaling formative assessment. Quizlet This site allow students and teachers to create flash cards, quizzes and other visually stimulating study tools. IT can be accessed either with a laptop or mobile phone with internet access; allowing for studying whenever and wherever. Socrative Socrative is a multimedia website which allows teachers and students to carry out formative assessments using either computers or cell phones with internet access. Teachers can upload quizzes or response questions, and will receive simultaneous responses from their students. Once students have complete the assessment all quizzes are graded and can be viewed in an Excel spreadsheet for easy grading. Go!Animate This site allows both teachers and students to create school-appropriate animated videos for use in the classroom. It can be used by teachers to introduce a lesson or re-enact a historical event. Students can create a group project and use their own voice or a text-to-speech application which features over 20 languages. Backgrounds and characters are all pre-loaded and customizable; music and soundtracks can also be included. Google Forms This Google Chrome applet is an easy form/test generator for teachers. Forms can be completed by students online, or printed to bring into class. |