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Picturing US History - American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Use a projector or interactive whiteboard, and the zoom tool to look at one aspect of the picture and have students interpret the image. Challenge your students to create a web exhibit collection about a historical topic using a tool such as Pocket, reviewed here. Students can share all of the important links, information, and even brief descriptions that they find on this site.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Peek: Create Your Perfect Day - Ruzwana Bashir and Oskar Gruening
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Although this is not a typical "educational" site, the possibilities for classroom use are unlimited. Have students create their perfect day using the site as a story starter or creative writing prompt. Use the site to plan a virtual field trip anywhere. Have students create a day in the life of a story character, famous person from history, or in the career of their choosing. Retell any important date in history using Peek as a guideline. Teach budget planning by having students research and plan a perfect travel day. World language or world cultures classes can use this to create a day focused on the cultural riches of the country they are studying. Language students can write about it in their new language. After students create their perfect day, create an online folder or wiki page with links to all of the "perfect days" for other students to use as writing prompts (creative or informational). Share all students' perfect days on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site to create a perfect day for visitors to your school or community.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 shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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World History TimeMap - TimeMaps Ltd
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Explore time periods together on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Find the time period you are teaching then explore pins to view more information about different civilizations during that time. Assign students different civilizations to research during a time period using TimeMaps as a starting point. Have students create their own comics to explain a civilization using comic-creation tools from this collection.Comments
Excellent interactive and visual timeline for students!! It's free!!Jackson, MD, Grades: 6 - 12
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Historical Thinking Interactive Poster (Secondary) - National History Education Clearinghouse
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use your projector or interactive whiteboard and teach your students how to think like a historian. There are some interesting links here for you and your students to investigate. For instance, there are links for exploring the modern civil rights movement, primary sources to look at diary entries from other time periods, examining lithographs, using and reading multiple perspectives, and several more. You may want to go through each quadrant with the entire class, or you might want to assign groups to become "specialists" in a quadrant and have them present it to your class. Challenge the groups to create presentations using Prezi, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Gettysburg School Bus: The Civil War in the Classroom - Barbara Sanders
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
This is an excellent site to bookmark and save for many Civil War resources including lesson plans, first hand information on Gettysburg, and Civil War articles. Have students choose one of the blog posts from the site then create magazine covers of information included using Magazine Cover Maker reviewed here. Have students create an online presentation on the Battle of Gettysburg using Prezi (reviewed here). Use lesson plans included on the site to supplement your current Civil War unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Poetry and Music of the War Between the States - civilwarpoetry.org
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Include this site with your Civil War unit resources. Have students upload a photo they have taken and add voice bubbles to explain what they learned using a tool such as Phrase.it, reviewed here. Or challenge cooperative learning groups to use one of the many other multimedia presentation TeachersFirst Edge tools found here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Brown Bookshelf - Paula Chase-Hyman
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use throughout the year, not just during Black History Month. Create a link on classroom computers for students to explore and find books for reading. Share this link on your class website or blog for students to use at home. Showcase books found on this site for classroom read aloud. Librarians will find this site helpful for creating displays in their library or for presentations in classrooms. Enhance student learning by having students create commercials for books found on this site using a tool like PowToon, or Adobe Express Video Maker, and share them using a tool such as School Tube.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Navajo Code Talkers - Navajo Code Talkers Foundation
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Share this site with your students on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) during your World War II unit or a unit on Native Americans. This would be a great link to share during Native American Heritage Month. Enhance student learning by replacing pencil and paper and use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here to create a visual comparison of the Code Talkers vs other World War II battle units or cryptographers. Put a link to Fun Facts For Kids on station computors or your website for your students to learn even more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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History Tools - David Voelker
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark and save for use with American History units. Use online source documents in addition to materials currently used in class. Allow students to explore the online documents; then have students create a "word cloud" of key terms from any document using a site such as Tagul reviewed here. Post the clouds on your bulletin board for visual "review." Use the author's essay rubric and class participation information with your class for assessment and participation guidelines.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Laura Jernigan: Girl on a Whaleship - Martha's Vineyard Museum
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Include this site as you study 19th century America, New England, or maritime history. Use the teacher link at the bottom of the page to find units and lessons. Introduce the site to students and allow them to explore on their own. Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain a day in the life of one of the Jernegan family members. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here. HIgh school classes could compare the whaling industry with other practices that have had an impact on our natural resources. How does this approach to whaling differ from the Native Alaskans? How does it differ from today's use of ocean resources?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Coursera - Coursera.org
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Allow gifted students to enroll in courses that interest them or that provide enrichment beyond classroom content. Share with others in your building as a resource for professional development. Explore the topics yourself for some new, engaging topics to round out your own expertise. Allow students to enroll in a course that would fit into their career goals as an exploratory opportunity in that field.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Arts & Cultural - Google
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Because of the visual impact of this resource, it's perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard (or projector as a complement to a study of the historical period or issue serving as the focus for each theme. Students can hear the voices of children who were affected by the Holocaust, see photographs of Apartheid era South Africa, and view primary source documents related to the life of activist Steve Biko. Allow yourself a little time to play with the site before you use it, as it may not be immediately intuitive. Overall, however, the impact of the images and video found here will add real power to your lessons. Challenge your students to use the search tool to find visual media related to events or topics you are studying and to explain the relationships. Even world language teachers will find the media available here a way to share a rich nuances of another culture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Web of Stories - WebOfStories.com
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Choose from videos on the site to watch on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) for any range of subjects. Make science more real by sharing these stories. Embed videos using the code on the site onto your class website or blog for students to view at home. Have students record responses using an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to create a visual comparison of two different videos on any given topic. Share videos with students to view when exploring career options.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Murder at the Met: An American Art Mystery - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Whether teaching art history or a unit on mysteries and deductive reasoning, students will learn from using this program. Though there is a place for students to keep notes, they should also keep their own notes about the clues, especially why they chose the ones they mark "highly suspicious." Replace paper and pencil by using a tool like Memo Notepad, reviewed here, for digital note taking. If you and your students liked this site you might also enjoy "Mysterious Places: Ancient Civilizations Modern Mysteries," reviewed here, with its lovely photographs to go along with the mysteries. A natural follow up would be to have your students write their own mysteries. Expository Escapades - Detective's Handbook, reviewed here, is just the place to give you some ideas! Challenge gifted students to create similar mysteries using subject matter in any science or social studies class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Take Me Back To - takemeback.to
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Build context around historic dates using details of pop culture, magazines, and more. Have students search for their birthdate and write about significant events on that date. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to create a visual comparison of two different dates or of a past date with today. Ask students to generate questions about an important date, such as Pearl Harbor day, and use cultural details to generate a "snapshot" of what life was like before the world changed. What can you tell from the information shared here? How do you know? Challenge your students to use a site such as Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, to create timelines of events in the 1900's.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fakebook - Class Tools
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Engage and create interest in classroom learning with Fakebook. Fakebook is terrific for creating interest in many subjects. Instead of a typical biographical report in social studies, students create a Fakebook page about their famous person. Write about presidents, founding fathers, famous scientists or artists, Civil War soldiers, and more. Have students create a timeline of any historical event (name the page for the event, such as World War II). Use Fakebook to outline a book, play, or film plot, then share with students while studying the material. To use Fakebook to study literature, create a page for the central character, the book's author, or the book's setting. For a unique twist in science class, create a Fakebook page for a periodic element or another science topic. Use the page to describe "the life" of that atom or element. In world language classes, have students do this activity (about themselves) in the second language they are learning. Create a Fakebook page for the first day of school to introduce yourself to students or at Open House for parents. Challenge students to create and share a page about themselves during the first week of school. Share a Fakebook page with students to demonstrate proper netiquette and social sharing. Be sure to share a rubric with students for all expectations of what should be included on their page. Make Fakebook one of the options for your gifted students doing projects beyond the regular curriculum. With no membership required, this tool is simple enough for younger gifted students with parent permission to post work to the web.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Like a Historian - Digital Inquiry Group
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for American history lessons throughout the year. The final segment of each lesson, the "Central Historical Question," has been noted as the most important part. If you don't have time for the full lesson, incorporate the historical question into your lesson plans as part of your classroom discussion, or journal activities. Perhaps you can use it as an essential question for your unit. Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain the central historical question. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Center for Civic Education - Center for Civic Education
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Share a link to the podcasts via your web page or blog. Have students answer the daily question then respond with a short journal entry or with comments on your webpage. Use lesson resources to supplement your current curriculum or commemorate events such as 9/11, MLK Day, Presidents Day, or Constitution Day. Assign podcasts to groups of students to use, then report to the class. Rather than a traditional report, challenge cooperative learning groups to collaborate on a topic found on the site using Netboard, reviewed here, to share ideas and information.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Best Word Book Ever - kokogiak on Flickr
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Do you still have a favorite picture book from your childhood? Consider going to the library to find a more current version and compare the differences. Have your students ask their parents if they still have a copy of their favorite picture book, and they can pick up a copy of the current edition to compare. With older students, you can use the Best Word Book Ever comparison to see the changes in what is politically incorrect now that was in the earlier version. Students then discuss what society valued at the time of the older edition compared to what our current society values. There are not just the gender role differences (policeman vs the woman police officer). Look at the wording in the older version for behavioral expectations, too. Literature teachers could carry this one step further and make a comparison of the expectations of society at the time of a classic (Tom Sawyer, Pride and Prejudice ) and what society valued during that time. Students could make one of these comparisons using a program like Bookemon reviewed here, which creates interactive online books. Make sure your students adhere to Copyright laws if creating online. You may want to work offline using PowerPoint so student products can include copyrighted images under "Fair Use."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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IWitness - USC Shoah Foundation
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
This is a tremendously rich resource for bringing home the reality of the Holocaust using the words and images of survivors. The number of Holocaust Survivors is dwindling, and we risk losing the full impact of their experience without sites like IWitness. Search the interview archives by keyword or subject and view individual stories. Use the editing tools to collect portions of interviews into a new video presentation, use this as an introduction of the Halocaust to your students. Then, choose an Activity that is appropriate for your class. You'll find several activities for upper elementary, middle school, and high school levels. There is also one for K-2 and one for the university level. Create class projects and group them by classroom section and collect multiple student presentations. The site is flexible and geared toward educators. Don't miss the lesson plans and activity plans as well as a good collection of other resources. The site has clearly delineated technology requirements; it would be wise to consult those prior to planning an activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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