Special Programs.....
GSA Earthcache: Letting the Earth teach!
If you are teaching Geography or Geology, this is a really cool thing to get into with the students, provided you live near a cache. This site lists the coordinates of geologically interesting areas of the earth and provides information about how it got that way.
EARTHCACHE.ORG
Teaching Tolerance
Fight Hate and Promote Tolerance: A web Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
This site has an unending string of resources and ideas to combat the stereotypes and generalizations about the poor and minority populations of the United States and the anger it sometimes brings.
http://www.tolerance.org/ Other areas of the site includes:
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/index.jsp Teacher resources
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/magazine/teachingtools.jsp?p=0&is=39 Teaching tools, free learning kits
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/magazine/index.jsp Teaching Tolerance Magazine
The Choices Program
A really current, meaningful curriculum for the History teacher interested in relating their subject to present day issues and crisis.
"An educational outreach program of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Through its curricular resources, professional development programs, and special projects, CHOICES engages secondary level students in current and historical international issues and contributes to a renewal of civic engagement among young people in the United States."
http://www.choices.edu/index.cfm
The Choices Program U.S. History Series
Organization of American Historians
Includes information on lecture series, recent scholarship, and a great magazine for teaching historic themes such as civil rights, gender history, the Declaration of Independence and more
http://magazine.oah.org/
http://magazine.oah.org/pubs/magazine/60social/index.html
OAH Teaching Units
"History, Democracy, and Citizenship: The Debate over History's Role in Teaching Citizenship and Patriotism
A report commissioned by the Executive Board of the OAH."
http://magazine.oah.org/reports/tradhist.html
Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC)
"The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) is a consortium of state education agencies and national educational organizations dedicated to the reform of the preparation, licensing, and on-going professional development of teachers." Provides information on state standards, new research and federal programs designed to increase the effectiveness of the teaching profession.
http://www.ccsso.org/Projects/interstate_new_teacher_assessment_and_support_consortium/780.cfm
Council of Chief State School Officers home page
Thomas Jefferson Thanksgiving Festival
Experience 18th century life, including a ball with the heroes of the day - would make a great field trip if your school had the means!
http://www.jeffersonthanksgiving.org
Scholastic.com
I knew them from Junior Scholastic, a great magazine for Junior High School students and they have much more.
http://teacher.scholoastic.com
From the Government.....
Pennsylvania Department of Education
As if you didn't already know, you can get information on standards, news, job opportunities and legal questions
http://www.pde.state.pa.us/
Social Studies Standards
Assessment Assessment Anchor
United States National Park Service
An incredible website that links our national heritage and historic sites to classroom teaching.
http://www.nps.gov/learn/
National Park Service: History and Culture
A wealth of information connecting primary sources, research, history, ethnic studies and our national parks and historic places
http://www.cr.nps.gov/
National Archive and Records Administration
Right from the "horse's mouth" so to speak. Primary Sources right from the government archives. Comes with lesson plan ideas to incorporate those sources into your lessons.
http://www.archives.gov/education/
The Library of Congress Home Page
Click on the American Memory Link for great research opportunities and information. The second link goes to their American Broadside collection which is a good place to start for ideas on the early American Press.
http://www.loc.gov
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/bdsdhome.html
Technology...........
Teachology: The Web Portal for Educators
Very useful site, unfortunately you have to pay for the good stuff.
http://teach-nology.com/
Teachers Discovering Computers, Third Edition - Guide to Web sites
Taken from a book of mine from college, this site has lots of web site links on it to point you in the right direction for useful technology
http://www.scsite.com/tdc3/index.cfm?action=sties&chapter=2
Web Quest Portal
A wonderful starting point when trying to create a webquest for your students
http://webquest.org
Acts of Parliament: In Defense of the British
A webquest that looks at the legality of the acts of Parliament after the Revolutionary war in the context of the complaints of Loyalist refugees. It is a great example of what a webquest should be and a great idea for an assignment.
http://smith.quicktel.com/quests/british_laws.htm
From the media........
PBS video database index
We all know how good PBS is, now you can search their databases
http://videoindex.pbs.org/main/index.jsp
http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/educators/lesson2.html
The New York Times on the Web: Learning Network
History from the New York times and includes a teachers and student network with connections to present day issues.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/index.html
CNN Student News
Similar to US News Classroom except from CNN. Current events, both U.S. and Global
http://www.cnn.com/EDUCATION/
Daryl Cagle’s Professional Cartoonists Index
Ok, this site has to be the most comprehensive archive of political cartoons from around the world. Search by artist or country or topic. Even has a teacher’s guide. A must have for any teacher toolbox.
http://www.cagle.com/
A&E Classroom
Teaching materials from the Arts and Entertainment Channel. Deals with contemporary issues and strengthening the relevance and quality of education.
http://www.aetv.com/class/teachingmaterials/index.html
http://www.aetv.com/class/index.html
http://www.aetv.com/class/teach/
The History Channel Classroom
Provides teaching material and other resources that coincide with documentaries produced by and shown on the History Channel.
http://www.history.com/classroom/
The History Channel – Save Our History
This is one of the most incredible tools out there! Regardless of the commercialism of the History Channel, the topics are interesting and the are able to reach a wide audience. With this latest venture, The History Channel has added to the enhancement of research and primary source instruction in classrooms by bringing their research processes to light. Save Our History is a unique program that combines learning with preservation and offers a free booklet of primary documents and everything you need to teach with them.
http://www.history.com/classroom/save/soh.html
Evaluations and combating plagiarism...........
RubiStar Home
A source for all kinds of evaluating tools, not just rubrics
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Rubistar 4 teachers
Template for whatever kind of rubric you need - I use this all the time!
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=CustomizeTemplate&bank_rubric_id=21§ion_id=5
HistoryEd.com
Helps students evaluate the integrity and authenticity of websites and the information on them and provides a wealth of information for research
http://www.historyed.com/
http://www.historyed.com/webeval.html
http://www.historyed.com/research.html
Western Illinois University
Deals with papers and homework databases available to students, tips for combatting plagiarism in students and links to other articles pertaining to plagiarism.
http://www.wiu.edu/users/mfbhl/wiu/plagiarism.htm
Turn it in
Has some tools to check possible plagiarism and a place for peer review online. Haven't checked it out too thoroughly yet.
http://www.turnitin.com/static/home.html
VirtualSalt
Provides strategies for detecting plagiarism from students
http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm
Not for Free.......
Problems as Possibilities: Problem-Based Learning for K-16 Education, 2nd Edition
http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDisplay.cfm?ProductID=101064
U.S. News Classroom
From U.S. News and World Report, a weekly Teachers Guide that deals with the leading political stories of the day. Unfortunately one must subscribe in order to obtain it.
http://www.usnewsclassroom.com/tg/tg_112006.html
http://www.usnewsclassroom.com/about_classroom.html
Social Studies School Service
Search for entire units by topic
http://socialstudies.com/c/@0MBh3XySwgOpQ/Pages/product.html?record@TF32156+af@ep
Other Great Links.......
Success Link
This site has many resources for professional development
http://www.successlink.org/
University of North Texas Libraries: History resources on the net
Links to information on just about any historical subject area you need - incredible resource
http://www.library.unt.edu/subjects/history/histinternet.htm
WVIA Public Television and Radio
Lots of resources for teachers regarding PBS documentaries and programs and all things relating to Northeastern Pennsylvania.
www.wvia.org Includes links to the following:
TeacherSource PBS
TeacherSource . Social Studies PBS
NewsHour Extra Teacher Resources
ExplorePAHistory.com
Home Historical Society of Pennsylvania
"We invite you to explore the origins and diversity of Pennsylvania and the United States, from the colonial period and the nation's founding to the experience of contemporary life. Conduct research in the online catalogs, browse our exhibits and publications, and join us in preserving and understanding our heritage as a diverse and dynamic people."
http://www.hsp.org/
MarcoPolo - Internet Content for the Classroom
Resources for teaching and professional development and links for information on a number of topics. Also provides lesson plans. Provided by Verizon Wireless.
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/home.aspx
Teacher Vision
“Lesson plans, printables and more.” Searchable by grade or topic.
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/browse.php?term=110000000000
National Register of Historic Places: Teaching with Historic Places
”Teaching with Historic Places uses properties listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of products and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.”
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/
Immigration Research Guide from Penn State
“Readers of Tortilla Curtain and other students researching immigration-related topics will find this research guide helpful.
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/delaware/immigration/researchguide.htm
The Teacher’s Corner
Lesson plans, units, seasonal stuff, bulletin boards, message boards, etc
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/thematicunits/american.htm
The Teacher’s Guide
All kinds of tools and links to organizations, resources and teacher created materials
http://www.theteachersguide.com/
Plymouth-Canton Community Schools: Middle School Library
Media and Curriculum resources and professional development
http://web.pccs.k12.mi.us/mscurriculumlinks/7gradesocialstprof.htm
Refdesk.com
An education search engine. It has been discontinued and although it is no longer updated, you can still find stuff on it
http://www.refdesk.com/edusrch.html
National Geographic: Map Machine
Ok, what Social Studies teacher does not love maps? There is all kinds of games and information on this site that will help with even the smallest geography lesson. This particular is for “Map Machine”, a site for physical theme and any other map you can dream of. Great stuff if you have an LCD projector in your room
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/index.html
Library Spot
Links to any kind of informational source on the planet
http://www.libraryspot.com/
Scholastic Teacher
Great activities and resources including plans, maps, case studies and the very famous Junior Scholastic and Scholastic News magazines that are great for young readers.
http://www.scholastic.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/index.asp
Education Place and Education Place Social Studies Center
Textbook support materials from Houghton Mifflin Company
http://www.eduplace.com/index.jsp
http://www.eduplace.com/ss/
Media Awareness Network
”…Practical teaching units and classroom activities for media education…great ideas to share with other teachers…”
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/index.cfm
Yale University: New Haven Teachers Institute
The Ideas and Ideals of Man, From the Renaissance to the Reformation
An entire unit from objectives to bibliography
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1986/3/86.03.04.x.html
Other Units:
Some really big topics for older students
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/
National Park Service: Interpretive Development Program
”Here you'll find curriculum, fun and games, a guide to park Junior Ranger programs and a host of other fun and educational media created by the National Park Service and our partners”.
http://www.nps.gov/learn/
Professional Organizations.....
National Council for the Social Studies.
Information about advocacy, publications, standards, and anything else associated with teaching Social Studies.
http://www.socialstudies.org/
Organization of American Historians
Multiple resources for historians and history teachers.
http://www.oah.org/teaching/index.html
http://www.oah.org
Phi Alpha Theta Home Page
National Honor Society for History Majors.
http://www.phialphatheta.org/
National Council for the Social Studies
"Social studies educators teach students the content knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a participatory democracy. The mission of National Council for the Social Studies is to provide leadership, service, and support for all social studies educators."
http://www.socialstudies.org/
ASCD For the Success of All Learners
An education advocacy and development society whose mission is to maintain “a community of educators, advocating sound policies and sharing best practices to achieve the success of each learner.”
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/index.jsp/
