Social Studies Resources
This page is constantly under construction, but these are some resources I found helpful while developing my curriculum for both World and American studies as well as general social studies sources. There are also some suggested books at the end, which have useful lessons and materials for teachers looking to encourage historical thinking and disciplinary literacy skills amongst their students.
Before going into my selected sources, finding Dulcinea has also suggested a list of 101 sites that would be especially useful for social studies teachers.
General Resources
Beyond the Bubble (https://beyondthebubble.stanford.edu): A Stanford University project to help teachers and others rethink how we assess skills in social studies classes, this site encourages use of History Assessments of Thinking (HATs) to help students build skills they need to progress and master disciplinary literacy practices.
Click that 'Hood (http://click-that-hood.com): A useful but entertaining way for students (and teachers) to practice basic geography skills and identification, this site has a number of different challenges in identifying different countries - including those in Europe in 1014 and again in a 1938 version of Europe.
finding Dulcinea (http://www.findingdulcinea.com): This is a great online, resource, referring to itself as an online librarian for the digital age, it has lots of credible resources and advice about where to look for information online. It's good for both teachers and students, and it has specific guides about topics like the Civil Rights Movement, Latin American Studies, and the Great Depression and the New Deal, among many others.
Reading Like a Historian (http://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh): From Stanford University's History Education Group, this site helps teachers think about ways to encourage historical thinking, reading, and writing in their students. With lessons on both American and World history, there are resources that can be immediately used in classes and spark ideas for further lessons or materials.
Vincent Voice Library (http://vvl.lib.msu.edu): A project of Michigan State University, this is a searchable collection of tons of audio recordings since 1888. The sources include speeches, broadcasts, and interviews, and many of them are available for listening online.
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Before going into my selected sources, finding Dulcinea has also suggested a list of 101 sites that would be especially useful for social studies teachers.
General Resources
Beyond the Bubble (https://beyondthebubble.stanford.edu): A Stanford University project to help teachers and others rethink how we assess skills in social studies classes, this site encourages use of History Assessments of Thinking (HATs) to help students build skills they need to progress and master disciplinary literacy practices.
Click that 'Hood (http://click-that-hood.com): A useful but entertaining way for students (and teachers) to practice basic geography skills and identification, this site has a number of different challenges in identifying different countries - including those in Europe in 1014 and again in a 1938 version of Europe.
finding Dulcinea (http://www.findingdulcinea.com): This is a great online, resource, referring to itself as an online librarian for the digital age, it has lots of credible resources and advice about where to look for information online. It's good for both teachers and students, and it has specific guides about topics like the Civil Rights Movement, Latin American Studies, and the Great Depression and the New Deal, among many others.
Reading Like a Historian (http://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh): From Stanford University's History Education Group, this site helps teachers think about ways to encourage historical thinking, reading, and writing in their students. With lessons on both American and World history, there are resources that can be immediately used in classes and spark ideas for further lessons or materials.
Vincent Voice Library (http://vvl.lib.msu.edu): A project of Michigan State University, this is a searchable collection of tons of audio recordings since 1888. The sources include speeches, broadcasts, and interviews, and many of them are available for listening online.
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American History Resources
Digital History (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu): This extensive website has information about and from a number of groups that are often ignored or marginalized in U.S. history like Native Americans and women. Docs Teach (http://docsteach.org): A project done with the National Archives, this site has a searchable set of resources and primary source documents for teachers and students. You can register to bookmark resources and lessons or contribute your own sources to the growing community. Historical Thinking Matters (historicalthinkingmatters.org/index.php): From Stanford and George Mason Universities, this site is slowly building a set of resources about specific elements of U.S. History and includes units on the Spanish-American War and Rosa Parks, among others. |
iCivics (https://www.icivics.org): A resource for teachers and students to teach about the U.S. Constitution and other aspects of civic life and participation, this site includes teaching resources as well as entertaining games for students to practice their skills independently.
World History Resources
Big History Project (https://course.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive): An open course with free registration for interested teachers, Big History takes a more universal approach to World History, teaching everything from the Big Bang onwards, this is a different, but useable resource for teachers. Internet History Sourcebooks (http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/index.asp): A wonderful source for teachers looking for primary or secondary sources to use in their classes, this site from Fordham University has ancient, medieval, and modern sourcebooks that are searchable and divided by general categories. Some texts will require adaptation for students. World History for Us All (http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu): This site from UCLA and San Diego State has lessons, materials, and a lot of resources for teachers of world history who hope to help students understand the broader scale of world history rather than separating by specific regions. |
Books
Reading Like A Historian: From some of the leading researchers in teaching historical thinking and disciplinary literacy skills, this book has a number of lesson plans with adapted materials that teachers can easily pull out and use in U.S. history classes. There are also a number of other resources listed for each specific lesson that teachers can access online.
Reading, Thinking, and Writing about History: Another source meant for teachers, this one is more focused on an entire year-long curriculum supplement for U.S. history classes to develop students from early novices to more proficient and literate historical thinkers. This is a wonderful resource, but it will require a bit of work and thinking to figure out how to best add this to an existing curriculum.
Reading Like A Historian: From some of the leading researchers in teaching historical thinking and disciplinary literacy skills, this book has a number of lesson plans with adapted materials that teachers can easily pull out and use in U.S. history classes. There are also a number of other resources listed for each specific lesson that teachers can access online.
Reading, Thinking, and Writing about History: Another source meant for teachers, this one is more focused on an entire year-long curriculum supplement for U.S. history classes to develop students from early novices to more proficient and literate historical thinkers. This is a wonderful resource, but it will require a bit of work and thinking to figure out how to best add this to an existing curriculum.