Resources For Teachers
This is a list of websites and organizations with curriculum resources that teachers can use to prepare students to work with primary sources and to find activities that get students engaged in archival research.
Lesson Plans
The Educator’s Reference Desk: The Educator’s Reference Desk is a collection of lesson plans organized according to discipline.
Edsitement: Edsitement is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. This website offers history and social studies lesson plans as well as links to other useful social studies content.
Lesson Plans and Resources for Social Studies Teachers: Lesson plans and other resources collected by Dr. Marty Levine, a professor of secondary education, especially in the “Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources” page.
Media Educational Resources
Discovery Education: Created by the Discovery Channel, this site provides a wide array of resources, though not all are related directly to social studies. Look for links to lesson plans, video clips, worksheets, and more.
FreeDocumentaries.org: Appropriately named, this site offers scores of free streamed documentaries, though the quality is not always the best.
History Classroom: Part of the History Channel, this site contains streaming videos, background information, and other useful resources to engage students in history.
National Geographic: The site offers lessons and activities about geography and cultures. Also, it links to a variety of National Geographic resources that will enhance a lesson and engage students, from world music to video clips to interactive maps.
New York Times Learning Network: The Network has lesson plans and materials based on articles from the New York Times.
PBS Learning Media: PBS Learning Media allows you to sort through articles, lesson plans, and activities by grade level, topic, and/or PBS program. PBS NewsHourExtra has particularly strong resources.
Organizations Educational Resources
Annenberg Classrooms: Annenberg Classrooms offers a collection of lesson plans, resources, videos, and games about the U.S. government.
Center for Civic Education: The Center’s website offers numerous podcasts, curriculum, information about civics education programs, and other multimedia resources appropriate for middle and high school students.
Constitutional Rights Foundation: CRF is a non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization dedicated to educating America’s young people about the importance of civic participation in a democratic society. CRF develops and distributes programs and materials to teachers, students, and public-minded citizens across the nation, including lessons and activities about democracy with specific attention on deliberation.
Deliberating in a Democracy: DID is conducted by the Constitutional Right Foundation Chicago and StreetLaw, Inc. The program’s aim is to promote the learning of democratic principles by teaching students how to deliberate controversial public issues. An array of issue-specific, democracy, and deliberation lesson plans are located under the “Lessons” tab.
Games for Change (G4C): G4C provides support, visibility, and shared resources to individuals and organizations using and designing digital games for social change. Its website offers free game channels and online series on numerous social issues. G4C also provides an opportunity for educators to connect with one another and an annual festival.
History Matters: History Matters designed a comprehensive site for U.S. History teachers. Find primary documents, read about how experts approach history, and search hundreds of the best websites about U.S. History.
iCivics: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the driving force behind this web-based civics education project featuring curriculum units, lesson plans, and highly interactive games.
Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility: Teachable Moment offers lesson plans for k-12 that promote critical thinking on both domestic and international current issues.
National Constitution Center: The education blog offers lesson plans, professional development resources, and educational content related to the U.S. Constitution.
Rethinking Schools: Rethinking Schools is an independent publisher of educational materials and professional development resources, many of which focus on controversial issues.
C3Teachers: C3 Teachers facilitates open collaborative conversations among teachers as they tinker with their own instructional practice as it relates to the Inquiry Arc of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Social Studies Standards (2013). You'll find that several of our hosted lesson plans use a C3 framework.
American Psychological Association (APA): Lesson plans and ideas for those teaching k-12 psychology
Council for Economic Education: With the lessons and resources available on this site, it will be much easier to teach students of all grade levels about economics.
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS): NCSS is an association aimed at supporting social studies teachers. Look under the “resources” link on the top bar of the homepage to find k-12 lessons and other helpful information.
Libraries and Archives
Library of Congress: Primary source materials, data sets, presentations, and other classroom materials are available here. This is a very dense site and may take a while to find specific resources, but they come from an official source.
U.S. National Archives: A content-rich site with links to lesson plans, primary sources, and professional development opportunities. Plan on spending some time exploring this site.
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Education: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Education has a variety of programs for learners of all ages. Search for curricular material by subject or by state standards.
Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs
Detroit Historical Society: Access to lesson plans and online collections of primary source material.