History and Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks and National Standards
- History and Social Science Curriculum Framework Massachusetts Department of Education, August 2003. Download and print the most recent draft.
- National Standards for Social Studies Teachers (Revised 2017) Task force on Social Studies Teacher Education Standards, National Council for the Social Studies, 1997. Download and print.
- National Standards for Civics and Government. Center for Civic Education, 1994.
- National Standards for History, National Center for History in the Schools, University of Southern California, 1996.
- Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics, Foundation for Teaching Economics.
- National Geography Standards, National Council for Geographic Education. See also this graphic from the National Geographic Society.
History Teaching Resources from Robert Maloy
- Robert Maloy's Bookmarks at HistoryTime Bookmarks of web resources, coded to the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, located at the DIIGO social bookmarking site.
- Robert Maloy's GoodReads A great site for looking up books and networking with other readers.
See special topic page: Digital Textbooks for History Learning
Dunhuang Library, Mogao Caves, China
Timelines
- Timelines: Sources from History from the British Library lets you explore the centuries from medieval times to the present day.
- myHistro focuses on the geographical visualization of the events thanks to Google maps. It has the classic temporal sequence too.
- Timeline Creator download this program and create great timelines.
- HyperHistory Online presents 3,000 years of world history using interactive maps, timelines, lifelines and other resources.
- Timelines.tv is a video-rich resource for exploring different time periods in world and American history.
- The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History is "a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, as illustrated by the Metropolitan Museum's collection."
- timeglider creates interactive timelines. Add videos, audio, and photos to events. Create multiple timelines to overlap and see trends throughout history.
- Timetoast is another interactive timeline maker. Add photos to events.
- Dipity also creates interactive timelines. Allows you to share the timeline with others to allow comment and collaboration.
Multicultural History
The Struggle for Justice, National Portrait Gallery
For the Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
Historical Biography
Influential Literature
- American Passages: A Literary Survey from Annenberg Learner
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, yearly selection of the best literature from the National Council for the Social Studies.
Ancient Library at Alexandria
Multimedia and Interactive Web-based Learning Resources
- H-BOT Historical Fact Finder from the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
- A Biography of America, the companion website to the video series and telecourse from Annenberg Learner.
- History by Era from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History features essays by prominent historians about 10 chronological time periods from 1620 to the present, along with primary documents, timelines, key terms, and interactive resources.
- Atlas of World History with interactive maps and historical information from pre-history to the year 1000.
- Glossary of Historical Terms from Humanities Web provides definitions and information for hundreds of words and people.
- Wordle, a cloud tag generator that displays key words from any written text.
- Smarthistory, an interactive Art History book with a multimedia timeline.
- Immigration Explorer is a website from the New York Times that shows immigration patterns throughout American history.
- Teaching with Textbooks presents strategies for using textbooks to promote critical thinking and historical analysis by students.
- Mapping History from the University of Oregon features interactive and animated representations of historical problems and events.
- BouncyMaps provides interactive U. S. and world maps that change their size to represent the data for a subject.
- Google Art Project allows visitors to "Explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels."
- The Object of History is a virtual exhibit of artifacts from American history, made by Smithsonian.
- A History of the World in 100 Objects is an exploration of important objects from the British Museum.
- Rulers, an interactive map that identifies the heads of state for every country in the world since 1700.
- Stop Disasters presents online simulations of the steps needed to prevent natural events from overwhelming human societies.
- Internet Detective provides an introduction to Internet research for students.
- GeoGames provides interactive geography lessons from Reach the World with the support of the National Geographic Society Education Foundation.
- Critical Past offers archival stock footage by decade from the 1890s to the 1990s.
- Newspapermap presents English language translations of newspapers from all over the world.
- Newseum displays the front pages of some 800 newspapers worldwide.
- The Public Domain Review presents materials that are freely available to teachers and students.
- The National Archives Experience: Digital Vaults offers 1200 digital records from American history and society.
- Humanline is visual library of civilization's history with royalty-free images for teachers and students.
- The Price of Freedom: Americans at War from the Smithsonian has interactive exhibits for all major military conflicts in the nation's history.
- The Walters Art Museum holds a collection that presents an overview of world art from pre-dynastic Egypt to 20th-century Europe. It contains a large network of free-to-use pictures and files available at Wikimedia Commons.
- Google World Wonders Project uses street view technology to make world heritage sites available to teachers and students.
- Have Fun with History offers videos and activities for study of U. S. history and politics.
- The Century, America's Time, a visual encyclopedia of the 20th century from ABC News.
- The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates from PBS.
- Ken Burns' American Lives on iTunes available for purchase, featuring Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, Frank Lloyd Wright, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mark Twain, Horatio's Drive and Jack Johnson.
- whatwasthere lets users download old photographs to modern-day locations to compare past and present.
- Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle has free documentary films from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- OpenSecrets.org from Center for Responsive Politics
American Presidency
- American President: An Online Reference Resource In-depth information reviewed by prominent scholars on each President and administration from the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
- Presidential Speech Archive featuring text and video of important speeches by every American President from the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
- Presidential Recordings Program contains more than 2500 hours of White House recordings of conversations and meetings by Presidents from 1940 to 1973.
- Inaugural Words: 1789 to the Present, each Presidential Inaugural Address presented as word clouds by the New York Times.
- Votetocracy, the People's Congress allows everyday citizens to "vote" on legislation pending in Congress.
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| The House of Wisdom, Baghdad |
Primary Sources
Library of Congress
- American Memory makes available the Library's collections under wide-ranging topic headings.
- 88 Books That Shaped America from the Library of Congress.
- National Jukebox features historical sound recordings from the Library of Congress.
- Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Direct has primary documents from the Library of Congress.
American History Sources
- History Source has primary documents from the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- DocsTeach from the National Archives allows teachers to create interactive activities using more than 3,000 primary source documents. See also Document Analysis with Students.
- America in Class has primary sources compatible with the Common Core State Standards from the National Humanities Center.
- Today's Document App from the National Archives.
- Strange Fruit from PBS is a collection of protest songs throughout American history.
- The People's Vote on the most influential documents in American history.
- Internet History Sourcebooks Project by Paul Halsall at Fordham University. See also Internet Women's History Sourcebook.
- Battle Lines: Letters from America's Wars from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History includes both written and audio text.
- New Perspectives on the West, a library of primary source materials on the American west from the PBS series.
- Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, a collection of 3500 primary source documents from Yale University.
- CIA Electronic Reading Room has declassified information from the Central Intelligence Agency, made available under the Freedom of Information Act.
- United States Historical Census Data, population and economic statistical information for each decade between 1790 and 1960 made available by the University of Virginia.
- Military Atlases from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point provides resources for teaching about wars in American History.
- African Americans and the End of Slavery in Massachusetts from the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- A Chronology of U. S. Historical Documents from the College of Law, University of Oklahoma.
- A Brush with History: Paintings from the National Portrait Gallery offers portraits of writers, statesmen, inventors, artists, and scientists from American history.
- Primarily History, a collection of links to primary source material from college librarian Patricia McPherson.
- Many Pasts from the U. S. Course on the Web from George Mason University.
- Primary Resources in U. S. History & Literature from the National Humanities Center features documents, literary texts and works of art with notes and discussion questions.
- Talking History is a collection of audio documentaries, speeches, debates, oral histories, conference sessions, commentaries, archival audio sources, and other aural history resources.
- Great Websites for Kids: History & Biography from the American Library Association.
- The Vault is a collection of FBI files on various members of society and their movements.
- The Collection Online from the Metropolitan Museum of Art provides free access to over 400,000 digital images.
World History Sources
- Children & Youth in World History provides primary source and teaching resources for learning about the experiences of young people in history.
- Primary Source World, classroom activities featuring rich primary sources (from China, Korea, Japan, Africa, Vietnam, and more!).
- Readings in World History from the Renaissance to Imperialism from Sam Houston State University.
- Finding World History, a database of primary sources and teaching resources for world history from George Mason University.
- World History Primary Sources from National History Day.
- Primary Sources of the Old Kingdom from the BBC.
- History of Greece: Primary Documents from Brigham Young University.
- Hanover Historical Texts Collection from Hanover College.
- Exploring Daily Life throughout History: How Did They Live? from the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
- A History of the World using 100 objects from the British Museum
View a multimedia presentation about using primary sources in historical inquiry from Virginia Tech University.
Documents That Changed the World Podcasts, Joseph Janes, University of Washington
Courts and the Law
- Oyez: U. S. Supreme Court Resources (sort by term, 1789 - Present) from Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School and Chicago-Kent School of Law
- Exploring Constitutional Law , a comprehensive site by Doug Linder from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
- Famous Trials, a site detailing famous court cases in history, also by Doug Linder from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
- Supreme Court Landmarks, U.S. Courts
- Democracy Web: Comparative Studies in Freedom from the Albert Shanker Institute and Freedom House.
History Learning Resources and Plans
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| Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt |
- National History Education Clearinghouse an extensive collection of resources from the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
- TeachingAmericanHistory.org provides web-based lesson plans on American history and government.
- Teaching American History from George Mason University
- Smithsonian's History Explorer from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
- FactCheckEd.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania is a classroom specific version of the FactCheck.org site.
- Library of Congress: Teachers is a resource designed specifically for educational and instructional uses.
- Smithsonian Source is a great site from the Smithsonian Institute presenting resources for teaching American history.
- The History Project is a site from the University of California at Davis showing links for history teachers and students alike.
- For Educators and Students is a site from the National Archives presenting different lesson plans and information for teachers and students.
- Best of History Websites shows a list of history website resources for any lover of history.
- The Window: Philosophy on the Internet provides brief biographies of important philosophers from Trinity College.
- American Rhetoric offers an online speech bank as well as a collection of the 100 most famous speeches in U.S. history.
- National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian.
- Teaching American History Through Local Resources features lessons developed by local high school teacher, Sean Colon.
- Religions, a site from the BBC provides information about world religions.
- American Writers: A Journey Through History from C-SPAN explores authors who writing has influenced history.
- A Curriculum of United States Labor History from the Illinois Labor History Society.
- The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.
- Institute for Curriculum Services: National Resource Center for Accurate Jewish Content in Schools has a large selection of lesson plans, teacher’s guides, maps, and primary source documents relating to Jews, Judaism, and Israel.
- Primary Source offers graduate-level online courses, webinars, and resource guides for teaching about world histories, diverse cultures, and global issues.
- Advanced Placement U.S. History Lessons from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- The Price of Freedom: Americans at War from the Smithsonian has materials on American wars from the War for Independence to the Vietnam War.
- Regents Prep US History and Government for test questions divided by era
- SweetSearch Social Studies is a search engine for children that features technology and information specifically for social studies.
- Online Resources for Teaching about American Indians from Teaching Tolerance
- History from BBC
- Back to History, History Teaching Institute, The Ohio State University
Real Gabinete Português de Leitura - Rio de Janeiro
Women's History Resources
- Women in World History, a site from George Mason University.
- Women & the American Story, New York Historical Society Museum and Library
- Center for American Women and Politics, a site from Rutgers University.
- Women Working, 1800 -1930, a digital exploration of women's impact on the economic life of the United States between 1800 and the Great Depression.
Economics Resources
- Economics Lesson Plans from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for all grade levels.
- Understanding Fiscal Responsibility: A Curriculum for Teaching about the Federal Budget, National Debt, and Budget Deficit from Columbia University.
- National Priorities Project offers a critical examination of budget expenses with a emphasis on social and economic justice.
- A Glossary of Political Economy Terms from Paul M. Johnson, Auburn University
Geography Resources
- The World Factbook, information on all the countries of the world from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
- BBC Country Profiles also provides information about the countries of the world.
- I Like 2 Learn is a interactive site for teachers and students to learn geography and history.
- Kids Geo is a site about geography, using games and quizzes to help students learn.
- Countries from the World Health Organization gives information about all countries that belong to that organization.
- Open Heat Map Upload spreadsheet to site to Greek Gods map displaying change and density.
- Pin in the Map Upload old pictures and stories to current locations on map. Allows users to create "Then and Now" views of historical places.
- BBC Dimensions takes important places, events and things, and overlays them onto a map of where you are in the world.
- U. S. State and Territory Online Encyclopedias offers information on the history, politics, geography, and culture of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia and the territories of Puerto Rico and Guam.
- Newspaper Article on the first atlas, etched and printed by Abraham Ortelius in 1570 and other Maps That Changed the World.
- National Geographic Education, formerly Xpeditions, has geography teaching resources from National Geographic.
- Population Pyramid of the World: 1950-2010, interactive graphs showing population trends for the world's countries.
- United States History Map has several interactive maps and quizzes to refresh your United States geographic knowledge.
- WorldMapper resizes land areas according to different categories such as wealth, poverty, education for different historical time periods.
- Mapping History from the University of Oregon includes modules on U.S., European, Latin American and African history.
- GeoGuessr, Using Google Street Map technology, players must determine locations around the world.
- Barefoot World Atlas features a 3D globe with impressive amounts of information about all the countries in the world.
- A Geography Collection of Resources from ScoopIT.
- Martin's AP Human Geography has games and quizzes to learn about the countries of the world.
- David Rumsey HIstorical Map Collection using Google Earth.
- Annenberg Learner has a collection of teaching lesson plans.
Al Qarawiyyin Library, Morocco, oldest library in the world
iPad and Tablet Computer Apps
- Back in Time is an iPad encyclopedia with a timeline of the history of the Earth.
- Beautiful Planet captures the breathtaking beauty of our world and its cultures spanning 7 continents and 160 countries.
- This Day in History displays historical events for the current day or any selected day.
- Greek Gods: The ultimate Greek Gods pocket reference!
- History of United States is a historical compilation detailing the events from different eras that defined both the economic and social evolution of the United States.
- MyCongress provides detailed information on Congressional members including connections to their Twitter feeds and other news items.
- Maps of the World is a wonderful collection of historical maps.
Web-based Simulations and Serious Games for Learning
For reviews of games, see the website, Playing History
Games That Teach History features reviews from Common Sense Media
History Games and Animations from EdTechTeacher
Online Interactive Simulations from Social Studies Central
See teacher Jeremiah McCall's blog for background on using simulation games in history classrooms
For more resources, see the site Teaching History with Technology from EdTechTeacher.
Results of a Comparison Group Study of American History and Civics Initiative's Mission US
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| Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, Italy |
- iCivics features games that explore the rights of individuals in American society; former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is one of the organizers of this initiative.
- Free Rice gives 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Programme for every correct answer to questions.
- Food Force from the UN World Food Programme teaches about the challenges of delivering food during times of war and crisis.
- Stop Disasters! is a series of disaster and crisis prevention games from the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
- The Road to the Capitol puts students in the role of a candidate running for election to Congress.
- Nobel Peace Prize-Related Games has simulations based on the work of Nobel Peace Prize winners; part of a larger site on Nobel Prize games.
- Trade Ruler: The Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Theory from the Nobel Prize game site illustrates economic relationships between different countries.
- Muck and Brass and Who Wants to be a Cotton Millionaire? from the BBC show conditions in cities during the early Industrial Revolution.
- 1066 puts individuals or groups in the Battle of Hastings.
- Inca Investigation explores the culture and society that stretched for more than 3000 miles along the west coast of South America.
- Energyville from Chevron asks players to control the energy resources of a virtual city.
- Who Wants to Live a Million Years? is a game based on Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.
- High Tea puts players in the role of a 19th century British smuggler in China exchanging opium for silver to trade for tea.
- History Simulations features recreations of World War I, World War II and the Cold War by a high school teacher in Iowa.
- Peanuts and Crackerjacks: The Economics of Pro Sports Teams from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
- Spent asks players to assume the role of a single parent and manage a month of expenses on a limited income.
- The China Game from the Asia Society explores Chinese history, culture and geography.
- Thanksgiving Interactive: You Are the Historian from Plimoth Plantation.
- Mission US: An Interactive Way to Learn History from WNET Thirteen, New York City.
- Games include Crown or Colony; Flight to Freedom; A Cheyenne Odyssey; City of Immigrants
- Pox and the City: Edinburgh: A Digital Role-Playing Game for the History of Medicine from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
- The Redistricting Game from University of Southern California Annenberg Center
- Become a Spice Trader from Annenberg Learner
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) Learning Resources
- Quist: Today in LGBTQ History is a free app for iPhone and iPad.
- Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, Respectful Education Act in California mandates study of the role and contributions of LGBT Americans.
- OutHistory lets users search LGBT history by time period, people, places, documents and other resources.
- GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, California.
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month 2013 from the Library of Congress celebrates the accomplishments of LGBT Americans in history.
- LGBTQ Inclusive Lessons from the GSA Network.
- Gays and Lesbians in History from the University of Alabama Birmingham.
- California Brings Gay History into the Classroom overviews the 2011 law in California requiring that the contributions of gays and lesbians be included in social studies instruction.
- People with a History: An Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans History from Fordham University.
- Lesbians in the Twentieth Century, a course website by Professor Esther Newton, University of Michigan.
- Stonewall Book Awards from the American Library Association.
- History of Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual Social Movements from the American Psychological Association.
- LGBT Rights from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
- Lesbian History Archives features an extensive collection of materials by and about lesbians and their communities.
- Where We Are on TV 2013 presents information on gay, lesbian, transgender characters on television network shows.
- LGBT History from Ohio University.
- Teaching and Learning about Gay History and Issues, The New York Times Learning Network
- When Did It Happen: An LGBT History Lesson from GLSEN
- Unheard Voices: Stories and Lessons for Grades 6-12 from GLSEN has interviews, classroom materials and thematic lessons.
- School Is In: LGBT History Is History, from Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association.