5 Websites You Should Be Using in Your Social Studies Classroom - History Gal

5 Websites You Should Be Using in Your Social Studies Classroom




Sometimes all it takes to get a fresh idea is a new-to-you website! Here are 5 sites that you may not know about. Check them out and let the inspiration fly!

1. The British Museum
You may know the museum, but did you know that the British Museum has awesome micro-sites on most ancient civilizations?
Mesopotamia (Sumer, Babylon, Assyria)
Ancient Egypt
Ancient China
Ancient India
Ancient Greece
Additionally, take a look at larger themes like writing, religion, trade, technology, cities, and buildings across time and civilizations with their Ancient Civilizations site.

2. Associated Press and Associate Press Interactive Twitter Feeds
Here, you'll find tweets about current events, great images and videos.
On the Interactive Twitter feed, you'll find fun interactives like matching basketball coaches with their mouths (I found Coach K's right away!) and more serious interactives like what happened on the Germanwings flight 9525 and mapping a year of Ebola.

3. BBC History for Kids - there's too much here for me to mention. You need to go and explore the site!

4. Virginia Center for Digital History has several great sites including:
The Valley of the Shadow (focusing on Augusta County, Virginia and Franklin County, Pennsylvania  during the Civil War)
Virtual Jamestown
TV News of the Civil Rights Era
Geography of Slavery in Virgina
Dolley Madison Project

5. Miller Center Presidential Archive includes great resources for each president including videos and speech recordings!

I'd love to hear what you discovered! Leave a comment about something you found that you are excited about.

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9 comments

  1. Andrea, thank you for these great links. You're right-sometimes all it takes to freshen things up is a new resource!
    Pam

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    Replies
    1. I have a growing list of favorite websites that keep inspiring me:)

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  2. I also love all of the British History sites! They are such a valuable resource with history far beyond our own!

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    Replies
    1. Me too! I can't believe I ever taught world history without realizing the bounty of their resources!

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  3. Thanks so much for the resources, Andrea--I'll be using them in my classroom ASAP! LOVE!
    Leah

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    Replies
    1. My new favorite site is the Associated Press' Interactive Twitter feed - there are so many awesome interactives and they are perfect to use for current events when you don't have the time to create a lesson but want your students to learn about what's going on!

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  4. Andrea,
    I love how these lend themselves to cross-curriculum activities.

    Connie Casserly

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  5. I'll have to share these with my social studies friend. Great websites!

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