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This site could be an invaluable resource for teaching media literacy. Analysis of multiple advertisements for specific products over time will shed some light on not only advertising techniques but provide an insight into the social culture of the time. History should be taught in the context of  the culture of the time. Advertisements provide visuals as well as text to create an  image of that culture. I especially appreciate that negative stereotypes are included. These can be used, carefully, to spark a discussion where students can be taught critical thinking skills These could even be used in literacy classes to create a discussion and to introduce a book.

I have used this web site with 9th grade honors world history students. They really enjoyed exploring the site. "Learn about the 1994 discovery of Paleolithic cave paintings in France and view photographs of the paintings." http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en/

Smithsonian Folkways introduces cultures from around the world through the language of music.  Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian created to capture music "of the people, by the people, for the people".  The Tools for Teaching dropdown menu allows educators to find lessons, workshops, and more.  The lessons are pinpointed on a map and can be selected specifically by region.  The lessons vary for grade levels, but are primarily designed for 3rd and up.  Students begin learning about world history and specific countries in 6th grade.  Smithsonian Folkways would allow students to understand the culture in which they are studying through another viewpoint and language - music.

This search page can help you find all of the Smithsonian Institution's primary sources for your topic. Whether your topic is a culture, place or person, this search page with pull up photos, documents, paintings, and photographs of objects, such as jewelry, flags, musical instruments, tools, clothing, etc. Easy enough for even 3rd graders to use to find primary sources for research on historical sites, cultures, like Native Americans, & famous people.

I think this particular section of USA.gov will be helpful to our social studies teachers as well as to our religion teachers. Both departments cover aspects of Cultural diversity and respect for human dignity. I think some of these documents will help demonstrate these topics.

This website provides current as well as historical video and audio artifacts. It also provides photos and illustrations of historical events and people. For example, under Prohibition, students can view the newspaper headlilne making alcohol illegal, as well as photos of events and influential people in that era. Many other historical topics are covered. This would be a useful tool in History or maybe even a Literature class.

The primary sources at this site are usually viewed in video form in clips from the various PBS documentary programs. Suggest you search like so, "primary sources" + "grade 3", inserting what ever grade you need. PBS Teachers can be accessed from this site, too, to search for good lesson plans for grades 1-12 related to primary sources. The search here can be narrowed down by grade level. This site is good for teaching about people, places, events, animals, inventions, and cultures.

This excellent site links the searcher to primary documents, images, etc. from libraries, archives, schools, and governments all over Europe, but everything is in English, usually with the native language included. The toolbox on the left helps, particularly special pages. This site is probably best used for researching cultures, history, and geography.

Promotes "government information in order to engage K-12 students in learning about history, culture, science, and government through games and other interactive activities; to assist teachers and school librarians with locating teaching aids, lesson plans, and exciting tools to enhance students' learning, and to provide librarians with a collection of free government resources to advance their reference interview and collection development decisions." http://govdocs4children.pbworks.com/w/page/8811722/FrontPage

This is an archive of political cartoons printed in Britain. It would be great for a lesson that showed multiple viewpoints and perspectives on issues and moments in history. Students can analyze them to find out the cartoonist's perspective on an idea, and what the public's reaction was to an event. I use these in class to have my students see how one country can react to the events in another, and how different areas view each other.

This site list British cartoons from 1904 to the 1990's.  Cartoons are often a mirror of the culture which they portray.  This site is excellent source for social and political history of Great Britain. This site also allows registered users to create groups of cartoons for education purposes and users can access other previously created groups. The site also provides teaching and learning tools and lessons.

This was presented to us in class but it was one of my favorites and so I had to bookmark it. I think it would be great for showing culture, values, what was important at the time, etc. I teach Social Studies and see myself using this in every one of my classes. It could be used to compare decades as well, and see change over time.

This website's main focus is centered on the history and culture of California and the role it played in national and world history. Calisphere includes photographs, diaries, recorded oral history, cultural artifacts, documents, etc. I feel this is a great resource, even for teachers not living in California, because of the variety of information presented and the prevalence of primary and secondary sources of our nation's history. 

This website has many different topics.  I like that they include topics like assembly lines and other important pieces of history that are not always featured on other sites.  Most topics that I look at included many images which students will love.

This website allows students to search images and information related to a theme, such as the Civil Rights Movement, or of a specific subject, such as Rosa Parks.

Even though this is not an American affiliated site, the British Library has excellent resources for educators.  I enjoyed the variety of tools and resources it had to offer.  One particular area that I enjoyed exploring was their "Timelines: Sources from History" that allows you to explore collection items from ancient civilizations to the present day.  There was also this one section pertaining to a century of children's songs, rhymes and games, which presented children's culture in Britain over the years. I found this to be very intriguing because I did not expect to see a special area designated only for children's games of the past. In addition to explaining these games there were also curriculum links highlighting drama, history, art, citizenship, etc. 

British serials were the precursor to the modern magazine.  This website archives several serials from the nineteenth century.  The serials brought reading material to the working and middle class in a regular and affordable manner. These periodicals reflect the time and culture of nineteenth century British society.

First hand accounts, illustrated with vintage photos, original radio broadcasts. Great source for biographical accounts, cultural views of specific eras. Could be used for the Rendevous project.

The Louisiana Digital Library features digital collections of maps, manuscripts (letters, diaries, etc.), images/photos, video/audio recordings, newspapers and more. Collections can be accessed by topic, institution, media format, geographic focus, and time period. The time period collection includes a great visual time line with prominent historical events featured for easy acquisition. This would be useful for student/educator historical research; jazz music and New Orleans culture as well as state hurricane information. Many collections would be beneficial in establishing of geographic/cultural context for several literature connections.

"The G. Robert Vincent Voice Library is a collection of over 40,000 hours of spoken word recordings, dating back to 1888. The collection includes the voices of over 100,000 persons from all walks of life. Political and cultural leaders and minor players in the human drama are captured and cataloged to serve the research needs of a local, national and international user base. Clients include students and faculty of Michigan State University, other scholars and researchers, broadcasting networks, news agencies and film, video, and Web production companies. Access to Voice Library holdings is determined by copyright law. Most items held in the public domain are available for online listening as mp3 files. Look for the "Listen" button. Copies of many other items may be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan, via a public or university library. Some fees may apply." http://www.si.edu

This site teaches far more than history to our students. The photos, documents, and first-hand accounts of the Holocaust and World War II are presented in a way that encourages students to see others as people; not by color, nationality, ability, etc. This is an ideal way to give students primary material to improve their social/cultural literacy as well as emotional literacy. It is powerful and poignant, a site that could benefit any student, intermediate age and higher.

This site is a department of the Library Congress that consists of online collections, virtual exhibits, and webcasts of American history and culture. This would be a great resource for students to explore America's past. 

I have this site on my school webpage. It is full of biographical, historical, and primary source documents from the Library of Congress. It is a great all-purpose research tool for students.

The Smithsonian Collections has a vast collection of objects, documents, photos, etc. ranging from ancient civilizations to current historical events. According to the Smithsonian website there are "7.4 million digital records available online through the Collections Search Center." This site would be a great resource for students when searching for primary documents. 

The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex that provides materials for educators, students, and researchers and allows the user to make connections while providing a multitude of activities and instruction to learn from. This site allows its users to access a plethora of information from different tabs and links allowing its users to explore research centers, exhibitions, events, cultural programs, collections, museums and zoos through interactive tools, links, videos and websites. Smithsonian also provides a newsroom that feeds updates and information about the Smithsonian.

One of the greatest museums in the entire world. The website is great for middle school-high schools. It brings history to each and every person who accesses it. No longer do you have to travel so far to learn so much. It would be a great use to students looking for primary resouces.

One hundred documents which reflect important events in American history. This site reflects the diversity and unity within our culture and its focus is highlighting, celebrating, and creating discussion that diversity and unity. It is not simply an archive of a broad collection of documents, but rather an archive which represents a vast range of American experiences.

Our documents includes 100 Milestone American historical documents compiled to span United States historical events from 1776-1965. Documents can be accessed by listing/year or visual/digital scroll bar. This resource would be valuable for intermediate elementary students through high school students as well as educators. Primary sources would be beneficial in U.S./American history and government education.

This website has many primary and government documents relating to the history of the United States.  One area that I really enjoyed exploring was the tools for educators.  Under that section, they had many tips for librarians such as creating book displays, bulletin board ideas, and a link to a poster so staff and students can vote on the most important American history documents.