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This is a tool provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to help teachers organize their instruction of the Holocaust. It speaks to the rationale for the teaching and provides guidelines for teaching about genocide, a very sensitive topic. There are also links for both teachers and students which give a comprehensive understanding of the Holocaust. The images and first person accounts are riveting.  

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.

"The Labyrinth provides free, organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies through a World Wide Web server at Georgetown University. The Labyrinth's easy-to-use menus and links provide connections to databases, services, texts, and images on other servers around the world. Each user will be able to find an Ariadne's thread through the maze of information on the Web. This project not only provides an organizational structure for electronic resources in medieval studies, but also serves as a model for similar, collaborative projects in other fields of study. The Labyrinth project is open-ended and is designed to grow and change with new developments in technology and in medieval studies." http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/

This is a cool website because users can manipulate the documents, create their own collections, and use the documents they collect to make a poster or movie all from one website. It is easily searchable by subject and returns a variety of document types. The technology could also fall under the AASL standards of using technology to create new ideas and products to share.

I really liked this site, I thought the features on it were different and it was very visual. You can shuffle and look at random documents or use the search function. When you are looking at an item there are tags you can click on to look at similar items and also additonal links for related websites. You can add documents to your "collection" by dragging the image. There is also a backtrack function where you can look at all the documents you've look at incase you can't find something you previously saw and didn't move to your collection. There are pathway challenges which are an activity using documents and you can also create posters or movies.

This website is set up so you can click on a picture of a historical document, event, or landmark, and it pulls all kinds of related articles, in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. The main document is in the center of the screen, with everything else surrounding it. It is totally visual, and would be great for middle school to high school 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.

This is a 2 page document which offers suggestions for teachers about using the online resources from the National Archives. It is a quick read with the web links right in the text for ease of use. The suggestions go beyond the obvious use for research to include links to lesson plans and resources to teach document analysis. This could be a very useful tool for teachers in all subjects.

This site has over 5000 websites with archives all over the world. I can see that this would be useful for social studies classes to locate primary sources from other countries. Even though many of the sources are in the foreign language, many of the images could be used to support and springboard the content. There is a translator embedded into the site.   

This site has great resources for teaching history, civics, or government. There are many primary documents for students to see and lots of ideas for teachers. There are state standards and lesson ideas. Lessons are provided for different eras and there is a link to DocsTeach where teachers can create their own documents or search for something they can use. I think this site would be very helpful.

Reproducible copies of primary sources for teachers to use in their classrooms.  Website is well organized by topics and dates with many primary sources to use in classrooms or in the library to help students with research. Documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States.

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.

"Advance freedom for the benefit of the American people and the international community by helping to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world composed of well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty, and act responsibly within the international system." --From the FY 2010 Agency Financial Report, released November 2010

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.

Colonial Williamsburg online is a great resource for information on life in the 18th century, ranging from people, place, trades, etc. They have a feature where you can tour the town of Colonial Williamsburg in 3D and experience audio, video, photography, and other features of the town. The Colonial Williamsburg site also has biographies, essays, articles, and other primary resources from Americans on their day-to-day living in the 18th century.

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. 

The Kids in the House Web site is provided by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives to provide educational information about the legislative branch fo the U.S. government. This site provides activities, resources and lesson plans for students K-12. The grade school section has a segment like the School House Rocks "I'm Just a Bill"

This site is interactive with options to research famous Americans, learn about events in the past, learn about the different states, and even listen to old songs and video clips. I watched a video of a gymnastic routine in 1894. They called it "Early Break Dancing". This site has appealing visuals and is easy to maneuver. There are also questions that engage the learner. I think this would be a fun site for students.

The Library of Congress: America's Story from America's Library is designed to allow students to have fun with history while learning at the same time. The site provides five specific categories that allow the user to search by people, era, American pastimes and celebrations, and music and entertainment. The site promotes learning through games, trivia questions, true/false quizzes, and links that spark curiosity. It is easy to navigate and designed for all level of learners in elementary school.

I LOVE this website for my younger students - and older kids can have fun with it also. It is bright and active - but has tons of information on American history that is a little off the beaten path.

For students studying the Civil War, this is a great resource that details two communities, one in the North and one in the South. Through newspapers, letters, diaries, maps, and census and tax records, students can examine what life was like in this community and how war affected both sides, sometimes in unforeseen ways. This website would probably work better for high school students, but the information can be used for grades 7th and 8th also.

This website focuses on the 1930s and the New Deal which was passed under the F.D.R.'s administration. Using a collection of letters, newspaper articles, photos, and documents, it has autobiographical stories and interviews about living during that time period. For grades 7-12, lesson plans and discussion panels are included in this resource, making it great for an American History class.

The New Deal Network is a website that focuses on the history of The Great Depression. Documents, photos, speeches, and articles can be found for teachers and students to use when researching this era of American History.

Scholastic.com is a gateway with an overabundance of activities for both teacher and student. Scholastic provides easy to navigate tabs for locating resources and tools, strategies and ideas, student activities, and books and authors by grade levels (Pre-K-12). The choices are filtered by grade, subject, and activities to effectively narrow down the user's search (i.e.), math, social studies, reading, sports, special education, language arts and animals. Once the user has selected the necessary discipline, they are able to use interactive and engaging web and whiteboard activities as well as a variety of lesson plans that are geared toward the 21st Century learner.

America's Story provides a great overview of American History in a simplified, easy-to-read manner.  The site is divided into five sections for easy navigation and to help users be able to identify what they need.  Students could use the See, Hear, and Sing section to understand the history of cartoons, children's songs, and various voice recordings.  The audio clips that are provided are directly from the Library of Congress and provide authentic learning experiences for students in second grade through 5th grade.

This section of America's Story focuses on the Amazing Americans who have helped shape American History.  The people are categorized by their profession or what made them famous.  The biographical information for each person provides an great summary of why they were important, links to more stories, photos, and even a timeline of their life in relation to what was happening in America.  Students begin to learn about specific people in our nation's history in 3rd and 4th grade.  This site would lend itself to exploring more information about these people from the trusted source of the Library of Congress.