2011Reference

This site looks to be a great gathering place where one can locate primary source information. In addition, it has links to audio, video, documents and lesson plans. "AwesomeStories is about primary sources. The stories existas a way to place original materials in context and to hold those links together in an interesting, cohesive way (thereby encouraging people to look at them). It is a totally different kind of web site in that its purpose is to place primary sources at the forefront - not the opinions of a writer. Its objective is to take the site's users to places where those primary sources are located." http://www.awesomestories.com/

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/

"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 is the Simithsonian website. A person can search past, present and future exhibition displays. You can also search their encyclopedia as well as search their collections.

The Smithsonian Institution offers access to primary sources and other resources on a wide variety of topics, including military and political history. http://www.si.edu/

"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

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 a collection of recordings made by various presidents between 1940 and 1973. It would be a great way for students to understand how a president thinks, how they use their power to influence others, and why they took certain actions.

This would be a great resource for high school students studying American history. It is a program that is putting secret recordings from presidential meetings online for public access. They are from 1940-1973, and could be useful for students doing projects on any president or historical event during that time.

This is a website created by the U.S. Energy Information Administration to educate kids on anything and everything having to do with energy and electricity. It would be a great resource for the sixth grade energy unit. It has a teacher section with activities for classrooms as well.

This site, created by the Smithsonian museums, offers information and activities on a variety of topics in history, science, and the arts. It has activities for teachers to do with their class as well as ones students can do on their own.

PrimaryAccess is a wonderful web 2.0 tool that allows students to search for primary documents, particularly images and audio, and input them into Moviemaker, Storyboard, or Rebus Poem.  All of the options are some form of digital storytelling that helps students understand pieces of our history and communicate the information in their own words.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence offers primary resources in a variety of subjects. These resources are not limited to history. There are resources for arts, heath, language arts, math, and science.

NBC Learn provides a wealth of videos, primary source documents, and overall media from the past 80 years and now.  The content is divided into K-12 and Higher Ed.  It is a paid resource, but there is free content available.  This could easily be utilized in the classroom and help make newsworthy events of our past real for students today.

Congress for Kids is designed for students to learn about American History and Government in an interactive way. Fifth graders focus on American Government, so this source fits right into their Social Studies standards. Students can learn about the branches of our government, citizenship, and elections. There is also a section of quizzes for students to test their knowledge of American Government.

National History Day offers primary sources for world history. Students and educators from 5-12 grade can use this site to find information on many regions around the world. Teachers can use the Classroom Connection section to find information that fits into their standards, a repository can be used to find primary resources for specific regions and time periods.

A great resource on Nebraska history from pre-1500 to present day for teachers and students. Lesson plans are geared toward 4th grade. Site includes archival photos, letters, video segments and maps.

Teachers and students are able to find and learn about Nebraska from this website. The time line makes it easy to find information in a chronological order. Photos, letters, video, maps and other formats of information is available. Fourth graders focus on Nebraska History in Social Studies, and this website offers relevant information that they can use outside of their textbooks.

This is a good site for those seniors whose Senior Project topic is on environmental issues. It is a springboard for choosing a specific focal point. It would also be good for the students to use for choosing an action plan for their project. Site is also a great science site for younger kids if you choose to look at only the bullet facts provided.

This EPA site gives the reader lots of options. One can learn about information where you live, popular topics, and current environmental news. I typed my zip code and found out the air quality, water and land information, the health risks, and energy produced in my area. I also explored some of the topics such as health and safety issues. Students could use this site to approach project-based learning and inquiry projects.

High school. Topic of studies range from acid rain, air pollution, land fills, and more. Easy to navigate. Student can find and comprehend information with easy to create reports on environmental issues, causes, and solutions

Grades K-12. Easy to navigate. Student can explore space stations, astronaunt and more. Links to other data bases to related topics avalible.

Grade level 1- 3 grade. Students may research plants and animals, people, places, history and government, world religions, science and math, sports and hobbies and arts. Science projects, games and activities engage students learning.

This is designed for emergent readers to research animals. Students can visually search topics. Text is fully narrated. Worksheets avalible for student to share the interesting fact that they have learned.

Read.gov is a resource for accessing book information and reading lists, literature events, author webcasts, and local/community resources. This resource is appropriate for use by kids, teens, adults/parents, and educators. As a school librarian, I can see this resource as being valuable for lessons, educator collaboration, and student/family outreach.