2011Reference

Digital History:Explorations is a resource with time period/theme specific "webquests" for both students and teachers. Primary source documents (photos, documents, letters, etc.) along with teacher resources and lesson plans make this an excellent multiple literacies must for teachers and school librarians.

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Eyewitness:American Originals form the National Archives provides first-hand and personal testimonies of select historical events as told from the point-of-view of presidents: Jefferson, Washington, Truman, JFK, Bush Sr., John Adams, Carter, Eisenhower-as well as other influential individuals. This would be great for time period specific research projects. Easy to read and compact digital arrangements make this user friendly for young students, teens, and educators.

The Nebraska Partnership for American History Education provides a variety of primary source resources by theme, time period, photos (1850-1938), and bibliographic collections. This site is useful for Nebraska history, United States history, women's history, Native & African American histories. It would definitely be appropriate for intermediate elementary students through high school students and all educators (lesson plans can be found here).

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.

For students studying World War II, this website offers cartoons from the 1940's created by Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. Copies of his original drawings or clippings from the newspapers help paint a portrait of happenings at the time in the political, military, and civilian realms. Good for students grades 5-12 for extrapolating meaning for illustrations.

Through audio files, this website is a collection of speeches in United States History from various political figures and activists . These sources give a glimpse into events and viewpoints in our history such as the Civil Rights Movement or the Challenger's disastrous flight. Middle School students will be able to listen to what was really said by that individual and what it meant for that time period.

American Rhetoric allows students to take a step into the past and feel as though they are living in a particular time period. I can imagine a class closing their eyes and listening to the powerful words of JFK in his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, or the determination in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Transcripts of each speech are also available on the site, as well as photos that help the students visualize the speaker and the time period. Extremely motivating!

This site has many features including podcasts, audio, and video as well as photo, print, and other primary source documents arranged by era. Users can search from the beginning our country to the present. One of the most unique features of the site was the collection Battle Lines: Letters from America's Wars. This section has 5 different categories of letters from soldiers, one from each era. There is a digital copy of the letter as well as an audio recording of the letter. This would be great to use with second language learners or struggling readers since the text is read to the user. Next to the picture there is also a photograph or print from the same era as the letter. A description of the letter's author is also printed next to the letter. A transcript which is easier to read than the original is also available.

This site focuses on original letters and contains audio files from the battlelines starting at the Revolutionary War to the Iraq War. Through these correspondences, a student will be able to have a better understanding of what war is like for the soldiers and their families from daily happenings to major events. Grades 6 +. Photos, print documents, a teachers guide, and a section called "teachable documents" help makes this a great site to help learn about different eras in our nation's history.

LOVE this website.  Letters from most American wars from Revolutionary War to Iraq.   Each letter appears on the screen and includes a recording of the letter read aloud.  Very powerful to hear the types of details soldiers wrote.  Each page also includes information about the solder. 5 categories to choose from with many letters in each.  The categories are enlisting, comforts of home, love, combat, and the end of the war.

This website offers a variety of primary source material from 18th Century America. Scenes and portraits from original newspapers, magazines, maps and writings are just as they appeared more than 250 years ago. Also a scrolling of "what happened on this day in early America" for upper elementary to 12th grade.

This site has lots of primary sources including pictures, maps, etc. that pertain to early America. This site would be great for teaching history.

This site is organized in a student-friendly format. The text is large, descriptions are concise, and the toolbar on the left side of the page helps students navigate easily. I love the inclusion of "Freedom Documents" as well as "Rare Images." The "Join or Die" propaganda from the "Rare Images" tab is also featured in our social studies text (students can make a text-to-media connection). "Pages from the Past" gives students a glimpse into colonial-era printing and publication. What an authentic experience!

This is a great website for children K-8. It has a new site of the month as well as hot topics. This website gives students the opportunity to look at space and beyond on their level. It is filled with fun educational learning opportunities

This primary source is filled with upper elementary to secondary education material. It contains teacher education, videos, an outline of subjects covered and real time information. It is easy to spend a lot of time viewing all the informtion available on C-Span Classroom.

Primary Resources - free worksheets, lesson plans and teaching ideas for primary and elementary teachers. This primary website allows easy access to K-6 teachers and students. A great way to practice and master skills. Primary Resources covers all curriculum areas.

This website allows you to see virtual exhibits from historical events. It also has a teacher page with information to aide with using this source. I appreciated the ease of using this website.

This primary source describes the importance of the buffalo and hide painting for the Plains Indians. It is geared toward intermediate elementary students. You will find teacher information, art work and information for students to read.This would also be a good website for the Art teacher in you.

Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids provides a basic introduction to the Federal Government. It also is set up in grade levels from K-12 to address specific State Standards. This website makes it easy for students to access information they need on their level.

This is an easy to follow site for Social Studies of the Westward Expansion and Pioneers.

I liked how when you first are on this site you are given a map of the world and can pick your documents from the various areas of the world. You can also search by time, topic or type of item. This site is very visual when searching which I enjoyed.

This is a good site with lots of world history documents. You can search by region or time period. This site also has a guide for how to analyze the various types of primary sources, each of the guides include an introduction, questions to ask and some additonal resources.

I liked this site and the concept behind it, the site takes documents and puts together historial thinking exercises. You can be an image detective and pick a photo and the site will ask you questions and make you think about what you are looking at and draw your own conclusions. The site really uses critical thinking skills and makes students think about the documents they are looking at.

This site is a collection of 100 milestone documents that was compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration. The documents are from U.S. history from 1776 to 1965. This site has some great ideas and tips for teachers and librarians as well.