Group items tagged

"The BBC Flew a Drone Over Auschwitz - And the Result Is Haunting" - so many ways this could be used to evoke create responses from students - poetry, reflections, compare/contrast, etc.

Great, easy lesson on how to teach the power of privilege to young people in the school environment (and other settings, as well).

Current events are a powerful medium to engage students and their thinking in so many different ways. Here are 50 to get you started!

These are some of the very best resources not just on Thanksgiving, but the settling of the American Colonies. The first three links provide text, activities, videos, etc. that will provide ample material for K-8, especially. The Crash Course video is more for older students.

Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), was recently launched to provide free access to documentary films highlighting some of the most dramatic events in recent American history.

As America marks the anniversaries of the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington in 2013, NEH is introducing a website making four outstanding NEH-supported documentaries about the civil rights movement available for use in communities and schools across the nation.

Thematic Mapping Engine provides users with a very simple way to create Google Earth kmz files. Thematic Mapping draws on data provided by the United Nations to create maps depicting all types of development data and environmental science data. Users select a statistical indicator category, select a year or range of years, and the manner in which they would like the data displayed in Google Earth.

Watch European colonialism rise and fall in seconds in this GIF. Vox has also written an accompanying text:

"Go Social Studies Go is a free education resource dedicated to making the study of history fun and painless. Unless, of course, you're reading about the execution of William Wallace -who was hanged, drawn, quartered and had his bowels burned in front of him...
then, perhaps... history is not so painless."

"A Cutting-Edge Second Look at the Battle of Gettysburg
New technology has given us the chance to re-examine how the Civil War battle was won and lost" Interactive map

Assessment | News
Varsity Tutors Debuts Free Test Question Site

By Dian Schaffhauser
11/07/13

Varsity Tutors, a providor of private tutoring to students online, has launched a new, free service with the intention of becoming the "Khan Academy" of practice tests. The company has introduced a Web-based assessment system intended to replace other forms of educational content such as SAT or ACT preparation books or online subscriptions to assessment materials.

Varsity Learning Tools, as it's called, makes hundreds of free practice tests available in 95 subjects. Currently in open beta testing, the site lists assessment tests by subject and allows the user to choose to answer a single test, flashcards, or a question of the day.

Each question can be shared through social network services. When the student answers it, a second page displays with an assessment and explanation and data on how much time was spent on the question, and how many others answered it correctly."
(Read more at http://thejournal.com/articles/2013/11/07/varsity-tutors-launches-free-test-question-site.aspx?=THEEL#8hQzr0oig6X2IZmS.99)

Presents short overviews of key concepts and events in U.S. history and government. Engaging and fun.

Backchanneling has a lot of promise with students in many different content areas. Here is a Social Studies teacher who shared her first experience using Today's Meet as a tool for doing formative assessment and teaching critical thinking skills during a film she showed students. Check out the learning process she shares in her reflection.