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This is the web site of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The organization is dedicated to the study of American History and aims to promote this study among teachers, students, scholars and the general public. Their website provides something of a one stop shop for American History. They have a store where you can buy history related items, there is an document repository and an area for educators. It's pretty great.

Site provides activities on history and culture, straight from the Smithsonian Institute. Primarily geared toward elementary students, the Institute provides lesson plans from art to war to language.

What makes the resources "excellent"?

The Harvard University South Asia Institute (SAI) engages faculty and students through interdisciplinary programs to advance and deepen the teaching and research on global issues relevant to South Asia. With offices in Delhi, Dhaka, Karachi and Mumbai, SAI aims to be a catalyst and bridge between Harvard faculty and students and the region. The South Asia Institute's goals are to: Facilitate scholarly exchanges among Harvard faculty and students, international South Asia specialists, visiting academics, and public figures from South Asia. Sponsor lectures and conferences at Harvard and in the region by distinguished academic, governmental, and business leaders whose work contributes to a better understanding of the challenges facing South Asia. Support Harvard students with grants for language study, research, and internships in-region. Bring knowledge from South Asia to Harvard by supporting faculty and students with grants for research, study, and service learning. Build a community of stakeholders committed to building scholarship on South Asia at Harvard and in-region.

Youtube Playlist The Civil War and Reconstruction - 1850 -1861 Discover how the issue of slavery came to dominate American politics, and how political leaders struggled and failed to resolve the growing crisis in the nation. A House Divided: The Road to Civil War, 1850-1861 is a course that begins by examining how generations of historians have explained the crisis of the Union. After discussing the institution of slavery and its central role in the southern and national economies, it turns to an account of the political and social history of the 1850s. It traces how the issue of the expansion of slavery came to dominate national politics, and how political leaders struggled, unsuccessfully, to resolve the growing crisis. We will examine the impact of key events such as Bleeding Kansas, the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, and end with the dissolution of the Union in the winter of 1860-61. This course is part of the series, The Civil War and Reconstruction, which introduces students to the most pivotal era in American history. The Civil War transformed the nation by eliminating the threat of secession and destroying the institution of slavery. It raised questions that remain central to our understanding of ourselves as a people and a nation - the balance of power between local and national authority, the boundaries of citizenship, and the meanings of freedom and equality. The series will examine the causes of the war, the road to secession, the conduct of the Civil War, the coming of emancipation, and the struggle after the war to breathe meaning into the promise of freedom for four million emancipated slaves. One theme throughout the series is what might be called the politics of history - how the world in which a historian lives affects his or her view of the past, and how historical interpretations reinforce or challenge the social order of the present. Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor o

Source for lesson plans and classroom resources.

This is a list of articles surrounding current teacher policy issues compiled by the Urban Institute. There is also a tab on the left side of the page that lists other education policy issues of interest. Since, many of us will be doing our practicums and/or student teaching in DC, an urban schooling environment, it is important to keep on top of the current debates.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute created this site on letters written during war. You can view copies of original letters written by soldiers, generals, presidents, and family members during conflicts from the Revolution to the Persian Gulf War. But wait, there's more: actors read the letters aloud while you read along. They have organized the letters by five different themes: Enlisting, Comforts of Home, Love, Combat, and The End of War. Each theme includes letters from all different eras of US history.

A tremendous resource for social studies teachers.

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is the world's premier university source for market-oriented ideas-bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. A university-based research center, the Mercatus Center advances knowledge about how markets work to improve people's lives by training graduate students, conducting research, and applying economics to offer solutions to society's most pressing problems. Our mission is to generate knowledge and understanding of the institutions that affect the freedom to prosper, and to find sustainable solutions that overcome the barriers preventing individuals from living free, prosperous, and peaceful lives. Founded in 1980, the Mercatus Center is located on George Mason University's Arlington campus.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute offers seminars and lesson plans for teachers as well as fellowships and forums for U.S. History students and scholars.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute offers seminars and lesson plans for teachers as well as fellowships and forums for U.S. History students and scholars.

I linked up the Virginia Military Institutes archive home page because it provides easy access to primary resources. Not only that, but they have a page dedicated to the real life subject of a Young Adult Historical Fiction Novel called The Ghost Cadet (which I have read and enjoyed.) You can find this page by clicking on the side bar "Civil War & New Market" and it's about the second or third option down. I think that in teaching a young audience about the Civil War, it could be useful to connect it back to a book about a boy nearly their age who fought in it. This web site could help wiht that.

The Center for Civic Education is website designed to educate students in citizenry, the constitution and democratic constitutionalism. The Center offers a full curriculum at all three learning levels: elementary, middle school and high school. Their materials include full lesson plans and textbooks that support their program. The lesson plans include critical thinking exercises, vocabulary lists, problem solving activities and cooperative learning activities. The program is designed so that teachers can use it to supplement an existing curriculum or as the foundation of their curriculum. My cooperating teacher is going to use parts of the program to supplement her curriculum. The lessons focus on life in American, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, political traditions and institutions, different levels of government (local, state and federal), constitutionalism and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The center also offers professional development seminars that are often free of charge to DC teachers. For example, on October 27th, there is a free seminar for DC teachers on "We the People Through Primary Sources and Documents" being held at the National Archives….they even provide a free lunch! Here is the direct link to the professional development page: http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=state_programs&&p=101&&st=DC.

Haha, I love this site! I posted on it the week before last. I reeeeeeaally want to get a job working for them! :-)

Laura, that is funny....we seem to like the same sites. It is an awesome sight...and the program is awesome too. Do you have a set of the books? Good luck...I hope that works out for you!!

As those of you in my EDU 522 class know, we have spent quite a while on the issue of unequal school funding. The Kozol video we watched in class raised the question of how each state pays for its public schooling, and as a result I have been trying to determine which states still use local property taxes (thus perpetuating the inequality of schools within the state) and which have instituted reforms to equalize funding. The problem is, none of this information is compiled in a concise manner. This is a recent article discussing this issue; I am still trying to find others.

This website on Mesopotamia and early civilizations is maintained by The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. It provides a wealth of information about the early civilization between the two rivers and includes great photos of artifacts, teaching materials, and interviews with archaeologists. For students, it might be fun to use this site as a webquest, where they would have to explore the site to answer questions.

Yesterday I had to prepare and deliver a lesson on archaeology to our grade 7 classes (Ancient World History) for my practicum. I actually used this site in my preparation. Under "Outreach and Education," there is a section called Archaeology 101 where you can get basic information on archaeology. There is also a glossary, a list of books and a list movies. They have an archive of well developed lesson plans too. However, I found another lesson plan that I modified and used that was a smash with the kids……even to toughest, roughest, hardest to reach students were engaged. If anyone wants a copy of it let me know and I can post it on our Wiki. Anyway, since archaeology applies to almost all of history, this site is quite useful.

Created by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and historians, the New Deal Network is a great online resource for the era. Check out the documents sections where they have materials organized by topic. (e.g. Japanese Internment, Tennessee Valley Authority, Anti-Semitism). This could be an important resource for teachers preparing lessons as well as student research.

Youtube Playlist Learn about the political, social, and economic changes in the Union and the Confederacy and the Civil War's long-term economic and intellectual impact. In The Unfinished Revolution: Reconstruction and After, 1865-1890, Professor Eric Foner examines the pivotal but misunderstood era of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War, the first effort in American history to construct an interracial democracy. Beginning with a discussion of the dramatic change in historians' interpretations of the period in the last two generations, Foner goes on to discuss how Reconstruction turned on issues of continued relevance today. Among these are: who is an American citizen and what are citizens' rights; what is the relationship between political and economic freedom; which has the primary responsibility for protecting Americans' rights - the federal or state governments; and how should public authorities respond to episodes of terrorism? The course explores the rewriting of the laws and Constitution to incorporate the principle of equality regardless of race; the accomplishments and failings of Reconstruction governments in the South; the reasons for violent opposition in the South and for the northern retreat from Reconstruction; and the consolidation at the end of the 19th century of a new system of white supremacy. This course is part of the series, The Civil War and Reconstruction, which introduces students to the most pivotal era in American history. The Civil War transformed the nation by eliminating the threat of secession and destroying the institution of slavery. It raised questions that remain central to our understanding of ourselves as a people and a nation - the balance of power between local and national authority, the boundaries of citizenship, and the meanings of freedom and equality. The series will examine the causes of the war, the road to secession, the conduct of the Civil War, the coming of emancipation, and the struggle after the wa