Social Studies

This webpage describes a National DIgital Newspaper Program that is a partnership between the NEH and Library of Congress. It aims to provide access to internet users. THis could be a great resource for teachers to use in classrooms... often other subscriptions to databases can be licensed and quite expensive to use.

A Global Peace Studies Online Curriculum created by AU alum and adjunct Daryn Cambridge. Contains links to documents, lesson plan ideas, activities and resources. A great beginner's guide to peace education

A Global Peace Studies Online Curriculum created by AU alum and adjunct Daryn Cambridge. Contains links to documents, lesson plan ideas, activities and resources. A great beginner's guide to peace education AND offers links to news articles and a Peace Educators discussion site!

Compiled database of games, radio programs, teaching materials, etc about global peace. Some of the content is rather graphic and all should be screened for appropriate audiences. Info on Darfur, refugees, education in various countries. Etc.

Compiled database of games, radio programs, teaching materials, etc about global peace. Some of the content is rather graphic and all should be screened for appropriate audiences.

This is the teacher's section of the AAG (Association of American Geography). It is a professional society, located in D.C. (would be a good organization to tap into for DCPS teachers, guest speakers?). The free sample lessons available for download on the bottom are best because they offer cross-curricular lessons, great for team teaching and connecting to all standards not just social sciences.

This article provides an interesting look at the concept of reading workshops and various degrees of student choice when picking literature books to read compared to more strictly selected books. It provids a solid background explaining some of the educators who have really pushed for the reading workshop technique.

Studies show that the inclusion of the internet into teaching leads to higher scores than simply face to face teaching.

"Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high, Take a look, it's in a book - Reading Rainbow ..." I will be singing this all day long in my head! This made such an impact in my childhood.

This is a travel education service that provides study abroad and volunteer opportunities for high school students, as well as summer leadership opportunities for adults/teachers. I have a few friends that took leadership positions and found it rewarding - too be honest I don't know how many people could afford the tuition though - yikes!

I couldn't resist adding this page; I consider myself fairly well-versed in American history yet I had never heard of the Gullah people until a few weeks ago. Absolutely fascinating in my opinion - and incredible that this culture still exists and is being preserved

This network is perfect for any classroom seeking to make a difference in the world through a hassle free and easy resource, specifically helping to start a social justice project or link up with one that is already started. The website allows you to view current projects, according to your class' interests, by searching title, keyword, subject, age level, or language.

The best part about this website, which makes it different from most of the Social Justice education websites I've encountered, is the section specifically for parents. Most sites are geared for the classroom specifically through teachers and students but a fundamental and important component of building communities is parent involvement. It is D.C. based and it also has a great list of resource materials for teachers.

Article from the Washington Post that discusses the downward turn in applicants to schools like St. John's College where the emphasis is on a broad liberal education. Students at St John's don't choose a major and receive a broad education with very little in the way of job training. It raises an interesting debate about learning for the sake of learning, rather than learning with an objective (job placement, test scores, etc).

The Actual Home Page with links to the blog, podcasts, videos, interviews, latest news, etc.

WATCH THE 6 MINUTE VIDEO ON THIS PAGE! Learning Matters has a ton of resources from blog interviews with Diane Ravitch and Herb Kohl on the new "Race to the Top" incentive program to podcasts with Michelle Rhee (DC) and Paul Vallas (New Orleans)

A national media campaign is being launched to encourage parents to "be there" - or to turn everyday moments into teaching experiences even if they are not able to physically spend time at their children's schools.

In what seems to be a never-ending debate in NYC about budgets and union jobs, etc., an agreement has been reached that will permit principals to hire school aides with funds that were raised by parent groups. It is a one-year agreement that aims to allow teachers to focus on teaching while aides help support them in a non-teaching capacity.

The Coverdell World Wise Schools is a program designed by the Peace Corps to help connect students in the United States to developing countries. A classroom can be matched with a Peace Corp volunteer who is actually in country via the internet. Students can dialogue with the volunteer through this connection where they can learn about the culture. World Wise also has offers many other classroom benefits such as an archive of lesson plans.

This is a great site for students to use in the classroom. I used this in a middle school history class where we were studying the Middle East. Each student also had a blank hard copy to fill in with notes or to color. The students enjoyed working on the site and learned the material quickly...within the hour.

DocSouth is a website run through UNC Chapel Hill that provides pirmary sources relating to the American South via the internet. It's a really simple site to use, but extremely rich with content. It also provides guides on how to site the materials found within the site and could be a very good web site from which to draw primary sources for the classroom and also to help teach research skills.

In light of the fact that we are all pursuing higher degrees in education, I found this debate forum to be very interesting. Some argue for and against and also bring factors such as using advance degrees as the basis for pay increases and promotions versus student performance into the debate.