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The National Archives does a great job of creating lesson plans to use with primary documents. This would be a great resource to guide teachers through the process of integrating primary documents that go along with their curriculum objectives. The website is easy to navigate so you can quickly access the information that is needed.

This site may be a valuable resource for information related to United Nations day held on October 24th. The Office of the Historian is found on the U.S. Department of state website. It has historical government documents, information on key milestones in history, and important biographical information on all Secretary of State officeholders in U.S. history. On the site, a link will take you to a guide to all countries that provides historical reference information on all aspects of the United States' relations with the countries of the world dating back to 1776 to the present time.

Allows students to take online multiple choice tests to test their knowledge. Tests at 4th, 8th, and 9th grade level. Might be a support item for NESA.

This site has boasts 600+ questions in a database geared to 4th, 8th and 9th grade on civics, economics, geography, math, history, mathematics and science. Students can see how they compare to students nationally and around the world when they challenge themselves answering these questions.

A richly interactive site where visitors can design and create varied genres of art. A virtual tour through the NGA has an accompanying guide in 5 languages. Extensive information on artists from all eras. Lots of activities at the teacher's site. A good instructional site. Grades 3-12.

This art site allows children to explore American Folk art, landscapes, abstract art, still life, and digital photography. Children are able to manipulate art to create their own pieces. Students can also create a tropical jungle. There are additional online resources for teachers, as well as a link to exhibits from the National Art Gallery.

This page contains several art activities for children, including interactive art programs that allow students to create portraits or still life pictures. There is a link that allows students to search for specific artists or works. This site would be a good resource for art teachers, but English teachers could also use it to find different works of art that appeal to kids and could be used for descriptive writing assignments.

This is one example of a lesson created using primary source docs and the organizational tools provided by docsteach. It was accessed from the National Archives website as a means to organize the data gathered there. I would use this idea as a springboard for fourth grade westward expansion activities.

This is one example of a lesson created using primary source docs and the organizational tools provided by docsteach. It was accessed from the National Archives website as a means to organize the data gathered there. I would use this idea as a springboard for fourth grade westward expansion activities.

This is a great website for kids to learn about our government. It contains theme units (grade level specific) students can access. In each unit are interactive games and slide shows students can view to learn more about our nation/government. My students love to visit this site.

Great site to build skills in math. This tool is easy to access and have kids use. It is easy to show skills such as probability and graphing.

National Center for Education Statistics Dare to Compare allows students to check what they know about subjects (social studies, math, science) compared with other US and international students from a 600+ question database. The "Create A Graph" page is a useful interactive tool for teaching ways to communicate statistics.

This site offers teachers and students access to archival photos, documents, letters, video segments, maps, and a timeline that starts in the early 1500's

I like the chronological organization of this website and the way authors have embedded primary sources into the text about Nebraska. I also appreciate they way the timeline focuses on "Nebraska Events and Themes" but also includes "National" and "International" events. With each event the site offers Teacher Activities with lesson plans, tools, and media to share with students.

This site has everything Nebraska. Click on the Nebraska Time line and you are taken to a more detailed timeline for that period. Then click on an event and you are taken to a page with specific resources and information. There are also lesson plans to download for grades 4, 8, and 12. It is pretty easy to navigate this site.

This appealing site offers an interactive online art zone for projects in painting, photography and collage. Exploration games guide observations of masterpieces in painting and sculpture. Link to NGA exhibitions.

This site was developed by educators working with the National Archives. It is an incredible site where you can design your own interactive activity with primary sources. There are seven kinds of activities you can build based on the type of learning you want student to achieve: finding a sequence, focusing on details, making connections, mapping history, seeing the big picture, weighing the evidence, and interpreting data. There are also a lot of really insightful pre-made activities that would work with many different grade levels. This site is just extraordinary! I plan to start using it right away!

This is a wonderful site to help "bring history to life". I love how there are thumb nail images of each photo/drawing and written documents to give you a quick preview. My favorite feature is the interactive activities. This is something worth using with students and sharing with all staff!

This is an online painting machine for all ages. It includes 40 brushes and customsizable size, transparency, texture and stroke options. A rainbow palette, along with a toolbox of special effects, that blur, ripple, smudge, blend, and fragment your designs. This is a fantastic Web 2.0 tool for teachers because your art can be temporarily saved, and there is the option to print, print to pdf or take a screen shot for sharing your art. This is a blast!

Kids learn about the Internet, safely traveling through it, and becoming aware of the hazards of its use. Requires an adult's email address but otherwise free. It is brightly animated with games, prizes, videos and play along with the cute characters of Clicky, Nettle, Webster and Router. Developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This is great for the library teacher to use for teaching Internet safety.

Attractive web design with simulations of satellites stations. Good job of explaining reconnaissance and satellites. Includes audio with separate buttons for elementary and secondary students. Recommended for grades 3 - 8. Provides links with extensive resources for parents and teachers.

This site is exciting! Using satalite images, the site creates books on different topics, including games, simulations, the use of satellites, the solar system and more. The main page provides links for K-5, 6-12, parents, and teachers. The teacher link includes lesson plans, a link to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, plus many more additional links.

This site is chocked full of art activities for the student artist. Examples include the study of American Folk Art then creating landscapes,create a still life like the masters, or try your hand at abstract art.

The Smithsonian has webpages for students, families, and teachers. The student site has primary sources in the format of pictures and video footage. They are called IdeaLabs on this site. The IdealLab I found interesting was the Walk on the Moon. It included a video footage from the Apollo landing on the moon and President Kennedy's address to the nation.

This website organizes some of the Smithsonian Institution's vast resources into four topics for students to explore: art, science, history and people/places. There are incredible virtual tours, online interactive labs, games and activities. The site has an educator's section with lesson plans and a search feature to find resources by keyword, grade, and subject.

Explore art, science, history, and people like never before. If you teach the solar system, plate tectonics, volcanoes, or rocks and minerals the Dynamic Earth site is for you. I was so impressed being able to go online and zoom in on hundreds of different rocks, minerals, and gems. Fascinating!

NOAA has primary resource collections on the Gulf oil spill, hurricanes, El Nino, tides and sea turtles. I really like the way they feature current topics of importance in the news right now. This would be a great way to teach media literacy to our students. They also have a feature activity section called "Data in the Classroom" where students can make real world connections with real data related to El Nino, sea level, and water quality.

This site is an excellent weather website with resource collections divided into the following areas: ocean and coasts, climate, weather and atmosphere, marine life (sea turtles), freshwater (water cycle), and special topics. There data visualizations for weather events, lots of maps and charts for middle/high school students to analyze weather events, water cycle lessons, and a section with activities for teachers to bring real world data into the classroom.

I love the visual approach to this website! This could be a great starting point for students to use to experience primary sources. The interactive activities let you use documents to create posters and movies. The pathways option lets you solve the paths that are created and also to create your own paths to share. Students would really love this kind of research!

This site include LOTS of photographs and documents from historical events. They are described briefly and organized by tags. Interesting organizational format could teach not only about historical events, but also about the value of how good tags work. Visitors to the site are challenged to make their own "pathway" through the pictures and documents. Visitors can also make posters and movies with the content they find.

Hundreds of free activities and lesson plans for educators in the areas of social studies and geography. Also includes printable maps of nearly every continent and country. The interactive museum allows students to take geography journeys to mountain ranges, archaeological digs, outer space, and other animations.

This patent drawing by Eli Whitney for his cotton gin could be used at the elementary level when taking about the impact of Whitney's invention, or at the senior high level when discussing patent applications.