U. S. History

My America Virtual Field Trip

http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/sansocstud.htm

Oregon Trail Recipes

Oregon Trail Education Resource Guide (pdf file)

Teaching with Documents
This section contains reproducible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government, and cross-curricular connections.

 

These first links are to find information about the 50 states.
50 States - http://50states.com/
Link to a page for each of the 50 states to find out the basic facts about each.

50 States Tourism Sites - http://mav.net/phil/tourism.shtml
A listing of the online sites for the offices of tourism for all 50states; very handy for states research and projects.

GeoSpy - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geospy/
Students must name all 50 states within 180 seconds with the click of a
mouse. Or the countries of the world. Or the continents.

NetState.com - http://www.netstate.com/states/index.html
State Flags, Seals, Symbols, etc for each US State.

State Capitals - http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/nasa/gallery/capitals/capital.html
This NASA site gives a satellite view of the state capitals.

State Flags - http://www.law.ou.edu/stflag.html
You can see all of the state flags from this site. Big help if you're playing 'Where in the US is
Carmen Sandiego'! :-)

US Maps - http://pubweb.parc.xerox.com/mapdocs/states.htm
This site uses the Xerox PARC Map viewer and maps of the all of the U.S. You can select which
features you want to display, like rivers, roads, or railroads. You can zoom in, change colors, and
get lots of details.

American Civil War - http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/
Exhaustive resources on events and people who shaped our nation in its darkest hour - not well formatted

American Colonists' Documents - http://www.universitylake.org/primarysources.html
This site provides links to many documents from this period of American History.

Archiving Early America - http://earlyamerica.com/index.html
Historic early American documents, trivia, life in Colonial times,Colonial crossword puzzle - lots of fun

American Experience: Harry Houdini - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/houdini/
Kids are intrigued by magic. This companion to the PBS American Experience program brings
Harry Houdini alive again - virtually. It includes backgrounders, escape secrets, a timeline, and a
poster gallery.

American Flags - http://www.icss.com/usflag/toc.flags.html
This is a comprehensive online collection of the historical versions of the Stars & Stripes, the flags of every US state, and other flags from American history and government. It is featured in the Homework Central Kids Spotlight, where 21 Internet pages related to the American flag can be studied.

American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/
for primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.

AMERICAN MEMORY NEWSLETTER - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/educators/newsletter/index.html
The Library of Congress has contracted with the Social Science Education Consortium to promote classroom use of the American Memory collections. The Consortium is creating an electronic newsletter of easy-to-use teaching ideas written by teachers and school media specialists that include American Memory Fellows. These contributing educators are experienced in using the collections. Each quarterly issue will include teaching ideas for teachers of grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12, feature articles, and "tech tips." You can access the first newsletter from this site.

American Revolutionary War - http://www.clarityconnect.com/webpages4/kcarsons/oconunit/index.htm
This thematic unit was developed to cover 15 days of lessons in grades 5-8. The unit provides an overview, objectives, lessons, activities, simulations, battles, and key people in the fight for American independence. Classroom tested and ready to use. It took a long time for me to get into this site, but I finally got in.

American West - http://www.americanwest.com/
Includes the Westward Expansion, Trails, Documents, Cowboys, Native Americans, Pioneers, Trappers, Scouts, Gunslingers, Outlaws, Gun battles, Ghost Towns and Gold & Silver Mining

BLACK HISTORY - http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/AfroAm.html
Nice overview of what's available, including a hotlist of links, a subject sampler, an interactive treasure hunt, a Webquest and videoconferencing events

Celebrate the Century - http://www.usps.com/ctc/
This US Postal Service web site features games and links to teacher lesson plans to celebrate the century.

Civil War Teaching Sites:
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/resrcs/lessons/598CivilWar.htm
http://www.sos.state.mi.us/history/museum/techstuf/civilwar/civiidea.html
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1997/2/97.02.02.x.html

Colonial America - http://www.egroups.com/group/innovative-teaching/221.html?
Links to many good teaching sites if you're teaching about colonial America.

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG - http://www.history.org/
The premier site on daily life in Colonial America - the only way to see more is to visit there in person.

Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip - http://www.history.org/trips/
Colonial Williamsburg's Electronic Field Trips transport students back to the 18th
century through live broadcast television programs. On the day of the program, schools
registered for the field trips interact directly with Colonial Williamsburg. Teachers
receive printed preparation materials, primary sources, lesson plans, and Internet
activities. Students speak directly with interpreters and experts by phone to discuss the
subject matter, and afterward, they can post questions and comments to Colonial
Williamsburg's historians on an Internet bulletin board. Interactive Electronic Field
Trips provide opportunities for students to become actively engaged in the history of
the birth of their country. Check the 2000-2001 link for a schedule of next year's
offerings.

Columbus Navigation Home Page - http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/index.htm
Visit this site to learn about Columbus's life, ships, and voyages. Old children will enjoy reading about how Columbus found his way across the open sea guided by the stars.

Congress Link - http://www.congresslink.org/
Information about the People's Government. This web site features congressional information and includes links to lesson plans and teacher resources. Some of the new lesson plans include "A Mock Constitutional Convention", "The Veto Process", and "What Makes a Congressional Leader?"

Constitution Day - http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/constitution/home.html
A wonderful presentation on the law of the land. Includes delegate biographies, a Constitutional Convention simulation, Teaching with Documents, and an application lesson on the implementation of the Constitution in creating the Navy. Very well done - suitable from upper Elementary through High School.

Documenting the American South - http://docsouth.unc.edu/
A collection of sources on Southern history, literature, and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century. It is organized into these projects: First-Person Narratives of the American South; Library of Southern Literature; North American Slave Narratives; The Southern Homefront, 1861-1865; and The Church in the Southern Black Community.

e-The People - http://www.e-thepeople.com
Participate in the political process. There are petitions organized by subject area that you can sign. Or you can create your own petition. E-The People can even tell you where you should send your letters/petitions. Great way to teach students about the process.

Ellis Island - http://www.i-channel.com/features/ellis/
The International Channel, in cooperation with the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, and the National Park Service, invite you take a tour through their web site for a glimpse of Ellis Island, past and present. There are historic and modern photographs and downloadable sound clips of immigrants telling their stories. The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook has recipes with a discernable international flavor.

Exploring Yellowstone - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/yellowstone/
Visit Yellowstone National Park without leaving the comfort of your own computer. Explore maps of the park, watch live broadcasts of the research team in residence, and even trigger a spouting of Old Faithful!

Famous Iowans - http://www.postville.k12.ia.us/elemmiddle/Elementary/decker/
This 4th-grade class gives information about famous Iowans. Anyone interested in something similar for famous Floridians? I think that would be great - if there isn't something already. I haven't found it if there is.

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Gold Rush - http://wwsw.si.edu/postal/gold/gold.html
The Smithsonian Institution has a web site to help you learn about life during the Gold Rush.

Government Agencies - http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html
Links to United States Federal Agencies on the Internet.

Grand Canyon -http://www.edu-source.com/GCpages/CVOpage1.html
A look at the Grand Canyon, its geology, and prehistoric life.

The Great Debate & Beyond - http://www.mbcnet.org/debateweb/flash/index.htm
The debates are over, but you still might be interested in visiting this site which puts the debates into the context of history with a multimedia celebration of 40 years of television & politics.

Historybuff - http://www.historybuff.com/
This site is devoted to press coverage of events in American history. It includes an extensive, searchable, library with the categories Civil War, Baseball, Engravings, Journalism Hoaxes, Old West including Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Crime figures such as Bonnie & Clyde, Lizzie Borden and over a dozen other categories. The Presidential Library includes the inaugural addresses of all U.S. presidents. There is also a primer & price guide for historic newspapers.

History House - http://www.historyhouse.com/
The real, down to earth stories about historic events and people -beyond the surface silver lining

Historynet - http://www.thehistorynet.com/
The most thorough coverage of American and World history I've found on the Net; uses a variety of media and is updated daily

The History Place - http://www.historyplace.com/
This site provides in-depth looks at U.S. and world history. Special features include a "Photo of the Week" and a "Speech of the Week".

History Teacher - http://www.history.com/
Excellent Today in History feature, over 24,000 hours of archival film footage and 20 million photographs, engravings and drawings spanning over 3,000 years of world history.

Holidays in the United States - http://www.usia.gov/usa/infousa/facts/portrait/holidays.htm
What does Memorial Day mean? What is Columbus Day? When is Thanksgiving? Scroll down through these American holidays to learn a few facts.

Information USA - http://www.usia.gov/usa/infousa/
This United States Information Agency web site provides a wealth of information you need from time to time: a copy of the Consitution, maps, state facts, famous speeches, historical documents, etc.

Mike's Social Studies Home Page - http://frontiernet.net/~mikef/
This site was developed for both teachers and students.

Minnesota Historical Society library of Photos - http://www.mnhs.org/library/

The Pioneers - http://pathfinder.com/photo/essay/women/pg1.htm
Learn about noteworthy American women from the late 19th century and early 20th century. This site is a photo-essay gallery from Time Life. It explores the lives of 11 women.

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Portrait of the United States - http://www.usia.gov/usa/infousa/facts/portrait/homepage.htm
This site from the United States Information Agency is an online history book of the United States.

PRIMARY SOURCES AND ACTIVITIES -
http://www.nara.gov/education/teaching/teaching.html
Contains reproducible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government, and cross-curricular connections

A Collector's Vision of Puerto Rico - http://www.si.edu/organiza/museums/nmah/ve/vidal/index.htm
The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History provides this site, a glimpse of Puerto Rican history and culture as seen through 175 artifacts from the 3,200-artifact collection of Teodoro Vidal, an aide to Puerto Rico's first governor, Luis Munoz Marin.

SOCIAL STUDIES AROUND THE WEB - THE U.S. -
http://www.li.net/~ndonohue/ssus.html
Alphabetized and categorized by time period, this site is an endless array of resources

Titanic Mock Trial - http://www.andersonkill.com/titanic/home.htm
"The Estate of Hans Jensen vs. The White Star Lines." The mock trial was created by the Anderson Kill law firm for their last Take Your Daughters to Work day using authentic records and data. It would be a wonderful extension for any Titanic unit.

Thomas - http://thomas.loc.gov
This Library of Congress site makes federal legislative information available. Learn about current bills and voting records before Congress.

US House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov
This site provides links to the home pages of every House member and to the committee offices so that you can learn what's on their agendas. Your students can learn more about who is representing them in Washington.

US Puzzle - http://www.funschool.com/cgi-bin/ga?jpp_usmap,p
Kids can mix up the states on the US map and then drag the states to their correct location.

The US Senate - http://www.senate.gov
Contact senators, learn how they voted on issues, or search for information on a specific bill. Let your students contact their senators and give their opinions.

Virtual Vietnam Memorial - http://www.thevirtualwall.org/
This web site will honor Vietnam veterans, including a sound component conveying families' tributes to lost loved ones. In January, the site will add a virtual re-creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington.

VOTING AND REGISTRATION DATA -
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html
A U.S. Census Bureau site, you can access all demographic and socioeconomic data concerning national elections from 1964 to the present

The Wall - http://www.Vietvet.org/thewall.htm
Visit the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC online. See pictures and read stories of personal memories.

Who Is That? - http://www.funbrain.com/who/index.html
Test your skill at identifying U.S. Presidents or famous scientists and mathematicians with this quiz.

WHO'S WHO IN AMERICAN HISTORY -
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/
Covers important figures in American history from the Civil War to the present: eras, names, occupations, photos

Witchcraft Hysteria - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/salem/
Interactive experience of the infamous 1692 tragedy brought to you by National Geographic (so you know it's good). Students actually take part in the hysteria, the trials, and the verdicts. A great cyber-experience for High-School students no matter what discipline you are using to cover this event.

Revolutionary War Sites: Find information on the war with the redcoats and the early days of our nation at the following sites:
American Revolutionary History - http://www.sar.org/
The Early America Web Site - http://earlyamerica.com/
The Maryland Historical Site - http://www.mdhs.org/
The Betsy Ross Home Page - http://www.libertynet.org/iha/betsy/index.html


Last Modified March 7, 2007
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