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learn about other countries
Social Studies

How to Learn about Other Countries with YouTube

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Over the years, YouTube, the world’s most popular video-sharing site, has become a hub for more than just prank videos or cuddly creatures. Nowadays, there’s plenty of informative, documentary, and educational content. These videos range from tutorials on how to install a garbage disposal to in-depth history documentaries to primary sources like old films and newsreels.

Of course, any space on the internet that allows anyone to post means users should practice good digital literacy and have a sense of the creator of the video. And naturally, educators will always want to review and vet videos before sharing with their students.

With those considerations in mind, let’s explore how YouTube can help teachers and students understand countries outside of the United States, including daily life, historical information, cultural arts, and more.

Greetings (こんにちは) from Japan

North Americans living overseas can be a great video source, as many of the videos are in English and targeted at sharing foreign cultures with an American or Canadian audience.

The YouTube channel Paolo from Tokyo shares many videos about life and culture in Japan. The popular Day in the Life videos offer brief, entertaining insights on daily life in Japan.

Also from Japan, Life Where I’m From explores how kids and adults live, work, play, and eat, always working to share with the world by posing the question: What’s life like where you’re from?

Kids Teaching Kids

Young people love seeing how other kids experience the world; it’s one of the ways we grow as people. After a bit of digging and review, you can find useful videos on YouTube that feature children sharing their experience and culture with each other.

The Hiho Kids channel features the Show and Tell series, allowing kids to share their traditions and culture with each other. Above, students share their family’s heritage. Below, they share cultural traditions.

You can also look into the How Other Kids Live series from the channel Origins, which digs into questions like “How Easy Is It for Kids to Make Friends?”

Food Facts

Another great way to connect kids with their counterparts overseas? Food! An easy, engaging start would be exploring what school lunch is like in various countries. How does your cafeteria lunch stack up?

In this video from the UK’s Channel 4, kids sit down with a multicultural family for a meal, one of the best ways to connect with people.

What videos, shows, or other multimedia tools do you learn to share world cultures with your students? Let us know in the comments! And then think about how your students can share their culture with the world on You Tube!

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ancient civilizations
Social Studies

Exploring Ancient Civilizations with Interactive Resources

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Looking for resources to make geography or world history classes more accessible and interactive when you return to the classroom? Check out the resources below, which include games, texts, videos, and other digital resources for teaching about ancient civilizations, including the societies of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley civilization, and ancient China.

The Fertile Crescent: Ancient Mesopotamia

  • You can play like the ancients. The royal game of Ur, an ancient board game, has been studied well enough that we can still play it — even online. Play the game here, and learn more about the royal game in this video from the British Museum.
  • For a modern game designed to teach about the Fertile Crescent, try Excavate! This game lets grade 4–7 students take on the role of an archeologist exploring Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon. 
  • Hone your archeological skills even further with this Pyramids and Ziggurats infographic from National Geographic.
  • For research-based projects and primary sources readings for older students, check out Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia, packed with relevant texts.
  • Learn how you and your students can make your own cylinder seals from the University of Chicago here.
  • Explore this interactive timeline and map with borders, water sources, and climate zones, called The Fertile Crescent – Where Past Meets Present.

The Indus Valley: The Indian Subcontinent

  • Get a sense of life in India’s earliest civilizations and its evolution through history with the interactive photo gallery, timeline, and more in this online companion to PBS’ Story of India.
  • The Asia Society provides this outline of the Indus Valley civilization and early India, providing detail for a place and time about which learning resources are sometimes scant.
  • One hallmark of the Indus Valley civilization, and one major source of understanding, is its art and physical culture. Check out these image-filled artifact timelines for two different eras of the Indus Valley societies here and here, from the Met museum.
  • Step into ancient India and Pakistan by reading about a day in the life of a baker’s son or exploring an interactive map of the Mohenjo-daro site here. 
  • Go in-depth and learn about language and culture, watch videos, explore maps, and much more at Harappa, named for a site in modern Punjab, Pakistan.

Imperial Beginnings: Ancient China

  • Visualize Chinese history from the ancient Shang dynasty onward in this interactive map from TimeMaps.
  • Go all the way back to the foundations of Chinese society in prehistory and the Xia dynasty, alongside images and video, in this interactive timeline from PBS. 
  • Get a great start to understanding the history of China with this resource article from National Geographic, which will scale the reading to various grade levels from 3–12. 
  • Go up close with ancient Chinese art and literature with images, maps, and timelines from the World Digital Library. Learn more about the WDL here.
  • Looking for research aids for secondary students? Check out this extensive list of primary sources on ancient Chinese life, religion, philosophy, and more from Kansas University Libraries. 

More from TechNotes:

Photo by Navneet Shanu from Pexels

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juneteenth
Social Studies

Digital Resources for Juneteenth Day

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

June 19th, is Juneteenth Day, a commemoration of the freeing of slaves in the United States. Signed into law in 2021 and first observed on June 18, 2021, it is now a federal holiday. This holiday reminds all of the Civil War era, when slaves were declared free on June 19, 1867.  Explore a variety of teaching resources for Juneteenth, a portmanteau of the words “June” and “nineteenth.”

For those looking to integrate this national celebration into the classroom, there are a number of great digital resources available. Let’s explore a few.

About the Word

As an ELA teacher, one of the most fascinating aspects (after historical significance) is the word itself. If you are not familiar with the term “portmanteau,” you will recognize many examples. A portmanteau is a word formed when two words are merged together. Consider the combination of “breakfast” and “lunch” to form “brunch.” Even movies can be portmanteaus, “two meanings packed up into one word” (source).

Examples of portmanteaus, like Juneteenth, exist all around us as digital explorers:

  • Email is formed of “electronic” and “mail,” or Gmail is “Google” plus “mail.”
  • Malware is the beginning of “malicious” and the end of “software.”
  • Wi-Fi is “wireless” and “fidelity.”
  • Webinar is “web” and “seminar” together.
  • Netiquette is “internet” plus “etiquette.”
juneteenth

As you can imagine, there are many examples, such as spork, smog, velcro, turducken, madcap, and slacktivism (source. See this Seesaw Library activity for example of a lesson on portmanteau.

Juneteenth Fliphunt

Why not learn more about Juneteenth through a digital scavenger hunt? In this example, you can explore a Wakelet Collection to learn more about Juneteenth. Accompanying each task is an informational website, video, or resource students can view. Students can record their takeaways and reflections with Flipgrid, a free tool available to all educators. You can make a copy of the Wakelet Collection and modify it for your own use.

juneteenth

View it online at https://tinyurl.com/juneteenthfliphunt

Curious about the origin of fliphunts? Kathi Kersznowski decided to create an internet scavenger hunt that relies on Flipgrid. You can find many examples online via the Twitter hashtag, #Fliphunt.

Use this Fliphunt to learn more about Juneteenth (use the join code: b5147640) and celebrate the emancipation of slaves. For each response, use the title hashtag (#freedom for Task 1) as the title of your video. For each task, students have up to 90 seconds to share their response.

juneteenth

Join Code: b5147640

Juneteenth Lesson Plans and Resources

In this Wakelet Collection, you will find a variety of digital resources and activities for Juneteenth. Some of those include the following:

There are ample resources for teaching Juneteenth. Explore them in the Wakelet below.

juneteenth


See it online at https://tinyurl.com/tceajune19r

TCEA Resources

Don’t forget to explore our list of civil rights and civic education resources, “Understanding This Moment through Civic Education.” You can also utilize other TechNotes articles, like “Exploring Civil Rights History with Digital Resources” and “Digital Resources for MLK Day.”

Feature Image Source

Screenshot of Wakelet created by author.

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ancient rome
Social Studies

Exploring Ancient Rome with Free, Interactive Resources

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

The history of ancient societies can help us understand our world today. That is, after all, one of the goals of history and social studies education. In particular, the history of ancient Rome, including its evolution from kingdom to republic to empire, can help students understand the past and present realities of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Because the history of ancient Rome is a well-explored topic, and includes many of the artifacts and written sources that historians use, there is a huge variety of resources for exploring the ancient Roman world. In this post, we’ve collected more than 20 interactive digital resources to assist you in bringing that world to life, from art and architecture to trade and politics.

Ad Fontes: Primary Sources

These interactive sites include useful ways to interact with ancient primary-source materials, which can be deployed in instruction or for student research.

Terra Cognita: Interactive Maps

Maps are a vital way to understand history, culture, government, and other social studies topics. These interactive maps help you and your students visualize the Roman world. 

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis: Art and Culture

Artistic and cultural artifacts are another way to connect with a long-gone society. These sites use modern technology to give students access to the physical world of the past.

Et Cetera: Other Resources

With a topic as broad and diverse as ancient Rome, there are plenty of other learning resources out there. Here are just a few.

  • LacusCurtius: Into the Roman World: An academic page chock full of Roman documents, history, and resources.
  • Keys to Rome: An interactive exhibit organized by cultural institutions across Europe.
  • Ariadne: A huge trove of information, including timelines, data sets, word clouds, and more.
  • Digital Augustan Rome: A detail-rich interactive map reflecting Rome in the year 14 C.E.
  • Ostia Antica: Harbor City of Ancient Rome: Dedicated to resources for understanding this once-bustling trading hub.
  • Rome Reborn: A suite of VR products that allow you to freely travel the streets of Rome.
  • Virtual Rome: See the ancient city of Rome, complete with 3D views of the Colosseum, and even a free online course. 

More from TechNotes:

Photo by Andrea Albanese from Pexels

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geography awareness week
Social Studies

What We Can Learn During Geography Awareness Week

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Building a robust and useful understanding of the world around us involves understanding people, both as individuals and as groups, topics we uncover through social studies subjects. It also requires an understanding of the physical world and the processes that drive it, ideas we explore through math and science subjects. Often, these understandings of the world come together in geography, a subject that can help transcend subjects and connect them.

Educators can help build understanding of complex systems of people and environment, both locally and globally. But traditionally, students in the U.S. have struggled with geography. That’s one of the reason educators, organizations, and individuals celebrate Geography Awareness Week, observed November 15–21 this year.

Mapping Awareness

The American Association of Geographers works to build geoliteracy, or an understanding of geographic concept. They note that tumultuous times make geoliteracy as vital as ever:

This proliferation of maps, visualizations, and storytelling about space and place in 2020 has informed public policies and personal choices, opening a window on how geoliteracy—the understanding and application of geographic concepts and reasoning—can support complex, relational perspectives and decision making for the Earth’s future.

Geography Awareness Week: November 15-21, 2020. AAG.

Geographic knowledge can help build engaged citizens in many ways. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau compiles many resources, data tools, and maps on related social and economic topics, with key statistics and information on tech topics like geographic information systems or GIS.

Exploring Resources

The National Geographic Society, dedicated to “exploring and protecting our planet,” has a number of resources to build geography awareness:

  • Find planning resources and frequently asked questions about Geography Awareness Week here.
  • Dig into NetGeo’s full Geography Awareness Week library, with tips for films to watch, geo-caching activities, and much, much more, as well as the chance to sign up for the National Geographic education newsletter.

The American Association of Geographers also shares a number of tools:

Other resources from AAG include:

More Resources from TechNotes

Celebrating Around the World

Will you and your students take part in Geography Awareness Week? What tools will you use and what topics will you cover? Let us know in the comments!

Photo by slon_dot_pics from Pexels

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veterans day
Social Studies

Free Resources for Veterans Day

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

In the fall of 1914, it was clear to many that the Great War would end by Christmas. But the conflict we now call World War I carried on for four more years as a generation of soldiers toiled in the mud of no man’s land. Finally, an armistice — an end to hostilities — was agreed, and began on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, November 11, 1918.

A Day of Remembrance

Since then, November 11 has been a day of remembrance for nations across Europe and around the world. Alternatively called Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, it has been recognized formally and informally since its first anniversary in 1919, when then-President Woodrow Wilson told his fellow citizens:

To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service, and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of nations.

“Supplement to the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Covering the Second Term of Woodrow Wilson, March 4, 1917, to March 4, 1921″. Bureau of National Literature. November 11, 2015.

Modern Memorials

What can we take away from the experience of service members? How do we understand their role in society and the effects of their service on themselves and for all Americans? These questions have guided America’s observance of the November 11 holiday since its inception.

In 1945, in the wake of the second World War, Alabama veteran Raymond Weeks advocated to expand the holiday beyond just a way of honoring those who died in World War I. Eventually, in 1954, then-President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill altering the existing Armistice celebration into Veterans Day, meant to honor all U.S. veterans.

Memory in the Classroom

Remembering the Veterans Day holiday can raise useful learning questions about civic engagement, government, history, and even personal genealogy and family trees. The frame of Veterans Day can prompt discussions of changing season, holidays, and more. In some places, students, workers, and federal officials may have a day off from work or school, at the very least prompting the question: What’s this holiday about?

For educators looking to use the day as a teaching occasion, there are many tools to select from, including those from official sources and everyday teachers alike.

  • The National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City hosts a full archive of lesson plans for K–12 students on a number of topics from art to sociology, including lessons like “Animals of the Great War” and “Creating WWI Personas and Writing Postcards from the Front.”
  • The museum also shares opportunities for professional development, as well as a large trove of outside educational resources and a complete back catalogue of newsletters for educators, which you can subscribe to or search here. 
  • Check out the Teacher Resource Guide (PDF) from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the veterans-related resources provided by Operation We Are Here, as well as resources for students in grade 1–6 from Scholastic, and more lesson ideas from educators at Share My Lesson and the Hey Teach! blog from WGU. 

More Resources from TechNotes

Photo by Craig Adderley from Pexels

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local history
Social Studies

Exploring Local History During Remote Learning

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Even when much of our time is spent at home, learners and educators can still get out and explore history. We can even do so virtually, and in the process, build deeper connections between students, schools, and local communities. Today we have new digital tools that students can use to learn local history and even explore their genealogy and family history.

In this post, we’ll explore a few tools any educator can use to help learners discover the histories and stories of their own towns, schools, and local areas, even when teaching remotely. 

The Power of Local History

What’s the history of the community you teach or learn in? While we may know the broad strokes of the state or region we live in, local history is often tucked away on historical markers or in collections at the local library. 

Digital tools can bring that hidden history to light, with students as the primary investigators in building the story of where they live. Students may want to work on an oral history project, activities based on local historic buildings or monuments, or even their own family history and genealogy. Growing amounts of Open Educational Resources can also help boost and preserve local history, too.

Writer Coshandra Dillard outlines the vitality of local history in an article from Teaching Tolerance.

It’s hard to find real local history in textbooks, and it takes courage to teach these hidden, hard histories. But it’s not hard to help students uncover this history. They can start with the origins of the names of streets, schools and government buildings in their city. Or they can consider how the hard history of our nation played out in their community. After learning about the slave trade, they might explore the lives of enslaved people who lived in their town. When learning about the courage of youth during Freedom Summer, they can track the fight for voting rights. Or they can learn about their district’s integration story and compare it to the Little Rock Nine and other stories. 

Local history helps students better understand their community, as well as the inequities in education, poverty, health outcomes and other issues that they see around them every day. 

“Recovering and Teaching Local History” Coshandra Dillard. https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/recovering-and-teaching-local-history

As Dillard notes, the history of individual communities can be an effective way to learn about the struggles for civil, political, and economic rights that we are seeing resonating in U.S. society today.

Learning in Our Genes

With the number of genealogy services and products available today, understanding your own personal history is easier than ever, even with tools for the classroom.

One way for students to “do” the past as historians is to research their family’s past. Researching family history helps students create context for studying the past and helps students develop a sense of place in the present. In addition, a family history project can help foster connections with students’ guardians at home and help us, as teachers, better understand our students’ backgrounds. A student genealogy project is certainly not a new idea, but new online tools make it easier than ever to uncover family records and connect distant relatives.

“Joe Jelen on Discovering History Through Student Genealogy Research” Joe Jelen. https://teachinghistory.org/nhec-blog/25372

Educators looking for free, digital resources can check out these activities from the National Archives, or a number of family tree activities from FamilyHistoryDaily.com.

Meet Clio

Inspired by the ancient Greek muse of history, Clio is an interactive online database of local historical information, perfect for students and teachers looking to build local connections and all sort of skills from reading to social studies standards.

Clio allows classrooms, institutions, and individuals to create accounts and add to the vast project of local history. Then they can edit and add entries for historic sites, people, and places, complete with interactive maps, videos, easy-to-use citations, and accessibility features like text to audio. Several entries can even be combined into a tour, allowing users to explore multiple thematically-related sites and events.

Using Clio

The National Endowment for the Humanities’ EDSITEment! page includes tips on how to effectively use Clio in your teaching. Be sure to check out their recommendations.

Below, you can also enjoy step-by-step videos that guide you through the use of the Clio platform.

More Resources

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maps
Social Studies

Teaching at Every Level with Data-Rich Digital Maps

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

If you’ve read my previous posts here on TechNotes, you may be able to guess that I’m a big fan of maps. Not only is geographic literacy a required part of many social studies standards, using maps can also help learners make visual connections with the sometimes abstract thoughts, ideas, and facts that maps can represent, from population to the physical landscape, economic factors or cultural ones. The critical thinking that using maps creates can be a help for any teacher at any level and in any subject, not just geography.

Maps become even richer sources of inspiration, understanding, and analysis when we add data to geography.

Learning Across Subjects

Moreover, subject teachers beyond social studies can make extensive and effective use of maps that include other information, along with physical representation of a place. Science educators in particular can use maps to visualize change over time or understand the science behind the physical world.

As the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) puts it:

Using maps in the classroom invites curiosity, encourages exploration and inspires problem solving. Maps can be used to explore a multitude of topics and can incorporate visual learning, spatial thinking and quantitative skills into a lesson. Read on to explore vivid imagery from maps and learn how our online lessons integrate mapping and help you create innovative lessons.

“Teaching with Maps,” NAGT via https://serc.carleton.edu/k12/maps.html

Of course, understanding maps, along with charts and graphs, is vital for engaged and active participants in society — the kind of people educators hope to create. As Daniel C. Edelson of Esri writes:

Also like reading and basic math, learning to read a map is a foundational skill that is an essential prerequisite for subsequently developing a wide range of knowledge and skills. A brief review of the media that children see in their schools, homes, and communities reveals how frequently maps are used to convey important information and relationships. In the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress in Geography (conducted in 2010), 58 percent of fourth grade teachers reported that they use maps or globes in their instruction at least once a week.

For this reason, a delay in learning to read maps or a lack of proficiency in reading maps can be an obstacle to academic and intellectual progress.

“The Importance of Teaching Children to Read Maps,” Daniel C. Edelson. https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcnews/the-importance-of-teaching-children-to-read-maps/

Regarding science education, the Science Education Research Center (SERC) at Carleton College describes maps as way to teach data collection and comparison in science, as evidenced in this activity. They also offer links to useful science and mapping related tools, like customizable maps, maps of geologic information, and much more.

Mapping the Effect

One great advantage of maps is that they can quickly and visually represent complex situations or ideas. With modern technologies, apps, and tools, we can combine the easy-to-digest information of an infographic with a geographic overlay of space: a data-rich map.

Effective geography teaching includes not only the use of maps, but multimedia, project-based learning and more. This kind of focus, especially if paired with a “whole school” approach involving service projects and cross-subject learning, can help build (PDF) good citizenship skills and information literacy, too.

Maps are flexible tools. Students can interact with them in a number of ways and using a number of techniques (PDF) for meaningful instruction. These could include PBL, group discussions, field trips, and more. A 2007 suggests that “interactive maps show promise in making the complexities of the social sciences (especially historical geography) more interesting to students, and easier to visualize and understand, without demanding significant investments by schools,” and found that interactive maps could have a stronger impact than paper maps.

A two-group experiment examined this potential for the 7th Grade Utah Studies curriculum. After completing an exercise to analyze possible historical and geographical causes of settlement patterns in Utah, students using interactive maps showed significantly better improvement between a pretest and posttest than students using paper maps. Although some of the test results were inconclusive and highlighted technological and resource obstacles to the widespread adoption of interactive mapping in the classroom, it has been shown to help students learn social studies in a deeper, more
engaging manner.

Plewe, Brandon & Taylor, Whitney. (2006). The Effectiveness of Interactive Maps in Secondary Historical Geography Education. Cartographic Perspectives. 55. 16-33. 10.14714/CP55.325.

For Elementary Learners

National Geographic’s Map Skills for Elementary Students is a great place to find map-related lessons and activities that develop spatial reasoning, which can help build math skills in young learners.

Spatial thinking is one of the most important skills that students can develop as they learn geography, Earth, and environmental sciences. It also deepens and gives a more complete understanding of history and is linked to success in math and science. Young students also enhance their language skills as they collaborate and communicate about spatial relationships. Students who develop robust spatial thinking skills will be at an advantage in our increasingly global and technological society. 

“Map Skills for Elementary Students,” National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/map-skills-elementary-students/

Spatial reasoning is a vital skill for young learners, and geography education, including highly visual maps, can help, especially when thoughtfully assessed. Looking to match maps with your age group? Check out these tips on developmentally appropriate geography from the National Council for the Social Studies.

Infographic Upgrades

For those able to subscribe to a service that provides many different information-dense maps, the Data Atlas of the World may be a good choice. The maps included on this site are built in Adobe Illustrator with data imported from Microsoft Excel. The maps and visualizations are produced by Carrie Osgood, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated visual data journalist and professor.

maps

By combining maps with data, students can visualize multiple ideas at once, including things across space and time. You can check out some free samples to get a sense of whether these tools are right for your students. If you’re interested in subscribing, yearly, monthly, and weekly options are available. Educators looking to design their in-person learning environment can also purchase posters of the Data Atlas of the World maps.

Going Further with Visme

Beyond just maps, the free online platform Visme includes timelines, graphic design elements, videos, and more. Notably, its automatic map generator is easy to use and includes a number of templates. Available as a limited free version or a more robust paid version, Visme includes stock imagery, animations, data visualization templates, and many other graphical gewgaws to enhance geography lessons.

Besides maps, a number of presentation tools are also available. Here’s how one high school biology teacher uses Visme, or how an instructional technologist uses it to build interactive courses.

Unearthing More Possibilities

For educators looking to build their professional learning on the subject, several professional, corporate, and nonprofit organizations offer resources for teaching with maps. Check out the list below.

Phoenix7777Own work / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

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constitution day
Social Studies

Online Resources for Constitution Day

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Though it was not to take effect until ratification by the states, the United States Constitution — the foundational document of the modern U.S. government — was signed by delegates of the Constitutional Congress on September 17, 1787. Traditionally, the unofficial holiday called Citizenship Day was celebrated on that day each year. In 2004, it became a federal observance: Constitution Day.

Educators looking to build learning about this important cultural, historical, and legal document have a number of resources at their disposal, even while teaching remotely.

Center of It All

The National Constitution Center has a number of online events to mark the occasion and help people build an understanding of the document, including live and interactive events for teachers and students. 

Some events of interest might include:

  • Virtual Kids Town Hall with Supreme Court Justice Justice Neil Gorsuch (Register/Watch on YouTube)
  • A live reading of the preamble (Register)
  • Liberty Medal ceremony with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Watch)

Beyond events to commemorate the occasion, the Center offers a number of helpful tools for understanding the “supreme law of the land” all year long. 

  • The Interactive Constitution lets learners explore the document with links and useful explanations for each article and amendment. 
  • Classroom Exchanges help students make peer-to-peer connections while discussing civic issues.
  • The Center’s extensive video series highlights some of the people and ideas that shaped the Constitution, as well as the various parts of the document.
  • Lesson plans for various grade levels and aligned with popular standards are also available. 

Dig Into the Archives

The Library of Congress and National Archives also host a number of resources that can help you teach the Constitution in flexible, digital ways, whether on September 17 or anytime. 

Constitution Day Toolkit

The Civics Renewal Network, a large coalition of nonprofits and similar organizations, offers a Constitution Day Toolkit for educators, complete with interactive biographies of the framers, lessons, games, and documentary resources for exploring multiple aspects of this influential piece of American history.

More Interactive Social Studies Resources from TCEA

Photo:  wynpnt (pixabay.com)

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social studies
Social Studies

The Big List of Remote Learning Social Studies Resources

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Earlier this week, we took a look a several places educators can find engaging STEM and STEAM resources designed for remote learning. In this post, we’ll delve into some useful compilations, ideas, and sites dedicated to teaching social studies subjects like history, economics, geography, government, sociology, and more.

Best Practices

In Education Week, educators Mike Kaechele, Lynette Yorgason, and Jennifer Hitchcock share their tips and experience with project-based learning (PBL), remote teaching in general, and the tools and techniques they use.

Departmental Communications

Education agencies across the U.S. have worked to compile accessible resources for teachers and student facing massive shifts in education and everyday life. In Delaware, the Department of Education has put together a list of interactive resources, along with “Grab and Go” packets for teachers. You can also explore social studies professional learning opportunities as organized by the Maine Department of Education.

Ten Top Treasure Troves

The Edvocate has put together a list of 10 timely social studies sites for remote learning and teaching. This list notably links to large repositories of links or activities.

Watch and Learn

Mr. and Mrs. Social Studies is a YouTube channel dedicated to sharing ideas and strategies for social studies teaching. Check out their video on distance learning to get inspired to create exciting new ways to teach social studies topics.

Public Resources

PBS Learning Media has a vast array of videos, interactive lessons and pages, lesson plans, and audio/video resources that can be organized and filtered by topic, grade level, and type.

Using Common Sense

Common Sense Education, a nonprofit dedicated to vetting educational materials, offers a collection of the top 10 social studies tools for elementary learners, as well as 44 different social studies apps and websites.

Take a Field Trip

A virtual field trip can be a great way to explore history and society, as well as integrate other humanities subjects like art into social studies education. Check out our collections of virtual field trips in TCEA’s home state of Texas and around the world.

More Interactive Social Studies Resources from TCEA

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

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