Use these sites to help you plan for using
technology in your Social Studies class.
Search the Google Arts & Culture site for information on cultures of the world, past and present. https://artsandculture.google.com/
Library of Congress: use this site for teaching using primary sources. https://www.loc.gov/programs/teachers/getting-started-with-primary-sources/
National Geographic has free resources to use with students. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/?q=
TeachFlix: a website that was built from crowdsourcing the best videos made for education. https://teachflix.org/
Use the Google Earth Timelapse site to show environmental changes in the following places:
Alaska, Canada, Germany, Uzbekistan, China, California, Las Vegas, Saudi Arabia, India, Dubai, Myanmar, Brazil, Australia, Peru, Madagascar, Chili, and Bolivia.
https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse/
Google Earth Education: Lots of tools to help you use Google Earth in class
https://www.google.com/earth/education/ and here’s a doc that is a help guide to start using Google Earth with students: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pwhKl7kK8S5ppPnXSCJQ1imQ7Jj7mPMi/view?usp=sharing
In Galactic Mappers, students try to create the most geographically diverse continent in a hemisphere. It’s a fun game, and for the teacher, it can be a way to assess without giving students a test. The link to the game instructions and materials:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-game-becomes-embedded-assessment-ross-flatt
Use GeographyIQ is an online world atlas packed with geographic, economic, political, historical and cultural information. In addition, GeographyIQ brings together a number of other resources including maps, flags, currency conversion as well as climate and time zone information.
NewsELA: The best website for nonfiction articles, with the ability to read the same article at different reading levels.
Use these tools to draw/create maps: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/07/9-excellent-free-map-creation-tools-for.html
This is a video tutorial to show you how to use Scribble Maps, one of the tools listed above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oWFeFmpqbs
FBI Vault- this site is the digital library of files that the FBI have declassified and are available to the public. It is sorted by topic, but there also is a search feature. http://vault.fbi.gov/
Google Earth lesson plans- all grade levels, and all subjects:
http://sitescontent.google.com/google-earth-for-educators/classroom-resources/lesson-plan-library
Google Earth for Educators- all grade levels, and all subjects:
http://sitescontent.google.com/google-earth-for-educators/
Shoah Foundation: great resource when you are studying the Holocaust, with first person interviews of survivors and witnesses.
Behind the Scenes of a WWII interagation camp: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2016/08/behind-the-scenes-of-a-secret-interrogation-camp
Syrian Refugee Camp in Greece info:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/592/are-we-there-yet
Smithsonian Tween Tribune: a great site for non-fiction content, with the ability to change reading levels on the same article.
The Gilder Lehrman American History https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era
Bean, Bean, Bean: Play a US States, State Capitals, or Country Capitals game and earn digital beans, and the system will donate to charities based on the amount of beans you earn. https://beanbeanbean.com/html/category/geography/us-states.html
Geoguessr: game using Google Maps Street View- guess the location you are dropped into and earn points. https://www.geoguessr.com/
City Guesser: similar to Geoguessr, but for cities: World, USA, Europe, and Monuments https://virtualvacation.us/guess
iCivics: Games for learning about:Branches of Power; People’s Pie- state budgets; running a Texas county.; Win the White House and more!
Google Treks: take a virtual trip to these locations to learn about the culture of the area: Amazon Basin, Angkor Wat, Burj Khalifa, Churchill, Colorado River, Eiffel Tower, El Capitan, Everest Base Camp, Galapagos Islands, Gombe National Park, Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, Iqaluit, Kennedy Space Center, Miniatur Wunderland, Mont Blanc, Mt. Fuji, Petra, Pyramids of Giza, Samburu National Reserve, Taj Mahal, The Khumbu, and Venice.
Learn a language! Duolingo is a free site to use to start learning! https://www.duolingo.com/
TED Ed: short videos explaining lots of topics! https://ed.ted.com/
Crash Course Kids: videos and animations help students learn about topics. https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcoursekids/featured
Suffrage Movement lessons: 3 videos and teacher’s guide to use to help students understand women’s right to vote. https://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/suffragist
Use the National Archives website for teaching with primary sources- the DocsTeach website gives lesson plan ideas! https://docsteach.org/
This PBS site is a Social Studies resource for videos, lesson plans, and interactive tools
6th grade: https://houstonpbs.pbslearningmedia.org/grades/6-8/?rank_by=recency&selected_facet=subject:8337
5th grade: https://houstonpbs.pbslearningmedia.org/grades/3-5/?rank_by=recency&selected_facet=subject:3026