Social Studies
Lesson Plans
- Scholastic Lesson Plans - Thousands of free lesson plans, unit plans, and extension activities
- Teachers Net Lesson Plans for Pre-Kindergarten - Lots of lesson plans for hands-on and multi-sensory activities
- Teachers Net Lesson Plans for Kindergarten - Lots of lesson plans for hands-on and multi-sensory activities.
- Teachers Net Lesson Plans Grades 1 and 2 - Lots of lesson plans for hands-on and multi-sensory activities
- Teachers Net Lesson Plans Grades 3, 4 and 5 - Lots of lesson plans for hands-on and multi-sensory activities
- Teachers Net Lesson Plans for Middle School - - Lots of creative and enrichment activities
- Teachers Net Lesson Plans for High School - Lots of creative and enrichment activities
- Education World Lesson Plans and Resources - Tied to Seasons, Special Historical Dates, and Holidays
History
- Associated Press Video Archive - The Associated Press has set up a YouTube channel providing access to over half a million historical videos. Visitors are welcome to share and embed the videos. New videos are being added daily.
- Teaching History - Quick Links for Elementary School Teachers - Teaching toolkits, interesting little known facts about American history, separating facts from myths
- Science and Social Studies Research Packs - Printable, nicely illustrated pages students can use to plan, organize, draft, and write a final copy. Packets are custom designed for specific research subjects, including Egypt, famous artists, medieval times, pioneers, and the Wright Brothers
- Enchanted Learning Activity Calender - This calender highlights key events in history (science, social studies, literature, the arts) for each day of the month and links to lesson plans, activities, worksheets, and/or quizzes related to those topics. Designed for elementary school students.
- Smithsonian - The Smithsonian Magazine's website is filled with interesting, edgy articles teachers may use to research lessons-with-a-twist. The site also contains quality photos and videos that can be incorporated into PowerPoint or other White Board presentations.
Texas History
- Frontier Texas - Detailed lesson plans and printables for teaching Texas History to fourth graders.
American History
- 15 Presidential Quotes - This page has some annoying pop-ups but the content serves as a great foundation for a social studies lesson. You can have your class discuss the quotes themselves or you can assign pairs of students a quote and have them research the president who said it then share their findings with the class. After the presentations are done, the class can then vote for their favorite quote.
World History
- Ancient History Encyclopedia - Comprehensive encyclopedia of ancient history filled with well-written, highly readable articles by historians. Maps and photos of sites and artwork accompany the text.
- Ancient Egypt - Jeopardy style test review of facts about ancient Egypt.
- How and Why East Germany Sold People for Profit - East German Daniel Walther's story of her childhood in East Germany, her family's attempt to escape to the west before the construction of the Berlin Wall, and how they were later sold by the East Germans.
- The Stone Age Image Pack - Images (artistic renderings and photographs of actual sites and tools) capturing life in the Stone Age and the Neolithic Age. This site includes tips for elementary school activities making use of these pictures.
- Ancient Greek Democracy - Discover the birth of Democracy. Well-written, accessible article including interestings facts, statistics, and historical quotes.
- History Reference: Ancient History and World History - One of the best sites on the web summarizing history by region (Europe, Asia, Africa, Russia, Australia, and the Pacific Rim). Well-researched and well-written in language which makes it accessible to junior high and high school students.
Geography
- UMapper - This website enables both teachers and students to create interactive maps and geogames. The site is free but it does require registration with a name, e-mail address, and password. .
- Countries and Cultures Coloring Pages - Print these maps of individual continents and countries for students to label and color. There are also some drawings of national flags to be colored in. The culture coloring pages mostly feature native and tribal people and are suitable for elementary school students.
- Lascaux - Pay a virtual visit to the caves at Lascaux. The site contains slideshows suitable for White Board presentations. The music is eerie at first, then gets really annoying after a while.
- Ask About Ireland - Projects created by Irish students about Ireland (its history, animals, geography, music, etc...) have been uploaded onto this website and are organized by grade levels and subject.
Research Packets
- Research Packs - Free printable, illustrated packets (pdf files) to facilitate research projects. Topics include Pioneers, Famous Artists, The Wright Brothers, Egypt, and Famous Artists.
Teaching Materials for Use on Interactive White Boards
- Internet4Classrooms Interactive Graphs and Worksheets - Content includes Concept Maps, Templates for Graphic Organizers, Pilgrim Timelines, and Venn Diagrams.