Teacher & Student Online Resource Center: K-12 Social Studies

Online Resources to Enhance K-12 Social Studies Instruction

by WPS Media Specialist David Privett

November 20, 2008

Below are some online resources I have located through peer recommendation, professional journal recommendations, and some I have just come across through my own searching. In an attempt to keep this page as up-to-date and useful as possible, please report all dead links or new links you would like added to dprivett@esu2.org.

SOCIAL STUDIES (K-12)

NetTrekker (Subscription Database)
(See Mr. Privett for user name and password)

NetTrekker d.i. (differentiated instruction) offers access to more than 180,000 educator-selected online resources organized by readability level and aligned to Nebraska State Standards. A great resource for teachers to use to enhance their lessons, and for students to review classroom content in all subjects and all grade levels! CHECK IT OUT!!

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CultureGrams (Subscription Database)
(See Mr. Privett for user name and password)

Concise, reliable, and up-to-date country reports delivering the world . . . to you.

CultureGrams helps students discover the world with concise cultural and statistical snapshots of every country recognized by the United Nations -- from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Local experts document the unique, intimate details of each country's customs, traditions and daily life.

And whether it's Iraq, Canada, or Kenya, each CultureGram offers an equality of coverage detailing 25 different aspects of the country and its culture.

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Digital History
"This site is a favorite of high school World Studies teachers. It has great classroom handouts, learning modules, active learning links, multi-media links, and reference rooms." --Renee Kopf & Pam Krambeck, NETA News (April 2007)

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Discovering Lewis & Clark
"Conceived in 1993, and online since 1998, Discovering Lewis & Clark is a hyperhistory in progress. It is enhanced by an average of at least one new interpretive episode each month, employing a variety of multimedia techniques. The site focuses on issues, values, discoveries and events relating to the Lewis & Clark Expedition, its preludes, and its aftermath up to the present time."

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Discoveryschool.com
"Kathy Schrock is an administrator of Technology on Cape Cod, MS. and an author of many books and articles in technology and curriculum areas. Her American History web site is full of lesson plans, teaching tools, homework helpers on social studies and a variety of other subjects. Visit this site and you will not be disappointed." --Renee Kopf & Pam Krambeck, NETA News (April 2007)

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National Endowment for the Humanities
(History & Social Studies Tab)
Lesson plans and web sites related to history and social studies.

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50 States
"Information is well organized and in alphabetical order using key words such as state bird, state flower, etc. Easy to use and elementary student friendly."--Renee Kopf & Pam Krambeck, NETA News (April 2007)

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HippoCampus
HippoCampus offers multimedia lessons and course materials to help you with your instruction, homework and studies. You can browse multimedia lessons or complete courses, and find help with the topics covered in popular textbooks. Multiple resources are available, for free, for the subjects of American Government, Psychology, and U.S. History.

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The States @ History.com
This is a very user-friendly site for all K-12 instruction over the United States. The site includes the following categories for each state: History, Featured Video, Image Gallery, State Stats, Fun Facts, Historical Maps and Related Links (for further research). The site also has links to interactive games for students. Check it out!

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Holt, Rinehart and Winston Online Learning
This web site corresponds to our high school geography textbooks. See Mr. Fox or Mr. Miller for the user name and password.

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Middle School Sites
Geography, world cultures, social studies, economics, and civics lessons and web resources for middle school students and teachers.

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Nationmaster.com
Target: High School
Welcome to NationMaster, a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD. We want to be the web's one-stop resource for country statistics on everything from soldiers to wall plug voltages. You can also view profiles of individual countries including their maps and flags, use correlation reports and scatterplots to find relationships between variables, and refer to fully integrated encyclopedia with over one million articles.

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Nebraska Public Documents

"Nebraska Public Documents is a collaborative effort between the Nebraska Library Commission, the Nebraska State Historical Society, UNL, and UNO. This project provides free public access to digitized historic annual reports of state agencies in Nebraska for the use of students, scholars, and the general public."

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10 By 10
100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time
"10x10™ ('ten by ten') is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Over the course of days, months, and years, 10x10 leaves a trail of these hourly statements which, stitched together side by side, form a continuous patchwork tapestry of human life.

10x10 is ever-changing, ever-growing, quietly observing the ways in which we live. It records our wars and crises, our triumphs and tragedies, our mistakes and milestones. When we make history, or at least the headlines, 10x10 takes note and remembers."

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TeAchnology
"This on-line teacher resource includes lesson plans, printable worksheets, preformatted rubrics, printable generators, teaching tips and themes, while listing 256,000 reviewed sites. For history, click on the 'Subjects' tab and then 'Social Studies' or 'Daily History' and you will find a wealth of information from teaching tools to lesson plans and worksheets that relate to a variety of topics." --Renee Kopf & Pam Krambeck, NETA News (September 2007)

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Time Magazine for Kids (Current Events)
"Aimed at the K-8 grades, this site is one that can be used on a variety of topics--especially current events." --Renee Kopf & Pam Krambeck, NETA News (April 2007)