Resources for Student Learning
Alaska History
Adventures in the Alaska Economy (Grades 7-12)
This graphic reader was developed to increase students' understanding of basic economic concepts and the historical development of Alaska's economy. Comics depict major historical events as they occurred, but specific characters are fictionalized. Each of nine episodes is accompanied by several pages of explanatory text, which enlarges on the episode and introduces economic concepts. The link above goes to a gFolder where the entire contents of this graphic reader can be found.
This graphic reader was developed to increase students' understanding of basic economic concepts and the historical development of Alaska's economy. Comics depict major historical events as they occurred, but specific characters are fictionalized. Each of nine episodes is accompanied by several pages of explanatory text, which enlarges on the episode and introduces economic concepts. The link above goes to a gFolder where the entire contents of this graphic reader can be found.
Anchorage Museum Online Resources (Grades K-12)
The Anchorage Museum offers a range of online resources and publications to support your teaching. These resources are designed for classroom teaching, home learning, and museum visit preparation. Many of these activities will support the content of Alaska studies courses, and can provide a visual for students to make deeper connections with our state's past.
The Anchorage Museum offers a range of online resources and publications to support your teaching. These resources are designed for classroom teaching, home learning, and museum visit preparation. Many of these activities will support the content of Alaska studies courses, and can provide a visual for students to make deeper connections with our state's past.
Sister School Exchange (Grades 9-12)
The Sister School Exchange program builds connections between Alaskan communities through a reflective experiential-based curriculum that culminates with an exchange. The program operates throughout the school year, matching a teacher and five students from a rural system community with a teacher and five students from urban Alaska. These teams work through a 6-8 week curriculum on cross-cultural understanding, and then take turns visiting and hosting each other.
Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska (Grades 4-12)
The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska site offers comprehensive resources for learning about Alaska Native peoples and their cultures. Essays, contemporary and archival photographs, museum objects and maps provide information from Elders and other experts. The "Distance Learning" sections provides a variety downloadable lessons and activities, with all materials and answers for questions provided. The "Community Videos" section contains sets of detailed instructional videos on customary arts taught by Alaska Native artists, as well as videos on Alaska Native languages and cultures. The "Conversations" section provides edited videos of topical webinars with Indigenous experts from Alaska and Canada.
The Sister School Exchange program builds connections between Alaskan communities through a reflective experiential-based curriculum that culminates with an exchange. The program operates throughout the school year, matching a teacher and five students from a rural system community with a teacher and five students from urban Alaska. These teams work through a 6-8 week curriculum on cross-cultural understanding, and then take turns visiting and hosting each other.
Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska (Grades 4-12)
The Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska site offers comprehensive resources for learning about Alaska Native peoples and their cultures. Essays, contemporary and archival photographs, museum objects and maps provide information from Elders and other experts. The "Distance Learning" sections provides a variety downloadable lessons and activities, with all materials and answers for questions provided. The "Community Videos" section contains sets of detailed instructional videos on customary arts taught by Alaska Native artists, as well as videos on Alaska Native languages and cultures. The "Conversations" section provides edited videos of topical webinars with Indigenous experts from Alaska and Canada.
United States History
America in Class - National Humanities Center (Grades 6-12)
A collection of primary sources by time period in American history. Each era contains a number of primary sources, as well as discussion and framing questions to help students to analyze the sources in detail. The site is not the most user friendly, but does contain useful resources.
Beyond the Bubble - Stanford History Education Group (Grades 6-12)
Beyond the Bubble unlocks the vast digital archive of the Library of Congress to create History Assessments of Thinking (HATs). Explore over 100 easy-to-use assessments that measure students' historical thinking rather than recall of facts.
Chronicling America (Grades 6-12)
Chronicling America (ISSN 2475-2703) is a Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress. An NEH award program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and territories.
Library of Congress (Grades K-12)
Contains 18 million catalog records for books, serials, manuscripts, maps, music, recordings, images, and electronic resources in the Library of Congress collections.
National Archives - DocsTeach (Grades K-12)
DocsTeach is a educator focused tool from the National Archives that allows you to search and access thousands of primary sources housed in the Archives. There are pre-made activities you can borrow to support student learning, as well as tools available to help you create your own activities surrounding a document.
National Humanities Center (Grades K-12)
Lesson plans include key questions, essential understandings, and primary sources with context, background, and discussion excerpts for classroom teaching.
Smithsonian Learning Lab (Grades K-12)
Artifacts, images, video clips, and more from the Smithsonian Institute. Learning Lab offers activities and lessons that focus on a wide array of American history topics, and allows you to create your own activities using their resources and tools.
Teaching American History (Grades K-12)
Teaching American history is a curated collection of many of the most impactful documents in American history. The focus on primary documents allows students the opportunity to create their own understanidng of our nation's past. Lesson plan ideas are linked from a variety of quality sources.
A collection of primary sources by time period in American history. Each era contains a number of primary sources, as well as discussion and framing questions to help students to analyze the sources in detail. The site is not the most user friendly, but does contain useful resources.
Beyond the Bubble - Stanford History Education Group (Grades 6-12)
Beyond the Bubble unlocks the vast digital archive of the Library of Congress to create History Assessments of Thinking (HATs). Explore over 100 easy-to-use assessments that measure students' historical thinking rather than recall of facts.
Chronicling America (Grades 6-12)
Chronicling America (ISSN 2475-2703) is a Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress. An NEH award program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and territories.
Library of Congress (Grades K-12)
Contains 18 million catalog records for books, serials, manuscripts, maps, music, recordings, images, and electronic resources in the Library of Congress collections.
National Archives - DocsTeach (Grades K-12)
DocsTeach is a educator focused tool from the National Archives that allows you to search and access thousands of primary sources housed in the Archives. There are pre-made activities you can borrow to support student learning, as well as tools available to help you create your own activities surrounding a document.
National Humanities Center (Grades K-12)
Lesson plans include key questions, essential understandings, and primary sources with context, background, and discussion excerpts for classroom teaching.
Smithsonian Learning Lab (Grades K-12)
Artifacts, images, video clips, and more from the Smithsonian Institute. Learning Lab offers activities and lessons that focus on a wide array of American history topics, and allows you to create your own activities using their resources and tools.
Teaching American History (Grades K-12)
Teaching American history is a curated collection of many of the most impactful documents in American history. The focus on primary documents allows students the opportunity to create their own understanidng of our nation's past. Lesson plan ideas are linked from a variety of quality sources.
Economics
DollarStreet (Grades 4-12)
Imagine the world as a street ordered by income. Everyone lives somewhere on the street. The poorest lives to the left and the richest to the right. Everybody else lives somewhere in between. Welcome to visit all homes on Dollar Street!
EconEdLink (Grades K-12)
The Council for Economic Education's collection of lesson plans and activities is a free resource. There are tons of great activities to help students of all grade levels understand how economics impacts their lives.
How To Teach Kids About Money (Grades K-6)
We believe when students learn financial literacy at an early age, it helps them to make astute decisions about their personal finances, as smart financial behavior leads to financially secure lives. We've created a guide dedicated to children learning financial literacy. Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Financial Life Hacks for High Schoolers (Grades 8-12)
A very good curated list of resources to help young adults wrap their heads around topics such as finance apps, tax basics, credit & credit cards and tips to avoid debt.
Interactive Map: The Flow of International Trade (Grades 6-12)
Today’s visualization helps to map international trade on a 3D globe, plotting the exchange of goods between countries. It enables the abstract concept of trade to become more tactile, and at the same time the visuals make it easier to absorb information.
Pigly (Grades 4-12)
Talking about money and savings are often reserved for grown up discussions. But even at an early age, it’s crucial to expose children to basic money management. Teaching kids how to budget and save may not seem very important when they’re young. However, as children grow, developing healthy financial habits can help them avoid toxic debt and other stressful money problems.
Imagine the world as a street ordered by income. Everyone lives somewhere on the street. The poorest lives to the left and the richest to the right. Everybody else lives somewhere in between. Welcome to visit all homes on Dollar Street!
EconEdLink (Grades K-12)
The Council for Economic Education's collection of lesson plans and activities is a free resource. There are tons of great activities to help students of all grade levels understand how economics impacts their lives.
How To Teach Kids About Money (Grades K-6)
We believe when students learn financial literacy at an early age, it helps them to make astute decisions about their personal finances, as smart financial behavior leads to financially secure lives. We've created a guide dedicated to children learning financial literacy. Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Financial Life Hacks for High Schoolers (Grades 8-12)
A very good curated list of resources to help young adults wrap their heads around topics such as finance apps, tax basics, credit & credit cards and tips to avoid debt.
Interactive Map: The Flow of International Trade (Grades 6-12)
Today’s visualization helps to map international trade on a 3D globe, plotting the exchange of goods between countries. It enables the abstract concept of trade to become more tactile, and at the same time the visuals make it easier to absorb information.
Pigly (Grades 4-12)
Talking about money and savings are often reserved for grown up discussions. But even at an early age, it’s crucial to expose children to basic money management. Teaching kids how to budget and save may not seem very important when they’re young. However, as children grow, developing healthy financial habits can help them avoid toxic debt and other stressful money problems.
Geography
Alaska Geographic (Grades K-12)
The official nonprofit education and fundraising partner to Alaska’s National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and BLM Conservation Lands, creating and delivering exceptional education programs and products through our collaboration with public lands agencies.
GeoGuessr (Grades 6-12)
GeoGuessr is a geography game which takes you on a journey around the world and challenges your ability to recognize your surroundings.
Mapping Resources for Studying Online (GISetc) (Grades K-12)
A very large collection of GIS interactive maps, activities, puzzles and other resources curated by GISetc, a Geospatial Education website.
National Geographic Classroom Resources (Grades PreK-12)
Bring National Geographic to your classroom through lesson plans, maps, and reference resources.
Sheppard Software (Grades K-12)
By playing Sheppard Software's geography games, students will gain a mental map of the world's continents, countries, capitals, & landscapes!
The official nonprofit education and fundraising partner to Alaska’s National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, and BLM Conservation Lands, creating and delivering exceptional education programs and products through our collaboration with public lands agencies.
GeoGuessr (Grades 6-12)
GeoGuessr is a geography game which takes you on a journey around the world and challenges your ability to recognize your surroundings.
Mapping Resources for Studying Online (GISetc) (Grades K-12)
A very large collection of GIS interactive maps, activities, puzzles and other resources curated by GISetc, a Geospatial Education website.
National Geographic Classroom Resources (Grades PreK-12)
Bring National Geographic to your classroom through lesson plans, maps, and reference resources.
Sheppard Software (Grades K-12)
By playing Sheppard Software's geography games, students will gain a mental map of the world's continents, countries, capitals, & landscapes!
Government and Civics
Center for Civic Education (Grades K-12)
The Center for Civic Education created We the People and Project Citizen, civic education programs. The We the People print textbooks' and enhanced ebooks' interactive strategies, relevant content, and the simulated congressional hearing make teaching and learning exciting for both students and teachers and promote civic competence. The We the People curriculum focuses on the history and principles of the United States constitutional democratic republic. The Project Citizen curriculum engages young people in cooperative, project-based learning as they work as a class to monitor and influence public policy locally. Students identify a problem in their community, research alternative policy-based solutions, develop a class policy proposal to address the problem, and design a political action plan to convince public officials to adopt and implement the policy.
Constitutional Rights Foundation (Grades K-12)
Civics-based curriculum materials.
The Center for Civic Education created We the People and Project Citizen, civic education programs. The We the People print textbooks' and enhanced ebooks' interactive strategies, relevant content, and the simulated congressional hearing make teaching and learning exciting for both students and teachers and promote civic competence. The We the People curriculum focuses on the history and principles of the United States constitutional democratic republic. The Project Citizen curriculum engages young people in cooperative, project-based learning as they work as a class to monitor and influence public policy locally. Students identify a problem in their community, research alternative policy-based solutions, develop a class policy proposal to address the problem, and design a political action plan to convince public officials to adopt and implement the policy.
Constitutional Rights Foundation (Grades K-12)
Civics-based curriculum materials.
History / General Social Studies
Edsitement (Grades K-12)
EDSITEment offers free resources for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality K-12 humanities education materials in the subject areas of history and social studies, literature and language arts, foreign languages, arts, and culture.
All websites linked to EDSITEment have been reviewed for content, design, and educational impact in the classroom. They cover a wide range of humanities subjects, from American history to literature, world history and culture, civics, language, art, architecture, and archaeology, and have been judged by humanities specialists to be of high intellectual quality. EDSITEment is not intended to represent a complete curriculum in the humanities, nor does it prescribe any specific course of study.
Facing History and Ourselves (Grades K-12)
An organization that provides teacher and student resources for rigorous historical analysis combined with the study of human behavior. Facing History’s approach heightens students’ understanding of racism, religious intolerance, and prejudice; increases students’ ability to relate history to their own lives, and promotes greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities in a democracy. Educator resources include a wide range of flexible, multimedia materials, from primary sources and streaming videos to teaching strategies, lesson plans, and full units. Find resources that will support your students' learning, whether you are teaching a complex moment in history or addressing today's breaking news.
National History Day (Grades 6-12)
National History Day is an academic program focused on historical research, interpretation, and creative expression for 6th- to 12th-grade students. By participating in NHD, students become writers, filmmakers, web designers, playwrights, and artists as they create unique contemporary expressions of history. The experience culminates in a series of contests at the local and affiliate levels and an annual national competition in the nation's capital in June.
PBS Learning Media (K-12)
Explore the past and learn about the present with resources on government, history, economics, and more.
Social Studies Activities and Lessons from PBS LearningMedia (Grades K-12)
A large collection of media curated by PBS covering Civics and Government, Economics, Geography, Elementary Social Studies, US History, and World History. Searchable by grade level and media type. Many excellent documentaries!
Stanford History Education Group (Grades K-12)
The Stanford History Education Group is an award-winning research and development group that comprises Stanford faculty, staff, graduate students, post-docs, and visiting scholars. SHEG seeks to improve education by conducting research, working with school districts, and reaching directly into classrooms with free materials for teachers and students. They offer three collections at this time: Reading Like a Historian, Beyond the Bubble, and Civic Online Reasoning.
Teaching Tolerance (Grades K-12)
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators k-12 to teach youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy, creating civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued, and welcome participants. They provide teaching units, lesson plans, videos, and other resources that teach history to emphasize social justice and anti-bias, encouraging students to challenge prejudice and learn how to be agents of change in their own lives.
EDSITEment offers free resources for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality K-12 humanities education materials in the subject areas of history and social studies, literature and language arts, foreign languages, arts, and culture.
All websites linked to EDSITEment have been reviewed for content, design, and educational impact in the classroom. They cover a wide range of humanities subjects, from American history to literature, world history and culture, civics, language, art, architecture, and archaeology, and have been judged by humanities specialists to be of high intellectual quality. EDSITEment is not intended to represent a complete curriculum in the humanities, nor does it prescribe any specific course of study.
Facing History and Ourselves (Grades K-12)
An organization that provides teacher and student resources for rigorous historical analysis combined with the study of human behavior. Facing History’s approach heightens students’ understanding of racism, religious intolerance, and prejudice; increases students’ ability to relate history to their own lives, and promotes greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities in a democracy. Educator resources include a wide range of flexible, multimedia materials, from primary sources and streaming videos to teaching strategies, lesson plans, and full units. Find resources that will support your students' learning, whether you are teaching a complex moment in history or addressing today's breaking news.
National History Day (Grades 6-12)
National History Day is an academic program focused on historical research, interpretation, and creative expression for 6th- to 12th-grade students. By participating in NHD, students become writers, filmmakers, web designers, playwrights, and artists as they create unique contemporary expressions of history. The experience culminates in a series of contests at the local and affiliate levels and an annual national competition in the nation's capital in June.
PBS Learning Media (K-12)
Explore the past and learn about the present with resources on government, history, economics, and more.
Social Studies Activities and Lessons from PBS LearningMedia (Grades K-12)
A large collection of media curated by PBS covering Civics and Government, Economics, Geography, Elementary Social Studies, US History, and World History. Searchable by grade level and media type. Many excellent documentaries!
Stanford History Education Group (Grades K-12)
The Stanford History Education Group is an award-winning research and development group that comprises Stanford faculty, staff, graduate students, post-docs, and visiting scholars. SHEG seeks to improve education by conducting research, working with school districts, and reaching directly into classrooms with free materials for teachers and students. They offer three collections at this time: Reading Like a Historian, Beyond the Bubble, and Civic Online Reasoning.
Teaching Tolerance (Grades K-12)
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators k-12 to teach youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy, creating civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued, and welcome participants. They provide teaching units, lesson plans, videos, and other resources that teach history to emphasize social justice and anti-bias, encouraging students to challenge prejudice and learn how to be agents of change in their own lives.
World History / Global Studies
Empatico (Grades 1-6)
Empatico empowers teachers and students to explore the world through experiences that spark curiosity, kindness, and empathy. Empatico combines live video with activities designed to foster meaningful connections among students ages 6-11.
Global Encounters (Grades 6-12)
Global Encounters is an international student video conference program, offered through a partnership between the Centre for Global Education (CGE) and TakingITGlobal (TIG). We’ve hosted dozens of events on critical global issues such as child soldiers and armed conflict, women’s rights, mental health, climate change and many more. Each conference includes a live event, preceded by a week-long online program of activities through which students learn about the topics at hand, collaborate with one another and receive mentorship from experts.
The Goals Project (Grades PreK-12)
International student collaboration focusing on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Institute of Curriculum Services (PreK-6)
The Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) is dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 education on Jews, Judaism, Jewish history and Israel in the United States. We do this by developing standards-aligned curricula and training teachers around the country. We believe an excellent education is essential to building a strong civil society, where all people can flourish.
KidWorldCitizen (PreK-6)
Activities that help young minds go global.
Material Worlds (Grades PreK-12)
A global family portrait by country
Musical Map of the World (Grades 4-12)
Interactive map displaying popular songs in cities around the world.
Qatar Foundation International (Grades K-12)
At QFI, we’ve worked with teachers and education experts to create and share classroom-ready lesson plans, activities, and interactive tools for teaching about the Arabic language and the history and culture of the Arab world. We offer resources in English, Brazilian Portuguese, German, and Arabic.
Smithsonian Folkways (Grades K-12)
Browse the map to find world music curricular experiences from Smithsonian Folkways’ Network of Music Educators. All lessons can be downloaded in PDF format.
World Population History (Grades 6-12)
Our population is expected to grow to 10 billion by the end of this century but the capacity of our environment to provide space, produce food, and supply energy are limited. Learn about the impact of population growth and important milestones in human history and view other key data including land use, fertility rates, CO2 emissions, life expectancy, and urbanization.
Current Events
CNN10 (Grades 4-12)
CNN 10 is an on-demand digital news show ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom.
World 101
WORLD101 is a free modular course that breaks down the fundamentals of international relations and foreign policy through relatable multimedia content and stories that help students understand what lies at the core of the most important, enduring topics and issues along with why these topics matter and how they are relevant.
Cablecompare.com
Cablecompare.com houses a wide range of topics concerning television including infographics, lists of life changing movies, history of the television, and the impact of television on our daily lives.
CNN 10 is an on-demand digital news show ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom.
World 101
WORLD101 is a free modular course that breaks down the fundamentals of international relations and foreign policy through relatable multimedia content and stories that help students understand what lies at the core of the most important, enduring topics and issues along with why these topics matter and how they are relevant.
Cablecompare.com
Cablecompare.com houses a wide range of topics concerning television including infographics, lists of life changing movies, history of the television, and the impact of television on our daily lives.