Footnote

Footnote is a collection of over 68,000,000 historical documents.  The collection can be browsed by topic or searched by keywords.  Users can add annotations, comment, connect documents, or add a spotlight.  Once the annotations or comments have been made, users can then print, download, or share the document with others via email, link, or embedding it into a website or blog.  Footnote is a great way for students to interact with primary source documents.

Facebook Statuses for Historical Figures

What if historical figures had Facebook? What would George Washington post after he became president? Who would comment or "like" his post? 

Students could create faux Facebook pages for historical figures with comments and "likes" from relevant people during that time.  They could also make faux profile pages, event pages, or groups to show their understanding of different people, events, or organizations in the past. 

Here is a Facebook template from Tomorrow's Tech in Todays Schools in PowerPoint.

Colonial Williamsburg: Life in the 18th Century

Colonial Williamsburg: Life in the 18th Century is a resource for images, biographies, articles, and descriptions of life in the colonies.  The site is divided into several different sections including people, places, life, clothing, and gardens.  In the section about the people of colonial Williamsburg, users can browse biographies of people by gender, race, occupation, or family.  The section about places in colonial Williamsburg include different types of buildings and a virtual tour.  This site also has a section with resources for teachers.

Our Courts

Our Courts is a web-based education project to help students learn more about civics and inspire them to become more active participants in our government.  It was developed to carry out Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's vision for improving civics education.

Our Courts has resources for teachers including lessons about the Constitution, foundations of the government, and persuasive writing. There are also videos, lesson plans, and information about the Supreme Court, state governments, and tribal governments. 

There are also three interactive games on the site.  These are simulation games and require users to analyze parts of the Constitution, determine the best argument, and apply these concepts to real world situations. 

• Do I Have a Right? - In this game users run their own law firm.  Clients come into the firm and users must listen to their case, determine if they have a right to go to court, and then match them up with a lawyer that best understands their issue and the Constitutional amendment that gives them that protection or right.  Teachers can download a game guide (.pdf) as well as a lesson plan about interpreting the Constitution.
• Argument Wars - Users debate historical Supreme Court Cases by determining which argument is best and supporting them.  The cases you can choose from include New Jersey v. TLO, Brown v. Board, Miranda v. Arizona, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Texas v. Johnson.  Teachers can also download a game guide (.pdf) and lesson plan (.pdf)  for this game.
• Supreme Decision - In this game users assume the role of a law clerk and must listen to the judges' deliberations, learn about the issues, and determine which side of the issue they agree with.  This game helps users to learn more about how the Supreme Court works.  Teachers can download a game guide (.pdf) and lesson plan for this game as well.

The Portrait - George Washington

The Portrait - George Washington: A National Treasure is interactive online exhibit by the National Portrait Gallery. This site allows users to explore different portions of the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington.  Users can explore the portrait using three different filters: symbolic, artistic, and biographic.  Each filter contains different information about twelve parts of the portrait.  Macromedia Flash Player 5 must be installed for the interactive portrait. 

There is also a Kids Portrait page.  The interactive portrait on this page is geared toward kids and is set up as a mystery for users to solve.  Users get clues to uncover hidden parts of the portrait and learn more about the symbolism and meaning of each part.

Also included on this website are lessons and guides for teachers about George Washington's life. 

Civil War @ Smithsonian

CivilWar@Smithsonian is an exhibit by the National Portrait Gallery.  It includes digitzed artifacts from the Civil War era.  The Collections portion of this online exhibit is divided into several sections.  Within each section there is background information and digitized artifacts including paintings, weapons, statues, figurines, and more.  To view the artifcats related to each topic, click on the thumbnails icon at the top of the page.  There is also a timeline of events related to the Civil War that spans from 1859 to 1865. 

Online museum exhibits are a good way for teachers and students to access information that would typically only be available when visiting a museum.  This site also provides links to other resources on the web and in print related to the Civil War.

Our Documents

Our Documents is a website with 100 influential documents in American History.  It was created by the National Archives and Records Administration, National History Day, and USA Freedom Corps.  These documents were chosen because "they have helped shape the national character, and they reflect our diversity, our unity, and our commitment as a nation to continue our work toward forming 'a more perfect union.' "  Documents on this site include the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the patent for the cotton gin, Jefferson's secret message to Congress regarding the Lewis & Clark expedition, and the Monroe Doctrine.  Click here for a complete list of all of the documents on the site.  For each document there is detailed information, a document transcript,picture(s) of the document, and a high-resoultion downloadable PDF.  There are also extra resources for teachers including a Teacher Sourcebook with additional resources and ideas for lessons.

New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War

Slavery in New York and New York Divided are exhibits by the New York Historical Society about slavery and the impact it had on the city. 

Slavery ended in New York State in 1827, yet this victory did not sever the city's connections to enslaved labor. New York City capitalized on the expanding trade in southern cotton and sugar to become the leading American port, a global financial center, and a hotbed of pro-slavery politics. At the same time, it nurtured a determined anti-slavery movement. In less than half a century, abolitionists convinced many northerners that American slavery could not be reconciled with American freedom. Conflict between the two sides, one favorable to slavery and one opposed, was all but inevitable.

These virtual gallerys provide information from multiple perspectives, primary source documents, and information about the ties the city had to the south and the fight against slavery.  There are also additional resources for educators on the websites.

Scribble Maps

Scribble Maps is free online tool that allows you to draw and write on Google Maps.  You can draw, label, or add placemarks to the maps.  Most of the tools available on Google Maps are available on Scribble Maps including zoom and the search tool.  After you create your map, you can save the file, email it to another person, or embed it into your webpage.

This tool is great for geography or social studies lessons.  Students can put placemarks and write a description of important places.  They could also draw the routes that explorers took. 

Twitter

Twitter is a microblogging service that allows people to share information in short text messages called "tweets."  Posts are limited to 140 characters.  Typically tweets describe what people are doing, thinking, or working on.  However, tweets can be responses to tweets or questions for others to respond to.

Here are some ideas for using Twitter in the classroom:

Twitteracy in the Classroom

Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom

My class creates tweets to review concepts we have learned or to wrap-up a lesson.  Students create tweets to tell the most important information in a lesson.  It is a good way to discuss summarizing.  Our latest tweets can be found on the right-hand side of this page.