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Native Land Digital
The Native Land Digital interactive map shows which Indigenous lands you live on in the Americas and in other parts of the world. Users can click on labels or enter their city, state or zip code and see which Indigenous peoples lived in that specific area. Accompanying the interactive map is a useful teacher's guide that provide suggestions on how to use the map in the classroom and a number of lessons that utilize the map and cover other topics related to the Indigenous peoples. Read More
Minnesota Council on Economic Education
MCEE offers free economic and financial literacy resources at the K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 grade levels. All of the free lessons meet the Minnesota meet the Minnesota state academic standards in economics and many of their curriculum materials provide teachers with materials to incorporate economics into history, geography, and mathematics. In addition to their leveled lessons, MCEE provides resources for distance learning, for teaching multi-language students, and links to free online finance games. If you are new to teaching economics, or need additional teaching strategies and resources, MCEE offers professional development sessions on a variety of economics-related topics. Read More
The Change Agent Democracy in Action Edition
Although originally published in 2008, this PDF-version of The Change Agent's "Democracy in Acton" edition has many readings and activities related to civic participation that still relevant for current times. The Change Agent is a publication that helps teachers incorporate social justice content into their curriculum. There are even articles written by adult leaners. It does require a subscription and is appropriate for intermediate and above ELL students and for learners at the Pre-GED/GED levels. In this edition, readers are first introduced to different types of civic participation and problem solving strategies. The next sections include topics related to politics, the history of voting, and the connection between money and politics. The final readings discuss political parties and the democratic system of government. Read More
CUNY HSE Social Studies Curriculum Framework: Integrating Reading & Writing
The Social Studies: Integrating Reading & Writing Curriculum Framework is a free resource that incorporates social studies content with various reading and writing skills. The curriculum is designed for HSE teachers but lessons and activities could be adapted for other levels. Units 1-3 all include lesson plans and supporting materials and cover the colonial period, the Constitution, and westward expansion. Each provides topical social studies content and then uses it to reinforce reading, writing, and vocabulary skills. For Units 4-12, while there are no lessons or materials, there is a curriculum map with guidelines. Also included is a comprehensive resource guide for HSE social studies. Read More
Smithsonian for Educators
The Smithsonian offers a wealth of free educator resources from their museums and other facilities including the African American Museum, American Indian Museum, American History museum, and many others. Generally, each museum's educator resource section has curriculum guides and a wide range of standards-based, multi-level lessons and activities in both print and digital forms. The site also provides links to many professional development opportunities (online and in-person) to help teachers incorporate museum learning into their instructional planning and delivery. Read More
Minnesota Historical Society History Education
The Minnesota Historical Society's education site offers free classroom-ready resources along with other supplemental curriculum materials on topics of Minnesota and American history. Many of the secondary and elementary ready-to-go classroom activities engage students in primary source analysis, while others focus on students' reading, writing, and research skills. In addition to classroom lessons, the site provides ideas for teaching Native American history and culture, guidance on taking field trips to historic sites and museums around the state of Minnesota, and a regularly updated list of teacher professional development opportunities. Read More
Civics Renewal Network
The Civics Renewal Network is a consortium of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations that is committed to providing free high-quality learning materials. In their repository, teachers have access to a wide-range of civics and government resources along with others related to history, citizenship, and media literacy. Based on the number of items, teachers can narrow their search by subject, grade level, resource type, standard, or by a specific teaching strategy such as debate, whole class, project-based learning or role play. Read More
Digital Civics Toolkit
The Digital Civics Toolkit is a free collection of resources and activities that encourage learners to recognize the connection between their digital presence life and their civic life. The curriculum is designed for high school level learners but can definitely be adapted for students at other levels. The five modules provide students with the opportunity to identify civics issues that matter to them, analyze civics issues online, navigate diverse perspectives, consider what content they share online, and think about strategies to enact on civics issues. Each module contains a sentence starter, several activities, and a closing reflection. In addition, the site provides a teacher background information section to provide further support through other resources. Read More
PBS Learning Media for Social Studies
PBS Learning Media includes an extensive collection of free, leveled teacher resources for all subject areas. The lessons represent diverse perspectives, are aligned to national and state standards, and are designed to supplement classroom instruction by incorporating video segments and interactive resources. Users can filter by grade level and/or by the many resource types such as lesson plans, interactive lessons, or just video. In addition, many lessons highlight current events and can be shared to Google Classroom or directly shared with students. Read More
Bill of Rights Institute
The goal of the Bill of Rights Institute is to provide a better understanding of the Constitution and Bill of Rights through 4000 resources that are free and generally leveled for the middle/high school classroom. Educators can access primary source-based lessons and and current event articles that are frequently updated. There is also an extensive collection of videos and podcasts to introduce and engage students on a variety relevant topics. Moreover, teachers can pull individual lessons from ready-made curricula that are generally based on America's founding principles. For professional development, the site provides eLearning for teachers to support their planning and delivery on topics related to U.S. Government. Read More