Social Studies

This Social Studies resource page is intended to assist State Operated Programs’ teachers and education staff find quality resources and lesson ideas on the web. The following links and documents have been provided to meet the needs of the specific population and classroom environments found within Virginia’s State Operated Programs’ education centers.

GENERAL SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCES

CONTENT AREA RESOURCES

United States History:

Teacher Websites

1. https://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/tucker/strusky_m/usresourcepage.html One of the better teacher websites for American history including notes pages, PowerPoints, video lectures, and SOL review.
2. https://www.studenthandouts.com/american-history/workbooks/high-school/ Free workbook pages for US History with reading passages and questions
3. https://mcdonoughtime.weebly.com/us-history.html A great page with notes, PowerPoints and review activities
4. https://www.drurban.info/ap-us-history-notes.html Another teacher website with PowerPoints and notes pages
5. https://cchs.ccusd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=73695&type=u&pREC_ID=519473 Site with good US History PowerPoints
6. http://www.dgaffney.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/1/3/1213704/vus_sol_review_pages__1_.pdf A condensed SOL review packet for US History
7. https://www.lcps.org/cms/lib/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/10601/US_SOL_Review_Packet_2016_with_source%20.pdf SOL Review assignment for US History
8. https://www.buffaloschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=7198&dataid=37998&FileName=uspacketbeta.pdf A good review page for an overview of the US History curriculum for SOL review

Other Great Websites

1. https://www.mission-us.org/ This is a great website with interactive activities that target major themes in American History.  A great way for the kids to “experience” some of the history they are learning about.
2. American Civil War Museum This has some excellent primary sources and lessons on the Civil War
3. http://www.ushmm.org/index.php Holocaust Museum Website
4. http://www.fasttrackteaching.com/ This is a great site that has content for US History I and US History II as well as Civics.  Designed around middle school curriculum but can be adapted for high school students.  Physical printouts available for purchase through website or teacherspayteachers.com
5. World War II Museum A vast collection of resources on WWII.
6. Tenement Museum A great resource for covering immigration
7. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/index.htm Another great resource for covering immigration and immigrants arrival at Ellis Island

World History I:

Teacher Pages

1. https://culturalapproach.columbusstate.edu/world-history-powerpoints-high/ This is a college website but the PowerPoints are pretty good and each slide focuses on whether it deals with a social, economic, political, religions, or intellectual aspect of that society.  A great opportunity to teach about how most of what happens in the past can be classified under one of those general topics.
2. https://newellta.weebly.com/whi-2.html Notes, pictures and text to support WHI students
3. http://www.mrbayne.com/world-history-sol-review.html Contains SOL review information, PowerPoints and activities for World History I
4. https://mcdonoughtime.weebly.com/sol-review-games–world-history-i.html Website with SOL review information and Jeopardy style review games
5. https://www.lcps.org/cms/lib/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/12492/World%20History%20I%20-%20SOL%20Review%20Packet%20Answers.pdf SOL Review questions with answers
6. http://pointoption.nn.k12.va.us/doc/SS_WH1_SOL_Packet.pdf A different SOL Review assignment without answers
7. https://goopenva.org/authoring/700-who-am-i-world-history-i-people-review/view WHI People review for SOL

Other Great Websites

1. http://www.iwm.org.uk/ British Imperial War Museum (Resources) *
2. http://www.ushmm.org/index.php Holocaust Museum Website
3. http://www.mrdowling.com/downloads A multitude of resources dedicated to World Studies—from Prehistory to some Modern Era (World Wars) topics.  His worksheets generally have Cloze passages based on the readings and higher-level thinking questions to answer.

World History II:

Teacher Pages

1. https://newellta.weebly.com/whii-2.html Notes, pictures, and text to support WHII students
2. https://www.worldhistorywithmrjohnson.com/ A great site with PowerPoints, notes, and videos matching covering the WHII curriculum
3. http://mrtroyclark.weebly.com/2-b-world-history-ii.html Website that has videos and PowerPoints for WHII curriculum
4. https://patcosta.com/world-history-ii-lesson-plans-virginia/ Lesson plans and activities for WHII
5. https://www.quia.com/pages/fgoad/wh2 Excellent collection of WHII specific Quia games for review
6. https://studyres.com/doc/3180834/sol-review-for-world-history-and-geography–1500-a.d.–c…. Review notes for WHII SOL
7. https://denbigh.nn.k12.va.us/sol.html Some SOL review materials
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AyUprYM0Gs 15 minute video reviewing WHII curriculum for SOLs

World Geography:

Teacher Websites:

1. https://tmhs.tomballisd.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1027427&type=u&pREC_ID=1548281 A variety of resources including notes, PowerPoints, readings, and assignments.
2. https://www.mrtredinnick.com/ap-human-geography.html A teacher website with a variety of lessons, assignments, and notes pages.
3. https://dhsworldgeo.weebly.com/ A class website that has a variety of resources and pictures for topics related to World Geography.
4. https://www.geographyforgeographers.com/geography-resources-for-teachers.html A website that has a variety of resources for specific courses related to geography including World Geography, and Human Geography.
5. http://blogs.spsk12.net/6429/powerpoint/ This website is geared toward middle school but still has good PowerPoints for various topics in World Geography
6. https://geography.mrdonn.org/powerpoints.html Website has a variety of resources and PowerPoints you can share with kids
7. https://alessonplanforteachers.com/top-10-websites-for-teaching-geography/ A compilation of good websites for World Geography

Other Websites:

1. https://www.seterra.com/ This is one of the best geography sites on the web.  Great for learning and review, includes activities for US and world geography from very easy to extremely difficult so there is something for everyone.
2. http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/ Excellent Geography drill website *
3. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com Excellent Geography drill website (as well as many other subjects)
4. Worldle A geography guessing game where you have 6 tries to guess the country of the day.  Each guess will provide you with the direction to and distance from the country of the day.  A good for practicing directions, approximating distance, and of course learning about new countries.  Also, only allows you to play once a day.
5. http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps.htm Huge outline maps to print and color!
6.  http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/?ar_a=1
7. https://geoguessr.com/ – Geography game that utilizes Google Maps.  Do need an account.

Civics, Government and Economics Resources

Teacher Pages

1. https://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/tucker/strusky_m/govtresourcepage.html Another great Strusky website that has a variety of great resources and PowerPoints
2. https://www.leonschools.net/Page/30709 Site has good PowerPoints and lesson plans
3. https://sites.google.com/a/north-reading.k12.ma.us/mr-mcintosh-s-class-website/honors-government Site has PowerPoints and notes/questions pages
4. http://pgipsonjoplin.weebly.com/american-government.html Another site with PowerPoints and activities
5. https://government.mrdonn.org/ Site that links to Videos, Notes, and Games on various topics related to American government

Other Great Websites

1. icivics.org Completely free!   Free resources, tools, lesson plans, games, even court cases for students to explore our nation’s government.
2. https://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources The National Constitution Center’s website has many resources and videos that pair particularly well with government classes.
3. http://www.civiced.org/ Center for Civic Education.    A resource/organization dedicated to Civics education and the importance of teaching the Constitution of the United States in our nation’s classrooms.
4. https://millercenter.org/president A great website for presidential information that also includes speeches and recordings.
5. * http://www.house.gov Official US House of Representatives website
6. http://www.senate.gov Official US Senate website
7. * http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/ Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-Present *  This is an EXCELLENT website with a treasure trove of commercials going back to the first.  Good for teaching about propaganda, bias, dissecting content.
8. http://www.selectsmart.com/president/ Interesting questions matching Presidential Candidates to student views on 25 issues.
9. https://www.270towin.com/ Great website for teaching about elections.  Under “President” tab can click “Historical Elections” for past electoral maps and election results.
10. https://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz Quiz to help kids see where their views fall on the political spectrum.
11. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/quiz/political-party-quiz/ Another quiz to help kids see where their views fall on the political spectrum.

Social Studies GED Resources

1. BrainPop Review Page This single sheet printout is something you can give to students if you have a brainpop login to watch specific videos that target basic concepts they will certainly find on the GED test.  A good way to mix things up and allow students to work alone if necessary.  Copy and paste into a new word document if you want to make changes or additions.
2. Flocabulary Review Page This is a single sheet printout similar to the one above but with videos from Flocabulary.  Copy and paste into a new word document if you want to make changes or additions.
3. https://www.mometrix.com/academy/ged-test/ A really good website with a free practice test from Mometrix.
4. https://gedpracticetest.net/quizzes/ged-social-studies-practice-test/ This is a great website with a practice test that allows students to check their answers and get an answer explanation.
5. https://www.gedpracticequestions.com/ged-social-studies-practice-test/  Another good website with sets of practice questions that provides answer explanations.
6. https://www.studyguidezone.com/ged_socialstudies.htm Another website with practice questions
7. https://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0809222299/student_view0/ged_practice_test.html A practice test from McGraw Hill
8. https://mylaw.org/uploads/1/7/7/6/17760533/political_cartoons.pdf 
9. https://www.wikihow.com/Analyze-Political-Cartoons#Video
10. https://bestgedclasses.org/recognizing-the-main-idea-in-a-complex-reading/
11. https://kyskillsu.ky.gov/Educators/resources/GraphicVisual%20Literacy/BuildingGraphicLiteracySkillsStrategiesfortheClassroom.pdf

Warm Up/Cool Down Sites

History Related

1. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history A short daily video that summarizes what happened on that day in history.  A great conversation starter.
2. https://apnews.com/hub/today-in-history Another short daily video detailing various events that happened that day in history.
3. CNN10 This is a 10 minute daily show that has segments on current events, geography, the economy, science and technology, nature, and a wide range of other topics.  Many teachers use this as daily warm up or cool down activity in their classes.  You can watch and pause and discuss issues or have kids respond to questions or write things they learned from the program.
4. https://www.sporcle.com/games/category/history This website has a list of fun history quizzes as well as other content that kids might enjoy challenging themselves against individually or as a class
5. https://www.seterra.com/ This is one of the best geography sites on the web.  Great for learning and review, includes activities for US and world geography from very easy to extremely difficult so there is something for everyone.

Non-History Games That Kids Love

1. Text Twist 2 Kids absolutely love this game and it can be played by one person or a group.  A great cool down activity that kids will enjoy.
2. 7 Little Words Great site to get kids thinking and possibly introduce them to new vocabulary.  Good for a classroom warmup.
3. Wordle Very popular word game that has taken the world by storm in 2022.  HINT: Playing on different browsers could allow you to play the same wordle with different kids multiple times a day.
4. Quordle Same as Wordle but with 4 words
5. Octordle Same as Wordle but with 8 words
6. Sedacordle Same as Wordle but with 16 words
7. Wordle Together Wordle where two or more people can compete with one another
8. Wordle Unlimited This allows you to play multiples wordles in a day.  One issue on many of these sites is it only allows you to play once a day.  So if you want to play with different groups of kids this is an option.
9. Worldle A geography guessing game where you have 6 tries to guess the country of the day.  Each guess will provide you with the direction to and distance from the country of the day.  A good for practicing directions, approximating distance, and of course learning about new countries.  Also, only allows you to play once a day.
10. Waffle A word game that uses a grid and moving letters to complete the puzzle
11. Trivia Crack A fun and addictive trivia game but at the moment only available on tablets.

Websites to Help Find History Videos

1. https://www.discoveryeducation.com/ Educational videos—many school systems subscribe. *
2. eMediaVA.org This is an excellent website that is free for Virginia educators that has a variety of pictures, videos, and lessons that can be searched for by VA SOL standard to help you find things specific to what you are teaching
3. ed.Ted.com Provides excellent videos, both short and long, on a variety of social studies topics.
4. History.com The History Channel’s website has articles and videos on almost anything you would teach in a Virginia social studies curriculum.  Videos have ads unfortunately but many are excellent.
5. http://video.pbs.org/topic/history/ Many free historical videos available for live streaming.
6. Youtube.com is still often one of the better places to find videos
7. BrainPOP http://educators.brainpop.com/about/ Paid site.  If you are fortunate to have this service, use it!  Brain Pop has a vast collection of topics, from social studies to math.   There are questions, vocabulary words, even assessments based on the films.
8. Flocabulary: A number of educators have raved about the program!  Flocabulary is an online library of educational hip-hop songs and videos for grades K-12.  Unfortunately, it is a paid site and costly if a classroom teacher invests in the program.  There is however a 30 day free trial that does not require any payment input so definitely give it a spin and see if it’s something your students would like.  https://www.flocabulary.com/what-is-flocabulary/

YouTube Videos

1. https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse Crash Course History Series with John and Hank Green. History videos on any topic you would cover in any of the history curriculums made to be entertaining and for young people.
2. https://www.youtube.com/c/OverSimplified/videos Oversimplified is an animated channel with videos on major topics in history that some kids seem to like
3. https://www.youtube.com/c/Simplehistory Simple History has an absolute ton of short videos about topics general and super specific in history.

Teaching with Primary Sources:

1. https://sheg.stanford.edu/home_page Reading Like a Historian & Historical Thinking Matters
2. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ “A ringside seat to history…” is the tag to the website.   Pictures, quotes, and voices…from Prehistory to the 20^th Century, history seen through the eyes who lived it.
3. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/ The Library of Congress offers digital resources to America’s classrooms to enhance the need of using primary resources for compelling historical arguments.   The library includes perspectives in wildlife, folk life, the Veteran’s perspective, and through poetry.
4. Constitution http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/tocs/toc.html The Founder’s Constitution (1986). Offers a perspective through 19^th century documents, retrospectives of both 18^th and 19^th century philosophers and advocates, it is considered a ‘valuable aid’ in understanding our nation.
5. https://learninglab.si.edu/distancelearning Search the Smithsonian’s collections for sources to support topics you are teaching.

Assessment and Review

1. https://quizlet.com/ There is an option: free and a paid account.   A few accounts that you can search and use sets from are ernstd and MrsMcGrath23607.   Site is great for reviewing a set of terms in a variety of formats including flashcards and quizzes.  Also, the Quizlet Live game is great for groups of two or more to compete with one another.  A great review activity that kids usually love.
2. Quizizz.com This website provides searchable quizzes that students can play against each other as a fun competitive review activity or individually as a means for assessment or review.  You can create quizzes using questions from existing quizzes or borrow existing quizzes entirely making it fast and easy to develop review activities quickly.  Kids love this platform.
3. Blooket A newer review platform that is very popular at the moment for many students.  You can link quizzes in through yours or others quizlet accounts (use ernstd as a starter if you don’t have one) to get material in the platform without having to spend much time creating.  A variety of games kids can play solo or against each other to keep things fresh all while mixing in questions about whatever subject you are trying to review.  Kids love this one too.
4. Kahoot  Another review platform that is still very popular with kids that allows them to compete with one another while reviewing.  A large database of premade quizzes and tools to borrow from other users quizzes make this another fast and fun review option.  Also a fun activity to play non academic quizzes as a reward or warm up/cool down.
5. Jeopardy Labs  This website is great for a jeopardy style review platform that allows you to create or borrow already created games on a variety of subjects.
6. Wordwall Site that allows you to create digital or printout activities/games for students using a variety of premade layouts.
7. http://beyondthebubble.stanford.edu/ Calling itself  “The new generation of historical assessments,” the website coordinates sources from both the Library of Congress and “Historical Thinking Matters” from Stanford University’s History Education Group (SHEG) for students to apply history in action.
8. http://www.socrative.com/ Instant classroom engagement, personalization and real-time assessment via desktop and mobile application.

Current Events—All the major networks offer news videos at no cost-

1. 1. http://abcnews.go.com/
   2. http://www.cbsnews.com
   3. http://www.msnbc.com
   4. http://www.foxnews.com
   5. http://www.bbc.com
   6. http://www.cnn.com
   7. https://www.cnn.com/cnn10
   8. http://www.pbs.org
   9. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/
   10. http://edition.cnn.com/video
2. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp Primary Source Document Collections by Era
3. http://www.choices.edu/ Challenging and engaging group activities that get students to role play solutions to contemporary and historical problems/issues. Most units cost money but many are free.

Click me for additional resources –> Social Studies 2.0 Websites

 Teacher Resource Directories

1. http://www.pinterest.com Enjoy using Pinterest and get interesting perspectives and ideas by simply looking around.
2. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/ (Library of Congress Teacher Materials) *
3. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/ Excellent, up-to-date statistics and history for all the countries of the world.
4. http://www.Quia.com Online Quizzes – pre-made and custom– many school systems subscribe.
5. http://www.archives.gov/ National Archives (Resources)
6. http://www.readworks.org If you have struggling readers (or reluctant) readers, this website is filled with high-interest reading with challenging vocabulary application.   It is completely free.
7. http://www.edhelper.com   This is a paid website, approximately $40.00 yearly.   It is well worth the price if you teach a multitude of content areas and need various readings on various reading levels.

TECHNOLOGY-BASED SOFTWARE/APPLICATIONS

Presentation and Digital Storytelling Tools

1. http://prezi.com/  Step away from stagnant PowerPoints and welcome to the 21st century of Prezi!   Yes, you can even place PowerPoint presentations into Prezis!  
2. mixbook.com An interactive scrapbook! I have used it quite a bit for presentations!—Elizabeth McGrath
3. http://edu.glogster.com/   I haven’t been on Glogster in quite a while since it changed its policy on free educational accounts.   I am reevaluating the quality of a standard educational account and its features to enhance teaching and learning.   There is a new feature:      Here is an example of a Glogpedia project by a student:   http://b233066.edu.glogster.com/religions-islam-christianity/?=glogpedia-source –Elizabeth McGrath
4. http://nearpod.com/: Interesting application for student learning by combining slides, multimedia tools, assessment items in real time and integrating technology.  Comparable to all software platforms.  It is also word of mouth too, by the way.   The more friends you suggest through email, the more upgrades earned (nnpselizabeth5@gmail.com).
5. https://www.blendspace.com/ Digital platform software for teachers to create lessons and view/share digital resources.
6. http://goanimate.com/ Paid resource ($59 yearly for teacher license only).   Create your own educational videos to use in your classroom.
7. http://blabberize.com/ – Ridiculous talking pictures/create your own talking heads. Good for project-based learning and application of learned material.  Here is an example of a lesson of Mesopotamia.   http://blabberize.com/view/id/1171037

 Cloud Storage and Web-Based Tools

1. dropbox.com  Elizabeth McGrath is a huge fan of Dropbox.   It is a lifesaver!   It is a cloud storage for documents, photos, etc.   Dropbox subscribers are offered 2 gigabytes of space for a free account.   By word of mouth (mention my email—elizabeth.mcgrath@nn.k12.va.us), both you and the reference receive additional space.   I have 52.8 GB!
2. drive.google.com Google Drive.   Personally, I am learning more about using Google Drive, but it is a very useful resource, especially for collaborative purposes.   It is also cloud storage based, good for files and collaboration.   Imagine Tidewater teachers collaborating with a Southwestern VA teacher one afternoon at the same time over a lesson plan simultaneously?   It can happen!
3. https://www.diigo.com/ Diigo is an organizational tool for people who see a resource but want to return to it later.  
4. http://www.zamzar.com/ – File Conversion Software. It gives the user the ability to convert files into a multitude of formats without the software!   It is absolutely free!

Digital Student Portfolios / Social Learning

https://flipgrid.com/ – Video discussion platform. Free!

https://web.seesaw.me/ – Student-driven digital portfolios

MISCELLANEOUS

Graphic Organizers, Rubrics, and Forms

1. Graphic Organizers – http://freeology.com/  From bellwork, telling time, graphic organizers—this resource page has it all!
2. Rubrics – http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php  Need a rubric for various assignments?    This is a page where you can create a custom rubric for anything!

***If you have any great websites that you think would help other teachers and should be listed on this website please email dernst@merrimac-center.net a link and short description and it will be added ASAP.  Thank you for sharing something that could help teacher and students across the state!***

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