| Resources
for Teachers
A listing
of useful online resources for teaching and thinking about Civic
Education
Primary
Sources and Content Materials
- Harry
S. Truman Library and Museum - http://www.trumanlibrary.org/
A sites for documents, images and related resource from the
Harry S. Truman Museum.
- Making
of America
- http://moa.umdl.umich.edu/
Making of America (MOA) is a digital library of primary sources
in American social history from the antebellum period through
reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject
areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion,
and science and technology.
- Internment
of San Francisco Japanese - Museum of the City of San Francisco
- http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html
Record of Japanese Internment as recorded in The San Francisco
News from March 2, 1942 to April 30, 1942. Includes complete newspaper
articles from period and links to related resources.
- American
Memory - http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html
American Memory is an online resource compiled by the Library
of Congress National Digital Library Program. With the participation
of other libraries and archives, the program provides a gateway
to primary source materials relating to the history and culture
of the United States. Over one million items from the American
Memory historical collections are currently available online.
In the coming years, the National Digital Library Program plans
to digitize more of the Library's American history collections
and make them available to teachers, students, and the general
public over the Internet.
- The
Oyez Project - The U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia Database
- http://oyez.nwu.edu/
Maintained by Northwestern University, Oyez provides complete
records of Supreme Court cases, biographical information on justices
and a virtual tour of the Supreme Court building.
- The
Freedom Channel - http://www.freedomchannel.com/index.cfm
Sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Freedom
Channel is a free, nonpartisan site that offers video-on-demand
of current political candidates and issue groups. It allows voters
to dial up the candidates they are interested in, on the issues
they care about, all at times of their own choosing.
- Abraham
Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html
The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
consists of approximately 20,000 documents. The collection is
organized into three "General Correspondence" series which include
incoming and outgoing correspondence and enclosures, drafts of
speeches, and notes and printed material. Most items are from
the 1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65.
- 19th
Century Schoolbooks and the Nietz Collection Bibliography
- http://digital.library.pitt.edu/nietz/nietz2.html
-
The resource includes full-texts of thirty schoolbooks from the
Nietz Old Textbook Collection, one of several well-known collections
of 19th Century schoolbooks in the United States. This resource
also includes a searchable bibliography of the Collection's 16,000
volumes.
- My
History is America's History - http://www.myhistory.org/
-
An initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities designed
to encourage users to explore their personal histories. This site
provides a place for sharing family stories and for users getting
help in their historical discoveries.
- Franklin
D. Roosevelt Library and Digital Archive
- http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/index.html
-
This site provides scholars, teachers and students access to part
of the collection of documents, photographs and video recordings
found at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York.
This resource includes a K-12 learning center and over 10,000
digitized documents relating to the Roosevelt presidency.
- DoHistory
- http://www.dohistory.org/
Constructed by the Film Study Center at Harvard University this
is an experimental, interactive site where you can explore the
process of piecing together the lives of ordinary people in the
past. It features a case study based on the research that went
into the book and film A Midwife's Tale, which were both
based upon the 200 year old diary of midwife/healer Martha Ballard.
Although DoHistory is centered on the life of Martha Ballard,
you can learn basic skills and techniques for interpreting fragments
that survive from any period in history.
- Ben's
Guide to US Government for Kids
- http://bensguide.gpo.gov/
Ben's Guide to U. S. Government for kids is a service of the US
Government Printing Office that provides electronic access to
information about U. S. history and government. This site is organized
by grade levels: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, and a link for parents and
teachers.
- The
Papers of George Washington
- http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers/
The site provides access to the University of Virginia's collection,
"The Papers of George Washington." It includes letters written
to Washington as well as letters and documents written by him.
- Canadian
War Museum
- http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/cwmeng/cwmeng.html
An on-line version of the Canadian War museum, this site is dedicated
to the education and remembrance of participants in Canadian wars.
Along with links to other related sources, this site provides
links to the museum's public and educational programs, a "Teacher's
Activity Kit," and an interactive story of life in the trenches
during World War One.
- CivNet
Archive - http://www.civnet.org/resoures/greatdoc.htm
Part of civnet, an international resource for civic education
and civil society, this resource page, links to the full-text
of "great documents", including The Magna Carta and The Federalist
Papers. This site includes links to teaching resources and links
to other sites related to civic education and civic society.
- International
Archive of Civic Documents - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9061/index.html
This resource organizes links by international region (Asia, Africa,
United States) and topically (mathematics, women, teaching, war).
The linked pages provide a series of connections to specific historical
information about the region or topic. For example, among the
resources available from the Canadian page you can find "Asian
Canadian Resources," "Canadian Heritage," and "Teaching and Learning
about Canada." Each page includes a search box from which you
can look for specific historical information.
- Valley
of the Shadow
- http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2/
This site is a digital history project sponsored by the Virginia
Center for Digital History. The Valley of the Shadow Project documents
two communities, one Northern and one Southern, through the experience
of the American Civil War. The project is a hypermedia archive
of thousands of sources for the period before, during, and after
the Civil War for Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County,
Pennsylvania. Those sources include newspapers, letters, diaries,
photographs, maps, church records, population census, agricultural
census, and military records. Students can explore every dimension
of the conflict and write their own histories, reconstructing
the life stories of women, African Americans, farmers, politicians,
soldiers, and families. The project is intended for secondary
schools, community colleges, libraries, and universities.
- Matrix
Collection of Humanities Resources and Archives - http://matrix.msu.edu/resources/
Developed by Matrix - The Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and
Social Sciences Online at Michigan State University, this resource
provides extensive links to online resources in all of the above
areas as well as links and tutorials for web publishing and research.
- Supreme
Court Collection
- http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/
Sponsored by the Legal Information Institute, this resource offers
Supreme Court opinions under the auspices of Project Hermes, the
court's electronic-dissemination project. This archive contains
nearly all opinions of the court issued since May of 1990. In
addition, the collection includes over 600 of the most important
historical decisions of the Court available on CD-ROM and over
the Internet.
- Congress
at Work - The Library of Congress Congressional records -
http://thomas.loc.gov/
This is a resource page for the Library of Congress designed to
give complete access to congressional legislation. This site can
be searched by specific House and Senate Bill numbers or by a
word or a phrase. This site also includes a series of related
links under the headings Legislation, Congressional Records, and
Committee Reports.
- National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA) - http://www.nara.gov/
NARA is an independent Federal agency that helps preserve our
nation's history by overseeing the management of all Federal records.
NARA's mission is to ensure ready access to the essential evidence
that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of
Federal officials, and the national experience. This site includes
multiple links to NARA's nationwide holdings including: Records
Management; Federal Register; Online Exhibit Hall; Digital Classroom;
National Historical Publication and Records Commission Grants;
and technical information for Archives and Preservation of Professional
records.
- Library
of Congress
- http://www.loc.gov/
The Library of Congress site offers a searchable, digital collection
of resources from the Library of Congress' American historical
collections as well as its catalog, text and images from major
exhibitions, the THOMAS database of current and historical information
on the US Congress, and a Learning Page for K-12 students and
teachers. This site includes a National Digital Library Program
which offers access to key documents, films, photographs and sound
recordings of our nation's history in the American Memory Historical
Collections.
- Time
and the Presidency - http://www.pathfinder.com/offers/presidents/
Time and the Presidency is a multimedia site featuring articles
and photographs about U. S. Presidents. This site includes links
to a Virtual Exhibit of Presidential photos and information, a
Presidential Quiz, and a search engine for information on specific
U. S. Presidents.
- The
Avalon Project at Yale
- http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
The Avalon Project includes digital documents relevant to the
fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy, and Government
from the 18th to 19th centuries. The site includes a wide variety
of documents, such as collections related to the American Constitution;
Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Documents; the Cold War; Indochina;
Nazi-Soviet Relations 1939-1941; and the United States concerning
Native Americans and Slavery.
Teaching
Resources for Civics
- The
Common Good
- http://cspan.org/classroom/opportunities/
Sponsored
by C-SPAN and Time Warner, this site provides commercial-free
coverage of the American political process. This resource features
learning opportunities for students through partnerships developed
with school administrators and teachers. This site also includes
links to Lesson Plans, Teaching By Topics and Classroom resources
for instructors, parents and students.
- Decisions,
Decisions Online - http://www.teachtsp2.com/ddonline/
This site features discussions of current events and issues that
might be adopted for classroom use. Each month, Decisions, Decisions
showcases a live action video that presents the clashing viewpoints
behind a controversial social issue drawn from today's headlines.
Some examples of topics include Internet Censorship, Juvenile
Crime and Cloning. Students can role-play legislators faced with
making decisions about these issues.
- American
Memory Lesson Ideas for Using Primary Sources - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lesson.html
Lesson Ideas offers strategies and lesson plans developed by education
professionals to help integrate primary sources, especially those
in American Memory, into the classroom. The main page features
lessons grouped by topics in American history like the Civil War,
the Great Depression, and the Conservation Movement.
- Civitas
- A Framework for Civic Education - http://www.civnet.org/resoures/teach/basic/civitas/exe.htm
This site provides a curriculum framework to revitalize civic
education in schools throughout the nation. It sets forth a set
of national goals to be achieved in a civic education curriculum,
primarily for K-12 public and private schools, but with extended
applications in communities and in higher education, specifying
the knowledge and skills needed by citizens to perform their roles
in American democracy. The intended audience for CIVITAS is educators
at state and local levels concerned with the development of civic
education curriculums in the schools. Teachers may also find the
framework a useful resource and reference book. It is designed
to improve textbooks, instructional materials, methods of teaching,
assessment and testing, and the preparation of teachers.
- CivNet
Teaching Resources
- http://www.civnet.org/resoures/teach.htm
This site features resources for CIVISTA’s goals for civic education.
This resource provides links to a comprehensive bibliography of
civics information and lesson plans for classroom application.
Resources are available in English, Spanish and French.
- Comparative
Lessons for Democracy
- http://www.civiced.org/compless_intro.html
Comparative Lessons for Democracy is designed to strengthen education
for democracy in the United States through the use of curricular
materials about the history and government of several Central
and Eastern European nations. Analyzing issues and events related
to these emerging democracies encourages students in the United
States to clarify assumptions and principles upon which democracies
rest. The content of the lessons are divided into four major sections
including, Historical Connections, Transitions: Comparative Trends,
Constitutionalism and Democracy and Citizens' Rights and Civil
Society. Comparative Lessons is designed to raise questions, not
only about countries in Central and Eastern Europe, but also how
these same issues relate to American society and politics. In
this manner, students are able to identify the elements common
to democracies everywhere and those dimensions that are unique
to the United States.
- Democracies
Online
- http://www.e-democracy.org/do/commons.html
In contrast to most listservs that are organized by topics, this
site provides instruction for setting up email lists and web archives
based on geographic location and democratic principles. This resource
outlines step-by-step procedures for individuals to host and moderate
participatory discussions.
- Public
Achievement Project
- http://krypton.mankato.msus.edu/~jak3/pa/welcome.html
This site provides information about Public Achievement, a National
project created in 1990 to promote community action for students
who learn to become effective citizens while doing real public
work. Students develop projects in teams, develop problem-solving
strategies and take action. This site links to additional information
and resources related to K-12 civics education.
- Learning
Adventures in Citizenship
- http://www.thirteen.org/newyork/laic/index.html
This site offers students the ability to explore the intriguing
history of New York, do activities to learn more about the history
of their own towns, and participate in their communities. Kids
can also submit their work to the Kids' Contest and view featured
projects in the Kids' Lab. There are special sections for teachers
and parents to learn how to get the most out of this rich resource.
- Library
of Congress Learning and Lesson Ideas
- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/
The Learning Page is a web site designed to help teachers, students,
and life-long learners use the American Memory digital collections
from the Library of Congress. The site provides guidance to finding
and using items within these primary source collections. This
site includes links to Activities and Whats New. In addition,
this resource provides teachers with Educators Programs and Lesson
Ideas.
State
and National Civics and Curriculum Standards
- Michigan
Curriculum Framework - http://cdp.mde.state.mi.us/mcf/
The
Michigan Curriculum Framework includes standards focused on content,
teaching and learning, assessment, and professional development
for all fields related to Michigan public education. Standards
under development will address teacher preparation programs. This
site also links to Toolkits to guide the use of the standards
under development. Toolkits in draft form address content discrepancy
analysis, interdisciplinary connections, technology across the
curriculum, and connecting with the learner. Additional toolkits
and resources address specific content areas. These include additional
vignettes, sample teaching and learning activities, instructional
units, assessment guides, and professional development resources.
- Michigan
Content Standards for Social Studies
- http://cdp.mde.state.mi.us/mcf/ContentStandards/SocialStudies/default.html
Sponsored by the Michigan Department of Education, this site outlines
standards for Social Studies education in the state. In includes
descriptions of specific standards for students to develop historical,
geographic, civics and economic standards. Also included are standards
for public education in the following areas: stand v. inquiry,
public discourse and decision making, and "citizen involvement."
- National
Standards for Civics and Government
- http://www.civiced.org/stds.html
Sponsord by the Center for Civic Education (Center) this site
develops voluntary National Standards for Civics and Government
for students in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12). Supported
by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of
the U.S. Department of Education and The Pew Charitable Trusts,
this site outlines National Standards for Civic and Government
that are intended to help schools develop competent and responsible
citizens who possess a reasoned commitment to the fundamental
values and principles that are essential to the preservation and
improvement of American constitutional democracy.
- National
Standards for Social Studies Teachers
- http://www.ncss.org/standards/teachers/home.html
Sponsord by the Center for Civic Education (Center) this site
develops voluntary National Standards for Civics and Government
for students in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12). Supported
by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of
the U.S. Department of Education and The Pew Charitable Trusts,
this site outlines National Standards for Civic and Government
that are intended to help schools develop competent and responsible
citizens who possess a reasoned commitment to the fundamental
values and principles that are essential to the preservation and
improvement of American constitutional democracy.
- The
Current State of Civic Education
- http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/10/c019.html
This site features a detailed report of the "current state of
civic education." It also links to additional school improvement
resources and programs.
- The
Role of Civic Education
- http://www.civiced.org/whpaper.html
This site was prepared by the Center for Civic Education and includes
a report called "The Role Of Civic Education: A Report Of The
Task Force On Civic Education." This report came from the Second
Annual White House Conference On Character Building For A Democratic,
Civil SocietyWashington, D.C., May 19 - 20, 1995.
Civic
Education Organizations
- Social
Studies.org
- http://www.ncss.org/
Social Studies.org is designed to help quickly and easily find
the information from the National Council for the Social Studies.
Founded in 1921, National Council for the Social Studies has grown
to be the largest association in the country devoted solely to
social studies education. NCSS engages and supports educators
in strengthening and advocating social studies. With members in
all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 69 foreign countries,
NCSS serves as an umbrella organization for elementary, secondary,
and college teachers of history, geography, economics, political
science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and law-related
education. Organized into a network of more than 110 affiliated
state, local, and regional councils and associated groups, the
NCSS membership represents K-12 classroom teachers, college and
university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists,
social studies supervisors, and leaders in the various disciplines
that constitute the social studies.
- Ackerman
Resource Links to Civic, Social Studies, and History Education
- http://www.soe.purdue.edu/ackerman/resources.html
This
site provides resourcess for social studies and civic education
as part of the James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship
goal to assume a national leadership role in preparing new generations
of American citizens. The center features links focused on providing
programs, institutes, activities and resources for educators to
implement more powerful citizenship programs and opportunities
that result in active student involvement in schools and communities.
- Center
for Civic Education
- http://www.civiced.org/
This site provides instructional and professional development
resources for civics teachers. It is maintained by the Center
for Civic Education a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation
dedicated to fostering the development of informed, responsible
participation in civic life by citizens committed to values and
principles fundamental to American constitutional democracy.
- Public
Achievement Organization
- http://www.publicachievement.org/
The homepage of Public Achievement - a civic education initiative
that gives students opportunities to learn about how to become
involved citizens through public acts.
Government
Agencies and Organizations
- U.S.
House of Representatives Home Page
- http://www.house.gov/Welcome.html
This official Web Site of the U. S. House of Representatives includes
various resources to learn about house rules, proceedings, votes,
committees, and employment opportunities. The page also includes
Educational Links and resource for writing to individual house
members.
- U.S.
Senate Home Page - http://www.senate.gov/
This Official Site of the U. S. Senate includes information about
Senate activities, committees, and Bills. This resource also provides
access to Senate Art, This Week in Senate History, and search
capabilities for information about a individual state senators
and legislative history.
-
White House Home Page - http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Welcome.html
The official Web page of the U. S. White house, this site provides
information on the President and Vice President, the Federal Government,
histories of the White House and its inhabitants, and a Virtual
Library of White House Documents.
- U.S.
Government Agencies Directory
- http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html
This page is a comprehensive resource of U. S. Federal Government
agencies indexed by Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches
of government. This site also includes links to Independent Boards,
Commissions and Committees, and other government agencies.
- State
of Michigan
- http://www.migov.state.mi.us/
This site is a portal to online resource for the State of Michigan.
Included at this site are public policy documents, speeches, and
news releases from Governor John Engler's Administration. In addition,
you can explore links to Michigan's State Legislature, the Judiciary
and every state department, as well as Michigan Compiled Laws
and the Michigan Administrative Code. This resource also includes
travel, tourism information, and a virtual tour of the State Capitol.
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