Social Studies and History

When Martin Luther King, Jr. accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, he lamented: We have not learned the simple art of living together. Civil Rights Movement: The History Channel website gives you one stop access to authoritative articles, engaging videos and photos, and texts of critical speeches. US Dept of Ed Office of Civil Rights Take a virtual field trip to the famous Silk Road: You do not have to spend any money to visit the of Natural History of Los Angeles. Watch what the folks at Banyan Global Learning did with some iPads and good Wifi. Other virtual museums (below). Learn the Address: Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address to a nation in the throes of Civil War 150 years ago. Now Presidents and others are learning the address by heart. Why? Watch the mashup. Use NGram: This is a powerful analytic tool that secondary classes should learn to use.

Essential social studies sites

• Edsitement
  This is an essential site for history, social studies, art, culture and even foreign language. It is billed as "the best of the humanities on the web." Developed by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
• National Geographic Map Maker Interactive
  Learn to use maps by customizing them. Start by slecting a region to explore.
• Calisphere
  Here is a world of primary resources and more targeting history in California. Browse the themed collections.
• Economic History Association
  The Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History is designed to provide high quality reference articles in the field. The articles are written by experts, screened by a group of authorities, and carefully edited.
• Best of History Websites
  Created by EdTechTeacher. It contains annotated links to over 1200 history web sites as well as links to hundreds of quality K-12 history lesson plans, guides, activities, games, quizzes and more.
• PBS History
  The Public Broadcasting Company, has long been known for its quality documentaries. Search and watch online.
• History
  Sponsored by the History Channel. Watch full episodes, browse by topic, or check out fascinating history lists.
• CIA Factbook
  You do not have to be a spy to appreciate the Central Intelligence Agency's world factbook. It is indispensible for current information.
• History Museums - Visit virtually
  • Smithsonian, Washington, DC
  • American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
  • Library of Congress, Washington, DC
  • National Archives Experience, Washington, DC
• Timeline Tools - Make it visual
  • Barack Obama: Use a timeline to visually and interactively understand a presidency. This catalogs 4,000 events. No bias; just the facts.
  • WhenInTime timeline tool (used above).
  • TimeToast is another tool to create timelines.

Google books Ngram Viewer

Bring real science and social analysis to life. The chart below is the free Ngram tool. It compares the frequency in which any specific words are found in the books maintained in Google archives that go back to 1800. Play with the search terms and the years. See what you get.