Links of Interest
Please note: While the following sites have been identified as containing quality information for social studies education, teachers need to review individual materials for content quality and alignment.
About Geography
Includes geographic information and maps about every country and state as well as a vast resource for students and others interested in geography.
The Avalon Project: Yale Law School
This site offers full text documents of American law, history and diplomacy.
The Bill of Rights Institute
Free lessons and resources about America's founding principles.
Center on Congress at Indiana University
Learn about Congress through a variety of resources.
The CIA World Fact Book
Lists population, government, military, and economic information for nations recognized by the United States.
Civic Education and Engagement: University of Louisville
Civic Literacy
The Kentucky Summit on Civic Literacy on October 5, 2004 attracted more than 170 participants from all across the state and clearly indicated the Commonwealth's depth of concern about getting young Kentuckians more fully engaged in the civic life of their local communities, the state, and the nation.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Online lessons on issues related to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Digital History
Digital resources to enhance the teaching of American history.
Dirksen Congressional Center
This non-partisan organization has two educational programs: Congress for Kids and Congress in the Classroom Online.
EconEdLink
A source of classroom tested, Internet-based economic lesson materials for K-12 teachers and students.
Facing the Future
Classroom activities and lesson plans for teaching about global issues and solutions.
Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: Teaching and Learning Resources from Federal Agencies
All federal resources linked to a single site; divided into subjects, including History and Social Studies.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Includes modules on American history. The modules cover more than twenty topics that correspond to the major periods in American history.
Globalization101.org
Free high school lesson plans on globalization.
History and Politics Out Loud
A searchable archive of politically significant audio materials for scholars, teachers, and students.
Historic Maps in K-12 Classrooms
This resource for K-12 teachers and students developed by the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library is designed to bring historically significant map documents into your classroom.
Human Rights and Human Diversity
A resource for teaching human rights.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
A collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
Jamestown – Journey of Democracy
The official education curriculum website of "America's 400th Anniversary" marking the founding of the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 includes K-12 lesson plans and educational resources.
KATH is an interdisciplinary service organization for all those concerned about improving the quality of history education in Kentucky. Members include elementary, middle school, high school, and college and university teachers, as well as administrators and public historians.
The Kentucky Council on Economic Education is your source for economic education curricula, personal finance programs, interdisciplinary classroom materials and teacher training. We have resources that can help you integrate economics into math, social studies, language arts, business, practical living, science, and technology.
The Kentucky Environmental Education Council was established to improve Kentuckians' understanding of their environment. Although our major focus is primary and secondary education, the Council also works with colleges and universities, businesses, local governments, private organizations and citizens; in fact, anyone who wishes to help themselves or their students better understand our relationship to the natural world. Our goal is to provide citizens with the knowledge they need to make their own informed decisions about their environment. Included on the KEEC website are instructional materials including standards based units of study, primary through high school.
The mission of the Kentucky Geographic Alliance is to establish a network of all those interested in geographic education and to serve as a conduit through which ideas, concepts, information, and materials can be disseminated throughout the Commonwealth. The KGA provides an opportunity for Kentucky educators and professionals to be involved in the quality of education within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The Kentucky Historical Society was founded in 1836 to collect and preserve the artifacts, papers and other documentation of Kentucky's history. Now in the 21st century, our mission statement has grown broader to reflect our place in the global community. The mission of the Kentucky Historical Society is: The Kentucky Historical Society exists to engage all people in the discovery and interpretation of Kentucky's past.
LawForKids.org
Law-related information and sources for elementary students.
The Library of Congress
Designed to help educators use the American Memory Collections to teach history and culture. It offers tips and tricks, definitions and rationale for using primary sources, activities, discussions, lesson plans and suggestions for using the collections in classroom curriculum.
Maps ETC.
A collection of over 5,000 historic maps for students and teachers. A friendly license allows teachers to use up to 25 maps in non-commercial school projects without further permission.
The National Archives
Lessons and information about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
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.
National Geographic Society
Lessons, activities, and maps about geography and culture around the world.
National History Day
National History Day helps teachers meet educational standards; disseminates high quality curriculum materials; and sponsors challenging contests that teach students critical skills for the 21st century.
National Humanities Center Toolbox Library
Primary resources in U.S. history and literature.
National Humanities Center TeacherServe
Essays by leading scholars.
PBS Kids - The Democracy Project
Lessons and activities for grades 3-6 on the structure and duties of local, state and federal government; how government affects our everyday lives; the duties of the U.S. president; and the history of voting rights in America.
PBS NewsHour
High school lessons, activities and links from the NewsHour Program.
Primary Source Learning
Primary Source Learning, created through a Library of Congress grant, contains K-12 resources and learning experiences based on primary source documents.
The Smithsonian Institute
Lessons and resources on culture and history from the Smithsonian Institute.
Thinkfinity
This free, comprehensive digital learning platform is built upon the merger of two acclaimed programs Verizon MarcoPolo and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network. Thinkfinity.org makes it easy for educators to enhance their classroom instruction with lesson plans, interactive activities and other online resources. Thinkfinity.org also provides a wealth of educational and literacy resources for students, parents and after-school programs.
United States Memorial Holocaust Museum
The U.S. Holocaust Museum offers materials, resources, online training, workshops, conferences, and fellowships for teaching about the Holocaust.
U.S. Mint – H.I.P. Pocket Change
H.I.P. Pocket Change provides lesson plans and resources to teach financial literacy and U.S. history to elementary students.
The White House
Introduces the White House and American history to younger children.
White House for Kids Teachers Guide
This guide gives teachers ideas on how to use the site Whitehousekids.gov in the classroom.
WorldImages
This site provides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains over 60,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery. WorldImages is accessible anywhere and its images may be freely used for non-profit educational purposes.