Our World Resources for Parents & Teachers

Sites to help you teach children about the world around them.

Resources in this category:

About Japan: A Teacher's Resource
http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/

A space for educators and specialists in Japan Studies to share, discuss and develop teaching ideas and resources about Japan, especially for grades K-12. Resources include a forum for questions, historical documents, maps and images.

Ben Franklin: Glimpses of the Man
http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/

Did you know that Ben Franklin was a weatherman as well as an accomplished musician? Find out all about this famous American at this site. Teachers can find classroom resources as well.

Boggle's World
http://bogglesworldesl.com/

Comprehensive resources for teachers of English as a Second Language. Includes a large selection of printable worksheets, flashcards, and class activities.

Center for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children and Adolescents
http://www.csusm.edu/csb/

This is a teaching resource for Spanish language books containing recommendations and references. The site is in both English and Spanish.

China: Dim Sum: Celebrations, Holidays and Customs
http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/angier/DimSum/china__dim_sum__ce...

Do you know what the Moon Festival celebrates? Learn about different Chinese celebrations and holidays by doing different crafts. You can make Zodiac bookmarks, shoe box dragons, lucky red envelopes and more. Each craft activity offers directions for doing the craft as well as background information about the holiday or custom.

Colorado History in Photos, Primary Sources and Virtual Tours - Doing History
http://hewit.unco.edu/dohist/

Take a tour of Colorado’s past. "On your journey, you will meet miners and farmers, and ancient and historical Indians." Meant for children K-8

Donner Online
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/donner/

"The plight of the Donner Party remains one of the most poignant episodes in the history of westward expansion during the 19th Century. Donner Online is a type of Web-based activity in which you learn about a topic by collecting information, images, and insights from the Internet, and then you "paste" them into a multimedia Scrapbook (a HyperStudio stack or a Web page) to share your learning with others.

Education First: Black History Activities
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/AfroAm.html

"The following six Web sites were created as models to suggest ways to integrate the World Wide Web and videoconferencing into classroom learning. African-American History was chosen as a topic because of its importance, popularity and the wealth of Internet resources available on the topic. What we hope to add to this richness are some specific strategies for integrating the Web into learning. So rather than merely send learners to a Web site, we've arranged separate formats designed to support different kinds of learning."

The Education Index
http://www.educationindex.com/

The primary goal of The Education Index is "to provide learners and educators with access to the best educational Web sites in a variety of subjects and lifestages." It contains a wide variety of links of interest to educators and parents. For teachers, there's even a coffee shop chat room!

Encarta's African American History
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761595158/African_Americ...

"This feature is dedicated to the celebration of African-American achievers." The site has achievers in science, the arts, education, literature, politics and sports.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Guide to Black History
http://search.eb.com/blackhistory/

"The Encyclopædia Britannica Guide to Black History features 600 informative articles and is beautifully illustrated with historical film clips and audio recordings, as well as hundreds of photographs and other images. The Related Internet Links and Bibliography sections provide excellent source material and areas for further study, as does the Study Guide for Students, which is organized around six classroom activities, each with their own teacher recommendations, technical tips, and scholastic bibliographies."

ePALS Classroom Exchange
http://www.epals.com/

At ePALS Classroom Exchange, teachers can connect to a database of classrooms in 80 countries who are interested in possibly corresponding with their class. "ePALS gives K-12 students and teachers a sense of what every-day life is like in a foreign country."

Exploring Florida
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/default.htm

"A social studies resource for students and teachers that includes thousands of Florida resources in all subject areas." And be sure to check out another useful research category at Exploring Florida: Florida Then and Now, about the history of the state.

Exploring Planets in the classroom: Hands-on activities
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/index.html

Resource for students and teachers covering the solar system, volcanology, impact craters, the dynamic earth, gravity and planetary properties. Includes lesson plans and hands-on activities.

GOALS: Global Online Adventure Learning Site
http://www.goals.com/Index.htm

The Global Online Adventure Learning Site has lots of adventures underway right now. Drop in on the Cold Ocean Expedition or trips to the Amazon and New Zealand. Read team logs and updates that make learning about science, technology, and nature fun and exciting. For many adventures, there are accompanying teacher guides and other materials.

A Guide to World War I Materials
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/wwi/wwi.html

This site is an excellent resource for students and researchers interested in the history of World War I. The Library of Congress provides a list of links to materials that appear on their website that pertain to this historic event. There are links to photos, recordings, newspaper articles, online exhibitions and a bibliography for further reading.

Hebrew Language Teachers' Toolbox
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/hebrew/personal/naph/toolbox.sht...

A collection of tools that Hebrew language teachers might want to use in working with their students and of ideas and suggestions related to the use of technology in the Hebrew classroom.

Hiroshima: A Survivor's Story
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwii/hiroshima/inde...

"It is 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945. Fifteen-year-old Francis Mitsuo Tomosawa looks into the sky and sees an object falling toward his adopted city of Hiroshima, Japan. In an instant, his life will change forever."

The History Channel Classroom
http://www.history.com/classroom/

This web site hosted by the History Channel provides lesson plans for teachers and study guides for students. Teachers and students can peruse the topics on this site ranging from the significance of Ellis Island to the history of the Stock Market.

Houghton Miffin Teachers' Center
http://www.eduplace.com/

Math, reading/language arts, and social studies resources and classroom projects.

Journey to Africa
http://www.ahsd25.k12.il.us/Curriculum%20Info/africa/aboutaf...

This site is for first and second grade teachers to study another area of the world and to contrast it to where they live.

Kids Pages: United States Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/

Attention Inventors! This site is for you! Games and contests, stories, free posters, a calendar of patent, trademark & copyright history, and much more!

Mr Donn's Ancient History Page
http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/

"Units, Lesson Plans, Activities & Resources for Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, India, Africa, Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, Canada, Holidays, Map Skills and more, for ancient history teachers and students!"

Multi-Cultural Calendar
http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/MCC/

Describes holidays around the world. You can see these by month, name of the holiday, or country. Also use keywords to find the holidays you want to know more about. You can also submit your own descriptions of holidays.

National Geographic Education Guide
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/lesson_plans/ind...

Hundreds of very comprehensive lesson plans for science and social studies topics. Search these lessons by grade level (K-12) or by keyword. Some popular lesson plans include: "Introduction to Longitude and Latitude" for grades K-2, "Alike and Different: The Middle East and the U.S." for grades 3-5, "Sister Storms: Children of the Tropical Seas" for grades 6-8 and "Earthquakes: A Whole Lot of Quakin’ Goin’ On" for grades 9-12.

National Geographic Xpeditions Geography Standards in Your Classroom
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/

This site provides lesson plans tied to U.S. National Geography Standards. The plans are broken down by topic area and grade level.

Nick News Lesson Plans
http://www.nickjr.com/teachers/lesson_plans/index.jhtml?_tem...

Lesson plans and activities using Nick News shows about the world and world events.

NOVA Online for Teachers
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/

Lesson ideas, online activities, and a teachers' exchange centered around programs produced by PBS' NOVA series.

Parlez-Vous?
http://www.parlez-vous.org/

A collection of links to everything French -- Castles, Museums, Cathedrals, Francophone countries, Paris, Canadian links and more.

Remaking America: Contemporary U.S. Immigration
http://pclt.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1996/4/

This diverse array of curriculum guides created by are designed for both middle school and high school students. These teachers guides explore the historical and cultural backgrounds of newcomers to the United States, their motives for emigrating, their legal statuses and the modes of their incorporation into U. S. society.

SCORE History/Social Science
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/

SCORE is the Schools of California Online Resources for Education. This site has links to lesson plans for grades K-12 on U.S. and World history and geography as well as social studies concepts such as citizenship and government. There are also descriptions of California Social Science Standards and Assessments.

Searching for China
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/China/ChinaQuest.html

"China is a majestic country with a long and interesting history. If . . . you've never been to this fascinating land, you might want to take a brief tour. Go ahead and walk a few kilometers of The Great Wall or step foot into The Forbidden City or voyage to the Yellow Mountains. But beyond these tourist stops lives another, more complex, China. Currently, the people of China are experiencing great economic and social upheavals.So, if you're ready to begin, [let's] embark on our journey."

Senora S.'s Spanish & World Language Links
http://anacleta.homestead.com/

A place for teachers of foreign languages in grades K-5 to find teaching tips, classroom ideas, and Spanish language and culture links compiled by an elementary school Spanish teacher. There is also a section of links for children learning a foreign language in school and their caregivers.

Show Me UK for Parents
http://www.show.me.uk/parents/parents.html

Show Me UK pulls together interactive exhibits for kids from museums in the United Kingdom. The parents’ section of this site gives ideas on how to use the online exhibits provided to encourage your children’s learning.

Show Me UK for Teachers
http://www.show.me.uk/teachers/teachers.html

Show Me UK pulls together interactive exhibits for kids from museums in the United Kingdom. The teachers’ section gives ideas on how to use the online exhibits in your classroom.

Teachers' Guide for the Professional Cartoonists Index
http://cagle.msnbc.com/teacher/

This site is the companion to the Professional Cartoonists Index which has a large collection of newspaper editorial cartoons. It contains "lesson plans for using the editorial cartoons as a teaching tool in Social Sciences, Art, Journalism and English at all levels."

Timeline-The Media History Project
http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/timeline/

Images of devices and documents throughout time along with discussion articles on the history and devices in media. Also Also contains media timelines, courseware, bibliographies.

The Underground Railroad
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/

"You are a slave. Your body, your time, your very breath belong to a farmer in 1850s Maryland. Six long days a week you tend his fields and make him rich. You have never tasted freedom. You never expect to. And yet . . . your soul lights up when you hear whispers of attempted escape. Freedom means a hard, dangerous trek. Do you try it?"

World War II: An American Scrapbook
http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/4616/

This site, created by a team of fifth grade students at McRoberts Elementary School in Texas, features students telling stories about their family and World War II. You are invited to read the stories, find out how World War II affected your family, and add your stories to the site.

World Wise Schools
http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/

Learn about the culture and geography of one of the 80 countries where Peace Corps volunteers serve. There is factual information about countries in Africa, the Americas, Eurasia, and the Pacific Islands. Teachers can find educational resources as well as information about class-to-class exchanges.