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This collection includes videos, photographs, and sheet music about jazz. Students can use the collection to explore the history of jazz in America.

Grade(s)

6, 11

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, John Green teaches students about the United States as it was in the 1990s. You'll remember from last week that the old-school Republican George H.W. Bush had lost the 1992 presidential election to a young upstart Democrat from Arkansas named Bill Clinton. Clinton was a bit of a dark horse candidate, having survived a sex scandal during the election, but a third-party run by Ross Perot split the vote, and Clinton was inaugurated in 1993. John will teach you about Clinton's foreign policy agenda, which included NATO action in the Balkans and the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO. He'll also cover some of the domestic successes and failures of the Clinton years, including the failed attempt at healthcare reform, the pretty terrible record on GLBTQ issues, Welfare reform, which got mixed reviews, and the happier issues like the huge improvements in the economy.

**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

Grade(s)

11

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This lesson, to be used with Underground Railroad: The William Still Story, introduces students to the benefits of recording history. However, they also learn the dangers of sharing information publicly. Social media is explored as an effective, but a sometimes dangerous messaging tool.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Social Studies
Digital Literacy and Computer Science

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, John Green teaches students about a time of relative tumult in the United States, the 1960s. America was changing rapidly in the 1960s, and rights movements were at the forefront of those changes. Civil Rights were dominant, but the 60s also saw growth in the Women's Movement, the LGBT rights movement, the Latino rights movement, and the American Indian Movement. Also, Americans began to pay a bit more attention to the environment. All this change happened against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Rise of Conservatism. John will teach you about sit-ins, Freedom Rides, The March on Washington, MLK, JFK, LBJ, and NOW.

**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

 

Grade(s)

11

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This segment tells the story of the Battle of Perryville, which took place in Boyle County, KY, in October 1862. Historian Kent Masterson Brown discusses the importance of the Battle of Perryville for the course of the Civil War. It was crucial because the Union Army successfully drove the Confederate Army from Kentucky and ended its attempt to recapture the state.

**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

Grade(s)

5

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this lesson, students investigate a series of primary documents to address the question: Why did the Montgomery Bus Boycott succeed? The teacher will introduce the Montgomery Inquiry by watching the video. Then, students will read four other primary documents about the internment to answer the essential question. 

The website includes lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, primary source documents, and student graphic organizers. Teachers will need to create a free account to access the materials. 

Grade(s)

6, 11

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Students will analyze a primary document that details items purchased to celebrate the Marquis de Lafayette's tour of Alabama in April 1825. Students will create an invitation to the celebration, including the What, Where, When, Why, What to Bring, and R.S.V.P. Students will include details from the secondary source, as well as the primary document, to include on the invitation. The event will be explained utilizing the format of the invitation.

This lesson is part of the SSC3 A+ College Ready training.

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

In this interactive game from iCivics, students learn about local government by playing a county official responding to citizen requests. They explore whether their citizens are making sensible requests and which county department can best address a citizen's concern. Students decide if taxes should be raised or lowered to maintain a balanced budget and what the best action is when a crisis strikes. This game can be played during a lesson on local and state governments for reinforcement or after a lesson as an assessment. It can be played in a whole group or individually.

You will need to create a free account in order to access some of the content on this site.

Grade(s)

7

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, students learn once every 10 years, the government sends workers all over the country to knock on our doors for the U.S. Census mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The census provides critical data that lawmakers, business owners, teachers, and many others use to provide daily services, products, and support to local communities. Census data provides billions of dollars in federal funding that goes to hospitals, fire departments, schools, roads, and other essential services.

More About This Resource:

The census also determines the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives and is used to draw congressional and state legislative districts

Grade(s)

5, 7

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

John Green teaches you about the so-called Silk Road, a network of trade routes where goods such as ivory, silver, iron, wine, and yes, silk were exchanged across the ancient world, from China to the West. Along with all these consumer goods, things like disease and ideas made the trip as well. As is his custom, John ties the Silk Road to modern life and the ways that we get our stuff today.

**Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the concept of coding through unplugged activities that require students to (1) give directions, (2) listen and follow directions, and (3) understand and apply knowledge of directional vocabulary such as right, left, up, down, in, out, above, and below. Through the unplugged coding activity, students will create an algorithm, or sequence steps, to complete a maze to gain the skills of completing a task by breaking down a task into smaller steps.The connection with computer coding with the activity is to introduce students to the concept that computers follow directions just as we do. We can use code to communicate with a computer in order to give it directions to complete a task. Through a discussion on how a computer understands the code, students can relate the way a computer understands code to how they understood the directions given to them during the activity to complete the maze.

This activity was created as a result of the DLCS Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Digital Literacy and Computer Science
Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Students will examine and evaluate both college and high school students' support of and involvement in the World Wars. Students will research both photographic and textual resources in order to produce factual information about how students reacted to World Wars 1 and 2. This lesson will culminate in a student-driven Socratic Seminar-style discussion which will allow the students to verbally articulate their findings from the resources provided.

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

Grade(s)

11

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Lesson Plan

In this free video from Khan Academy, students will learn about Ancient Mesopotamia.  This video can be used to introduce a lesson about early civilizations.  The video is 9 minutes and 23 seconds in length.

Grade(s)

8

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, students learn to explore Alaska Native culture and learn how to use and create recipes, a type of informational text, in the 11-minute animated story "New Nivagi" from the PBS KIDS series MOLLY OF DENALI™. (Move the cursor over the video progress bar to locate the story at 01:00.) After Molly's dog, Suki eats the first batch of nivagi—Alaska Native ice cream—Molly and her friend Tooey must make another batch of Grandpa Nat's prize-winning recipe in time for the Qyah competition. They search out the ingredients (moose fat, moose meat, strawberries, and carrots) and improvise when they can't find something, using their knowledge of the land and people around them. The result is different but delicious.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

John Green wraps up revolutions month with what is arguably the most revolutionary of modern revolutions, the Industrial Revolution. While very few leaders were beheaded in the course of this one, it changed the lives of more people more dramatically than any of the political revolutions we've discussed. So, why did the Industrial Revolution happen around 1750 in the United Kingdom? Coal. Easily accessible coal, it turns out. All this, plus you'll finally learn the difference between James Watt and Thomas Newcomen, and will never again be caught telling people that your blender has a 900 Newcomen motor.

Grade(s)

9

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this learning activity, students will identify the origins, development, influence, key tenets, and cultural contributions of an early world religion (Judaism, Greek and Roman gods, Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam) in an online storyboard. They will use StoryboardThat to develop a comic strip detailing the early religion and its cultural contributions.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX  Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

8

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

This is a collection of photographs of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. The images depict the importance of improved transportation for westward expansion. The collection also includes an interactive sorting game.

Grade(s)

5

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This video from Khan Academy gives an overview of how a manor was organized in Medieval Europe and serfs and serfdom.  This video can be played as an introduction to manorialism and feudalism.  The video is 5 minutes and 54 seconds in length.

Grade(s)

8

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, Caveman joins up with his Cave Aunt to tell kids about how cave families told stories before the paper was invented. As elders sometimes do, Cave Aunt shares embarrassing stories about when Caveman was just a cave boy.

Grade(s)

2

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

BAHHHHHH! Did I scare you? What exactly happens when we get scared? How does our brain make our body react? Just what are Neurotransmitters? In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank takes us to the simplest part of the complex system of our brains and nervous systems--the neuron.

Grade(s)

9, 10, 11, 12

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this learning activity, students will watch a video of the original Apollo 11 moon landing from July 16, 1969. The teacher will read aloud an article titled "This is How the Space Race Changed the Great Power Rivalry Forever" from The National Interest. After reading the article, the teacher will lead a brief discussion about the rivalry between Russia and the United States referred to as the "Space Race".  Students will then break off into groups and conduct a mock television interview with the three astronauts from Apollo 11.  

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Grade(s)

6

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

In this activity, students investigate the factors that may have contributed to the American Revolution. Students consider social, economic, and geographical factors. Click on the Download PDF or DOC button to access additional resources.

Grade(s)

5, 7

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This article from Khan Academy provides an overview of the domestic and foreign policies of Barack Obama, president of the United States from 2008 to 2016. Students can read the article and answer the questions at the end as an assessment. The article can be read in a whole group setting or individually. The article can be assigned through Google Classroom.

Grade(s)

11

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this video from PBSLearningMedia, students learn the story of Old St Stephens as a look at early Alabama history. This small town went from a frontier trading post to the First Territorial Capitol of Alabama until Yellow Fever caused the city to fade away.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Explore ten surprising facts about the civil rights activist, Rosa Parks in this informational material. Includes links to additional information.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Get a sailor’s view of World War II battleship the USS Alabama in this installment of Yellowhammer History Hunt. The video shows life aboard the USS Alabama and tells the story of school children that saved the ship from the scrapyard and created the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.

Grade(s)

4

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

AL.SS10
Social Studies

In this activity, students will gain a better understanding of the role of community helpers such as police officers and fire fighters. Students listen to the story: The Little Chapel That Stood by A. B. Curtiss. The link to the online reading from the author is included: http://www.abcurtiss.com/the-little-chapel-that-stood.html.  A link to the reading guide is also included. Students will view a certificate given to a community helper for appreciation. Students will then design their own certificate of appreciation for a community helper.

Grade(s)

K

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This video from This is Alabama showcases the beautiful beaches of Alabama. Visitors come from all over to enjoy the sugar-white sand and emerald waves of Alabama's beaches. This video can be used to identify the physical features of Alabama and describe how recreational opportunities are affected by the physical environment.

Grade(s)

1

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This resource presents a short biography of John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts politician who served as the 35th President of the United States. Kennedy's presidency came at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. There was also no shortage of domestic issues as the Civil Rights movement gained more momentum. Kennedy seemed to be an ally of Dr. King and other activists, but any large role he could have played was cut short by his assassination.

Grade(s)

11

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This clip discusses the history of Thanksgiving and acknowledges the different events and people that have influenced its modern-day form. It mentions that the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims and Native Americans was a three-day festival and did not involve foods contemporarily associated with the holiday such as cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, potatoes, and turkey.

Grade(s)

2

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

This complete unit plan provides lessons on Ancient Nubia from the Pre-Kerma to the three Kingdoms of Kush eras. The lessons include information about the geography, economics, civics, and government of this time period and civilization. There are videos and additional student resources included, as well as answer keys for the educator. The unit plans include images of artifacts that students will analyze to better understand this time period and the Nubian civilizations. 

Grade(s)

8

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this lesson, students research conflicting perspectives of the Mexican War. Additional resources included are a map of the United States from 1839, a recruitment poster, and several videos of first-hand accounts from the Mexican War.

Grade(s)

5, 10

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

In this video from A Kid Explains History, Quinn explains the history and life of Harriet Tubman and her work on the underground railroad. With his precocious personality and kid-friendly vocabulary, Quinn makes learning history easy and fun for students of all ages. This video can be used to introduce Harriet Tubman, abolitionists, and/or the underground railroad. 

Grade(s)

2, 10

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

A historian goes over the causes leading up to the War of 1812 (trade with England) and major milestones during the war (run-in with Canada).

Grade(s)

5

Subject Area

Social Studies

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource
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