Social Studies Resources
Zinc Reading Labs
Reading, Science, Social Studies, ESL, Intervention Resources
Middle and High School, 6th-12th grades
https://www.zinclearninglabs.com
Zinc has a suite of online literacy tools for 6th-12th grade students. They offer differentiated authentic articles, vocabulary games, and close reading instruction. Their Reading Sprints are great for self-paced long-term assignments.
Zinc is offering free use for all students and
teachers impacted by coronavirus closures. Licenses will go through
July 2020
xyza: news for kids
Reading, Writing, Social Studies, ESL, STEM
ALL
Xyza: News for Kids
Xyza: News for Kids rounds up the news stories from around the world. Our news stories are thoughtful, interesting and fascinating and family friendly!
We are removing the article limit for free subscriptions. Please sign up for the mailing list to get the notification when we open up our online access to everyone!
Social Studies
6th - 8th, High School
https://www.geohistorymap.com/
History lessons for all ages using Google Maps; Fun quizzes, hours of videos and hundreds of web links. GHM, making history come to life online.
Free sign-ups for students and teachers.More than 40 history lessons available online. Possibility for teachers to create classes and monitor the results of their students.
World Book, Inc
Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, ESL, Foreign Language, Early Childhood, Special Education, STEM
ALL
https://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/views/login/freeTrial.jsp
14 different databases covering PK-12 including over 2,000 eBooks
World Book Online, Early Learning, Kids, Student, Advanced, Timelines, eBooks, Social Studies Power, Science Power, Foreign language databases, lesson plans, webquests, guided reading program, tracing letters and numbers, primary source documents
World101
Free
Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP)
Social Studies, STEM
ALL
TOP provides North American educators of social studies and STEM subjects, as well as workforce decision makers, with free classroom materials, workshops, virtual exchanges, and study tours.
Free instructional materials on contemporary Germany and Europe for K-12 social studies and STEM educators.
TeackRock
Math, Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, ESL, STEM, Intervention Resources, Music
K - 2nd, 3rd - 5th, 6th - 8th, High School, Higher Education
Steven Van Zandt’s TeachRock project brings rich, multimedia educational materials to teachers and students everywhere–at no cost. The lesson plan collections and resources at teachrock.org help teachers engage students by connecting the history of popular music to classroom work across the disciplines. From social studies and language arts to geography, media studies, science, general music, and more: TeachRock has engaging and meaningful arts integration materials for every classroom.
Free inter-disciplinary lesson plans
Teachtopia
Social Studies
ALL
https://teachtopia.com/printable-cut-outs.html
A general education portal primarly for grades K-12 with resources in all academic areas.
The resource that is of significant value and free is the printable cut outs. Whether it is building community models, colonial villages, school models, or creating a setting to a story, this is a screen-free resource that only requires a printer, scissors, tape , and some crayons. Hours of fun and learning all at home.
TCI
Science, Social Studies
K12 for Social Studies, K8 for Science
https://www.teachtci.com/online-teaching-during-coronavirus-outbreak/
TCI is offering free access to our online platform for K12 SS and K8 Science through June.
Access to our teacher and student resources for social studies and science.
Sutori
Social Studies, ESL, STEM
ALL
Sutori is a collaborative presentation tool for the classroom for all age groups and content areas. It provides the ideal canvas for assignments and lesson plans.
Free Subscriptions
Studies Weekly
Science, Social Studies
K-6
Great reader for students - primarily social studies
Access to all products
Sonlight Curriculum: sonlight.com
sonlight.com/freeelectionstudy
Download this FREE U.S. Elections Unit Study to help your children learn more about the election process in a simple yet thorough way.
Free Elections Unit Study for Kids 8-12+
Social Studies School Service
Social Studies
Early Childhood, K - 2nd, 3rd - 5th, 6th - 8th, High School
https://go.socialstudies.com/coronavirus
Social Studies School Service is a publisher and distributor of high-quality educational materials. Through our family of innovative imprints and partners, we provide teachers and administrators with materials that promote critical thinking and informed action. We offer a wide range of products, from full curricula to supplementary resources. As we grow and adapt to meet students’ evolving needs, we remain committed to helping educators give students the best possible social studies education.
Young Citizens – Elementary comprehensive program with complete digital access allowing students to work remotely.
Active Classroom – Comprehensive 5-12 social studies platform with programs in US History, World History, Geography, Government/Economics, Sociology/Psychology. Robust learning management system allowing for differentiation, quiz builder and grading.
Nystrom World – K-12 geography tool featuring maps, atlases, interactive activities and mapping programs. We can integrate Nystrom World into Active Classroom.
RocketLit
Reading, Science, Social Studies, STEM
6th - 8th
https://www.rocketlit.com/signup/simple.php
Leveled Science and Social Studies reading, adapted to student reading levels.
Free access for students and teachers until August.
Pactful
Math, Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, STEM, Design Thinking, PBL
6th - 8th, High School
https://www.pactful.org/coronavirus/
Pactful teaches teenagers how to become social good innovators in order to help build a better world. Starting at the Innovator’s Guide, students are introduced to the innovator’s mindset, the 17 UN Global Goals (or SDGs), and design thinking. Students form teams and identify a local or global problem that feels relevant to them. Teams work through a three-phase design thinking curriculum to create a solution to their identified problem.
We are offering professional development and ongoing support, combined with our entirely virtual educational curriculum and app, for free to the public. Information sessions for educators on 3/24, 3/30, and 4/8.
New American History
https://www.newamericanhistory.org/
Access to digital learning resources and tools developed by Dr Ed Ayers for American History/Geography/Current Events
Free
News-O-Matic
Reading, Science, Social Studies, ESL
K - 2nd, 3rd - 5th, 6th - 8th
https://newsomatic.org/2020/03/18/2052/
News-O-Matic is a daily newspaper for kids. It provides an engaging nonfiction experience for children, complete with valuable literacy tools for the classroom.
For the rest of the school year, teachers and students can access News-O-Matic for free from our app or web site. We feature five daily news stories, written at a variety of reading levels from grades K through 8. Every story is translated by native speakers from English into Spanish, French, and Arabic. And all these texts — at all levels and languages — are read out loud so kids can listen along. Teachers have access to a special dashboard to track students' reading progress, change their reading levels, and see students' answers to comprehension questions for each article.
News2You
https://www.n2y.com/news-2-you/
Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, ESL, STEM
3rd - 5th, 6th - 8th, High School
https://newsela.com/about/distance-learning/
Access thousands of compelling, leveled reading materials to support instruction and drive literacy skills, no matter what subject you’re teaching
· Newsela is making our entire product suite available, free of charge, to all districts and teachers through the end of the school year.
Kids Discover Online
Access Kids Discover's award-winning library of science and social studies material on any device, at any time, for one low price.
To help alleviate the burden schools face when closing, we have decided to offer schools and school districts special access to Kids Discover Online through the end of June, 2020.
K-12 Social Studies Lesson Plans, Activities, & Resources
Social Studies
ALL
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ycHUHA-8bUR8TRH9XAMV4j1RRMlf4fmp/view?usp=sharing
Free of charge and open to the general public, the publication and distribution of K-12 lesson plans, activities, and tools by the Ohio Council for the Social Studies. These materials have been vetted by teachers, professors, and leaders in the field.
Free access to a collection of social studies lesson plans and resources for online instruction.
C-SPAN Classroom
Social Studies
6th - 8th, High School
https://www.c-span.org/classroom/
C-SPAN Classroom works with C-SPAN Television Network's programs on public affairs, coverage of Congress, non-fiction books and American history to create free resources for teachers and students to use in classroom activities.
C-SPAN Classroom’s website provides social studies teachers with access to thousands of free digital resources, including short current events videos, Lesson Plans and Bell Ringers, Deliberations lessons, plus Constitution Clips and On This Day in History events.Educators and students can access and share these video based materials online.
Bites Media
Social Studies, Civics & Media Literacy
High School
Free resource for middle and high school teachers & students! Bites Media connects credible, high standard media reporting on current events with "why it matters" to democracy and citizenship, supporting students with developing critical media literacy skills and helping tomorrow’s leaders be more informed citizens today.
Free, up-to-date and reader-friendly content on nearly 200 relevant and timely topics and world events, including: Law and Politics, Science and Technology, Life and Arts, plus Sports and Health. Also access to Bites Media newsletter.
Active History
https://www.activehistory.co.uk/
Amazing resources for history teachers by the British educator Russell Tarr including interactive simulations, quizzes, games that can easily be used for online learning.
1 month free trial because of school closures upon request (contact form)