This resource page is designed to support K-8 educators in delivering high-quality, inquiry-based social studies instruction. Use the categories below to find primary sources, interactive maps, and lesson plans that help students understand their world, past and present.
C3 Framework (NCSS): The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards. Use this to guide the "Inquiry Arc" in your classroom.
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS): The primary professional organization for social studies teachers, offering "Social Education" journals and classroom-ready resources.
Facing History and Ourselves: Resources that use the study of history to challenge students to stand up to bigotry and hate.
PBS LearningMedia (Social Studies): Videos and interactive lessons focused on "All About Me," community helpers, and basic map skills.
Junior Achievement (Elementary): Foundational lessons on work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy tailored for young learners.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: Offers a "History in a Box" series and curated primary source sets specifically for elementary and middle school levels.
National Geographic Kids: Excellent for exploring world cultures, physical geography, and environmental impact through engaging visuals and articles.
Stanford History Education Group (SHEG): Home of the "Reading Like a Historian" curriculum, which teaches students how to investigate historical questions using primary documents.
Big History Project: A free, online social studies course that spans from the Big Bang to the modern day, emphasizing scale and interdisciplinary connections.
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA): Primary source sets organized by time period and theme, including teacher guides and student activities.
The 1619 Project Education Network: Resources and lesson plans designed to reframe U.S. history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the center of the national narrative.
Google Earth Education: Tools for creating "Voyager" stories and virtual field trips to help students visualize spatial relationships and global cultures.
World Geography Games: Interactive map quizzes that help students learn countries, capitals, flags, and landforms in a gamified environment.
iCivics: Founded by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, this site provides high-quality educational games and lesson plans that make civics engaging and relatable.
Center for Civic Education: Home of the "We the People" program, offering structured lessons on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Federal Reserve Education (Federal Reserve Bank): Free resources, videos, and lesson plans to teach students about the banking system, inflation, and personal finance.
EconEdLink: A comprehensive source for K-12 economics and personal finance resources, searchable by grade level and standard.
Library of Congress (Teachers Page): Access to millions of digitized items, including the "Primary Source Analysis Tool" to help students examine documents, photos, and maps.
National Archives (DocsTeach): An online tool for teaching with documents, featuring thousands of primary sources and ready-to-use activities.
Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance): Provides free resources—articles, lessons, and films—to help educators create equitable school communities.
Native Knowledge 360° (Smithsonian): Provides educators and students with new perspectives on Native American history and cultures through primary sources and interactive modules.
Native-Land.ca: An interactive map that allows students to see the indigenous territories, languages, and treaties of the land they live on.
Newsela (Social Studies): Current events and historical articles that can be adjusted by Lexile level to ensure all students can access the content.
Beyond the Bubble (SHEG): A collection of "History Assessments of Thinking" (HATs) that go beyond multiple-choice to measure how students actually process historical evidence.
IDM (Inquiry Design Model): Templates and examples for creating "Summative Performance Tasks" that require students to construct arguments based on evidence.
For additional support with curriculum mapping, sourcing primary documents, or modeling an inquiry lesson, please contact your Instructional Coach.