Elementary Social Studies: Resources for Students, Teachers and Parents
The Internet offers a wealth of social studies resources for elementary school students. Whether you're a student looking for a few hints in remembering all 50 U.S. states and their capitals, or an elementary school teacher interested in social studies lesson plans and activities that will inspire your class, the Elementary Social Studies Web Guide is a great place to find what you're looking for.
Expand All Guide SectionsElementary Social Studies Help for Students
On the Web, students can explore faraway countries, discover the history of the world, learn about the U.S. government and even find ways to become more familiar with their own city or state. This collection of elementary social studies help resources includes some of the best sites for social studies students.
Insights for Elementary Social Studies Help
- Many sites cover more than just one grade level worth of social studies information, so parents or teachers should look them over to determine if they are age-appropriate before letting students explore on their own.
- BrainPOP is available by subscription only and has some simple and entertaining animated shorts explaining many concepts within social studies.
Top Sites for Elementary Social Studies Help
For elementary school social studies reference materials for students …
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
lets elementary students explore different themes of government. Younger students will enjoy the cartoon drawings used to illustrate points in this guide, and older students will benefit from the detailed explanations and additional resources provided.
Fact Monster
is a great reference for elementary school students. The United States section provides maps, important documents in history, and information about cities and states, different laws and timelines of U.S. history. The World section covers countries of the world, current events, world history, natural disasters, wars, geography and different religions.
Social Studies for Kids
features a history story, a current event and usually information about upcoming events or holidays for kids to explore. Take a look at the Current Events section or the clickable map of the U.S. for more information about each state.
KidsClick
has an extensive list of online resources for advanced elementary students and middle schoolers about history, geography and biography.
For online activities and games …
iKnowthat.com
has map games, social studies word search puzzles and even a news game. All activities have a “Teacher Guide” for educators to use as reference. To play games without advertisements, subscribe to the site for $50/year for a family or about $200/year for a classroom.
PrimaryGames.com
has a handful of games that cover the gamut of social studies topics, including the Olympics, flags of the world, holidays and U.S. presidents. The Curriculum Guide lists the main games and indicates appropriate grade levels.
TravelPod
has a fun, fast-paced geography game that quizzes students on locations of world capitals. Browse the list of challenges to be quizzed on the location of U.S. capitals and popular cities, “Flags of the World” and more.
Smithsonian Institution's
Smithsonian Kids is probably best suited for older elementary school students. Browse the rotating selection of online exhibits on topics such as American presidents or space exploration.
Teaching Elementary Social Studies
Whether you’re presenting geography or the history of the cultures of the world, you’ll find great resources for teaching elementary social studies with the sites listed below.
Insights for Teaching Elementary Social Studies
- For a bit of history each day, try our On This Day section. To learn more about the many different religions of the world, see our selection of religion and spirituality Web Guides.
- Some popular periodicals, such as Time For Kids, offer lesson plans and activities as a supplement to their articles.
- Although findingDulcinea usually weeds out sites for especially poor design, we've made some exceptions here to help bring you as much useful information on teaching social studies in elementary school as possible.
- We also usually avoid recommending sites that are mere directories of links to outside sources. In our education guides we make exceptions to this rule to provide teachers with more options for lesson plans and student activities. Teachers should approach each directory with caution and evaluate each outside link before using it in the classroom.
- Museum Web sites often have history information, and some even have lesson plans or online activities you can use in the classroom. Also try browsing the Web sites of television channels or programs related to the subject you teach, for example, The History Channel. These Web sites often provide videos, interactive activities or games, and even specific teaching resources.
- The “Elementary School Social Studies Resources at Home” section of this Web guide has more online activities and suggestions for supplemental work.
Top Sites for Teaching Elementary Social Studies
For worksheets and other printables for teaching social studies in elementary school …
edHelper.com
has a mixed-review social studies practice divided by grade, and social studies resources divided by topic. Don’t miss the site’s time line creators, which can help you put historical events in context. A $20/year subscription is required to access materials.
TeacherVision
has lesson plans, printable worksheets and even classroom management tips. You'll be able to look at three resources for free when you first visit the site, and then you're eligible for a seven-day free trial. A one-year subscription is about $40.
TeAch-nology
has a comprehensive social studies section full of teacher resources like worksheets, lesson plans, printables and more.
For games and activities for elementary social studies students …
Room 108
offers a list of social studies activities for elementary school students. Look for games to help learn compass directions, U.S. states and capitals, Canadian provinces and the countries of the world.
TeachNet NYC
provides links to a number of projects for elementary social studies classrooms. Look for lists of projects as well as links to detailed lesson plans and contact information for the teacher that provided the project.
Scholastic
offers online social studies activities for elementary and high school students. Find activities organized by grade and subject.
For lesson plans and curricula for teaching social studies in elementary school …
The Educator’s Reference Desk
has social studies lesson plans arranged by topic. Browse lesson plans or search by grade level and keyword. Use the Write a Lesson Plan Guide for tips and guidelines on creating your own lesson plans.
Discovery Education's
“Lesson Plans Library” doesn’t have a specific social studies section but you’ll surely find useful lesson plans in the more specific categories such as contemporary studies, geography, world history and more.
The Lesson Plans Page
has a large number of social studies lesson plans. Click on a grade level to see social studies plans divided by subcategory, then choose a lesson plan and print. If you have a lesson plan of your own that you’d like to share, add it to the database.
A to Z Teacher Stuff
offers social studies lesson plans arranged by grade level and subtopic.
PBS Teachers
focuses on providing multimedia resources for preK-12 educators. The site offers a wealth of on-demand video, interactive games and simulations with accompanying viewing ideas or discussion guides. Choose your grade level from the navigation bar at the top of the screen to get started.
For reference and other resources for teaching social studies in elementary school …
National Council for the Social Studies
has many teacher resources in the “Classroom Resources” section. Visit the "Professional Development” section for a list of NCSS conferences and other professional development opportunities.
South Washington County Schools
has a list of resources for history and geography. Look for links to history sites, online maps and hundreds of sites organized by topic and time period.
Elementary Education Resources: Social Studies
has links to census data and world climate information, and annotated links to other elementary social studies sites arranged by topic.
The New York Times
Learning Network aims to help students in grades 3-12 understand today's top news stories. You'll find summaries of the news each day as well as tools to help you teach your students more about current events.
The National Archives
has links to electronic versions of some of the most important documents in U.S. history, along with lesson plans to help you teach using these historic documents.
Discovery Education
presents Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators, an annotated directory of American history, world history and general social studies sites. Check here to find nearly every useful education site about social studies.
Elementary Social Studies Resources at Home
Parents can play an active role in the social studies education of their children with just a little help from the Web. Get inspiration for finding social studies resources at home that can enhance your child's life outside of the classroom.
Insights for Elementary Social Studies Resources at Home
- Taking trips to museums, discussing the news with your child, helping them explore their city and state—these are all beneficial to a child’s development as a student of social studies.
- Ask your child’s teacher what the class is studying and supplement those subjects at home. The “Teaching Social Studies in Elementary School” section of this guide will be of particular interest to many parents and can provide inspiration for ways to get your child interested in social studies.
- Take a look at some of the sites in our findingDulcinea Homeschooling Web Guide for social studies resources you can use at home.
Top Sites for Elementary Social Studies Resources at Home
FunBrain's
“Standards Finder” tells you what students in a particular subject and grade level should be learning. Although this might not line up exactly with what your child is learning in school, it can give you a good idea of what at-home material might be helpful to your child.
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
has a section specifically for parents and teachers that contains curriculum links and additional online resources that can be used to help students integrate social studies into their activities at home.
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