High School World History: Resources for Students, Teachers and Parents

BBC's History site provides abundant resources for European history, particularly the history of Great Britain. Check out the “Historic Figures” section for short biographies on important players. This site also offers educational games that challenge your knowledge.

HyperHistory presents hundreds of timelines categorized into several topics. Select "History" on the left sidebar, and then choose a time period from the right sidebar. The timelines contain links to additional information on other Web sites that you might find helpful.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s site walks you through the Holocaust as either a survivor or as someone that perished. You’ll find online exhibits, interactive maps and even a module where you follow a prisoner’s life. Beware, however: This site contains some graphic photos.

Fact Monster’s Homework Center is full of maps, important documents, information about population and government structure, funny laws, timelines and more. Visit the Fact Monster homepage for games and even blogs.

Jiskha is the place to go for fast answers and homework help from experts that volunteer every day to assist students like you. Simply post your question and one or more Jiskha-certified teachers will respond, sometimes in as little as an hour. There’s also an extensive directory of helpful articles and links.

TravelPod has a fast-paced geography game that quizzes students on locations of world capitals. Browse the list of other challenges to be quizzed on the location of popular cities, world flags and more.

Best of History Web Sites offers games listed by historical period. There are several interesting challenges here that are both fun and informative. Many of the games take some time to play or solve, so make sure your work is done first.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art helps you explore world culture and history through art. The many interesting activities here include dancing with famous painter Edgar Degas, and exploring the museum’s many other collections.

PBS maintains a top-notch site for educators. Choose a grade level and subject matter from the dropdown menus to get a list of several thoughtful lesson plans, many of which include printable copy masters.

Center for History and New Media helps you teach history using primary sources. Find access to abundant documents, paintings, photographs and art, as well as instructions on how to use them in your classroom. Use the Teaching Sources link to read case studies written by other teachers for inspiration.

EDSITEment is hosted by the National Endowment for the Humanities and offers interesting lessons that are searchable by grade level and subject.

SCORE (Schools of California Online Resources for Education) provides a database searchable by keyword, grade and California History/Social Science standard. It’s not just for California teachers, though. There are abundant lesson plans and a wealth of student-generated material that can act as models for your students.

Exploring Ancient World Cultures provides an overview of ancient history that answers the question, “Why Study Ancient World Cultures?” The thumbnails at the top of the page are linked to resources that include original texts, timelines and scholarly essays.

World History Archives connects you to hundreds of documents that present history from a non-Eurocentric viewpoint. The links are organized by world region, making navigation easy, or you can search by keyword. Use these documents to broaden you students’ perspectives of important world events.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s For Teachers section offers everything you need to teach the Holocaust. Access original documents, engaging lessons and even professional development material. Browse the Exemplary Lessons Initiative section for excellent ideas and examples of how to use these resources.

SCORE (Schools of California Online Resources for Education) provides an overview of the key concepts your high schooler should be learning. Though these standards are for the state of California, they can give you an idea of what your teenager is studying in school.

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 provide some ideas for at-home material that might be helpful to your child.

World History Archives links to history documents covering all areas of the globe, differentiating itself from the many Europe-focused history Web sites. The links are categorized by region, or you can search using keywords. The documents you find here can help broaden your teen’s perspective on important world issues.

The National Archives of the U.K. provides loads of European history resources including original documents and educational games. First-time users may want to start with “How to use this site” for instructions, while veterans can jump straight to the index of topics or choose from the features on the homepage.

Kennesaw State University’s Educational Technology Center maintains several great links to world history resources covering all areas of the globe. The links take you to external sites that include “WebQuests,” original documents and “hotlists” of other great material.