Middle School Social Studies: Resources for Students, Teachers and Parents
History, geography and culture resources of all kinds can be found online. Whether you are a student looking for a way to help you remember the countries of the world, a teacher interested in engaging new lessons that can inspire your class, or a parent wanting to help your child understand important historical eras, you’ll find everything you need in this Web guide.
Expand All Guide SectionsStudent Resources for Middle School Social Studies
On the Internet you 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 your own city or state. This collection of sites includes some of the best online resources for you to discover.
Dulcinea's Insight
- There are lots of sites out there that offer educational games, help with homework and provide just plain fun. Some sites may look boring on the surface but don’t be fooled. Just because a site isn’t flashy doesn’t mean it can’t be helpful or offer a fun challenge.
- The sites in this section all offer free help with homework, cool activities, fun facts and help studying for tests. There are also some sites that you might have to pay to join, so be sure to check with your parents first. One example is BrainPOP, which has simple and entertaining short movies explaining many social studies concepts. Some of the videos are free, so check out the free stuff before you ask your parents to pay for the others.
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For help with your homework …
Fact Monster Homework Center
is a great reference for all your subjects. Just click on the appropriate subject in the middle of the screen to get help with your homework in Geography, History, or Social Studies. There’s lots of great info on this site, including maps, important documents, timelines, and information about cities, population, government structure and funny laws. Visit the main Fact Monster Web site for games and even blogs where you can share ideas with other kids.
Fun Social Studies
can help with that report you have coming up by providing great information about lots of different topics. If you need help in Geography, History or World Cultures, there are several links that give you good information without sending you to another site. Click the links on the left side of the page to find even more resources around the Web.
KidsClick!
has an extensive list of online history and geography resources, including links to biographies of famous people. Use the search box near the bottom of the page or browse the online index by topic (for example, “Countries,” “States,” “Folklore,” “Regions,” and a few more). Under each link, KidsClick! helps you decide if the link is right for you by telling you the reading level of the material and whether there are pictures.
For online activities and games …
Smithsonian Education
is your portal to the Smithsonian Institution: one of the best museums in the world. Interact with the exhibits on the site just like if you were in the museum. Browse the rotating selection of online exhibits, such as displays of American presidents and facts about space exploration. Or visit the “History & Culture” section to go straight to a list of features you might find in a museum like challenging games and quizzes. This site is really fun.
TravelPod
has a fun, fast-paced geography game that quizzes students on locations of world capitals. Browse the list of other challenges for quizzes on the location of U.S. capitals and popular cities, on “Flags of the World,” and more. This one moves really fast!
Funschool Globe Rider
offers several challenging games that test your understanding of social studies topics. Choose from games that test both problem solving and knowledge. Most of the games focus on geography, so hopefully you’ve been keeping up in school.
Teaching Resources for Middle School Social Studies
There are so many fantastic social studies resources online that, as a teacher, your biggest problem may be choosing which to use in your classroom. Whether your class is studying ancient cultures or following the election process, you’ll find great social studies resources using the sites listed below.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Don’t get fooled into paying for resources. Although some pay sites offer dependable content, you’re just as likely to find great stuff somewhere else for free. Museums, government entities, universities and well-known broadcast media all offer excellent resources at no charge and are often more engaging than pay-site material. A great example is the Library of Congress “Teachers” Web site that links you to lessons, documents and even a game or two.
- Many popular news publications and networks, such as Time For Kids and CNN.com, offer online content designed for students. Their Web sites provide lesson plans, activities and worksheets for teachers based on current articles. Some sites even describe alignment with content standards.
- Many terrible-looking sites are full of good, free educational resources. Although findingDulcinea usually weeds out sites for especially poor design, we’ve made some exceptions here to help bring you as much useful information as possible.
- There are many great references throughout the findingDulcinea Web site that can greatly enrich the social studies experience in your classroom. For a bit of history each day, try out the On This Day section of our Beyond the Headlines area. Other areas to check out include the Politics and Religion and Spirituality Web guides.
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For lesson plans and curricula …
PBS
devotes a section of its top-notch Web site to social studies teachers. Although this site can be intimidating at first glance, it’s very functional and easy to use. Choose a grade level and subject matter from the dropdown menus near the top of the page, and you’ll be whisked to a list of several thoughtful lesson plans, some of which allow you to contact the lesson’s author. Many lessons are accompanied by printable copy masters.
The Educator’s Reference Desk
, from the Information Institute of Syracuse, provides access to the most widely used education databases: ERIC and GEM. This site has a wonderfully straightforward and uncluttered design; either browse lesson plans by category or search by grade level and keyword (click the “Search Lessons” link on the left). Use the “Write a Lesson Plan Guide” for tips and guidelines on creating your own lesson plans.
EDSITEment
is hosted by the National Endowment for the Humanities and offers interesting lessons that can supplement your content. If you’re the kind of teacher who prefers to go deep on certain issues, this site gives you great lessons. Search this easy-to-use site by grade level and subject. Use the “Websites” tab in the search box to find sites rather than lesson plans.
The Library of Congress
“Teachers” section covers the range of American history, government, entertainment … you name it. Make use of wonderful primary sources such as pictures, artwork and original documents that will get your students thinking like historians. First-time users might want to visit “The Learning Page” to learn how to use the vast resources; veteran users can skip right to the content.
HotChalk’s LessonPlansPage.com
has a large number of lesson plans for social studies. Find plans divided by subcategory (for example, “Community & Sociology,” “Government,” “Environment,” and News & Current Events”). Choose a lesson plan and print it directly from the site. If you have a lesson plan of your own that you’d like to share, add it to the database.
SCORE
(Schools of California Online Resources for Education) provides a searchable database of lesson plans broken down by grade, title, keyword and California History/Social Science Standards. Also find a wealth of student-generated material that could be used to provide examples for your students to follow. This site is best suited for California teachers who are familiar with the content standards, but it can be quite useful for teachers in other states as well.
The Organization For Community Networks
’ (OFCN) Academy Curricular Exchange is a no-frills way to access lesson plans. All the plans come with suggestions for the appropriate grade and can easily be printed.
For reference and other resources …
ReadingQuest
provides engaging reading strategies and activities that can help your students get more from what they’re reading. The pre-, during-, and post-reading strategies help you get your students active in the reading process and on the road to better comprehension.
Paradigm Shift
is a frequently updated blog with many great resources that can help integrate technology into your classroom. Find things like technology tools and teaching tips, and access the author’s podcasts.
Virtual Middle School Library
offers links to specific topical Web sites. Whether you’re looking for a lesson plan or supplemental material, this site catalogs some great resources.
For online games and activities for your students …
The Library of Congress
’s ”America’s Story from America’s Library” site offers interesting activities focused on American history using primary sources. Most of the activities involve sound so be sure that your students have headphones if they’re browsing this page in class. Don’t miss the feature that helps students find historical events that happened on their birthdays.
Kathi Mitchell
has been teaching elementary school for more than 30 years. Visit this section of her Web site to find a great list of social studies “WebQuests” (Web-based, inquiry-focused activities) that are engaging and informative.
Parent Resources for Middle School Social Studies
In the middle grades, important social studies concepts include what it means to be a good citizen, what it means to be a member of your nation and culture, and how personal beliefs relate to the beliefs of others. As parents, this is a great time to become engaged in shaping the way our children see themselves and the rest of the world. Parents can play an active role in the social studies education of their children with just a little help from the following Web sites.
Dulcinea's Insight
- There are many ways that parents can integrate social studies into their children’s lives outside school. Taking trips to museums (real or virtual), discussing current events, encouraging curiosity about the world, exploring your city and state—these can all benefit your child’s development.
- In general, be wary of sites that offer games. Many games have nothing to do with either critical thinking skills or social studies content and many sites use games as a portal to slick advertisements that will have your child begging you to buy something. The sites selected below offer games with a purpose, rather than just pure entertainment.
- Sit with your children while they surf the Web. Although it may seem like this isn’t a time for conversation, there are often many topics that come up while using the Internet that provide “teachable moments.”
- One of the best ways to help your child is to ask your child’s teacher what the class is studying and supplement those subjects at home. The “Teaching Resources for Middle Level Social Studies” and “Student Resources for Middle School Social Studies” sections 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. And the librarian at your local library can be a good source of recommendations for reading material.
- For more ideas about ways to bring social studies into your home, take a look at some of the sites in our findingDulcinea Homeschooling Web Guide.
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SCORE
(Schools of California Online Resources for Education) provides the best overview of the key concepts your middle schooler should be learning. This is a great place to start organizing your thoughts about how you want to supplement and enhance your child’s social studies education. Note, however, that if you browse the rest of the SCORE site you may find the surfing somewhat difficult.
Kathi Mitchell
has been teaching elementary school for more than 30 years. Find a list of social studies “WebQuests” (Web-based, inquiry-focused activities) that are engaging and informative. These WebQuests are a great way to let your child explore a wide range of topics that will supplement classroom learning.
Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site
offers lists of adolescent books that can be searched by subject. Literature, whether fiction or nonfiction, is a great way to supplement your child’s social studies education. Use this site to get suggestions on books that your child can read outside of class.
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. Don’t miss the “Kids Center” for engaging and educational games your child can play.
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
has a section specifically for parents and teachers with curriculum links and additional online resources that can be used to help students integrate social studies into their activities at home. Find the usual variety of U.S. history resources along with some off-the-beaten-path sites such as Art in the White House.
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