It’s been said that history will repeat itself if we don’t learn from it. That’s why it’s so important that we find ways to give our students the tools and skills they need to look at the past from multiple perspectives. We have an obligation to tell the whole story—not just part of it. It’s a monumental task, but educators know how to rise to a challenge! To help you get started, here’s a list of the best history websites for teaching and learning.
teachinghistory.org
Cost: Free
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, this website makes history content, teaching strategies, resources, and research accessible. Quick links make it easy to find lesson plans specifically for elementary, middle, or high school students.
Zinn Education Project
Cost: Free
Tell the more complete story with downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and grade level. Based on the approach to history highlighted in Howard Zinn’s best-selling book A People’s History of the United States, these teaching materials emphasize the role of working people, women, people of color, and organized social movements in shaping history.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Cost: Free
Easily find materials based on American history topics! This site offers curriculum, lesson plans, online exhibits, essays, study guides, videos, and teacher resources.
Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience
Cost: Free, donations appreciated
The Online Classroom shares the Wing Luke Museum’s full curriculum with teachers, parents, and students seeking engaging social studies, history, and ethnic studies content.
Teaching American History
Cost: Free
Teaching American History is a free resource that brings together primary documents, continuing education, and community for American history teachers. Their free account access allows you to curate and print your own custom document collections.
iCivics
Cost: Free
This website engages students in meaningful civic learning by providing teachers with well-written, inventive, and free resources. Includes a Remote Learning Toolkit that enhances their practice and inspires their classrooms.
Teaching Native American Histories
Cost: Free
This project is based on the belief that teaching Native American histories in a positive way requires both specific, local knowledge and a broad understanding of how colonization manifests across time and space in the Americas and around the world. Highlighted resources include 10 Tips to Decolonize Your Classroom and Key Concepts for Native American History.
Library of Congress
Cost: Free
The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library’s vast digital collections in their teaching.
National Archives
Cost: Free
Teach with documents using the National Archives’ online tool to explore primary sources. Discover or create fun and engaging printable activities for your students.
Center for Racial Justice in Education
Cost: Free
Today, we still see the absence of Black history and experience in our textbooks, required readings, STEM, and the overall curriculum of our educational system. This website will help you share the histories, stories, and voices that should be centered, honored, and uplifted in school curricula every day.
Google Arts & Culture
Cost: Free
Take a deep dive into categories including Historical Figures, Historic Events, Places, and more. You can even explore our world’s history in creative ways by journeying through Time or Color.
National Hispanic Month
Cost: Free
This website, which has a special section for teachers, celebrates the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. These resources are part of a collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Digital Public Library of America
Cost: Free
Discover more than 44 million images, texts, videos, and sounds from across the United States. Broken down into online exhibitions, primary source sets, and more.
Teaching LGBTQ History
Cost: Free
Access comprehensive resources and materials that fulfill the requirements put forth by the FAIR Education Act. Includes lesson plans, books, and video resources sorted into elementary, middle, and high school grade levels.
Smithsonian
Cost: Free
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex offering vast digital resources and learning online. The site is well-organized, making it easy to select a topic to discover featured collections and stories or search through millions of digital records.
Facing History & Ourselves
Cost: Free
Through rigorous historical analysis combined with the study of human behavior, Facing History’s approach heightens students’ understanding of racism, religious intolerance, and prejudice; increases students’ ability to relate history to their own lives; and promotes greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities in a democracy.
What are your favorite history websites for the classroom? Share in the comments below!
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