Skip to main content

Suggested Web Sites for Using Documents for the Social Studies Classroom

The Archive section provides websites of primary source material from ancient to modern history. The How to Use section references websites that provide assistance with using primary source materials in the classroom as well as lesson plans and other classroom information. The Listing section notes websites that have more extensive lists of archives and other related websites.



Document Archives:

The Archive section provides websites of primary source material from ancient to modern history.

The American Memory Project http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

  • the Library of Congress’ huge collection of primary source documents focusing on American History
  • images print, audio and video documents can all be accessed
  • provides a section for teachers that includes lesson plans

The British Library http://www.bl.uk/

  • over 150 million items on world history
  • includes prints, images and audio (available using Windows Media Player)
  • has advanced search option
  • some material requires a small fee

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection

  • contains over 60,000 primary source documents on the political and social history of the United States
  • includes prints (including maps) and images from 1493 to the present time
  • includes advanced search capabilities and a section for students and teachers
  • some material requires a small fee

Archiving Early America http://www.earlyamerica.com/series.html

  • provides primary source documents from 18th century America
  • includes images, prints (including maps) videos, games and songs

The Beazley Archive http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/index.htm

  • the University of Oxford’s is a huge collection of classical Greek and Roman art
  • sore than 250,000 prints and images, all viewable from the site
  • a dictionary is available in the tools section of the site to help the researcher

Prelinger Archive http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger

  • a video collection focused on US history
  • 60,000 educational, advertising, industrial and amateur films that have not been collected elsewhere
  • all videos are downloadable from the site

The Digital South Asia Library http://dsal.uchicago.edu/

  • provides a vast amount of documents related to South Asian history
  • includes prints (statistics, maps) and images

Avalon Project http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp

  • a huge collection of law and diplomacy related historical documents from ancient times to the 21st century including of accounts from African Americans and Native Americans, diplomatic policies and treaties
  • all printed material
  • some material requires a small fee


How to Use:

This list includes websites that provide assistance with using primary source materials in the classroom, as well as lesson plans and other classroom information.

Project Look Sharp www.projectlooksharp.org

  • free curriculum online kits for integrating media decoding into core social studies, science and health classes, cost for print copies of kits with DVD
  • lesson plans and methodology for teaching constructivist, interactive classroom decoding of media documents while covering core content

PBS Teachers http://www.pbs.org/teachers/

  • provides resources for teachers in math, the sciences, social studies, health, the arts and reading
  • lesson Plans to help teachers communicate ideas in the classroom

The Learning Project http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/features/songs_times/index.html

  • 7 million historical documents, photographs, maps, films and audio recordings
  • Lessons, tips and tricks, features and activities for using the collections in your classroom

Media Literacy Clearinghouse http://www.frankwbaker.com/

  • information to assist K-12 educators to integrate media literacy into their

classrooms

  • also provides help for students in analyzing media documents

K-12 Instructional Media Center https://www.k12irc.org/resources/history/audio.php

  • helpful information for teachers with instruction and lesson plans
  • provides audio/media or multi-media primary sources.
  • Includes links to other related websites


Listings:

This section includes websites that have more extensive lists of archives and other related websites.

Sites for Teachers http://sitesforteachers.com

  • contains hundreds of educational websites ranked by popularity
  • websites include lesson plans, worksheets, activities, clip art, reading, mathematics, science, social studies, and writing

Repositories of Primary Sources http://libguides.wmich.edu/archives/repositories

  • a listing of over 5000 websites that house manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources
  • includes websites about US, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa

Primary Source Tools: Using cultural artifacts and primary source documents in the classroom http://www.scarsdaleschools.k12.ny.us/hslib/memorytools.htm

  • provides a huge list of primary source websites, curriculum tools for teachers and students working with primary sources and other helpful articles with tips and strategies