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History-Social Science Curriculum Resources

General Social Science

• Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research
  The Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research was established in 1988 to serve as a living tribute to the attorneys,community organizers and plaintiffs in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision of May 17, 1954, Brown v. the Board of Education.
  
• The Buck Institute for Education (BIE)
  BIE is a non-profit research and development organization working to make schools and classrooms more effective through the use of problem and project based learning. BIE creates curriculum and training materials, provides professional development, and conducts and disseminates research.
  
• California Geographic Alliance
  The California Geographic Alliance (CGA) is a teacher professional development organization dedicated to improving geographic education and literacy in California.
• California Learning Resource Network (CLRN)
  This provides educators with a "one-stop" resource for critical information needed for the selection of supplemental electronic learning resources aligned to the State Board of Education academic content standards.
• California Three Rs Project: Rights, Responsibility and Respect
  A Program for Finding Common Ground on Issues Related to Religious Liberty and the First Amendment in Public Schools sponsored by The California County Superintendents Educational Services Association and The First Amendment Center, Religious Freedom Education Project. The California Three Rs Project is based on the principles of American democracy and citizenship incorporated in the First Amendment of the Constitution and how these apply in a public school setting.
• Calisphere
  A free public gateway to thousands of digitized primary sources - including photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, and works of art - from University of California museums and libraries, and other cultural heritage  institutions across California. The site is a significant redesign of the California Digital Library (Outside Source), and has a special emphasis on serving California teachers and librarians.
• Course Models
  Course models that are designed to assist teachers in implementing the State Board of Education adopted History-Social Science Content Standards and Framework.
• Facing History and Facing Ourselves
  Facing History and Ourselves provides educational materials to support civic responsibility, tolerance and social action for young people.
• First Amendment Center
  First Amendment Center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.
• The History Project’s Resources for Teachers
  This site provides a number of general American and world history on-line and on-campus (UC Davis) resources for teachers.
• Historical Thinking Matters
  Historical Thinking Matters focuses on key topics in U.S. history, designed to teach students how to critically read primary sources and how to critique and construct historical narratives.
• Independent Television Service (ITVS)
  Provides educational materials to support select shows and interactive projects. ITVS Community Classroom resources include lesson plans, activities, and handouts for teachers.
• Institute for Curriculum Services
  Curricular materials, primary source documents, and maps relatingto Jews, Judaism, the Holocaust and Israel
• Library of Congress
  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.
• Museum of Tolerance
  The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) is a human rights laboratory and educational center dedicated to challenging visitors to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts and confront all forms of prejudice and discrimination.
• National Archives Teacher Resources
  Lesson plans, training for teachers, primary sources, classroom field trips and more can be found at the National Archives web site.
• National Center for History in the Schools
  The National Center for History in the Schools (NCHS) has a threefold mission: to develop and provide teachers with curricular materials that will engage students in exciting explorations of U.S. and World History; professional development for K-12 history teachers; and to collaborate with schools in building their history curricula.
• Partnership for 21^st Century Skills
  The Partnership for 21st Century Skills provides tools and resources that fuse the three Rs and four Cs (critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation).
• Schools of California Online Resources for Education (SCORE)
  This is a collection of over 5,000 Web sites aligned to California's History-Social Science Curriculum.
• Teaching Tolerance
  Southern Poverty Law Center
  The Teaching Tolerance program produces and distributes – free of charge – documentary films, books, lesson plans and other materials that promote tolerance and respect in schools.

American History

• California Council for History Education (CCHE)
  CCHE is the California ally of the National Council for History Education . The CCHE was established in 2005 in order to advance the study and teaching of history in schools throughout California, provide a program of professional activities for history educators in California, and promote professional interaction among history educators in California.
• Center for History and New Media
  Includes digital media and computer technology to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past.
• Cesar E. Chavez Foundation
  The organization's programming in Education, Arts and Culture; Civic Engagement; Sustainable Communities; and Nonviolence provide individuals and communities with the skills, tools, and knowledge necessary to maximize their inherent human potential for improving their lives, communities, and the world.
• Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Community
  Lesson plans, discussions, primary sources materials and more are available at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Community by creating a free account.
• Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education
  The mission of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education is to advance pan-ethnic civil rights and human rights through education, activism and leadership development.
• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
  A nonprofit organization supporting the study and love of American history through a wide range of programs and resources for students, teachers, scholars, and history enthusiasts throughout the nation. The Institute creates and works closely with history-focused schools; organizes summer seminars and development programs for teachers; produces print and digital publications and traveling exhibitions; hosts lectures by eminent historians; administers a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state and U.S. territory; and offers national book prizes and fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection as well as other renowned archives.
• The History Net
  Contains daily features, photo galleries and over 1,200 articles originally published in various magazines
• The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
  The Huntington’s education programs serve a broad audience and provide enrichment for school teachers, children, and adults. Programs range from lively activities for preschoolers to intensive five-week institutes for K-12 classroom teachers.
• National History Education Clearinghouse
  Funded by the U.S. Department of Education (contract number ED-07-CO-0088), Teachinghistory.org is designed to help K–12 history teachers access resources and materials to improve U.S. history education in the classroom.
• National History Day
  Includes curriculum materials and sponsors challenging contests that teach students the critical skills they need to be effective citizens in the 21st century.
• Oakland Museum of California
  Through our exhibitions, outreach programs, and community dialogue, The Oakland Museum strives to cultivate a deeper sense of what it truly means to be a Californian. The new galleries feature first-person stories about California; wall labels in English, Spanish, and Chinese; and interactive gallery stations that invite our visitors to add their personal stories as they explore their own place in California's past, present and future.
• Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents
  Provides primary source documents to help teach about the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy.
• Teaching American History (TAH) Grant Program
  TAH is a program designed to raise student achievement by improving teachers’ knowledge and understanding of and appreciation for traditional U.S. history. Grant awards will assist local educational agencies, in partnership with entities that have content expertise, to develop, document, evaluate, and disseminate innovative and cohesive models of professional development. By helping teachers to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of U.S. history as a separate subject matter within the core curriculum, these programs will improve instruction and raise student achievement.

Civic Education

• Annenberg Classroom and Sunnylands Classroom
  Annenberg Classroom and Sunnylands Classroom offer classroom-ready civics education resources from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands at no cost. A rich set of teaching aids on the Constitution also helps educators and government employees meet the requirement of the Byrd Amendment to provide materials on the U.S. Constitution for Constitution Day (September 17). Educators can find award-winning films and supplementary lesson plans; “Ask a Supreme Court Justice,” featuring answers from Supreme Court Justices to high school students’ questions about American democratic institutions; state standards-aligned curricula; in-depth analysis by constitutional scholars and legal experts; downloadable reference books; and multimedia programs and games.
• Arsalyn Program of the Ludwick Family Foundation
  Arsalyn Program of Ludwick Family Foundation encourages young Americans to become informed and active participants in the electoral process. Arsalyn views the civic and political engagement of young people as beneficial to country, community and character. Arsalyn is firmly committed to a non-partisan, non-issue-based and inclusive approach to ensure that voting becomes a lifetime commitment on the part of our nation's young adults.
• Bill of Rights Institute
  The mission of the Bill of Rights Institute is to educate young people about the words and ideas of America's Founders, the liberties guaranteed in our Founding documents, and how our Founding principles continue to affect and shape a free society. It is the goal of the Institute to help the next generation understand the freedom and opportunity the Constitution offers.
• California Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools
  Educating for Democracy, the California Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools is an effort sponsored by the California Coalition for Civic Renewal, a group of concerned California individuals and organizations seeking to enlist support of education, business, law, veterans, labor, parents, and service groups around the state to promote civic education in California.
• Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools
  The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools is a coalition of 40 organizations committed to improving the quality and quantity of civic learning in American schools. The Campaign's goal is to increase and improve civic learning in grades K-12 by working for policies that implement the recommendations of the Civic Mission of Schools report. This includes efforts to bring about changes in national, state, and local education policy.
• Center for Civic Education
  The Center for Civic Education specializes in civic/citizenship education, law-related education, and international educational exchange programs for developing democracies. Programs focus on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights; American political traditions and institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; constitutionalism; civic participation; and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
• CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement)
  This organization promotes research on the civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25. Although CIRCLE conducts and funds research, not practice, the projects that they support have practical implications for those who work to increase young people’s engagement in politics and civic life. CIRCLE is also a clearinghouse for relevant information and scholarship.
• Constitutional Rights Foundation
  The Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) is a non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization dedicated to educating America's young people about the importance of civic participation in a democratic society. CRF develops, produces, and distributes programs and materials to teachers, students, and public-minded citizens all across the nation.
• Democracy Class
  Democracy Class is designed to engage high school students in civic education as a means to create early and long-term involvement in the political process.
• The Five Freedoms Project
  A community of educators, students and citizens committed to First Amendment freedoms, democratic schools, and the idea that young people should be seen and heard.
• Generation Earth
  Generation Earth is an environmental education program from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. Their goal is to educate and empower teens in Los Angeles County to be an active part of the solution to environmental concerns in their community. We offer workshops, mentorship, and do-it-yourself environmental projects that help youth make a positive difference at school, at home, and out in the world.
• iCivics
  iCivics (formerly Our Courts) is a web-based education project designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in our democracy.
• Kids Voting USA
  A national leader in civic education, Kids Voting USA (KVUSA) gets students involved and ready to be educated, engaged citizens. Students learn about democracy through a combination of classroom activities, family dialogue and an authentic voting experience.
• LegiSchool Project
  This is a collaboration in civic education between California State University, Sacramento , and the California State Legislature, administered by the Center for California Studies . The Project's mission is to engage California high school students in matters of public policy and state government by creating opportunities for students and state leaders to meet and share ideas on the issues affecting California.
• National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
  Innovative educator resources are at the core of National Center activities. The National Center’s materials help educators implement a substantive examination of issues related to diversity and democracy with their students.
• National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
  America’s most comprehensive service-learning resource for professional development, ideas, lessons, grants and programs.
• National Service-Learning Partnership
  The Partnership, founded in 2001, is a national network of members dedicated to advancing service-learning as a core part of every young person's education. Service-learning is a teaching method that engages young people in solving problems within their schools and communities as part of their academic studies or other type of intentional learning activity.
• National Constitution Center
  Tthe National Constitution Center is an educator’s ultimate civic learning resource.
• Street Law
  Street Law, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing practical, participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights. Through its philosophy and programs,people are empowered to transform democratic ideals into citizen action.
• Walter & Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library
  Education programs including class trips, scholarship programs, free lesson plans, teacher workshops, and online student and teacher program opportunities.

Financial Literacy

• Financial Literacy Resources
  Superintendent Torlakson highlights supplemental resources to help parents, students, and educators ensure that California's next generation of consumers are financially responsible.

American Government and Legal Studies

• Courts in the Classroom
  Courts in the Classroom is an animated web site for students and teachers that provides a lively and motivating introduction to key legal principles such as due process and free expression, the role of judges and courts in our legal system, and a range of landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases.
• Superior Court of California County of Orange Student Resource Center
  This Web site is dedicated to teaching students about law and the court system.
• National History Day
  Includes curriculum materials and sponsors challenging contests that teach students the critical skills they need to be effective citizens in the 21st century.

Environmental Studies and Politics

• 2008 National Online Youth Summit, Environmental Law Public Policy: From Grassroots to Government
  The program will focus on grassroots and government efforts to create a national environmental policy, current environmental laws, and some of the political and social responses to resource management and environmental change across time. Students will analyze key legislation and Supreme Court decisions dealing with the environment, and global warming in particular, as well as the role of the Executive Branch in administering environmental laws.
• Education and the Enviroment Initiative Curriculum
  Development and review of an environment-based curriculum for kindergarten through grade 12 in the subject-matter areas of history-social science and science.

World History

• Center for History and New Media
  Includes digital media and computer technology to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past.
• Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO)
  GEEO is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to helping educators travel internationally and bring their experiences back into the classroom. Visit GEEO's Web site to find out more about upcoming travel opportunities.
• Hopeful Voices
  Hopeful Voices is a set of essays from ten children around the world who have faced significant life challenges (e.g. child labor, violence, homelessness, abandonment, and more). The kids share their stories, dreams, and thoughts about life. The essays are accompanied by reflection questions and research prompts.
• Korea Academy for Educators
  The Korea Academy for Educators (KAFE) is a private, non-profit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to informing educators about Korea’s history and culture and the Korean American experience in order to promote cross-cultural understanding. KAFE is the only national organization that presents opportunities for K-12 educators of all disciplines to learn about Korean history and culture, Korean American students, and their families
• USC US-China Institute
  The USC U.S. - China Institute is committed to improving teaching about China and the rest of Asia.
• World History For Us All
  This web-based curriculum has two major elements: 1) A logical conceptual framework of guiding ideas, objectives, rationales, themes, and historical periods, and 2) a rich selection of units, lessons, activities, primary documents, and resources that are linked to this overarching conceptual structure.

International Studies

• California International Studies Project
  CISP is a statewide network that connects universities, schools, and districts in collaborative efforts to increase K-12 teacher competence in history and international studies.The university departments that host regional project sites and the international studies faculty specialists who participate in site programs represent a range of discipline interests in the humanities and social sciences.Headquartered at the University of the Pacific, CISP is part of the California Subject Matter Project, which is administered by the University of California Office of the President.
• Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad
  The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides opportunities for overseas experience. The program is open to educators and administrators with responsibilities for curriculum development in fields related to humanities, languages, and area studies. Topics and host countries of the seminars vary from year to year. All seminars are in non-western European countries. Seminars are designed to provide a broad and introductory cultural orientation to a particular country (ies).
• International and Area Studies
  The Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS) is dedicated to providing scholarly resources and supporting professional development for K-12 teachers addressing international studies.