Elementary Online Resources for Students

General Resources

• Virginia Department of Education
  On the VDOE site you will be able to access the History and Social Sciences Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework in pdf or word format. This document provides the 2015 version of the state standards.
• History Alive!/Social Studies Alive!
  This link brings you to the home page of Teachers’ Curriculum Institute. The site provides information about all the History Alive! and Social Studies Alive! programs, allows teachers to share tips with each other, preview activities, and access Internet tutorials, enrichment essays, and enrichment activities for selected programs.
• Primary Source Learning
  This links to a project funded by the Library of Congress to support the use of primary sources in the classroom. In addition to access to primary sources, there are numerous strategy ideas as well as lessons developed by Arlington teachers using primary sources. Additionally, teachers can access this link (https://tpsnva.org/posters/) at the site to locate posters that align with SOL objectives and enduring understandings for all social studies subjects.
• Everyday Civics
  Civics education in Virginia emphasizes the importance of citizen involvement in all levels of government and promotes the study of state and local government among the Commonwealth’s citizens. This Web site will enhance teachers’ content knowledge and support the development of instructional strategies for teaching civics in k-12 history and social science classrooms. Ready resources for the classroom include lesson plans, discussion boards, primary documents, Internet links, and media.
• Virginia’s Site for Social Studies Educators
  This website is intended to be a Teacher Resource Guide for Virginia’s teachers to develop knowledge and skills in history, geography, civics and economics to prepare students for informed participation in shaping the nation’s future.
• Documents of American History
  State law requires that the Documents of American History shall be taught to all students in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This file includes the Virginina Declaration of Rights, Constitution of Virginia, Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, Declaration of Independence, and U.S. Constitution.
• National Council for the Social Studies
  NCSS site contains teaching resources, information on awards and grants programs, and an executive summary of the NCSS Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Included is a list of links which are categorized by the 10 thematic strands of the Standards.
• The Virginia Council for the Social Studies
  engages and supports Virginia educators in advocating and strengthening social studies. Goals include fostering professional growth, developing communication, and promoting the teaching of social studies. Information about the annual Virginia Conference for Social Studies Educators can be found here.

Other Great Resources for Elementary Students:

• https://www.dulcineamedia.com/ This page lists a variety of search engines for different grade levels. Sites that link through these search engines are approved sites.
• Moneynewsforkids.com– This site contains an innovative enrichment resource designed to promote financial literacy among children via kid-friendly case studies. The topics used to introduce the concepts are of interest to students.
• https://www.kids.gov– This site provides a portal for K-8 students to access information about the United States government. Students link to different categories to find out about all the government sites available for their use. Students can learn about contests and play review games also.
• https://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com– From ancient world to the present, this site tells the story of history from the people who lived it. Included are journal entries, audio clips, videos, and pictures that allow students a glimpse of the people that experienced big events in history and recorded information about these events.
• https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/– This free resource from the Library of Congress provides access to teachers of thousands of audio clips and songs throughout American history.
• https://www.nps.gov/learn/trunks.htm– The National Park Service offers a variety of traveling trunks containing historical evidence for a nominal fee.