Have you seen the "free stuff webpage" at ODT Maps? It offers . . . Nine - free map postcards Five - golden circles* Four - NCGE books Free - NCGE world-outline map masters (Major Countries, and World Outline) Two - videos on YouTube One - article The ODT USA Equal Area Map and one chapter from the book Seeing Through MapsAnd a partridge in a pear tree!* Check back every month to see new items posted regularly at manywaystoseetheworld.org, even after the winter holidays are over. "Please share the link with any teachers, students and map fans that you know. Once supplies are gone, the…

The Library of Congress is seeking applications from current world history or world geography teachers for a Teacher-in-Residence position within its Educational Outreach division during the 2017-18 school year. The program description and application details for the position can be found at loc.gov/teachers/newsevents/teacher-in-residence. The Educational Outreach division develops and delivers teaching materials and programs to make the Library’s unparalleled collections of primary sources visible, accessible and easy for K-12 teachers to integrate into the classroom. The Library of…

The National Geographic Society (NGS) is now offering education-focused grants to individual educators! NGS is looking for educators who have new ideas for effective strategies in teaching and learning—at any age level, with any audience, and in any location. NGS aims to support educators in formal and informal settings, in community education and outreach, and educator professional development. Grants will be awarded on a quarterly basis. Find grant guidelines and submit applications at http://www.nationalgeographic.org/grants/. Upcoming submission deadlines are: April 1 for late August…

On July 25, 1898, during the Spanish–American War, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans gained U.S. citizenship in 1917. 101 years later, the debate over Puerto Rico's political status continues.  Learn and teach about Puerto Rico's history and the Spanish-American War with articles and teaching activities from NCSS peer-reviewed publications Social Education and Social Studies and the Young Learner. Also explore a sampling of resource collections from some of our colleagues. Examine the history of Hispanic heritage in North America in this special section: "The Hispanic Heritage of…

Immigration from Central America and the President's family separation policies are front and center in today's headlines, but the historical roots of migration to the United States are too often unknown or unexplored.Teaching for Change developed a series of four lessons with the country of El Salvador as a case study to provide important historical context for contemporary immigration issues.  The lessons were developed for use in conjunction with the website When We Were Young There Was a War. Students learn about and discuss: What factors were responsible for the waves of migration from…

Patrick Keegan

In this engaging activity, AP Psychology students used ArcGIS Online and Survey123 to make connections between geographic locations and students’ emotional responses to those places.

The authors provide the reader an opportunity to see how second-grade children can use a twelfth-century painting as historical evidence to identify transportation modes, economic activities, and cultural features of Bianjing, an ancient Chinese city. They compare Bianjing with their community using modern mapping technology. Through this approach, art, history, geography, economics, technology, and civics are integrated into an engaging inquiry lesson.

In this article, the author describes how an “I do, we do, you do” scaffolded approach for explicit instruction can be utilized to teach map skills to students in kindergarten through grade 2. She argues that classroom teachers who are familiar with explicit instruction may frequently use the model for reading and math instruction while overlooking its potential for teaching geography skills. Benefits of using explicit instruction to teach map skills include setting students up for success with ample opportunities to practice and supporting growth in spatial thinking.

In this piece, the author outlines ways in which elementary educators can integrate local history across the curriculum and engage elementary students. She argues that this approach is a powerful opportunity to engage students’ interests and excitement. Exploration into local history is an instructional experience that demands a variety of content, skills, and strategies while focusing on the learning of people, places, and events.