Resources
Maine Council for the Social Studies On-Line Mentor Project
Participating Mentors and teachers new to social studies receive free membership to the Maine Council, weekly electronic social studies resources, and access to the Project’s Blog site on which to share opinions and resources. For more information, please contact Crystal Polk at tomandcrystal@roadrunner.com
Promising Approaches and Practices for Citizenship Education
This site is sponsored by the Maine Citizenship Education Taskforce. A variety of programs and practices that support citizenship education are given. The website can be viewed at http://www.maine.gov/education/mecitizenshiped/educators/promising_approaches.html
The James Madison Book Award:
The James Madison Book Award, a cash prize of $10,000, recognizes excellence in bringing knowledge and understanding of American history to readers ages five to fourteen. It is given annually.
http://www.jamesmadisonbookaward.org/index.html
The Educator’s Desk Reference: Lesson Plans
This collection contains more than 2000 unique lesson plans which were written and submitted by teachers from all over the United States and the world.
http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/
Teaching with Historic Places
From the National Register of Historic Places, teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) has developed more than 130 classroom-ready lesson plans on topics and places across the curriculum. In an effort to help teachers meet their students' educational goals, TwHP has categorized its lesson plans according to the United States History Standards for Grades 5-12.
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/standards.htm
Education Resources Information Center
ERIC provides free access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials and, if available, includes links to full text. ERIC is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
http://www.eric.ed.gov/
Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU)
The Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU) was founded in 1968 with the purpose of advancing and preserving civil liberties of Maine people through litigation, advocacy, public education and lobbying. The MCLU follows these basic principles: the right of free expression; the right to dissent; the right to religious freedom; the right to equal treatment for all people; the right to fair play in encounters with government; and the right to be let alone, to be secure from interference in private matters. The MCLU is the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The website may be useful to teachers in generating civil rights, human rights, and public policy issues appropriate for the classroom. See also, under Programs, “Public Education”.
http://www.mclu.org/index.htm
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
ASCD advocates sound policies and sharing best practices to achieve the success of each learner. This international organization addresses all aspects of effective teaching and learning—such as professional development, educational leadership, and capacity building. ASCD offers broad, multiple perspectives—across all education professions—in reporting key policies and practices.
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd
