Social Studies Resources

Note: The Maine DOE does not endorse any particular program or website. The information provided below is intended to be suggestions for those educators searching for resources.

On This Page:

Professional Organizations

Maine Council for the Social Studies – www.memun.org/MCSS/

National Council for the Social Studies – www.ncss.org/

Council for Economic Education – www.councilforeconed.org

National Council for Geographic Education – www.ncge.org

National Council for History Education – www.nche.net

Maine Department of Education Sites

Grants and Funding Opportunities – www.maine.gov/education/grantlist.htm

Training and Events Calendar – www.maine.gov/education/calendar/training.shtml

Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) – www.maine.gov/mlti/

State of Maine Sites

Maine State Legislature – www.maine.gov/legis/

Maine State Library – www.maine.gov/msl/

Maine State Museum – mainestatemuseum.org/

Secretary of State’s Office – www.maine.gov/sos/kids/index.htm

State of Maine Executive Branch – www.maine.gov/portal/

State of Maine Judicial Branch – www.courts.state.me.us/

General Maine Resources

Abbe Museum – www.abbemuseum.org

Holocaust & Human Rights Center of Maine – www.hhrc.uma.edu/

KIDS Consortium – www.kidsconsortium.org

Maine Geographic Alliance – www.ngsednet.org/community/index.cfm?community_id=494

Maine Memory Network – www.mainememory.net

Maine Historical Society – www.mainehistory.org

Maine Humanities Council – www.mainehumanities.org

Margaret Chase Smith Library – www.mcslibrary.org

Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center – http://mcspolicycenter.umaine.edu/

Old Fort Western – www.oldfortwestern.org/

Penobscot Marine Museum – www.penobscotbayhistory.org

World Affairs Council of Maine – www.wacmaine.org

Financial Literacy Resources

Save the Dates:

The Maine Jump$tart Coalition will be hosting the 2013 Fostering Financial Literacy Conference on Thursday, May 2, 2013 at the Augusta Civic Center.

America Saves Week, February 25 - March 2, 2013, is an annual opportunity for organizations to promote good savings behavior and a chance for individuals to assess their own saving status.

LifeSmarts...The Ultimate Consumer Challenge is a national program where Maine high schools teams compete in an online competition in the areas of personal finance, consumer rights and responsibilities, technology, health and safety, and the environment. The 2013 state competition will be held on March 1, 2013 and the winning team will receive an all-expense paid trip to compete in the national finals in Atlanta, Georgia, in April. For more information about LifeSmarts, contact Debbie Bechard, Maine LifeSmarts Coordinator: dbechard@jmg.org.

Money Smart Week (MSW) is coming to Maine! MSW runs from April 20-27 and provides a week's worth of activities, events and educational programs on a myriad of financial education topics and is organized through community and school libraries with support from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and American Library Association.

Teach Children to Save Day: Sponsored by the American Bankers Association Education Foundation, this campaign is designed to help young people develop lifelong savings habits. Additional information and resources for the April event may be found on the site.

Maine-based Resources:

Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy: The Jump$tart Maine site has a multitude of helpful links, including an online library of financial education resources, best practices, and a downloadable version of the National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education.

Finance Authority of Maine: FAME provides students and teachers with a variety of web-based resources on topics such as budgeting, credit, money management, and savings along with Maine-based financial education resources.

Office of the State Treasurer: Check out the TeachME Financial Literacy page of the Maine Treasurer’s site for a list of some resources and links about personal money management, saving and investing, budget and debt management.

Maine Office of Securities provides several brochures, investor tools, and education resources available for download.

Junior Achievement of Maine provides innovative programs to educate students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy. Junior Achievement volunteers, with a variety of backgrounds, are available to visit classrooms.

Financial Fitness Fairs: The Maine Credit Union League provides a Money Management Experience, geared towards high school juniors and seniors, where students participate in a simulation, similar to the game of “LIFE”. This onsite opportunity is available throughout Maine.

Web-based Resources:

EconEdLink offers hundreds of economic and personal finance lessons and resources and interactive tools for all grade levels. The site also includes professional development resources for educators.

Federal Reserve: The Classroom Resources tab links to lesson plans, activities, videos, and materials. The resources are searchable by grade level or topics, including: personal finance, banking, money, and monetary policy.

FINRA Foundation:   In collaboration with the Consumer Federation of America and Channel One, FINRA launched Generation Money to help teach secondary school students about the power of compounding interest and other important financial lessons. Generation Money is now a multimedia website featuring online financial education games, surveys and many other resources.

FinLitTv is a financial literacy site that uses social media to work through financial questions. Students share their experiences in video messages, called FLiCs (a financial literacy clip).   The site is geared towards college students, yet the well vetted FLiCs are appropriate for high school students too.

FoolProof Real Consumer Education: The site provides free interactive modules, designed to be used in succession for a complete curriculum, or used individually. Included are ten new supplemental modules that explore topics such as Renting a Pad; Charitable Giving; and Gambling.

Money as You Grow provides “20 things kids need to know to live financially smart lives” through age-appropriate financial lessons and corresponding activities. Milestone posters are also available for download.

TreasuryDirect, created by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Public Debt, offers videos, games, and Money Math lessons, intended to be used as curriculum supplements.

National Endowment for Financial Education: The site provides a variety of online and traditional resources, including a free High School Financial Planning Program supported by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

Practical Money Skills for Life includes lesson plans, games, and calculators for such topics as “How Much Will My Loan Cost?” and “How Much Car Can You Afford?”.

TeenDollars Site: Created by Ohio teacher Brian Page and his high school students, the site houses a teacher section with lesson plans, resource links, and some student created materials. A list of online personal finance games is available under the “For Students” tab.

Understanding Taxes: The Internal Revenue Service provides lessons and resources for an interactive tax education program that can be integrated into existing curricula.

Directly from the US Department of Education Financial Literacy website:

Educational Resources from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provides websites, books, and newsletters about dozens of topics -- economics, economic trends, the Federal Reserve system, U.S. monetary policy, great economists, and personal finance. Learn about banking basics; building wealth; inflation; foreign trade; financial markets, housing, and the economy; why kindergarten age matters; young Americans and competition in the global economy; speculative bubbles; and more.

Money Smart is a financial education program that helps youth (ages 12-20) and adults (in 7 languages) learn the basics of handling their money and finances. Topics include setting financial goals, saving money, choosing a checking account, making a credit card work for you, paying for college and cars, making decisions about apartments and mortgages, and more. A computer-based version and podcasts are available.

MyMoney.gov is the U.S. government's website dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education. Whether you're buying a home, balancing your checkbook, or investing in your 401k, MyMoney.gov can help you do it better. Throughout the site, you'll see important information from 20 federal agencies. Find out if you have "financial smarts": take the MyMoney interactive quiz. Read the national strategy for financial literacy.

Start Smart: Money Management for Teens tells how teenagers can save and earn money, decide where to keep it, spend it wisely, protect against identity theft, be charitable, and get help about money matters. Take an online quiz -- find out what you know about managing your money.

Council for Economic Education links to hundreds of lessons related to financial literacy. The council is a nationwide network that aims to help students develop the real-life skills needed for success as responsible consumers, savers, investors, citizens, and workers.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Teachers and Students offers tips, fact sheets, and online tools for learning about the basics of saving and investing, helping students understand the importance of planning for their financial future, and identifying questions to ask about our investments. Learn about mutual funds. Try the online retirement calculator. Take an online quiz to "test your money smarts."

Consumer Action Handbook provides advice and consumer tips on such topics as cars, shopping from home, avoiding consumer and investment fraud, home improvement and financing, and credit cards. Also included are thousands of names, addresses, phone numbers, and web site and e-mail addresses for national consumer organizations, better business bureaus, corporations, trade associations, state and local consumer protection offices, state agencies, military consumer offices, and Federal agencies.

Maine Week of Heroes and September 11 Resources

Maine Week of Heroes - Sunday, September 9- Saturday, September 15, 2012: This is an excellent opportunity to highlight the heroic people that live and work in our communities and to emphasize the importance of being active and engaged citizens. Title 1 §146 Maine Week of Heroes reads, “Each political subdivision and school administrative unit is encouraged to observe a Maine Week of Heroes during the week, commencing on a Sunday and ending on the next following Saturday, within which September 11th occurs. The observance may include public proclamations, appropriate ceremonies and the introduction of curricula in school systems recognizing the efforts of heroic people in Maine communities, such as active duty military personnel, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, law enforcement officers, members of the National Guard, members of the United States Coast Guard, United States military veterans and all other heroes who have given their courageous service without regard for their own lives or personal safety to benefit the people of this great land and to serve the needs of the citizens of the State.”

Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance - Tuesday, September 11: Patriot Day was designated by joint resolution of the U.S. Congress (PL 107-89) on December 18, 2001, to honor those who perished in the events of September 11, 2001. By Public Law (111-13), adopted April 21, 2009, Congress has requested September 11 also be recognized as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Resources for consideration:

September 11: Teaching Contemporary History

Recordings from an online conference held in August, 2011, regarding available resources and strategies for teaching; hosted by the National Museum of American History, National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Pentagon Memorial Fund, and Flight 93 National Memorial.

http://smithsonianconference.org/september11/

The September 11 Digital Archive

A resource of digital primary sources and a handy guide to other September 11 websites.

http://911digitalarchive.org/index.php

The National History Education Clearinghouse

Typing September 11 into the site search will produce a list of resources, including a lesson on utilizing September 11 as a lens to introduce students to the study of history.

www.teachinghistory.org

Teaching About September 11 Using Primary Sources form Library of Congress

A collection of primary source materials and teaching ideas for consideration.

http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2011/09/teaching-about-september-11-using-primary-sources-from-library-of-congress/

Statehood Day Resources

Title 1, Chapter 5 §116, designates March 15 of each year as Statehood Day to “commemorate the admission of Maine as a state into the United States of America and the ideals and wisdom of those men and women who have formed Maine’s history and traditions”.

Resources for consideration:

Maine Historical Society provides a number of online resources:

To Separate or Not to Separate, That is the Question

An online exhibit by Candace Kanes: http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/840/page/1250/display?use_mmn

Maine History Online provides information and primary sources to trace the events leading up to Maine’s official separation from Massachusetts in 1820.

1775-1820 Tension, War & Separation section: http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/899/page/1310/display?page=1

A focus on the years after statehood in the 1820-1850 A New State & Prosperity section: http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/901/page/1312/display

In the 'Themes' section:

Leaders & Causes, highlighting the work of William King: http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/883/page/1294/display

Peopling Maine: http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/879/page/1290/display?page=1

Finding Katahdin: An Online Exploration of Maine’s Past

This online resource includes primary sources and lesson plans to complement Finding Katahdin: An Exploration of Maine’s Past. Chapter 4, From Revolution to Statehood includes a collection of primary sources and lesson plans.

http://www.mainememory.net/schools/schools_FK.shtml

Constitution Day Resources

Constitution Day: The U.S. Congress established Constitution Day in 2004 to recognize the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. Under the law, all educational institutions receiving federal funding must observe Constitution Day with an “educational program on the United States Constitution.”

Resources for consideration:

National Endowment for the Humanities

The Constitution Day page of NEH’s EDSITEment site provides lessons, interactive modules, and educational games.

http://edsitement.neh.gov/constitution-day

National Constitution Center

The National Constitution Center provides some free resources for educators and students, including lesson plans and a series of 20 minute interactive webcasts.

http://constitutioncenter.org/education/

The United States Senate

The history of Constitution Day, along with an overview of the U.S. Constitution are available.

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/ConstitutionDay.htm

National Archives

A list of activities and lesson plans from the National Archives ranging from a one class period activity designed to simulate how the Constitutional Convention delegates grappled with their task to an online version of their U.S. Constitution Workshop which includes analysis of primary source documents.

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/

Library of Congress

A repository of documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/bdsdhome.html

iCivics

Several lesson plans, web quests, and games; the site was initiated by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

http://www.icivics.org/

United States Courts

Resource page includes a video and fast facts about the federal judges’ oath.

http://www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources/ConstitutionResources/ConstitutionDay.aspx

Center for Civic Education

Lesson plans available for grades K-12.

http://new.civiced.org/resources/curriculum/constitution-day-and-citizenship-day

Bill of Rights Institute

The Bill of Rights Institute offers some interactive experiences such as the “Constitution Duel” quiz and a “Madison’s Notes are Missing” game.

http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator-resources/constitution-day-resources/

National History Education Clearinghouse

The Constitution Day Spotlight page on TeachingHistory.org includes lessons plans, resources, videos, and quizzes.

http://teachinghistory.org/spotlight/constitution-day

A few children’s books for consideration:

We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States by David Catrow, 2002: Dial Books

Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz, Tomie dePaola, 1998: Putnam Publishing Group

If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Levy, Joan Holub, 1992: Scholastic

Prisoner of War – Missing in Action Recognition Day Resources

Prisoner of War – Missing in Action Recognition Day - Friday, September 21: Title 1 §136 designates the 3rd Friday in September as Prisoner of War – Missing in Action Recognition Day. The day encourages “remembrance of the courage and plight of American prisoners of war and those missing in action.”

Resources for consideration:

U.S. Department of Defense

The Defense Prisoner of War and Missing Personnel Office has information about POW/MIA Recognition Day, including a brief history of the POW/MIA Flag and posters available for download.

http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/pow_day/

Free POW/MIA CD & DVD for all Maine middle and high schools

Wendell Austin, the owner of Peace & Freedom Music, is providing free copies of his song, “Bring Me Home” for use by schools. The CD offers the song with and without vocals in rock, folk, and country genres. If you’re interested in learning more about the free CD/DVD offer, contact Wendell Austin by email: gosmuswa@midmaine.com or phone: (207) 736-2225.

Veterans' Day Resources

Take a Vet to School Day

United States Department of Veterans Affairs 2012 Teacher Guide and information on Take a Vet to School Day.

http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/

National History Education Clearinghouse Veterans Day Resources

http://teachinghistory.org/spotlight/veterans-day

Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center

The Center collects and makes available personal accounts of American war veterans in the “Experiencing War” section of its website. The “Students” section provides students and educators with information and resources for conducting interviews with veterans.

http://www.loc.gov/vets/

Election Resources

PBS Election 2012 Resources

The PBS LearningMedia site offers a collection of resources, sortable by grade level, subject, and type.

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/content/#q=election&go.

iCivics

Founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics provides students with several interactive games on a variety of topics. For the upcoming election, students can run a presidential campaign and collect electoral votes in “Win the White House”. Free resources for teachers are also available.

http://www.icivics.org/

USA.Gov’s Learn About Elections and Voting

Links to election and general citizenship related resources.

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/Learn.shtml

Political Party Quiz

Pew Research Center has a 12 question survey, “Where Do You Fit?”

http://www.people-press.org/political-party-quiz/

Political Cartoon Index

Daryl Cagle’s site offers hundreds of cartoons, updated daily, and organized by issue and cartoonist.

http://www.cagle.com/politicalcartoons/

Presidential Debates

MiddleWeb provides information and resources to help engage students in upcoming debates.

The remaining debates are scheduled for:

October 11: Vice Presidential Debate, Centre College, Danville, KY;

October 16: Second Presidential Debate, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; and

October 22: Third Presidential Debate, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL.

http://www.middleweb.com/2880/watching-debates-with-kids/

The Living Room Candidate - Presidential Ads

The Museum of the Moving Image houses historic campaign ads, lessons plans, and an “Ad Maker” tool for students.

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org

Annenberg Political Fact Check

The non-partisan Annenberg Public Policy Center monitors the factual accuracy of candidates’ assertions in ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.

http://factcheck.org/about/

US Presidential Election Results Atlas

This interactive site shows election results by year and state (including county by county results) and includes graphs on voter turnout.

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/

C-Span Electoral College Map

C-SPAN’s Campaign 2012 site includes U.S. maps depicting electoral votes from the 1904 – 2008 elections. Also included are snapshots of each election year, complete with images of each of the major candidates, the number of electoral and popular votes received, and “Did You Know?” tidbits.

http://campaign2012.c-span.org/electoral-college-map

Library of Congress – Path to the Presidency

The Library of Congress blog includes suggestions for ways to use primary sources to help students learn about the election process and past elections.

http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2012/08/the-path-to-the-presidency-political-speeches-2/.

Project Vote Smart

A Montana-based nonpartisan group has launched a website that provides users with tools to compare their own views on issues to presidential and Maine congressional candidates. “Vote Easy” uses information submitted by the candidates in response to questionnaires, and through research using candidates' voting records, backgrounds, issue positions, campaign contributions, interest group ratings and public statements.

http://votesmart.org/.

C-Span American Presidents Resources

The site includes lesson plans, activities, and video clips based on C-Span’s television series, American Presidents, Life Portraits.

http://www.americanpresidents.org/classroom/.

National Council for the Social Studies 2012 Election Resources

NCSS has compiled a list of resources that include articles from their publications, as well as links to free websites. Some items are accessible only to NCSS members, others are open to all.

http://www.socialstudies.org/resources/Election2012.

Civics and the Common Core State Standards

Materials from Kristie Littlefield's presentation at the 2012 Maine Council for the Social Studies

PowerPoint handout

View or download. (PDF)

Literacy Through Social Studies

Instructional considerations and selected resources for implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies.

View or download. (PDF)

Guide to Aligning Civics and the Common Core State Standards

A guide developed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education to align civic education and the Common Core State Standards.

View or fodnload. (PDF)

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's Address to Maine Social Studies Teachers

1/18/13

Social Studies Information

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Learning results Information

Social Studies Resources