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Great Social Studies Apps and Websites
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Current Events
News-O-Matic EDU
Daily news stories and supplements keep elementary schoolers current
Bottom line: This highly useful current events platform can be a daily fixture of elementary school classrooms.
Grades: 2–6
Price: Free to try Contact for price quote. Volume educational discounts and licenses available.
News-2-You
Draw kids into weekly news with powerful symbols and voice narration
Bottom line: Students can expand literacy skills, learn about the world, and get involved with discussion questions and activities.
Grades: 2–6
Price: $1.99 per newspaper; $54.99 per year New and archived newspapers can be purchased for $1.99. Annual access to all newspapers is $54.99.
Listenwise
Bring real-world stories from public radio into the classroom
Bottom line: A fantastic resource that brings both historical and current event public radio stories into the classroom.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free to try, Paid Free, 30-Day premium trial for teachers. Request a quote for premium pricing.
The New York Times
Easy access to news, but most content is available only to subscribers
Bottom line: Provides an easy-to-use news resource, but only section front pages are accessible without a subscription.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free, Paid Free sampling of articles per month; paid subscriptions from $14.99 to $24.99/per month.
NPR: Borderland
Illuminating, up-close-and-personal visit to the U.S.-Mexico border
Bottom line: As a truly unique resource that's worth using, teachers will need to create lessons that scaffold students' understanding of the complex issues found within.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
NPR One
Trusty podcast app has quality content but lacks learning supports
Bottom line: An enticing free option for connecting current events to content through podcasts, but student engagement hinges on how you incorporate it.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Model Diplomacy
Students become foreign policy experts in this real-world simulation
Bottom line: This impressive program has ready-to-use and expert-vetted content that'll help advanced students engage meaningfully with foreign policy issues and processes.
Grades: 11–12
Price: Free
Geography & Exploration
Google Earth
Cool geographical exploration tool has endless classroom applications
Bottom line: Google Earth is an engaging and completely open-ended app perfect for use across the educational spectrum.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
Barefoot World Atlas
Visually stunning 3-D globe piques students' interest in world facts
Bottom line: Dive right in to world geography with a beautiful, interactive globe full of narratives and photos of different cultures and traditions.
Grades: 1–5
Price: $4.99
Stack the Countries
A whole world of facts, maps, and fun waiting to be stacked
Bottom line: Kids learn about the world through easy-to-use flashcards and exciting stacking games.
Grades: 2–6
Price: $2.99
Stack the States 2
Geography trivia game balances facts and fun
Bottom line: This is a clear go-to if you're looking to help students memorize state locations, shapes, capitals, history, and more.
Grades: 2–8
Price: $2.99
Expeditions
Fire up the warp drive to bring VR field trips to your classroom
Bottom line: With stunning scenes and a flexible delivery method, your students will thank you for journeying together through space and time.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free, Paid Educators can put together their own kits or purchase a recommended kit. Pricing ranges from $3,999 for 10 students to $9,999 for 30 students.
Google Earth VR
Explore the world with an incredible new perspective and sense of scale
Bottom line: An amazing experience that brings the world to life, despite the heavy investment in VR required.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free Requires a virtual reality headset.
The Pyramids
Tap into students' inner archaeologists as they discover Ancient Egypt
Bottom line: Students can experience some of Egypt's most famous pyramids and tombs while learning more about the life of Ancient Egyptians.
Grades: 5–12
Price: $4.99
Global Awareness & Cultures
Homes by Tinybop
Explore homes -- and cultures -- around the world in exquisite detail
Bottom line: Offers a delightful and accessible way for kids to learn about the world's cultures.
Grades: K–3
Price: $2.99
Teaching Tolerance
Thought-provoking classroom resources support diversity education
Bottom line: It's an invaluable teacher tool to help reduce prejudice and encourage tolerance in schools, as well as within society as a whole.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
Oddizzi
Kids travel the world, cultivate global curiosity and responsibility
Bottom line: Kids get a sense of culture and global responsibility via kid-friendly articles and great multimedia.
Grades: 3–8
Price: Free to try, Paid 95 GB Pounds/year classroom and 280 GB Pounds/year for 99 students or under, up to 800 GB Pounds/year for 700 + students
PenPal Schools
Give students global perspective with pen pal projects in any subject
Bottom line: A thoughtful, ready-to-go platform that facilitates authentic, cross-cultural collaboration.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free Free for teachers; however, school- and district-wide plans are available and add integration with learning management systems and student information systems, advanced reporting, and access to premium projects.
Facing History and Ourselves
A wealth of resources explore racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism
Bottom line: These valuable materials empower students to understand and address difficult ethical choices -- past and present.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Global Oneness Project
Captivating, cross-curricular stories increase cultural awareness
Bottom line: Teachers looking to enrich their curriculum with high-quality, thought-provoking videos and photos will find plenty of inspiration, but may need to create or fine-tune some lessons.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free, Paid Lesson plans and stories are free. Individual films, screening packages, and educational film toolkits are available to purchase.
Parable of the Polygons
Dynamic interactive helps classrooms explore topics of bias, diversity
Bottom line: A fascinating way to address how communities become segregated due to individual bias.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
History & Historical Figures
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Powerful stories and media centralize African-American history
Bottom line: While there aren't ready-to-go curricular materials, this modern, well-curated, and well-contextualized digital collection is sure to inspire compelling lessons.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
EDSITEment
Extensive humanities resource offers deep well of great content
Bottom line: The National Endowment for the Humanities has put together an outstanding place for art, history, language, and literature.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
Digital Public Library of America
Organized digital library features piles of useful primary resources
Bottom line: DPLA is at the top of the list of high-grade, online primary source collections if teachers make effective use of what's on offer.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free
Google Arts & Culture
Well-curated art and history site inspires curious learning
Bottom line: A beautifully presented one-stop shop for compellingly curated and contextualized art, history, and culture resources, but it's lacking educator supports.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Think Like Churchill
Stunning visuals, thoughtful feedback bring critical decision points to life
Bottom line: An excellent tool for studying the events and ethics that guide pivotal moments in history.
Grades: 6–12
Price: $3.99
IWitness
Explore survivor testimony with lessons, video on teacher-geared site
Bottom line: IWitness allows students to reflect upon the past, looking toward today’s values and society. Students build knowledge about the past using a dynamic, specific tool.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free
The National WWII Museum - New Orleans
High-quality resources and activities offer an in-depth study
Bottom line: Materials and activities support a thorough study of World War II, making this a valuable resource for both teachers and students.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free
A History of Ideas
Philosophy podcast makes heady concepts accessible
Bottom line: These philosophy podcasts and videos offer entertaining introductions to key concepts and thinkers, but require some smart lesson planning for deeper learning.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
U.S. History & Civics
Smithsonian's History Explorer
Lessons, activities, artifacts, artfully presented by the Smithsonian
Bottom line: A fantastic resource for kids and teachers alike, it has everything you need to fall in love with history.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
The Oregon Trail
Strong pioneer-simulation game with secondary emphasis on history
Bottom line: Classic westward expansion game just as fun as ever, but would benefit from some diverse updates.
Grades: 4–8
Price: $4.99 Kids can get "cash" using real cash via in-app purchase. It's possible to enjoy playing without paying if you're patient, but it is more difficult to be competitive in the game.
National Archives
Access U.S. history with treasure trove of docs, genealogy, and other resources
Bottom line: NARA's website wasn't designed for kids, but they can definitely use it to research and learn about history, genealogy, and the U.S. population and government.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free
Annenberg Classroom
Civics website makes teaching the Constitution manageable, meaningful
Bottom line: Go for the videos, stay for the lessons: Annenberg Classroom saves teachers' prep time when teaching the Constitution, current events, or other civics lessons.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
iCivics
Exceptionally well-designed games, lesson plans demystify government
Bottom line: This excellent addition to a civics classroom simplifies complex topics.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Digital Civics Toolkit
Superb, timely civics lessons focus on social media and student voice
Bottom line: For teachers looking to make civics relevant to students, there's nothing else out there as extensive or relevant.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free
Kialo Edu
A terrific, troll-free zone for structuring student discussion and debate
Bottom line: A valuable platform for students to learn about social and political issues while practicing digital citizenship and argumentation.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free
K-TOWN'92
LA riot videos shake up dominant narrative
Bottom line: This artful re-examination of the '92 LA riot can offer new insights and diverse perspectives, if students don't get too lost in the design.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Sift - News Therapy
Sifts through daily news content to offer a deep dive on hot topics
Bottom line: Sift can supplement students' study of a few hot-button topics -- and open up a conversation about media balance -- but it's lacking some learner supports.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free to try After a seven-day free trial, users can subscribe for $19.99. This is a six-month, auto-renewing subscription.
Timelines
Sutori
A slick way to share knowledge via interactive timelines and stories
Bottom line: With a super simple design, interactive features, and an imaginative personal approach, it's an easy and flexible tool for all kinds of classrooms.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid While basic accounts are free, they're limited to 200 student stories. Sutori's Premium accounts, which cost $49/year for educators, allow unlimited story creation, student collaboration (in pairs), and exporting stories to PDF. The $99/year Unlimited account adds the ability to upload custom videos and expands collaboration to larger groups.
The Knotted Line
Unique, artistic timeline lets kids explore freedom in U.S. history
Bottom line: Students will benefit from this eye-opening and interactive approach to studying history.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Tiki-Toki
Create eye-catching multimedia timelines for any purpose
Bottom line: Multimedia timelines connect events visually, creating pathways for deeper analysis of any chronological story.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free, Paid A free account limits user to one timeline. A teacher account is $125/year and allows for up to 25 timelines (for the teacher) and 50 student accounts (each with 5 timelines). The teacher account also removes ads and allows timelines to be embedded on webpages. Individual accounts range from $7.50-$25/month, depending on number of timelines and editing and embedding features.
TimeToast
Simple timeline creator could use more features and options
Bottom line: An easy to use timeline tool for one-off projects, but for sustained use teachers will need to upgrade, and ultimately the features might not be robust enough.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free, Paid The free Basic version of TimeToast is ad-supported and limited to only one user; however, users can create an unlimited amount of public timelines. The $.99/month Basic plan is ad free, supports 5 users as well as embeddable timelines, moderation of comments on timelines, and collaboration features. The $8.99/month Pro version allows for 35 users.