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Description: Students will use a scale to rate their level of learning about a certain concept or content (1 = no understanding, 2 = some understanding, 3 = moderate understanding, 4 = great understanding, or 5 = complete/full understanding). It can be conducted at the end of a topic or unit, then done again once all the material has been taught. Students can use their fingers to show their numbers or to keep it more private, you can have them write on an index card with their name and ratings. They can turn in the index card into a box. To take it up a notch, have student explain their reasoning for the numbers they pick or ask questions to clarify.

Application(s): Summative

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal

Explanation/Example: Students will use the scale to respond their understanding of certain concepts regarding how Americans use their natural resources such as coal, gas, iron soil, etc. The students will then have a unit on United States natural resources and will use the scale at the end of the unit to rate and share their understandings on the concepts.

Standard: SS.G.2.5. Describe how humans have utilized natural resources in the United States.

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Description: This strategy involves students using shapes to record their thoughts on a topic or content. Students would answer these questions based on the topic or content: "What is something you are "square" with?" (It would be something they understand fully). "Triangle- points you want to remember". "What is something that is still circling in your brain?" (Something they are still confused on, need clarification on, etc.).

Application(s): Summative and learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Students will be taught a lesson regarding how to read maps and other ways to navigate (compass and other ways). After the lesson, students will answer "What is something you are "square" with; something they understand fully?" "Triangle- what are points you want to remember", and "What is something that is still circling in your brain? Something you are still confused on or need clarification on?". Each question will be read, and students will turn to a partner and share their responses. Students can then raise their hand to share with the whole class, so clarification is given to all students.

Standard: SS.G.1.1. Construct and interpret maps and other representations to navigate a familiar place.

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Description: Students will record their thoughts in order: 1.) Three things you know well after this lesson. 2.) Two things that you need more clarification on. 3.) One question you still have after this lesson.

Application(s): Formative and learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Auditory-musical and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: After learning about some of the problems that are occurring in the students' area, students will listen to a song written by a local farmer describing his struggles that comes with agriculture lately with all of the rain. After listening to the song, students will then read an article written by another farmer about animals ruining his crops. Students will then list three things they know well, two things they need more clarification on, and one question they still have after this listening to the song and reading the article. They can either write or type out a GoogleDoc to submit responses.

Standard: SS.IS.7.3-5. Identify a range of local problems and some ways in which people are trying to address these problems.

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Description: Is a visual tool students can use to compare and contrast, or find the similarities between two concepts, events, objects, or people.

Application(s): Formative and learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Students will be placed in groups and will be asked to draw a Venn diagram to show the relationship between Democracy and Monarchy. The students can research how the systems compare and contrast and will fill in a Venn diagram to display their findings. Students will be given a poster with a Venn diagram already drawn on.

Standard: SS.CV.3.5. Compare the origins, functions, and structure of different systems of government.

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Description: Exit cards involve allowing students to take a few minutes to reflect on a question corresponding with the lesson they were taught that day (write it down). Students could also write an explanation of what they learned that day as well. These cards will turn in their exit cards as they leave the class. These cards can be evaluated and if some students understood, they could move onto a correlating simulation or reading about the same content or concept. If some students struggled, you could go back and review what was taught.

Application(s): Formative

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal

Explanation/Example: A lesson will be conducted to look at policies that are enforced within the United States. Once the lesson is wrapped up, students will respond to questions that correspond to the content, with explanations needed if possible. Students will then turn in their exit cards as they leave the classroom, which will be evaluated.

Standard: SS.CV.4.5. Explain how policies are developed to address public problems.

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Description: Students will take on a role of a historical individual from a time period that's currently being taught or wrapped up. The students will be these "statues" and will include important work or aspects of the person's life (maybe they signed the Declaration of Independence, so hold a fake mockup, or hold an apple since Abraham Lincoln loved apples if they are a statue of him, etc.). Students can also include a poster to give classmates more information or facts. Students will also decide on a pose to hold, and they can decide to come alive to be interviewed by other statues that have come to life! Half of the class can pose while the other half goes statue to statue. This can switch once a full rotation has been made.

Application(s): Summative and learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily-kinesthetic and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Students will take on the role of significant people from Illinois. If needed, there can be two students who do the same statue, but they must work individually. They will express how their person made big changes within Illinois and the Midwest. They can fill out a poster to include more information about their historical person.

Standard: SS.H.2.3. Describe how significant people, events, and developments have shaped their own community and region.

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Description: Reader's Theater promotes student's reading fluency, helps students practice reading aloud with expression, and build confidence while reading aloud. A story or script will be divided into parts or by character. Each student will receive a part to read. Students will practice reading their scripts out loud to practice. Once enough practice has taken place (days, weeks, or a month, will vary based on classroom/topic), have students read their parts of the script in order to an audience. Students can dress up as their character or role (up to teacher), and should convey meaning through facial expressions, gestures, and intonation.

Application(s): Summative

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Have students read a script regarding the role of government officials or other authority members. Students can practice and dress up to represent roles.

Standard: SS.CV.1.K. Describe roles and responsibilities of people in authority

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Description: Students will take on the role of historical people or groups of people, to view content from different perspectives.  This will allow students to develop empathy for those in different time periods or places around the world. At the end of the activity, students can talk with one another and assess the situations that occurred within the role play. They can mention things they learned, how they felt in their roles or the roles of others, as well as the value/purpose of the activity.

Application(s): Learning activity

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal

Explanation/Example: Students will take on roles of people from the Old West. Students can dress and act based on their character or person. At the end of the activity, students can compare the Old West to now. To guide this activity, ask students questions regarding how they travelled, what they wore, what the wagons were like, how many personal items they could fit on the wagon, etc.

Standard: SS.H.3.1. Compare perspectives of people in the past to those of people in the present.

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Description: Partner students up with classmates they may not interact with frequently. One student will describe something that is in their pocket, bag, or purse. Then, the other student will ask questions about the details. That student will then assume what the item is and what it says about them (Example: if they have a toy bone in their bag, maybe they are a dog lover or have a dog). The student who first described what was in their pocket will then discuss if their assumptions were right. The roles can switch.

Application(s): Learning activity

Multiple Intelligences: Verbal-linguistic, interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, and existential.

Explanation/Example: Students can obtain or create and objects that represents a historical person. Students must use written documents (can be mockups), objects, art, or sayings the person would say. The students will be paired up and share their objects while the partner guesses who they may be. Then the roles will alternate.

Standard: SS.H.3.2. Explain how different kinds of historical sources (such as written documents, objects, artistic works, and oral accounts) can be used to study the past.

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Description: Can retrieve artifacts from flea market, antique stores, museums (can lend or buy), replicas, etc. Can also look online for pictures of historical posters, postcards, photos, etc. This can be used to set the stage for investigation and inquiry. Students can answer the follow questions: 1.) Who used this artifact, why do you think so? 2.) What was this artifact used for, why do you think so? 3.) What does this artifact tell you about the person/people who made it, as well as who used it? 4.) What does this artifact tell you about what technology was like at the time this artifact was created?

Application(s): Learning activity

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily-kinesthetic and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will look at artifacts revolving around Illinois history. Students will answer the following questions regarding the artifacts: Who used this artifact, why do you think so? What was this artifact used for, why do you think so? What does this artifact tell you about the person/people who made it, as well as who used it? What does this artifact tell you about what technology was like at the time this artifact was created? Hints will be given to guide students' thinking.

Standard: SS.H.2.4. Using artifacts and primary sources, investigate how individuals contributed to and the founding and development of Illinois.

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Description: Teach students find ways to find persuasive techniques such as: analogy, exaggeration, irony, labeling, and symbolism. These techniques are often used to change people's minds or win people over, so it's important for students to know how they're trying to win you over, so they can make informed decisions. Have students look at cartoons and answer the following regarding the cartoon: 1.) Is there a point the cartoonist is trying to make? 2.) What techniques (like: analogy, exaggeration, irony, labeling, and symbolism) are demonstrated to communicate the message in the cartoon? 3.) What method of making a point is the most successful and why? 4.) If the cartoonist had a different point of view, how might this cartoon have ended up differently? 5.) What may have caused this cartoon to be produced? 6.) Does this cartoon appeal to a certain/specific group? (And so on)

Application(s): Formative and learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Use propaganda posters showing the need of war bonds needing to be bought and have students analyze. The poster promotes purchasing war bonds and if people do, they can "bring the soldiers back sooner". This is showing that its American's responsibility to buy war bonds in order for soldiers to come home.  While looking at the poster, have students answer the following: 1.) Is there a point the cartoonist is trying to make? 2.) What techniques (like: analogy, exaggeration, irony, labeling, and symbolism) are demonstrated to communicate the message in the cartoon? 3.) What method of making a point is the most successful and why? 4.) If the cartoonist had a different point of view, how might this cartoon have ended up differently? 5.) What may have caused this cartoon to be produced? 6.) Does this cartoon appeal to a certain/specific group?

*Possible poster to use is at the top. *

Standard: SS.CV.2.4. Explain how a democracy relies on people’s responsible participation, and draw implications for how individuals should participate.

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12.) Signage to teach content (posters, ads, and notices)

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12.) Signage to teach content (posters, ads, and notices)

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Description: Teaching using advertisements, notices, and posters. This focuses on using primary sources for students to analyze. Texts can vary in length (short or long), and they may include pictures or illustrations to support the source. It's important to make sure that the content isn't too difficult for students to dissect or read.

Application(s): Summative.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Students learning about slavery will take a look at a document that is an advertisement for an auction for slaves. Students will identify who made the document, the date, place it was produced, audience it's intended for, and the purpose. After answering these questions, students will decide if this source is useful with what they are learning about (slavery).

* Document students will be analyzing is above. *

Standard: SS.H.2.5. Use information about a historical source including the maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose-to judge the extent to which the source is useful for studying a particular topic.

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Description: Students will write short stories that will be set in a specific time period. The student should include accurate explanations of what the conditions were like. They will also depict the people who lived during this time and the events that occurred.

Application(s): Summative.

Multiple Intelligences: Existential and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will write a historical fiction about significant people revolving around Abraham Lincoln and Illinois. The students will explain the people who were significant to Abraham Lincoln (Orville Hickman Browning, John Milton Hay, John George Nicolay, etc.) as well as significant events and developments that all of the people contributed to.

Standard: SS.H.2.3. Describe how significant people, events, and developments have shaped their own community and region.

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Description: Students will present highlights of a historical person's life. They will explain how the person will be remembered (for what they did) and this can be presented to the class or recorded, depending on what the student is comfortable with.

Application(s): Summative or review.

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal

Explanation/Example: Students will take a look at national holidays that are dedicated to historical people. For example, students can explain the significance of having Martin Luther King Jr. Day (used to celebrate his birthday and his achievements). Students can also take a look at other significant people like Martin Luther King Jr., such as Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Harriet Tubman, etc. (others who made change for a better life for people of color, like MLK did).

Standard: SS.H.2.K. Explain the significance of our national holidays and the heroism and achievements of the people associated with them.

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Description: Put students in small groups and have them create and write scripts that depicts the life of a historical person or a key historical event.

Application(s): Summative or learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Students will create scripts regarding historical events going to space in the order in which the events took place. Some examples can include the first creatures to go to space, first man in space, first woman in space, first spacewalk (astronaut outside of the spacecraft), first man on the moon, etc. Students will create scripts in groups revolving around these events and they will be read in the order they took place in.

Standard: SS.H.1.6-8.LC. Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.

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Description: Students will write on a post card brief notes regarding an event from a historical figures perspective who was involved in a historical event.

Application(s): Review

Multiple Intelligences: Existential and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students can write a post card in the perspective of Harriet Tubman. Tubman rescued many from slavery to improve the life of others. Students will write to a possible made up friend of Harriet or family member discussing the Underground Railroad. Students can go in depth about what the Underground Railroad was like, how Harriet saved others, etc...

Standard: Describe how people have tried to improve their communities over time.

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Description: Students will write journal entries in the perspective of someone (can be real or made up) that lived during a specific historical time period.

Application(s): Formative and review.

Multiple Intelligences: Existential and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: In the economic downturn of the Great Depression, a lot of people lost their fortunes, while many other kept or grew their fortunes. Count how many students you have and put that number of slips into a hat. Before placing the slips in the hat, write down either 1.) lost fortune, 2.) kept fortune, and 3.) grew fortune. Students will pick from the hat and will write a journal entry based on the perspective they picked from in the hat.

Standard: SS.H.1.4. Explain connections among historical contexts and why individuals and groups differed in their perspectives during the same historical period.

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Description: Students will work with a partner to create an interview of a historical person. The students will then conduct the mock interview in front of the class or record themselves. (One person can be the reporter/interviewer while the other can be the historical person)

Application(s): Formative and learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Existential, verbal-linguistic, and interpersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will each have a different person to highlight in their interview. Students can research different presidents and conduct their interview based on their specific person. Other students will be able to view the interview. Students will then have a discussion based on the similarities and differences of the presidents.

Standard: SS.H.2.2. Compare individuals and groups who have shaped a significant historical change.

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Description: Students will produce an annotated timeline. This timeline will be used to represent a sequence of events.

Application(s): Formative or learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal, visual-spatial, and logical-mathematical.

Explanation/Example: Students will research the order in which each U.S. state has been established. The timeline will expand from the first established state, to the last. Students can each do two states, or small groups can focus on a specific region and conduct this strategy when every region is taught. (If focusing on the Midwest, create groups who each focus on the states within the Midwest, then put them in order on a timeline. As the year goes on and more states get covered, you can place every state on the timeline to see an overall timeline instead of a region timeline)

Standard: SS.H.1.1. SS.H.1.3. Create and use a chronological sequence of events.

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Description: Students will write a how-to piece about a daily task that was done in a certain time period.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Existential, visual-spatial, and interpersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will focus on the 1800s, 1900s, and 2000s to locate how people from those time periods acquired their needs (water, food, transportation to work, etc.). Students can be put into groups or drawn from a hat to group up with people assigned to the same time period. Students will research the time period and how the people within this time period acquired their necessities. After the research is complete, students can make a PowerPoint or poster to present their findings.

Standard: SS.G.3.2. Explain how people in your community use local and distant environments to meet their daily needs.

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Description: Students will write their own text/book about a specific time period or topic to read to their peers or students in lower grades.

Application(s): Summative.

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal and naturalist.

Explanation/Example: Students will write their own book about how humans have impacted their environment, and how the environment impacts humans. Students can discuss climate change caused by humans or how the environment of an animal or human is important for survival. Can use both topics in a similar time frame so the content isn't mixed up.

Standard: SS.G.2.6-8.LC. Explain how humans and their environment affect one another. (6th grade)

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Description: Students will create their own podcast (a file someone can listen to). In the podcast, students can read off a script explaining a certain event or idea. Students can practice but they must submit/record their final take.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal OR intrapersonal, verbal-linguistic, and existential.

Explanation/Example: Students can take on the role of an environmentalist or a meteorologist. They can work independently or with a partner. Students must all have a role. Students will then discuss in their podcast a catastrophic event that has occurred or that could occur in a certain area, such as wildfires. Students can look at the wildfires that happen in our nation (California, Texas, etc.) as well as other countries (Australia, South Africa, etc.). Students can then compare these wildfires that occur around the world and their impacts. Students can also go into technological developments which for wildfires, there are satellites that catch images of the course of ash and smoke. Students can dive deeper into the satellites and other developments.

Standard: SS.G.3.5. Analyze the effects of specific catastrophic and environmental events as well as technological developments that have impacted our nation and compare to other places.

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Description: Students will take on the role of a reporter or journalist writing for a newspaper. Students will write about an event and pretend as if they were a reporter or journalist during the time of the event. The event could occur in a certain time period.

Application(s): Learning activity and/or formative.

Multiple Intelligences: Existential and interpersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will create a newspaper article focusing on the causes of 9/11 and what 9/11 effected. Students don't have to get too deep into detail about the cause (why the attacks happened). Instead, they could perhaps talk about what the attacks caused to happen (people passing away, buildings collapsing, etc.). The effects are TSA, ID needed to fly, etc.

Standard: SS.H.4.6-8.LC. Explain multiple causes and effects of historical events.

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Description: Word walls help with developing academic vocabulary. It can be arranged by topic or be in alphabetical order. Word walls need to be interactive. As a unit is being introduced, choose vocabulary words students will need to know for the unit and place them on the wall. The word wall should be accessible all unit long and promote the word wall by having students refer to it and use them in discussions as well as writing.

Application(s): Review.

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal OR interpersonal and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Students will use the word map by regrouping the words as they look for cause and effect relationships. The words will correspond with the events and developments within Illinois.

Standard: SS.H.3.4. Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments in Illinois history.

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25.) Somebody... Wanted... But... So... Chart 

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25.) Somebody... Wanted... But... So... Chart 

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Description: “S” indicates “somebody"; the student will have to find a historical person and state who that person was. “W” indicates “wanted”; the student will have to find what that historical person wanted to do. “B” indicates “but”; the student will have to find what was stopping the historical person from getting what they wanted. “S” indicates “so”; the student will have to find how the historical person finally got what they wanted.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Existential and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students can take a look at Rosa Parks. Somebody: Rosa Parks was an American activist, Wanted: Equal rights and opportunities, But: Schools, restaurants, water fountains, buses, and more were segregated, So: She refused to give up her seat and fought for equal rights. This can show the cause and effect of what Rosa's Parks actions did.

Standard: SS.H.3.5. Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments in U.S. history.

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Description: Used to teach students how to summarize. Have students keep an eye out for the most important information within a text. Have students eliminate the information that isn't as important and write a summary using the most important information, using complete sentences. Magnets attract objects, magnet summaries attract important information

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Verbal-linguistic and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will read a text about money and how it makes exchange easier. Students will highlight important information and leave the less important information unhighlighted. Students will then review what they highlighted and create a summary using the most important information.

Standard: SS.EC.2.2. Explain the role of money in making exchange easier.

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Description: Students will summarize by using a few words. They will find the important information, eliminate out the less important information, get rid of the unnecessary information, and form a summary that is twenty-five words or less. (Who, what, when, where, why, and how are important things to look out for)

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Verbal-linguistic and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will be given a news article regarding how Chicago, Illinois has changed over time. The article will be read aloud, and students may read to themselves or in their head to reread. There can be a focus of how Chicago has grown since the Chicago Fire (1871) and the skyscrapers that have been developed. Students will need to summarize these changes by using the GIST technique.

Standard: SS.H.1.2. Summarize changes that have occurred in the local community over time.

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Description: There will be a number of questions posed to students. Students will respond to the questions under the columns that say, "it says...", "I say...", and "and so...". "It says" should include what the text they read said, so a short summary. Students should find information from the text to answer this part. "I say" should include the students' own thoughts or view. They could talk about if they knew that information or use information that was learned in class or in a reading. "And so" should include what the students learned and what it may mean. Instead, students can refer to it as "this means", regarding the information they gained or knew.

Application(s): Learning activity and/or formative.

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will read an article about why people specialize and trade. Students will have to answer what the article says, the students' point of view or thoughts, as well as what they student learned and what that may mean.

Standard: SS.EC.1.5. Analyze why and how individuals, businesses, and nations around the world specialize and trade.

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Description: Students will use a handful of symbols to draw as they read. Students will use a star (*) to represent important information they find in a text. Students will use an exclamation point (!) to represent interesting information. Students will use a question mark (?) to represent something they may not understand or be confused on. Students will use a plus sign (+) to represent that what they read reminded them of something.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Intrapersonal and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Students will read an article about how profits (how people make money) can be rewarding to businesses as well as how those profits influence these businesses. How these profits impact businesses is the overall goal for students to learn about. As students read, they will put down a star, exclamation point, question mark, or plus sign at specific areas (the areas will differ student to student).

Standard: SS.EC.1.4. Explain how profits reward and influence sellers.

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Description: Students will be given a short message about what they will be learning about. Hand out a passage and allow students to read it two times. For the first time, it’s for comprehension. For the second time, it’s for students to jot down words that correspond with the topic. After the students have read twice, have students share out the words they found that corresponded with the topic. The teacher can write the words on the board or students can write them too. After there are a decent number of words on the board, have students make predictions about what the lesson may be about for the day.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Students will be given a passage regarding how people save money and what that money may be put towards. Students will read the passage twice and will write down words that correspond with the topic in the passage. The students will then share the words they put down and will be put up on the board. Students will then make predictions about the topic they'll be learning about.

Standard: SS.EC.FL. 4.4. Explain that income can be saved, spent on good and services, or used to pay taxes.

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Description: Sounds like the name- change the heading into questions to ask students before they read a text. Making the headings into questions will allow students to actively interact with what they're about to read before they begin to read. It also helps students determine the purpose of the text, gain students' interest, and prepares students to read the material. The questions can be put into a chart so students can take a guess at what the text is about by looking at the headings/subheadings, and students can answer the same questions once they've read the text.

Application(s): Learning activity and/or review.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and logical-mathematical.

Explanation/Example: Students will read an article about Easter Island, called "Mysterious Easter Island". Before they read, have students look at the headings and subheadings (if applicable). Ask students questions such as "What is Easter Island?", "Where is Easter Island?", etc. The questions can be put on a chart in the front of the classroom and students can put their predictions on the board answering the questions. Students will then read the article and then answer the same questions once again. This time, they will have more knowledge they gained from the text. The article will cover information about Easter Island as well as the culture and environment there. This will set the stage for a later lesson where students will compare Easter Island to their community.

Standard: SS.G.2.2. Identify some cultural and environmental characteristics of your community and compare to other places.

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Description: Virtual field trips allow students to digitally explore a place or object through pictures, video clips, audio clips, sounds, and animations. Virtual field trips are available online.

Application(s): Learning activity

Multiple Intelligences: Auditory-musical, intrapersonal, naturalist, verbal-linguistic, and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Students will be taking a virtual tour looking at ancient artifacts, here is a website that has many virtual tours: https://joyofmuseums.com/most-popular/most-popular-historical-objects/ . Students will fill out a worksheet where they will list the artifact and explain why or why not it's a primary source. They will also list a question they have about the artifact.

Standard: SS.H.3.3. Identify artifacts and documents as either primary or secondary sources of historical data from which historical accounts are constructed.

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Artifacts are objects shape by humans that are of archaeological, historical, or cultural interest.

Examples include tools, pottery, metal objects, weapons, and items of personal adornments, such as jewelry or death masks.

Ancient historical artifacts help shed light on the lives of our ancestors and our heritage.

A Virtual Tour of Important Historical Artifacts

Prehistoric Stone Hand Axe - 2.6 Million Years Ago

Perforated Baton with low relief Horse - 40,000 Years Ago

Venus of Brassempouy - 25,000 years ago

Wolverine Pendant of Les Eyzies - 12,500 Years Ago

Ain Sakhri Lovers - 11,000 Years Ago

Prehistoric Deer Skull Headdress - 11,000 Years Ago

Scorpion Macehead - 3200-3000 BC

Narmer Palette - 3,100 BC

Narmer Macehead - 3,100 BC

The Stargazer (Statuette of a Woman) - 3000 BC

Neolithic Painted Pottery - 2,500 BC

Dancing Girl (Mohenjo-Daro) - 2,500 BC

Female Figure" from the Cyclades - 2,400BC

Li - Chinese Tripod Jar - 2,300 BC

Treasure from Troy - 2,200 BC

Bronze Age Gold Lunula - 2,200 BC

Gudea, Prince of Lagash - 2,120 BC

Sumerian King List - 1,817 BC

Law Code of Hammurabi - 1,750 BC

Nebra Sky Disk - 1600 BC

Mask of Agamemnon - 1,500 BC

The Sphinx of Hatshepsut - 1,470 BC

Tutankhamun's Mask - 1,323 BC

Mummy of Katebet - 1,300 BC

Book of the Dead - Papyrus of Ani and Hunefe - 1,250 BC

Avanton Gold Cone - 1,250 BC

Bronze Age Shield Yetholm-type -1,200 BC

Relief of a Winged Genie - 880 BC

Siloam Inscription - 700 BC

Electrum Gold Coin from Lydia - 650 BC

The Lion Hunt - 640 BC

Ishtar Gate - 575 BC

The Curse of the Tabnit Sarcophagus - 500 BC

Kleroterion - 470 BC

The Parthenon Marbles - 440 BC

The Alexander Sarcophagus - 300 BC

The Winged Victory of Samothrace - 200 BC

The Rosetta Stone - 196 BC

The Pergamon Altar - 150 BC

Antikythera Mechanism - 100 BC

Battersea Shield - 50 BC

The Temple of Dendur - 10 A.D.

James Ossuary - 1st-century

Lindow Man - 2 BC and 119 AD

Roman Gold Bars - 375 AD

This list of Ancient Historical Artifacts is based on:

Artifacts approximately 1,500 years old

Exhibited in Museums or Historic Sites

Most searched for or viewed on this website.

Ancient Historical Artifacts have come to us from many different archaeological contexts and sources, including

Burial sites

Middens or old dump for human occupational waste

Votive offerings

Hoards lost in time

Wells or caves

Sites that have been abandoned or buried due to a natural disaster or war

Excavations of Historical sites

Ancient artifacts from the past have served to shed light on the lives of our ancestors. The objects in this list stand out for their uniqueness, their intrigue, their beauty, and their ability to expand our understanding of history.

Virtual Tour of Prehistoric Art and Artifacts

Highlights Tour of Ancient Historical Artifact

Stone tool societies and cultures made these prehistoric Stone Hand Axes from the prehistoric Stone Age. Archaeologists study stone tools to understand the cultural implications of tool use and manufacture.

Stone has been used to make a variety of different tools and weapons throughout history, including arrowheads, spear points, hand axes, and querns to grind cereals into flour.

Hand axes were the first tools to be recognized as prehistoric. The first published representation of a hand ax was drawn for a British publication in 1800. Until that time, their origins were thought to be supernatural.

They were called thunderstones because tradition held that they had fallen from the sky during storms or were formed inside the earth by a lightning strike and then appeared at the surface. They were used in some rural areas as an amulet to protect against storms.

This Prehistoric Deer Skull Headdress is over 11,000 years old. It was discovered at Star Carr, which is a Mesolithic archaeological site in North Yorkshire, England.

Excavation of the site began in 1948, and it is famous for the rare artifacts discovered. Along with the flints, there were a large number of objects made of red deer and elk antler, elk bone, and other bone.

The rare objects discovered included worked amber, shale, haematite, iron pyrites, a decorated pendant. One of the most unusual finds was the antler headdresses.

The antler headdresses are made from red deer stag skulls with the antlers still attached. The 21 antler headdresses are sufficiently complete to see how they have been manufactured.

This Neolithic Chinese Painted Pottery was found in the graves of New Stone Age people who lived in northwest China over 3,500 years ago.

The subtle shapes, smoothed surfaces, red, and black paint are typical of the Pan-Shan Pottery. The Pan-Shan culture (2500 - 2000BC) of Neolithic China had this distinctively painted pottery.

Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions, originating before the Neolithic period, with ceramic objects like the pottery vessels that were discovered in China, which date back to 18,000 BC.

The Narmer Palette is a significant Egyptian archaeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC. It contains some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found.

The tablet depicts the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer and provides one of the earliest known depictions of an Egyptian king.

The Palette shows many of the ancient conventions of Ancient Egyptian art, which means that this art form must already have been formalized by the time of the Palette's creation.

The 5,000 year-old Narmer Palette is one of the first historical document in the world.

This 5,000-year-old marble sculpture of a female figure is called the "Stargazer" because her eyes are looking up to the stars above.

Created in translucent marble, this is an unusual sculpture because her head is sculptured entirely in the round. Her body is reduced to a simple yet elegant profile. The nose is depicted as a slight ridge on a straight-line edge.

The head tilted backward; the eyes are tiny dots raised in relief. The Stargazer is similar and related to the Cycladic Art which flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea. However, this ancient masterpiece was found in Western Anatolia.

Western Anatolia was one of the significant crossroads of ancient civilizations. Created in the Early Bronze Age, the purpose of this masterpiece is not known.

All we can do is speculate on the creative and spiritual forces that shaped this beautiful and mystical figure that symbolizes our search for the divine.

The Dancing Girl is a bronze statuette created over 4,500 years ago and is a rare and unique masterpiece. It was found in the ancient Mohenjo-Daro site in 1926.

This statue is a cultural artifact reflecting the aesthetics of a female body as conceptualized during that historical period. T

he bronze girl was made using the lost-wax casting technique and shows the expertise of the people in making bronze works during that time.

This "Li" is a Chinese Tripod Jar dating more than 4,000 years ago. Tripod vessels appear in China in the early Neolithic period of 7000 BCE.

The innovation of hollow legs, creating Li (鬲) tripods, appeared during the middle Neolithic from 5000 BCE.

Historians ascribe significance to the shape of the tripod legs as being suggestive of goats' or cows' udders and, therefore, crucial for rituals.

Pottery as cooking or storage vessels, made of clay and hardened by heat, was the first functional art to emerge during the Paleolithic.

This "Treasure from Troy" is part of what became called the "Treasure of Priam" discovered in the ancient site of Troy, which is in modern-day Turkey.

Ancient Troy was the setting of the Trojan War described in the Iliad, one of the epic poems by Homer.

"Priam's Treasure" was a cache of jewelry, gold, copper, terracotta, and other ancient artifacts discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1873.

Gudea, Prince of Lagash was the political and religious governor of Lagash, in Southern Mesopotamia, one of the oldest Sumerian cities.

This statue was discovered as two pieces, twenty-six years apart. Archaeologists found the head in 1877, then the body was found in 1903.

Many figures of Gudea, both standing and seated, have been discovered; however, none of them was complete.

Bodies without heads have been found, and the heads with missing bodies. Archaeologists succeeded in assembling the two fragments of this statue, resulting in the first and only complete representation of Gudea

The "Law Code of Hammurabi" is a Stele that was erected by the King of Babylon in the 18th century B.C. It is a work of art, it is history, and it is literature. It is a complete law code from Antiquity that pre-dates Biblical laws. A stele is a vertical stone monument or marker inscribed with text or with relief carving. This particular example, which is nearly 4,000 years old, looks like the shape of a huge index finger with a nail and imperfect symmetry.

The Law Code of Hammurabi stele is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length to be discovered. The Law Code of Hammurabi refers to a set of 282 rules or laws enacted by the Babylonian King Hammurabi, who reigned 1792-1750 B.C.

The Nebra Sky Disk is a bronze disk with a blue-green patina which is inlaid with gold symbols. The gold symbols are the Sun or full moon, a lunar crescent, and stars. The disk is dated to 1600 BC and was created by a Central European Bronze Age culture.

The Nebra sky disk features the oldest depiction of the cosmos from the currently known ancient artifacts. The UNESCO Memory of the World Register and termed it as: "one of the most important archaeological finds of the twentieth century."

The disk is 30 centimeters (11 3⁄4 in) diameter and 2.2 kilograms (4.9 lb) in weight. The stars are interpreted to including a cluster of seven interpreted as the Pleiades.

The "Mask of Agamemnon" is one of the most famous gold artifacts from the ancient Greek Bronze Age. The Mask was discovered in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann during excavations at Mycenae in Greece.

This remarkable historical object is a gold leaf funeral mask that was found over the face of a body in a burial shaft in the Mycenaean Citadel.

Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann after he discovered the Mask, exclaimed:" I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon."

The Mask was one of five masks found, and due to its nobility and level of preservation, Schliemann claimed it to be that of the famous ancient King.

Modern archaeological research suggests that the Mask is from 1550-1500 BCE, which is earlier than tradition regards Agamemnon to have lived.

Thus scholars no longer consider it as the real Mask of Agamemnon but of a former King of Mycenae. However, the name "Mask of Agamemnon" stuck because of its early publicity and notoriety.

Hatshepsut means "Foremost of Noble Ladies." She was one of only two female pharaohs in Ancient Egyptian history, who ruled as full Pharaoh not just as a regent for a younger male relative.

She is the first significant female ruler in documented history. Born in 1507 BC, Hatshepsut came to the throne of Egypt in 1478 BC.

Officially, she ruled jointly with Thutmose III, who had ascended to the throne the previous year as a child of about two years old. Hatshepsut declared herself King sometime between the ages 2 and 7 of the reign of her stepson and nephew, Thutmose III.

This seven-ton granite Sphinx of Hatshepsut has the body of a lion and a human head wearing a head-cloth and royal beard.

The statue has the usual symbolic, powerful muscles of the lion and the idealized face used for pharaohs. This sphinx is one of several granite sphinxes that once stood in Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple at Deir el-Bahri.

Tutankhamun's Mask is the funerary mask of Tutankhamun, the 18th-dynasty Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh who reigned 1332-1323 BC.

It was discovered by Howard Carter in 1925 and is now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. This Mask is one of the most well-known works of art in the world.

Tutankhamun's burial chamber was found in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 and opened three years later.

It would be another two years before the excavation team, led by the English archaeologist Howard Carter, was able to open the massive Sarcophagus containing Tutankhamun's mummy.

On 28 October 1925, they opened the innermost of three coffins to reveal the gold Mask, seen by people for the first time in about 3,250 years.

Carter wrote in his diary: " The penultimate scene was disclosed - a very neatly wrapped mummy of the young King, with a golden mask of sad but tranquil expression, symbolizing Osiris ... the Mask bears that God's attributes, but the likeness is that of Tut.Ankh.Am"

The "Mummy of Katebet" is that of a woman who was a Chantress of Amun. As a Chantress to a major ancient Egyptian deity, she would have sung and performed music during the rituals that were performed in the temples of Thebes in Ancient Egypt.

Her body was preserved and wrapped within layers of linen about 1320 -1280 BC. The painted cartonnage mummy-mask covering her head has a gilded face.

Katebet's mummy-mask shows her wearing an elaborate wig and white earrings made from studs of calcite. Her wooden hands are depicted as crossed around her chest, wearing rings and jewelry.

Further down her mummy coverings is a small dark scarab beetle, which provided her magical protection when the gods judged her.

The "Book of the Dead" is an ancient Egyptian funerary manuscript written on papyrus consisting of magic spells intended to assist a dead person's journey through the underworld, and into the afterlife.

The original Egyptian name for the text is translated as "Book of Coming Forth into the Light." It was placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased.

The texts and images in the "Book of the Dead" evolved from the writings of many priests over about 1,000 years. They were used from the beginning of the New Kingdom around 1550 BCE to around 50 BCE.

The Avanton Gold Cone is a late Bronze Age European artifact belonging to the group of only four Golden Hats discovered thus far.

It is made from thin sheet gold and was attached externally to long conical and brimmed headdresses, which served to stabilize the outer gold leaf.

Golden hats are a particular and rare type of archaeological artifact known as the "cone-shaped gold hats of the Schifferstadt type" named after the first that was discovered.

The gold cones are covered in bands of ornaments along their whole length and extent. The decorations, mostly disks, and concentric circles, sometimes wheels, were punched using stamps or rolls.

This Relief of a Winged Genie on gypsum depicts a recurring motif in the iconography of Assyrian sculpture. Winged genies are usually bearded male figures with birds' wings.

The genie wears the horned crown of a deity and the elegant jewelry and fringed cloak of an Assyrian royal.

This well-preserved example comes from the Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal II in Nimrud. Nimrud was an ancient Assyrian city located 30 kilometers (20 mi) south of the city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

The "Siloam Inscription" or "Shiloah Inscription" (כתובת השילוח) is a passage of inscribed text found in the Siloam tunnel, in the City of David in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shiloah.

The ancient tunnel was constructed to bring water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam.

The ancient city of Jerusalem was located on a mountain, which made it defensible from almost all sides. Unfortunately, its primary source of fresh water was on the outside of the cliff wall.

The Bible records that King Hezekiah, concerned that the Assyrians would lay siege to the city, blocked and hid the spring's water outside the city. He also diverted it through a channel into the Pool of Siloam.

"The Lion Hunt" is a low relief sculpture showing the Royal Lion Hunt of King Ashurbanipal with his royal entourage, together with horses, dogs on leashes, and chariots. T

he sculpture shows captured lions and lionesses being released from cages to do battle with the King. The Lion Hunt is one of the most captivating works of art from Antiquity.

The suffering lions are depicted as brave and defiant, but they are eventually defeated with arrows, spears, and swords and are shown in detailed suffering and dying in agony.

The ancient artist expertly captured the lions in motion depicting each animal as a unique individual. This intricate artistry was created over 2,500 years ago with primitive tools, and it is a masterpiece of Assyrian art.

The Ishtar Gate was a passageway to the inner city of Babylon, constructed by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II in about 575 BCE.

The gate was integral to the ancient Walls of Babylon and was considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World.

When a Greek poet of the 2nd Century BC compiled the seven wonders of the ancient world, only one city could claim two world wonders, and that was Babylon.

Babylon was the home of the Hanging Gardens and Babylon's city wall with Ishtar Gate.

Dedicated to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of bas-reliefs of dragons and bulls, symbolizing the gods Marduk and Adad. Ishtar was a goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex.

Adad was a weather god, and Marduk was the chief or national God of Babylon.

The "Tabnit Sarcophagus" was created for King Tabnit of Sidon, a Phoenician ruler. Carved in the early 5th century B.C., has two separate inscriptions, one in Egyptian hieroglyphics and one in the Phoenician script.

Discovered in 1887 at a Necropolis near Sidon together with the Alexander Sarcophagus and other related sarcophagi. Tabnit's body was found floating perfectly preserved in the original embalming fluid.

The tombs were discovered in 1887, and the curator of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum arranged for full excavation and the transfer of the sarcophagi to Istanbul.

During the excavation, the workmen opened the Tabnit sarcophagus and found: " a human body floating in perfect preservation in a peculiar fluid."

While the curator was at lunch, the workmen overturned the Sarcophagus and poured the fluid out so that the secret of this mysterious liquid was lost forever.

This Kleroterion was a device used by the ancient Athenians during their period of democracy, over 2,500 years ago, to randomly select citizens for state councils, offices, and court juries.

Athenian democracy developed in the 6th century B.C., and the process of Sortition was their principal way of achieving fairness and equity. Sortition is the process for the selection of a few state officials, on a random basis, from a larger pool of candidates.

The fundamental principle behind the sortition process originates from the firm belief that "power corrupts." For that reason, when the time came to choose people to be assigned to empowering positions, the ancient Athenians resorted to picking randomly by a lot. The state positions were highly accountable and only for a limited period, to minimize abuse and corruption.

Sortition was used to pick most of the magistrates for their governing committees, and their juries. Thucydides has Pericles make this point in his Funeral Oration: "It is administration by the many instead of the few; that is why it is called a democracy."

The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece, between 447 and 432 B.C. It was created as a testament to the glory and pride of the Athenian state.

The Parthenon stands on the Acropolis of Athens, which in ancient times, as it does today, dominates the city of Athens. The Acropolis is an extremely rocky outcrop above the city of Athens.

The word Acropolis comes from the Greek, Akron, meaning "highest point" and polis meaning "city." The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock that rises high over Athens, with a large flat area that has been used as a fortress and a religious center from time immemorial.

In ancient times, the Acropolis was used as a fortress and a religious center dedicated to the cult of the city's patron goddess, Athena. During the 5th century B.C., peace had been made with Persia, and Athens had reached a high point in her wealth and power.

Athens was the leader of the majority of the Greek city-states, who paid tribute to Athens for protection from Persia. Under the democratically elected leadership of Pericles, Athens decided to use its wealth to build a vast new temple to Athena.

The "Alexander Sarcophagus" is a Hellenistic stone sarcophagus adorned with bas-relief carvings of Alexander the Great. Classical Greek sculptors created the marvelous Hellenistic sculptures in the Athenian idiom during the late 4th century B.C.

The most significant sculptured scene is of Alexander the Great attempting to battle the Persian King, Darius III, as Darius flees the battle of Issus in 333 BC.

The Alexander Sarcophagus is one of four massive carved sarcophagi discovered during the excavations at the necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon, in 1887. The Sarcophagus was probably created for a wealthy and influential noble or governor of the region.

This colossal monument is a statue of the winged figure of Nike, the Greek goddess of Victory. This sculpture is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Antiquity, and replicas of this winged figure were famous in the ancient world.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also known as the Nike of Samothrace, was created at about 190 BC and discovered 1863 in Samothrace, a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea.

The sculpture stood on the prow of a ship. It was erected to commemorate a naval victory by a Macedonian general.

The stone is valuable because it is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC by King Ptolemy V. The top text is in Ancient Egyptian using the hieroglyphic script.

The middle passage is Ancient Egyptian Demotic script, and the bottom is in Ancient Greek. As the decree is the same in all three versions, the Rosetta Stone provided the key to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The reason for the Ancient Greek writing is that the Rosetta Stone was carved during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Ptolemy was a Macedonian Greek who was one of Alexander the Great's generals and was appointed the leader of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC.

He established a royal family, which ruled the Kingdom of Egypt during its Hellenistic period, which lasted nearly 300 years. The Ptolemaic rulers introduced Greek to the Egyptian government bureaucracy. The last of the Ptolemaic dynasty was Queen Cleopatra.

The Pergamon Altar was built about 150 BC on the Acropolis or the high point of the ancient Greek city of Pergamon in Asia Minor.

This colossal Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, near modern-day Izmir, Turkey, is a monumental work of Greek Hellenistic art. Built during the reign of Greek King Eumenes II, the structure is over 35 meters wide and 33 meters deep. The front stairway is almost 20 meters wide.

Like the Parthenon in Athens, this Zeus Altar constructed on a terrace of the Acropolis overlooking the ancient city of Pergamon. Unlike the Parthenon, it was not a temple but merely an altar, and designed according to the Ionic order of Greek Architecture.

The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient Greek analog computer and mechanical model of the solar system used to predict planetary positions and eclipses.

Discovered in 1902 in a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera, which is located between Crete and Peloponnese.

The mechanism was designed and constructed by Greek scientists at about 100 BC to 200 BC. It has been suggested that the Antikythera Mechanism was lost in the shipwreck while being taken to Rome. It was part of looted Greek treasures, to support a triumphal parade being staged by Julius Caesar.

The device consisted of an elaborate clockwork mechanism with 37 gear wheels enabling it to follow the movements of the moon and the sun through the zodiac.

It could predict eclipses and to model the irregular orbit of the moon. The knowledge of this technology was lost in Antiquity. Technology with this complexity and artistry did not appear again until the development of astronomical mechanical clocks in Europe in the fourteenth century.

The Temple of Dendur is an Ancient Egyptian temple, constructed in 10 B.C. by the Roman governor of Egypt. The Temple is dedicated to Isis and Osiris, as well as two deified sons of a local Nubian chieftain.

The Temple was gifted to the United States by Egypt in 1965. It was then awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967 and installed into the museum in 1978.

The gift was in recognition of the United States government's help in saving many Nubian monuments from being submerged in the flooding of Lake Nasser through the Aswan Dam project. Many monuments that were preserved were dismantled and moved to higher ground.

The Temple of Dendur was disassembled and transported in over 660 crates to the U.S.

Several U.S. museums bid for the Temple in competition and the Temple was awarded to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

A new museum wing was specially built to house the Temple, and the reflecting pool in front of the Temple represents the Nile River, and the sloping wall behind it reflects the cliffs of the original location.

The James Ossuary is a 1st-century limestone box that was used for storing the bones of the dead. This ossuary has an Aramaic inscription that is cut into one side of the box. The inscription is in the Hebrew alphabet, it reads: "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."

Two thousand years ago, in Jerusalem, the dead would lie on a separate cavity in a tomb for a year of decomposition, and then the remains would be collected and placed in an ossuary.

The James Ossuary is slightly smaller than the average as compared to other ossuaries of the time. An ossuary was considered a luxury for the elite.

If the inscription on the James Ossuary is genuine, the inscription may indicate that the ossuary was that of "James the Just," the brother of Jesus, the founder of Christianity.

Take a Museum Tour

Top 10 OLDEST Known OBJECTS Made by Man and his Ancestors

Most Important HISTORICAL Archaeological FINDS

"The best prophet of the future is the past."
- Lord Byron

Photo Credit: By Carsten Frenzl from Obernburg, Derutschland (TUT-Ausstellung_FFM_2012_47) [CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Source Reference for the list of Objects: Wikipedia, Google. most visited pages on "Joy of Museums."; Gary Todd / CC0; Matysik / Public domain

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Ancient Artifacts - Virtual Tour - Joy of Museums Virtual Tours

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Amazing Artifacts from the Ancient World - Virtual Tour Artifacts are objects shape by humans that are of archaeological, historical, or cultural interest. Examples include tools, pottery, metal objects, weapons, and items of personal adornments, such as jewelry or death masks. Ancient historical artifacts help shed light on the lives of our ancestors and our [...]

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Description: Online resource for students that implement a variety of simulated scenarios that occur in a controlled environment. This allows students to prepare for realistic/real-life scenarios/situations.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Auditory-musical, bodily-kinesthetic, existential, intrapersonal, verbal-linguistic, and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Students will participate in an online simulation that represents what life was like during the market revolution (1800s). Once students are done with the simulation, they will compare what they witnessed in their simulation to what life is like today ( https://amhistory.si.edu/american-enterprise/market-revolution/ ). Scenarios and text can be read to students and they will be taught important vocabulary prior to simulation.

Other simulations: https://www.socialstudiescentral.com/instructional-resources/interactive-simulations/

Standard: SS.H.1.K. Compare life in the past with life today

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The following sites link to online simulations, interactive web sites, virtual museums and lessons for face-to-face simulations. (This is an older list created several years ago - so be prepared for dead links.) You can find your own by doing Google searches with keywords such as "interactive", "flash" and "simulation" along with content words like "Civil War" or "George Washington."

You can also check out the Video Games page here at Social Studies Central for more research, resources and sites for more complex video games.

1628: Across the Continent
Who was in North America in 1628? How far did European influence reach? Which American Indian tribes were powerful? The answers may surprise you!
Atlas of the Human Journey
A National Geographic interactive map of the genetic movement of humans over time
BBC History page
Some neat interactive games such as Viking Quest and Hunt the Ancestor. Click on the categories, most have interactive sims and games to the right
Civil War Online
Civil War OnLine is a military, economic, and political simulation of the American Civil War involving both wargaming and roleplaying aspects
Colonial House
Explore these pages to learn all about the Colony, the project, the colonists, and life in the "New World" in 1628
Colonial Williamsburg for Kids
Flash interactive site that describes life in colonial Virginia / be sure to also check out A Day in the Life
Conqueror!
A turn-based, multiplayer strategy game that takes place on a map of medieval Europe. Play on the web against as many as 16 human or AI opponents
Decisions in American History
Play a role in history. As a juror, senator, and U.S. president you will consider some of the most important decisions in our nation's history
Ease History
Over 600 videos and photographs are currently available, has three entry points: Historical Events, Campaign Ads, and Core Values
Educational Simulations
A generic list of a variety of available online
Fantastic Voyage!
It's 1629, and you have recently been appointed Governor of a New World colony on the wind-swept coast of the province of Mayne. You're charged you with the tasks of selecting colonists and safely guiding them across the sea
Fantasy Music League
Your goal? Create a record label that, based on real world chart movements, generates the most income possible
Fiction Books and Online Adventure games
Over 600 sites that let you experience online interactive fiction and fantasy games
Field Museum / Chicago
Online interactive activities including the story of chocolate, Egypt, Cleopatra problem solving and The Sue Files
Flight to Freedom
Slaves resisted. In nearly every conceivable way, they registered their protest against their enslavement. One of the most important ways they resisted was by running away
From Cave Art to Your Art
In this adventure, you can explore the way that artists use art media, then create your own video
Feudalism
Vanquish foes! Slaughter enemies! Recruit and equip your armies! Conquer foreign lands! Tax citizens and provide municipal services! Oh, ok, you can skip the last part
FutureLab Projects
Features innovative work which reflects the latest thinking in interactive media, educational ICT and digital technologies
Gold History!
On January 24, 1848 James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill, touching off the California gold rush. Try your luck!
Go West with Lewis and Clark
Wild rivers. Rugged mountains. An unknown continent to explore. This great expedition will face them all and need your help on this incredible adventure!
HIP Pocket Change
A fun, educational tool that generates interest in coins, the US Mint and U.S. history
History Detective Kids!
Geared towards kids ages 8-12, The History Detective Kids Web site encourages critical thinking, inquiry, problem solving, dramatic play and fun through learning / based on the great PBS series
History Mystery
How would you like to become a great investigator - of history! I challenge you to solve the History Mystery! If you figure out the mystery in fewer clues, you earn a higher title as an investigator.
Immigrant Rights Through History
The United States of America was built by many generations of immigrants. What legal rights do you think America's first immigrants had? Should a United States resident be denied citizenship under any circumstances?
I nteractive Fiction
Consider your favorite genre of fiction; Then think of the main character in that type of story. Now imagine that you have become that character
Hot Shot Business
Create a business, make money, learn econ stuff
LavaMind Economic Sims
These three sims look great! In Gazillionaire the player runs a trading company in outer space, Zapitalism is a business simulation where students runs a retail business on an imaginary island. In Profitania, the player manages and operates a factory in a subterranean world
LegSim
A virtual legislature populated by your students that emphasizes non-scripted, personalized politics in a 24/7 learning environment designed for history and government classes
Mapmaker! Mapmaker! Make Me a Map!
Imagine that you are a mapmaker for the king and queen of Spain. One day, one of your friends returns from his travels and asks you to make a map of his journey
MarsQuest Online
On this site, you will launch a spacecraft to Mars, explore canyons, solve mysteries, and search for life. Use it to compare to early explorations on Earth!
Museum of Online Museums
You will find links to online collections and exhibits covering a vast array of interests

Napoleonic Wars Online
Napoleonic Wars OnLine is a multiplayer simulation of combat and diplomacy during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars
National Budget Simulation
Students serve as an Economic Advisor to the President, who must increase military spending out of political necessity, but needs to reduce spending in other programs to limit the deficit
National Geographic / Remembering Pearl Harbor
Photos, footage, firsthand accounts, and narration bring the attack on Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, to life-moment by moment, target by target
NationStates
You create your own country, fashioned after your own political ideals, and care for its people. You can also join the U.N. and help solve international problems
Online Games
Online games that offer a "good experience" - good game design with an overall attention to quality
Online Jamestown Adventure
You are the Captain of the Jamestown Colony: Can you do any better than the real colonists? You will have a copy of the London Company's Instructions to help guide you
OOPS Virtual Field Trips
A virtual field trip is the next best thing to being there! Choose a destination below and click your trip into action
Rags to Riches
Rake in as much cash as you can taking "Groovy Gravy" on a 10 week concert tour. Choose music venues, set ticket prices, record new songs and decide how much to spend on advertising
Road to the Capital
Roberta Glass is running for a seat in the U.S. Congress so she can keep kids away from movies, music, books and video games that aren't "approved" by the government. You need to enter the race to stop her and protect the basic freedoms of America's kids!
Re-Living the Wright Way
Lots of goodies that recreates and documents the work and flights of the Wright brothers
Renaissance Connection
Be a patron of the arts. Design your own innovation. Investigate Renaissance artworks in depth. Discover how past innovations inform life today
Renaissance Florence: Time Machine Adventure
Your job? Stop the evil headmaster from kidnapping five of the greatest thinkers ever known!
SimMummy
In this simulation, kids participate in all the stages of an ancient Egyptian mummification, from removal of the organs to placing the mummy in the tomb
Tour the Town
An interactive tour of Colonial Williamsburg / explore the Historic Area and Colonial Williamsburg
Trades in Colonial Williamsburg
Experience life in early Williamsburg by viewing photos and descriptions of specific jobs
Underground Railroad
Created by National Geographic: You are a slave. Your body, your time, your very breath belong to a farmer in 1850s Maryland . . . but your soul lights up when you hear whispers of attempted escape. Freedom means a hard, dangerous trek. Do you try it?
Unicef Games
Helps kids rescue others, provide food, help clean water, etc and learn about the world at the same time!
Virtual Fieldtrips at Tramline
A portal for online virtual museum field trips
Virtual Fieldtrips from LDS Homeschoolers
This page has a huge list of virtual museum tours, nature tours, regional tours and webcams. Want to know how they make Legos or bubble gum? The site also has a cool list of virtual factory tours!
Viking Quest
Travel back in time to the year 793 AD. Can you build a ship, cross the seas, loot a monastery and return home to claim your prize?
Virtual Jamestown
A neat interactive site that asks kids to solve problems and use primary sources
Welcome to Adventures at Dry Creek
An exciting adventure to learn about life in Montana 60-70 million years ago. You will receive help from mentors, use lots of tools, and keep track of your ideas in a notebook
Welcome to Deadwood Illustrated
What was the Old West really like? Explore the frontier gold rush town of Deadwood, Dakota Territory to find out!
Westward Ho! Travel West on the Wagon Train
Load those wagons . . . kiss the kin goodbye . . . get ready for adventure, drama, comedy, tragedy, and fantastic learning as we head out west!
Who Killed William Robinson?
A wonderful site that asks kids to solve the actual murder of an African American using primary source documents. Was an innocent man convicted / did the real killers escape? Racism, history and CSI all in one!
World War I: Over the Top
An interactive adventure game that allows YOU to experience life in the trenches during the First World War
World War II: The Homefront
This simulation will follow the lives of five families during the school year of September 1943-June 1944. This specific time period was chosen because the war was in full swing, yet it was not yet clear what way it would go
You are the Historian!
Plimoth Plantation has put together thisvery cool historical investigation for elementary & MS kids
Xerxe's March to Greece
You are Xerxes, King of the mighty Persian Empire, and you are about to embark on one of the greatest military campaigns in history

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The following sites link to online simulations, interactive web sites, virtual museums and lessons for face-to-face simulations. (This is an older list created several years ago - so be prepared for dead links.) You can find your own by doing Google searches with keywords such as "interactive", "flash" and "simulation" along with content words like "Civil War" or "George Washington."

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Description: Visual organizer to help see students' prior knowledge before giving a topic.

Application(s): Learning activity and activating prior knowledge.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Students will be learning about the Jim Crow Laws. In the center of the word web, there will be written "Jim Crow Laws" on the front board. There will be four attached circles to the center one and those should include what the Jim Crow Laws impacted, such as bathrooms, restaurants, schools, water fountains, etc.

Standard: SS.H.2.2. Compare individuals and groups who have shaped a significant historical change.

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Description: Picture books are great for giving content and vocabulary words. Picture books use terms in an accurate way in terms of context. They also have pictures, charts, and other visuals to help grasp students' attention. This helps with sparking questions about the certain topic at first glance.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Visual-spatial and interpersonal.

Explanation/Example: Administer a picture walk for students. Collect a variety of books at different reading levels that focus on a specific topic. Since some books can be long, there can be specific pages bookmarked for students to focus on for this strategy. For example, perspectives of the Native Americans and Europeans (colonization). Place books about the topic around the classroom and allow students to walk around to the different books. They can look for pictures of interest, write down notes about what they observe, and new vocabulary words they might be unfamiliar with. They may also create a drawing that includes new vocabulary words. Once they've been to every book, there can be a whole group discussion about what they had seen. You can create a chart about information they gathered, unfamiliar but key terms, etc.

Standard: SS.H.1.4. Explain connections among historical contexts and why individuals and groups differed in their perspectives during the same historical period.

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Description: Read statements and have students hold up a red or green card to show if they disagree or agree with the statement (green=agree, red=disagree).

Application(s): Formative or review.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily-kinesthetic and intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Ask prompts about life now and today (unit in kindergarten). For example: "Microwaves have been around for 400 years", "White boards used to be chalk boards decades ago", etc.

Standard: SS.H.1.K. Compare life in the past with life today.

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Description: KWL charts can be used to start a new chapter or unit. They can also be used as a framework for a mini project on a topic.

Application(s): Formative and summative.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal.

Explanation/Example: Have students explore different regions or cultures. Students can be put in groups to research the many aspects of a culture. The KWL charts can be used to organize the information they use regarding the culture or region.

Standard: SS.H.2.3. Describe how significant people, events, and developments have shaped their own community and region.

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Description: This strategy invites the class to collaboratively generate ideas about a certain topic.

To create a collection of anchor charts, write subtopics or supporting questions on poster boards. Then, post the posters around the classroom. Divide the students as evenly as possible to create groups for each poster. Ask every group of students to read and write responses on each chart, recording what they know. Give students about three minutes to respond to each poster. Once the three minutes is up, have students rotate to the next poster. As they rotate, they can see what other groups recorded and possibly cross out incorrect information and add information they think has relevance. Once every group has been at every poster, have them go back to their original poster. There will then be one spokesperson at each group/poster, and they will share what was recorded on their poster. They can continue to rotate to see responses on other posters. This can be used to start discussions or notes can be taken about information to review in the future.

Application(s): Learning activity and/or formative.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and visual-spatial.

Explanation/Example: Students will go around the room to posters. Students will be broken up into groups. There will be topics about sale prices and profit around the room and students will write down what they know about the topic. Students will then go back to their original poster and read all the responses. They will also rotate and take a look at the responses for the other posters.

Standard: SS.EC.2.5. Discover how positive incentives (e.g. sale prices and earning money) and negative incentives influence behavior in our nation’s economy and around the world.

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Description: Used to see relationships between information. Pick an organizer that goes along with the way the content is organized. Example: If a text compares and contrasts 2 people/ideas, a Venn diagram would be the best graphic organizer to use. To scaffold, you can help students who need support by filling in all or parts of the information, while giving students who don't need support (more independent) a blank graphic organizer.

Application(s): Formative.

Multiple Intelligences: Visual-spatial, and interpersonal or intrapersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will create a graphic organizer of their choice, but it must display the similarities and differences of decision making within the classroom, and in school. (Will cover the community portion in a future lesson). This can be done individually or with partners.

Standard: SS.CV.3.3. Compare procedures for making decisions in the classroom, school, and community.

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Description: Pick essential vocabulary words for students that they need to know to understand a certain concept/topic. Give direct instruction and repeat practice with these vocabulary words. Depending on the student progress or needs, vary the amount or practicing and reviewing. I can also pull students in small groups, depending on who needs more scaffolding with the vocabulary words.

Application(s): Learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Prior to learning about how an environmentalist has faced challenges and opportunities (Greta Thunberg), students will learn important terms such as climate change, global warming, pollution, etc.

Standard: SS.IS.8.6-8.LC. Analyze how a problem can manifest itself and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address it. (6th grade)

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Description: Give students a prompt or question, allow them to think about it for 1-2 minutes. Then, have students pair with a partner to discuss and share ideas. This allows all students to participate and have them express themselves. Then, ask the pairs to share with the whole class (if comfortable). Note: be sure to give students enough time to think about the questions or prompts you give them!

Application(s): Summative or review.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Students will be learning about laws that were made to solve problems within the country. Students will be given prompts based on their determination on if the laws fulfilled their purpose. They will have time to think, discuss with a partner, and share their ideas.

Standard: SS.CV.6.6-8.LC. Determine whether specific rules and laws (both actual and proposed) resolve the problems they were meant to address.

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Description: Have students divide into 2 groups. Have a small group of students, who will be experts, sit in the middle of the classroom as the rest of the class surrounds them. Have the small group talk about a certain question/topic while the others (who aren't in the small group) take notes and write questions for the small group in the middle of the classroom. The students in the middle of the classroom are allowed to speak. At the end of a discussion, ask the students surrounding the middle if they want to ask any clarifying questions.

Application(s): Summative.

Multiple Intelligences: Interpersonal and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Students will be learning about the law and constitution. At the end of the unit, students will have a fishbowl class discussion discussing what they've learned and clarification they may need.

Standard: SS.CV.2.5. Examine the origins and purposes of rules, laws, and key U.S. constitutional provisions.

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Description: A quick movement activity. Have half of the class stand in a circle but facing outward. Have the other half stand in an outside circle facing the other half that's facing outward. The circle on the inside will move clockwise, while the circle on the outside moves counterclockwise. Students will move over one, so they have a different partner to discuss information with.

Application(s): Learning activity and/or review.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and verbal-linguistic.

Explanation/Example: Have two circles formed. Have half of the class stand in a circle but facing outward. Have the other half stand in an outside circle facing the other half that's facing outward. The circle on the inside will move clockwise, while the circle on the outside moves counterclockwise. Students will move over one, so they have a different partner to discuss information with. Have the inside circle read an article about the positives of oil drilling and have the outside circle read about the negative of oil drilling. Students can then discuss the articles they read with one another.

Standard: SS.G.2.5. Describe how humans have utilized natural resources in the United States.

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Description: A graphic organizer that's split into sections that display words or symbols that correspond with one another to represent a common relationship. Students will draw a circle and then cut the circle into 4 equal parts (quarters) with a pencil. Students will describe or name the concept and how each section of the circle correspond with the concept. This allows students to see what words/phrases mean as well as how they connect with one another.

Application(s): Formative and/or learning activity.

Multiple Intelligences: Visual-spatial, interpersonal, and naturalist.

Explanation/Example: Students will create a class concept circle regarding the goods and services that are in their community. For example, we can say that there are corn field, soybean fields, wheat fields, and wind field farms in Normal, IL. Each of those things can be listed in the concept circle and the concept would be the goods that are grown/produced in Normal, IL. This can go on into how the corn, wheat, and soybeans can be used to feed animals and humans, while the windmills provide energy to the town. Students can do some research on another community, such as Chicago.

Standard: SS.EC.3.2. Compare the goods and services that people in the local community produce and those that are produced in other communities.

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Description: A quick movement activity. Students will stand at their desks and raise their hands high. They then move around the classroom to find a partner. They will high-five someone to indicate that they're partners. They will take turns repeating facts or information on a social studies topic.

Application(s): Summative.

Multiple Intelligences: Bodily-kinesthetic and interpersonal.

Explanation/Example: Students will recite the three branches of government or the thirteen original colonies.

Standard: SS.CV.1.4. Distinguish the responsibilities and powers of government officials at the local, state, and national levels.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SeLkj96ZqbpYoPX20k-3XcK6vmW1HMpaXrz1ZRXfEsw/edit?usp=sharing