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

The Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program team at the Institute of International Education announces a free teaching resource: the U.S. Diplomacy Center's Diplomacy Simulations Program, "designed to expose students to the world of foreign affairs and help them develop the 21st century skill set they will need to be competitive in today's global economy." Under their teacher's guidance, high school and college-level students can use these materials to work in teams to find solutions to a hypothetical (but very real) foreign affairs issue, such as international migration, trade,…

Abraham Lincoln’s papers from his time as a lawyer, congressman and the 16th president are now online in full color in a new presentation after a multi-year digitization effort at the Library of Congress. This collection includes Lincoln’s Inaugural Addresses, Draft of Emancipation Proclamation among more than 40,000 documents dating from 1774 through Lincoln’s presidency and beyond. There are materials from his campaigns, Lincoln’s first and second inaugural addresses and the earliest known copies of the Gettysburg Address. The more than 20,000 original documents in the collection have been…

Explore the aftermath and resilience of a community devastated by the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, which took the lives of 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut.

This documentary follows the creation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s pop culture Broadway phenomenon "Hamilton" and the U.S. history behind it. Interviews with former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as Questlove, Jimmy Fallon, Nas, Stephen Sondheim, and more.

This documentary invites viewers to "discover the shocking reality of the global arms trade through the stories of those who perpetrate and investigate this shadow economy – the only business that counts its profits in billions and its losses in human lives."

View an intimate portrait of the ongoing economic crisis told through kids growing up in the Midwest. The film revisits three families hit hard by the recession, exploring what poverty means to children and to the country.

Papers of Ulysses S. Grant Now Online  In October 2017, The Library of Congress put the papers of Ulysses S. Grant online for the first time in their original format at https://www.loc.gov/collections/ulysses-s-grant-papers/about-this-colle…. The Library holds a treasure trove of documents from the Civil War commander and 18th president of the United States, including personal correspondence, “headquarters records” created during the Civil War and the original handwritten manuscript of Grant’s memoir— regarded as one of the best in history—among other items. The collection totals…

* The Pledge of Allegiance, its history, and the addition of the phrase "under God" can serve as a jumping off point into major themes of U.S. history and First Amendment freedoms. Here is a free article in Social Education, September 2013 by Eric C. Groce, Tina Heafner, and Elizabeth Bellows: https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/september2013/under_god_and_pledge_allegiance. * After reading that lesson plan and article (above), teachers (and students) can examine the hand-typed sermon that inspired President Eisenhower to support inserting the phrase "Under God" into…

For thousands of students around the world, autumn marks the start of another chance to get excited about learning with the National History Day Contest. Students enter their projects in local level contests, with the top entries advancing to regional, state/affiliate, and finally, the National Contest in June 2018. Along the way, students compete for the gold medal in their category as well as honors, awards, and thousands of dollars in prizes and scholarships. Guided by an annual theme, students are encouraged to choose a topic that matches their personal interests. The 2018 theme is "…