Teacher+Resources

1. SSS site: http://www.floridastandards.org/downloads.aspx

This is the official website from the SSS. It has a link to all of the standards required for each grade level and every subject. The site is very well organized and the Standards are easy to read and reference. Even though the standards don’t exactly give much education or facts on any particular subject, it does tell you the mandatory and state enforced curriculum. The standards that are currently enforced are well complemented by previous requirements, both sets give good direction and outline of possible topics to address. Even if an educator is against the SSS program as a whole, it can be helpful to any educator who needs some direction or inspiration for a lesson plan or curriculum.

2. History Channel Website http://www.history.com This is the website from the History Channel. The site does not require membership or any form of payment. The site has many great resources for both educators and students to use. The site has free access to videos and articles that cover all spans of time. Some of the videos have interviews with veterans, citizens from the era, or experts of history. The site also has audio clips and their description for anyone to hear; all of this information is easily referenced with the search bar or the well organized subject bar. The only fall back would probably be the commercial aspect of the site; third party pop ups are common and the site itself has an initiative to advertise its own shows and sell DVDs of TV specials.

3. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History http://www.gilderlehrman.org/

This site is the product of several history lovers that aim to increase the proper education of American history along with the passion to learn it. The site appears to be updated quite often and with high standers for accuracy and presentation. The pages have a plethora of photographs from the WWII era; such as scenery, battles, soldiers, propaganda and other similar objects. The site is easy to navigate and well organized, making it easy for reference. Because the site covers all aspects of American history, it is great for the week’s lesson plan and others. Recommended for both students and educators

4. the HyperWar Project http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ This website is specialized to just WWII military history. The site has multiple references to different primary documents for both students and teachers to utilize. There is no charge for the site, so it is easy to access and does not cost anything to use. The documents are produced from different government agencies that were involved in WII. The documents cover serial viewpoints of the war beyond the American perspective, making it great for students to use, expanding their perspective of this massive and complex war. For any assignment that incorporates looking at primary sources, this site is essential for reference and research.

5. Spartacus http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WW.htm

This source of information is sponsored by the Ask Jeeves search-engine, and pertains to mostly history subjects only. The site presents information in a similar fashion to Wikipedia, key terms within articles are hyper-linked to other pages and articles within the site that describe the specific term. The contents of this website cannot be changed by the general public unlike Wikipedia, making it a more secure source of information. The information is very general though, but still making it ideal for students to use in order to grasp the main points of any event or figure. The site has many advertisements but none are distracting or inappropriate for student use.

6. PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/

This is an impressive site from PBS that contains numerous facts and figures that promote the TV program that will air about WWII. This site is very well organized with very impressive graphics and visual backgrounds. The site is great for student research and teacher reference. There are maps and stories of pivotal battles and event from the war. There is a very impressive section covering the D-day invasion, it includes maps and battle strategies and even the origin of the battle’s name. There are news from the era coupled with photos of the weapons used, making a great example of primary resources.

7. Government archives http://www.archives.gov

This site is Ideal for primary research. Containing many original documents and important figures, this government created website has exactly what teachers want. After typing in WWII into the search bar, one can find casualty figures, films, along with other sources of information. This would be more for teacher use, ideal for finding a single document to present to the class for analysis. The documents found here can lead to other sites with more analysis or information on the given topic or battle.

8. Best History Sites http://www.besthistorysites.net/WWII_News.shtml This site is great for finding other reputable sources of information. This “Google” for history can be great for teacher research on several topics within WWII. The easy access and proper organization makes it user friendly for students as well. The site has a side bar specifically for WWII and different components of the war. I would recommend this for student use in research and for general time-lines of the war used for grasping key concepts on the war.