Appropriate Web Sites:

The White House You will find information here about what is happening in the White house today, as well as learn about the history of the White House and take tours if you wish.

US Senate Pick your state and get organizational information as well as how to contact your state senators!

Today in History This site features a different person or event in history each day. This site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.

Social Studies Resources for Grades 6-8 This is a great list of resources that teachers an students will both make good use of!

Michigan Department of Education Social Studies Curriculum Standards An essential link for Michigan teachers, these are the official state curriculum standards.

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) This organization has a wealth of resrouces available on-line including lesson plans and activities linked to National Standards. This site may be all you need to find Internet resources, lesson plans, and activities.

Michigan Council for the Social Studies Home Page The professional organization for social studies teachers in Michigan. The site provides a list of Web links as well as other information for teachers.

MERIT Michigan Teachers' Network Social Studies Links Over 700 links of interest to social studies teachers.

Example Lesson Plans:

Find the House of Your Dreams - In this cool webquest, students will work in groups to develop a plan and buy a house. They work in teams to decide on flooring, window, kitchen and other options for their house.

Creating a Governement Understanding the process of creating a government and how a certain form of government might be chosen for a country can be difficult. This activity illustrates one possible method of choosing a government and
encourages students not only to learn the differences between various forms of government, but also to understand how different groups of people might vary in their choices. This lesson is appropriate for grades 7-12.

Choosing the Best Candidate Because of the influence of the media on students and students decision making, this activity will force them to look at the how and why people choose candidates for public office. This lesson is appropriate for grades 7-12.