Teacher Updates
The Oregon Social Sciences Teacher Update is a monthly e-newsletter that provides teachers and other educators with information about professional development opportunities, teacher and student competitions and awards, and lectures, concerts, and exhibitions. The current issue and past issues are posted here. Subscribe to the Social Sciences Updates
Oregon Open Learning
Additional resources available here.
Curriculum & Instruction
Education in the social sciences aims to help students develop as rational, humane and productive citizens in a democratic society. Four elements of social studies education are necessary to help develop such citizens-knowledge, skills, values and participation. Democratic values, such as freedom, equality and due process, are the core of our national experience. Students should be involved in the thoughtful examination of ideas, viewpoints,
- Ethnic Studies (HB2845/HB2023)
- Holocaust and Other Genocides Learning Concepts Guidance
- Grade Level Guidance for Holocaust/Genocide Objectives
- Recommended Supplemental Texts - Ethnic Studies
- Western Hemisphere Resources, rev. 3-2019
- Teaching the Civil Rights Movement
- Center for Digital Storytelling
The Center for Digital Storytelling is a California-based non-profit arts organization rooted in the art of personal storytelling. We assist people of all ages in using the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities, in ways that improve all our lives.
- Lewis & Clark links to Social Science Standards K-12
The Lewis & Clark Expedition can be used to teach Civics, Economics, Geography, History and Social Science Analysis at a variety of grade levels.
- National Student Parent Mock Election
Get information and materials about the Mock Election program!
- The Oregon Encyclopedia
The Oregon Encyclopedia is an authoritative and free resource on all things Oregon, from the expected to the unexpected. Learn more about the people, places, events, and institutions that define the history and culture of Oregon.
- Teaching American History Grant Application Information
Archived information regarding the program and application process.
- Honoring Tribal Legacies
- Supporting Distance Learning Curricular by Grade Span & Content Strand
Educator Resources - By Subject
Please note that inclusion of the following external web links does not imply endorsement of either the reliability of the information presented or its suitability for a particular age group or grade level.
- Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations.
- Oregon Historical Society
The Oregon Historical Society's mission is preserving and interpreting Oregon's past in thoughtful, illuminating, and provocative ways.
- Smithsonian Institution
The world's largest museum complex and research organization composed of 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo. Visit the Smithsonian in person or online and you will see why it represents for so many the treasured icons of our past, the vibrant art of the present, and the scientific promise of the future.
- U.S. Holocaust Museum
A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum stimulates leaders and citizens to confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy.
- Center for Civic Education
The Center specializes in civic/citizenship education, law-related education, and international educational exchange programs for developing democracies. Programs focus on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights; American political traditions and institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; constitutionalism; civic participation; and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
- Classroom Law Project
Helps students at all grade levels learn to be informed and active citizens who can foster, sustain, and preserve a free democratic society.
- Kids in the House
This site is designed to give middle school students valuable legislative and historical information.
- National Student Parent Mock Election
Makes students and parents aware of the power of their ballot by actively involving them in a full-fledged campaign and national election. In 2004, the last presidential election year, over 4 million students, parents and teachers participated in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 14 countries/territories around the world where Americans have schools. Over 40 million have participated since the project began.
- Street Law
Street Law is practical, participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights. A unique blend of content and methodology, Street Law uses techniques that promote cooperative learning, critical thinking, and the ability to participate in a democratic society.
- USA for UN Refugee Agency
Teaching about Human Rights, Tolerance, and Refugees. Builds support in the United States for the humanitarian work of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Our mission is to inform Americans about the plight of refugees and advocate for their protection. We want to give individual Americans, frustrated by the growing refugee crisis and their own inability to do something to help, a way to put action behind their words.
- CNN - Politics
Political news, opinion, and analysis from CNN.
- Project Vote Smart
Americans young and old volunteer their time, take no money from special interest groups, and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort that, if successful, will provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century. Their idea is one you may have thought of yourself. It is a deceptively simple concept but enormously difficult to achieve and would not be possible without the collaboration of citizens willing to lay their partisan differences aside for this one crucial task.
- Consumer Jungle
We've got information for you on everything you need to know to survive in the real world. Our content is packed with tips, advice, and direction on how to navigate the consumer jungle.
- Federal Reserve
Here you can find links to instructional materials and tools that can increase your understanding of the Federal Reserve, economics and financial education.
- Federal Reserve Education
This site is a resource where you will find information regarding the financial crises, the Fed's response, and the road ahead.
- Jump Start - Oregon
The Oregon Jump Start Coalition is a statewide, all volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the financial literacy of Oregon’s youth. We are a coalition, comprised of individuals, non-profit and governmental agencies and the corporate sector. The Coalition believes that all youth must have the financial literacy necessary to make informed financial decisions.
- National Council on Economic Education
A nationwide network that leads in promoting economic literacy with students and their teachers. NCEE's mission is to help students develop the real-life skills they need to succeed: to be able to think and choose responsibly as consumers, savers, investors, citizens, members of the workforce, and effective participants in a global economy.
- National Council for the Social Studies
Social studies educators teach students the content knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a participatory democracy. The mission of National Council for the Social Studies is to provide leadership, service, and support for all social studies educators.
- American Memory Lesson Plans
Use these resources to learn more about constructing lessons with primary sources.
- History Matters!
Designed for high school and college teachers and students, History Matters serves as a gateway to web resources and offers other useful materials for teaching U.S. history.
- National Center for History in the Schools
The mission of the National Center for History in the Schools [NCHS] is to improve history education in K-12 schools via its challenging, yet easy to use, curricular materials and assisting with the professional development of K-12 history teachers.
- National Council for History Education
We believe that the social sciences and current issues, both domestic and global, are best studied in historical context and perspective. We believe that historical study is the precondition for intelligent political and personal judgment and that, in turn, such judgment is the absolute precondition for the political power of the citizen, and the private self-fulfillment of the person. Familiar notions, no doubt, but their implications call for a fundamental reordering of the American curriculum from grade school to graduate school.
- The Civil War Through a Child's Eye
This lesson focuses on the use of historical fiction and primary sources to expand students' perceptions of the Civil War era. Literature and photographic images reflect, communicate, and influence human perspectives of historical events. Specifically, the unit helps students to view the Civil War era through a child’s eye, rather than from an adult perspective.
- The Historical Text Archive:
The HTA publishes high quality articles, books, essays, documents, historical photos, and links, screened for content, for a broad range of historical subjects. It was founded in 1990 in Mississippi and is one of the oldest history sites on the Internet. This site is dynamic with regular additions to its contents and its link collection.
- National Council on Geographic Education
Since 1888, we've traveled the Earth, sharing its amazing stories with each new generation. National Geographic's Mission Programs support critical expeditions and scientific fieldwork, encourage geography education for students, promote natural and cultural conservation, and inspire audiences through new media, vibrant exhibitions, and live events.
Professional Organizations