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American history Websites offer resources for teachers and students, ranging from the basic historical facts to virtual investigations of historical events. Discover and explore primary documents, lesson plans and interactive classroom activities. Included: Five great sites to supplement the history curriculum.

Are you having trouble interesting your students in the textbook version of American history? Make history come alive in your classroom by introducing students to the multimedia materials, interactive activities, virtual tours, and primary documents found in these online resources. The Web sites provide resources that cover a wide range of grade levels and topics -- just the thing to increase student interest and supplement your curriculum.

Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
The U.S. Government Printing Office -- through a virtual Ben Franklin -- introduces kids in grades K-12 to how the U.S. government works and how to use primary resources. The content and activities are accurate, interesting, well written, and grade appropriate. The site provides resources for parents and teachers too.

History Detectives
History Detectives provides interactive features, lesson plans, and learning activities that are sure to promote your students' interest in history and science. Visitors conduct their own historical investigations as they apply investigative techniques to such historical mysteries as ballistics, document examination, paper analysis, and more.

History Wired
HistoryWired offers a virtual tour of a large collection of artifacts from the American Museum of Natural History. Each of the objects -- chosen for the "interesting stories it had to tell" -- is discussed in its historical context. Additional research materials from the museum also are included.

The Underground Railroad
National Geographic Online provides this virtual adventure in which students follow escaped slaves on their journey to freedom. Through historical photos and sound clips of spirituals of the time, students are transported in time to a virtual trip where they make the decisions about what would be the best choice to keep them safe and reach their goal.

Teaching with Historic Places
The National Park Service has used properties listed in its National Register of Historic Places to create nearly 100 classroom lessons in a number of subject areas, including history, social studies, geography, and civics. Each lesson includes maps, readings, photographs, primary source materials, and more. Professional development resources also are provided.

• American Valor:A look at America's military heroes
• You Are the Historian Plimoth Plantation's interactive exploration of early colonial and Native American history
• National Constitution Center
• American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920 from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection
• Best of History Web Sites
• Congress for Kids
• Colonial Williamsburg
• Educational Bookmarks for Research on Explorers
• Lewis and Clark Activity Sheets
• History and Politics Out Loud

For even more great sites for American history, visit the Reference area of Education World's Site Reviews Archives.

Article by Hazel Jobe
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