Back to School Gov Info Resources
Explores some teaching resources for at home and in the classroom
Morning, everyone!
Thank you for your patience over the past few weeks as I took a vacation from my postings and day job. I’m happy to be starting up at one of the most nostalgic times of year for me: back-to-school season. Though I’m not a student anymore, August and September still bring back fond memories of the first days of school.
I am lucky to have encountered many excellent educators over the years. They are some of the most determined individuals I know, who brave so many barriers and challenges in the name of empowering youth. This post is dedicated to them!
A Select List of Government Information Teaching Resources
Today, I’m providing a short list of some of my favorite teaching resources made available by various government agencies for free. While educators are usually the primary audience for most of these resources, they can be used by anyone, either for self-instruction or for encouraging learning with others.
DOCSTeach is one of my favorite learning resources, put out by the National Archives and Records Administration. This website provides curated lists of primary sources to use for teaching, as well as hundreds of activities and lesson plans that can be adapted with your specific group in mind. Teachers can create activities for students to access directly through DOCSTeach. You can also access shared lesson plans and activities created by other teachers.
2. Resources for Family Engagement form the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress offers thousands of teaching resources, so this one really only scratches the surface. I chose to highlight the Family Engagement resources in particular because most of the activities are great for at home or in the classroom with few adjustments necessary. One of my favorite activities from this list is the Design Your Own Lighthouse project. This is a good choice for library programs, as well!
3. NOAA Education Resources Database
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offers a searchable database of over 12000 educational resources for a variety of ages and grades. You can filter by type of activity as well as the topic, which is helpful. Each resources has an information page that you can click on for detail and anydownloadable materials.
One example is this Climate Resilience in Your Community Activity Book, which is accompanied by several links to educator resources and lesson plans for using this in K-12 contexts.
4. National Gallery of Art Teaching Lessons and Resources
The National Gallery of Art offers extensive teaching resources, and some of the strongest curriculum for college students as well as K-12. Educators can explore specific lessons and activities as well as learning resource modules.
An example of an extensive learning resources is this unit on the Translatic Slave Trade. Each work of art can be clicked on to reveal the background of the artist and image, as well as discussion points and questions to get students dialoging.
In Conclusion
Many government agency websites make a point of providing access to education and teaching resources - these are just a few prominent examples. But if you’re looking for topics not included in this list, try searching through a few relevant agency websites (use the USA.gov agency index!) to see what they offer.
Let me know in the comments what you find!
See you next week.
Excellent post brimming with great government resources! I’m embarrassed to admit there are a few on your list that I was unaware of…