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Social Studies is most commonly associated as the boring class about irrelevant information for students. It's often difficult for students to form meaningful connections between themselves and the content. An effective way to engage students in Social Studies includes using interactive resources that allow them to create their own experiences with the content. A helpful resource I found is the Smithsonian Learning Lab. This resource allows teachers and students to view several of the worlds most historic artifacts in a virtual museum. It also provides helpful videos and texts by experts. A feature that I think is very beneficial as a teacher is the "Create" tab. Through this tab, teachers and hand-select the resources they want to use for a given unit. This compiles all of the resources into one space for the students to engage with. Social Studies teachers should definitely consider the Smithsonian Learning Lab as a helpful resource, because it helps bring history to life. By visually seeing artifacts that came from a significant event or time period, students can form connections with the content, rather than just hearing about it. This resource would also be beneficial for teachers of other content areas. One of the most remarkable things about the Smithsonian Institute is their dedication to displaying knowledge of a wide variety of subjects. For example, this resource might be cool to use for a science teacher discussing engineering. They could definitely use artifacts from the Air and Space Museum to connect science content with scientific advancements of the past.

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Comments

  1. Shelby 28 August 2019 at 13:03

    Hello Heather!
    I am a firm believer in hands-on interactive learning and your resource allows just that. Your resource would be amazing in a science class when we are talking about space! I was able to search with the keyword earth and it brought me to live pictures of Earth...how cool! I also love how you can create your collection of resources so that they are readily available to you when showing students. The organization in a classroom is the key to success!
    (81 words)

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