My Top Three Educational Sites for Middle School Social Studies by Mike Siekkinen

Brainpop.com- very reasonable pricing for a school license. Fun, fast and informative website for history, geography, economics and culture. I use the site to supplement my classroom instruction. Students receive a login and password and then go to the topic I assign. I have students view the video that is with each topic and then explore the area. There are games and activities associated with each of the topics as well as a quiz on the subject matter. I have my students email the results or take a screen shot of the final results. I place an 80% or higher requirement on students and they are allowed to retake the quizzes until passing grades are obtained. Site is fun and middle schoolers are not to “old” for cartoons!

Icivics.org- awesome free website on government and politics. Lots of games that are fun and educational. Also many levels, so this site can work for all ages. Games are interactive and are great to use when teaching government. Website has the endorsement and a founder of none other than Sandra Day O’Connor. Lots of fun and you sneak learning in. My students really enjoy this site.

Freedomflix.com- interactive online textbook that is great for teaching civics and history. Very reasonably priced for a site license. I design web quests for my students. Each lesson has a video, interactive text with vocabulary and includes maps, timelines and pictures. Really great site that I use weekly. My students are always on a web quest supplementing my classroom instruction. I assign students web quests in Google classroom where they have options for submission of my web quest information to allow for differentiation.

Dr. Mike Siekkinen, a retired U.S. Navy submariner, became a teacher as a second career. He teaches history at St Marys Middle School as well as Adult and Career Education at Valdosta State in Georgia.

Great Teacher Resources – Brainpop and FreedFlix by Mike Siekkinen

Have you tried Brainpop? Our school bought a site license for it last year; it was very reasonable. Brainpop is a multi-topic site that kids really enjoy. Students log in and then can be assigned topics/areas to visit on the website. It really does have something for everyone. Students can play games, watch short videos and then take quizzes on the assigned topics. Best of all, these can be very quick (10 minutes) or lengthy, depending on what you assign. I find the site easy to navigate and my middle school students love it.

Another site I am using is FreedomFlix.This also requires a site license but is also very reasonable. FreedomFlix is a history related site that is customizable with regards to reading levels. It has loads of topics ranging from early colonization to all of the wars America has been involved in. Three different Lexile levels are available with each lesson as well.  Students can even select "read aloud" and the text is read to them. I find both options great for my multi-level readers as well as my ESOL students. I, with very little effort, design webquests for my students that guide them through the site and information. There are videos, maps, historical documents and stories for each topic as well as external links to other sites. Great site for high, low and in between reading levels!

My students think the website is fun and enjoy when they are "assigned" topics to do on Brainpop. I have always thought it the best of both worlds when students are enjoying themselves and are learning at the same time.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve used either of these resources, or if you have other places teachers should know about.

Dr. Mike Siekkinen, a retired U.S. Navy submariner, became a teacher as a second career. He teaches history at St Marys Middle School as well as Adult and Career Education at Valdosta State in Georgia.