Recommended Website:
ClassBrain.com: Reports and Projects
Age Range: 8-17 (Due to the extensive material at this site, parents should preview the site to determine suitability of content.)
The “Reports and Projects” section of the ClassBrain website provides a remarkable archive of information to help students write reports and develop projects about history, government, geography and social studies. The multi-media sources are engaging and include print-outs and worksheets along with links to other sites for further research and study.
When you get to the landing page, you’ll see a menu of topics to choose from that includes:
- State Reports – Click on the state of interest and find info and resources on history, agriculture, geology, economy, natural resources, tourism, festivals and fairs, culture and arts, music, maps, recipes, state quarters, stamps, the capital city, famous people, state motto, flower, symbols, etc.
- Country Reports – Get information on every country from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Learn about the history, culture, language, economy, geography, government and more. You’ll find worksheets and maps to print out and color.
- Defining Documents – This section offers primary sources for the documents that defined the United States of America including Acts, Bills, Presidential Executive Orders, Supreme Court Decisions, The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, important writing and papers, proclamations, and even links to video and audio of memorable speeches.
- Mission Reports – For anyone studying California history, this will be a “must visit” section of the site with tons of information accompanied by illustrations and photos of California missions.
- Biographies – Read the biographies of people with historical importance to U.S. history from Abigail Adams to Woodrow Wilson. The brief biographies include a picture of the individual along with “Learning Links” to other websites with additional information, as well as a suggested reading list.
- Freedom Files and Kid’s Freedom Files – This description from the website says it all, “We have September 11th resources including slideshows, timelines, video footage, tributes, historic moments in the aftermath, and much more.”
You can see that the content here is pretty exhaustive. But that’s just the beginning of the ClassBrain website and its mission “to assist students from 1 through 101 to explore the universe, to be inspired by the work of others around the world, to become excited about their own endeavors, and to embrace the education process.”
If you decide to explore the menu at the top of the screen you’ll find all kinds of resources for the education of parents, teachers, kids and teens. The content is extensive and some of it may be controversial or objectionable to some – that’s why it is IMPERATIVE THAT PARENTS PREVIEW THE SITE and provide guidance to their children.
The above caveat is especially true for the topics covered in the “Parents and Teachers” section (that includes lesson guides for a “Movies In The Classroom” feature at the site) and in the “CB Teen” section. The ClassBrain website provides various rating systems to assist you, but stresses that it is ultimately up to parents to decide the appropriate level of exposure to controversial or objectionable content for your own children.
That said, it is very worthwhile for parents to explore the amazing array of educational content here in every subject and topic. Keep what works, and leave the rest. :)
DID YOU MISPLACE A ClickSchooling Review? Do you need to find an educational website – fast! Visit the ClickSchooling archives at: http://www.homefires.com/clickschool/archive.asp.
