GAPS Libraries Resource Update
September 3, 2026
Share or Beware! Media Literacy Game from KQED
Make source evaluation and fact-checking a habit in your classroom with this slide deck of headlines, images, social media posts, etc. that students evaluate using pro-level fact-checking methods. More examples to build students’ fact-checking muscles are added on a weekly basis. Keep coming back to get the latest version.
Reading Like a Historian with Digital Literacy - Free Course
Being a thoughtful history student today means knowing how to evaluate TikTok videos and Instagram posts about historical topics. In this course, participants will learn how to integrate digital literacy into the history classroom and explore free, research-backed curricular resources from the Digital Inquiry Group.
Dates: August 17 – September 18
Course Length: 2 hours
Format: Asynchronous
This Map Lets You Plug in an Address to See How It’s Changed Over the Past 750 Million Years
This interactive tool from the Smithsonian enables users to home in on a specific location and visualize how it has evolved between the Cryogenian period and the present.
Free Back-to-School Toolkit: Build Community & Connection
These back-to-school activities and teacher resources from Facing History will help you lay a foundation for a reflective and caring community at the start of the school year. Taking the time in the first few weeks of school to nurture community, build relationships, and attend to students’ social-emotional needs lays the foundation for students to engage with the content, take risks, and support one another all year.
Improv can help educators draw students out of their seats and shells
The use of dramatic “improv” techniques in class can spark participation and creativity by making students feel safer about speaking up and ensuring they don’t “overthink” their answers, educators say. The core tenet of improv is that mistakes are anticipated — and even expected — as the natural byproduct of humans coming together. “We fail, cheerfully,” says Lisa Marie Barker, director of improvisation initiatives at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education. Read more here.
Almost 80,000 free eBooks, all in public domain, with no account required.
A real-time globe that visualizes the planet's winds, ocean currents, and pollution through flowing lines of light.
Spin the globe, click any illuminated spot, and instantly tune in to a local radio station broadcasting live from that city.
A collection of dozens of free interactive experiments created by one developer, with no ads or signup required. Explore the scale of space, the depths of the ocean, an asteroid launcher, and The Password Game.
An interactive timeline that brings together historical events from Wikipedia, spanning from the Big Bang to the present day. Filter by wars, inventions, or art, and explore billions of years of history.
Drag any country across the map to see its true size. This tool reveals just how much traditional maps can distort the size of countries.
Click a button and see the world through a real stranger's window somewhere on the planet, complete with ambient sound.
