Guides to Resources
In addition to the home pages of individual federal agencies, there are a number of general portals with information on websites geared to teachers, parents, and students:
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)
http://www.free.ed.gov/
See the FREE resource guide from the main Education Module page.
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/
A product of the U.S. Government Printing Office, Ben's Guide (named after Benjamin Franklin) features information for grade levels (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) as well as for parents and teachers. Topics include information about the three branches of government, symbols of the U.S. Government, games and activities, how laws are made, and state/local government. There are also links (by subject and by agency) to U.S. Government Websites for kids and for parents/educators.
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
http://www.eric.ed.gov/
See the ERIC resource guide on the main Education Module page. Through 2004, ERIC indexed lesson plans (and it's possible to "search within results" and focus in specifically on lesson plans).
Kids.gov
http://www.kids.gov/
The official Kids' portal for the U.S. Government, from the Federal Citizen Information Center of the Office of Citizen Services, U.S. General Services Administration, "Includes links to over 1,200 Web pages from government agencies, schools, and educational organizations, all geared to the learning level and interest of kids." Buttons for Grades K-5, 6-8, and Educators at the top of the website guide users to useful information under each of these levels.
EDSITEment
http://edsitement.neh.gov/
"The Best of the Humanities on the Web" from the National Endowment for the Humanities features "online humanities resources from some of the world's great museums, libraries, cultural institutions, and universities." An extensive alphabetical list of websites is coded by subject (Art and Culture, Literature and Language Arts, Foreign Language, History and Social Studies). Lesson plans are searchable by those subjects and by grade level (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12).