Interactive Games and Activities
"School History." This website is based in England, so some of the material might not be applicable to the level of a US history course. There are a quite a few different topics, arranged into question and answer games of similar formats: answer 15 questions correct in a row, and build a trebuchet to fling your teacher away, answer 10 correct and make your teacher walk the plank (lots of bad stuff for the teacher, I suppose!). There are some spelling errors in the questions and answers, but do seem to be something kids would enjoy using to review certain eras or issues.
"iCivics." From Mike Holden. Games such as "Executive Command" (be President for a day), "Supreme Decision" (be a member of the Supreme Court), and "LawCraft" (be a member of Congress) - as well as many others - give students an interactive and fun way to learn how government operates in America. Appropriate for 8th graders.
"Mission US." From Mike Holden. This multimedia project has gamers playing as Nat Wheeler, a printer's apprentice in Boston in the early 1770s, or as Lucy King, a slave girl from Kentucky in 1848. While Wheeler travels around the city, players must make choices to decide whose side Wheeler will be on. Future "Missions" are set to be released soon. Although the game is free to play online or download (it is a project of the NEH and the CPB), students must first register to be able to play. Appropriate for 8th graders.
"George Washington's World For Kids." Contains several games, including "Harpsichord Hero," "Washington's Treasures," and others.
"Library of Congress Teacher's Page: Presentations and Activities." Be sure to click on "Activities" for the games portion. Includes activities that rely on primary sources.