Quicklinks for Middle School Teachers

Middle School Intro Video >>

Teacher's Pick

Teaching with Textbooks

Allow students to see that history as we know it is interpretation, perspective[...] »
I have used this activity with Native Americans and slavery with great success. I have worked over the years to collect a variety of old textbooks from different time periods.
—Anonymous

6-8 Resources

Pre-1865

Prologue to Studying the Emancipation Proclamation

An 8th-grade class analyzes letters about the Emancipation Proclamation.


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Charters of Freedom
Declaration of Independence, 1776, National Archives and Records Adminstration

Explore documents that helped to shape the history of our nation.


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Post-1865

The Early Conservation Movement
photographic print, Quentin Roosevelt Planting a Tree, c1904, Edward S. Curtis,

The "go-green" movement is rampant in modern America. However, support for[...] »

Coal and the Industrial Revolution
Photo, At the close of the day, January 1911, Lewis Hine, Library of Congress

How can the story of coal help students understand the nature of today's[...] »

Classroom Tools

Historical Thinking & Literacy

Deciphering Primary Source Documents
Letter, Handwritten letter signed by Victor Séjour, Victor Séjour, NYPL Digital

Create scaffolding and careful preparation of documents to promote student[...] »

Using Technology

WhatWasThere
screencap, WhatWasThere street view, 16 December, Whatwasthere.com

Put the past next to the present with this photo-sharing and mapping tool.[...] »