Welcome to Teaching Materials

National History Day Project: The Civil Rights Act of 1964
In Ask a Master Teacher
New Jersey's Quakers and the American Revolution
In Lesson Plan Reviews

Spotlight on Elementary Education

History is made by those who are unafraid to push the envelope and redefine the society in which they live. Encourage your students to examine the men and women who worked to make America what it is today with this creative activity. FIND OUT MORE »

Lesson Plan Reviews

Evaluate key elements of effective teaching Watch the INTRODUCTORY VIDEO
Civil War Photos: What Do You See?

Analysis of photographs of Civil War artillery broadens students [...] »

Jamestown: The Starving Time

Only 60 settlers out of 600 survived the winter of 1609–1610 in Jamestown [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
World Digital Library
World Digital Library home page

Use this tool to translate primary source material!

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Supporting Text Comprehension and Vocabulary Development Using WordSift
screen shot-wordshift home page

Help English learners understand basic concepts with this interactive tool [...] »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Document-Based Whole-Class Discussion

Classroom discussions need not be argumentative and unproductive. Discover a [...] »

History of Education and Indigenous Americans: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Help students reflect on the purpose of learning history and of education in [...] »

Free Speech Teaching Guide 3: The Problem of National Security Secrets

This guide explores the relationship between secrecy and the First Amendment [...] »

Using Old Maps as Tools to Explore Our World

Maps show far more than how to go from point A to point B! Discover how to [...] »

Stop Action and Assess Alternatives

Teach students to explore contingency with this great lesson plan idea.

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Ask a Master Teacher

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 [...] »