Welcome to Teaching Materials

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
Propaganda and World War II

Help students understand wartime propaganda with this excellent lesson plan [...] »

Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment

Relive the dream of the women's vote through roleplay or interfacing with [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Supporting Text Comprehension and Vocabulary Development Using WordSift
screen shot-wordshift home page

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

Google Translate
Screen shot, Languages supported by google translate, 1 april 2011

Looking to translate documents or text? Google Translate can help.

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Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom

Political cartoons are often conceptually complex, but offer valuable [...] »

Rethinking "Westward Expansion": A Guide for Preservice Teachers

Help students reconsider the how the expansion of the United States from [...] »

Writing to Learn History: Annotations and Mini-Writes

A pen or pencil in your student's hand is an excellent tool for teaching [...] »

Internationalizing History

Discover the resources you need to "globalize" your U.S. history lesson [...] »

Stop Action and Assess Alternatives

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

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Ask a Master Teacher

Exploring Historical Fiction

Make the Lewis and Clark expedition and life on the Oregon Trail come alive [...] »