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
Locate Yourself on a Map of the Americas

Young students locate themselves on a map and explore spatial relationships [...] »

What Do You Mean?: How Language Changes Over Time

This creative lesson transforms language into a historic artifact and [...] »

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English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Historical Thinking Matters
Historical Thinking Matters

Primary sources in both English and Spanish on the Spanish American War, [...] »

Uncovering Human Agency
Photography, My Desk, 15 March 2006, Flickr CC

Use this strategy to help students discover historic actors—the people, [...] »

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Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Religion and the Labor Movement: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Engaging Library of Congress primary sources that connect religion and [...] »

Using Blogs in a History Classroom

Setting up and maintaining a blog for your classroom is easy (and typically [...] »

Comanche Nation and "Manifest Destiny": A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Help students better understand the history behind the term "Manifest [...] »

Historical Agency in History Book Sets (HBS)

Looking for ways to use fiction in your elementary history curriculum? Read [...] »

Adapting Documents for the Classroom: Equity and Access

Documents are riddled with difficult vocabulary. Don't be afraid to adapt [...] »

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Ask a Master Teacher

Brain-based Research
Photography, My Brain and My Mind, 4 Dec 2006, D. Bjorn, Flickr CC

What's in a brain? Quite a lot actually! Discover how brain research relates [...] »

Browse Questions »