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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
Jamestown: The Starving Time

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

Abraham Lincoln

This lesson leads students to see how Lincoln's life in Springfield [...] »

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English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Bracero History Archive
Bracero History Archive

Explore resources on the Bracero guest worker program from the mid-20th [...] »

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
Incorporating 20th Century US Environmental History in the K-5 Classroom

This guide consists of curated primary and secondary sources to help [...] »

Tramping Through History: Crafting Individual Field Trips

Go forth, and contextualize! Give students the opportunity for solo [...] »

Rethinking "Westward Expansion": A Guide for Preservice Teachers

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

Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

Ticket stubs. Report cards. Photographs. All of these things have historical [...] »

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

Tall Tales: The West as Legend
Lithograph, ...Jesse James, Donaldson Lith. Co., 188-?, Library of Congress

Wrestling bears, surly cowboys, vultures circling lone travelers. . . Find [...] »

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