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
Organizing History Through Images

In this lesson, students will organize photographs both chronologically and [...] »

Three Perspectives on Native American Removal and Westward Expansion

Check out this lesson on arguments surrounding the 1830 forced removal of [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Targeting Content and English Language Objectives
Photo, English club First meeting Dover Library, Sept. 13, 2010, RTLibrary

Build your students' language skills and historical understanding by using [...] »

Using Primary Sources with English Language Learners

Primary source analysis activities can help include English Language [...] »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students

To engage with a source, ask, "What do I know, what do I want [...] »

Tramping Through History: Crafting Individual Field Trips

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

Religion and the Civil War: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Help students understand the how religious beliefs shaped Americans' [...] »

Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom

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

Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

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

Ask a Master Teacher

Web Resources for Controversial Issues
Photography, Heated Debates, 11 Aug 1977, Flickr CC

Want to know both sides of an issue? Check out these debate websites!


[...] »