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
Tenement Life

Students examine primary sources related to the life of an immigrant girl [...] »

Lewis and Clark: Same Place, Different Perspectives

How geography influenced interactions among Lewis, Clark, & Native [...] »

View All »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Review, Recite

Learn about SQ3R, a note-taking system for English Language Learners to help [...] »

Increasing Participation in Whole-Class Discussions

English Language Learners often have difficulty contributing to class [...] »

View All »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
What Is an "Inquiry Lesson"?

Hypothesize, test, and acknowledge how sources form different "pictures of [...] »

Document-Based Whole-Class Discussion

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

Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students

Using the premise of a mystery, elementary students act as history [...] »

Using Blogs in a History Classroom

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

Immigration from Asia Post-1970: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Help students understand recent immigration history by exploring photographs [...] »

View All »

Ask a Master Teacher

Constructivism: Actively Building Knowledge
Photoprint, Making a sandman, 1964, Ozzie Sweet, Flickr Commons

Traditional concepts of knowledge and pedagogy view the student as a "fact [...] »

Browse Questions »