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
Abraham Lincoln and the Jews

Students learn about the sixteenth president's relationship with Jewish [...] »

Opening Up the Textbook: Rosa Parks

The textbook is examined as one source among many, rather than a final [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Reframing English Language Development
The storming of Chapu[ltepec] Sept. 13th [1847]

Discover how to teach English learners history and historical thinking.

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Summarizing and Paraphrasing
Photo, Year 3~Day 106 +77/365 AND Day 837: U.S. History, Old Shoe Woman, Flickr

Paraphrasing and summarizing exercises help ELL students improve at [...] »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Rethinking "Westward Expansion": A Guide for Preservice Teachers

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

Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents

Teach your students to read like a historian with this guided four-step [...] »

Webquest, Inquiry, and Lincoln’s Views on Technology

Searching for new, exciting ways to engage your students in the classroom? [...] »

Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

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

Writing to Learn History: Annotations and Mini-Writes

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

Ask a Master Teacher

Multiperspectivity: What Is It, and Why Use It?
Photo, Tiree Perspective, August 3, 2008, MacJewell, Flickr

Simply pondering "multiperspectivity" (a European term for "multiple [...] »