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
My Piece of History

Even the recent past was very different from the present. Students analyze [...] »

Decoding U.S. Foreign Policy: The Iran-Contra Affair

Through the lens of documents concerning the Iran-Contra Affair, this lesson [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Responding to English Learners’ Writing with the 3 P’s
Middle school student, VA

Use the three P’s (Preparation, Purpose, and Proficiency) to provide [...] »

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
Free Speech Teaching Guide 3: The Problem of National Security Secrets

This guide explores the relationship between secrecy and the First Amendment [...] »

Using Blogs in a History Classroom

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

The Research Paper: Developing Historical Questions

Research papers are not an archaic form of assessment. Learn how to help [...] »

Adapting Documents for the Classroom: Equity and Access

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

Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

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

Ask a Master Teacher

World War and Literature
Photo, Historical Fiction, Mar. 9, 2007, jessamyn, Flickr

Can you suggest any literature covering World War I to World War II that my [...] »