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

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

Midnight Ride of Paul Revere: Fact, Fiction, and Artistic License

Did Revere's ride really look like that? Use historical documents to analyze [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Uncovering Human Agency
Photography, My Desk, 15 March 2006, Flickr CC

Use this strategy to help students discover historic actors—the people, [...] »

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
Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents

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

Rethinking "Westward Expansion": A Guide for Preservice Teachers

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

Mormons and Westward Expansion: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Teachers guide students to create interactive digital maps detailing the [...] »

History of Education and Indigenous Americans: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Help students reflect on the purpose of learning history and of education in [...] »

Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

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

Ask a Master Teacher

Exploring Historical Fiction

Make the Lewis and Clark expedition and life on the Oregon Trail come alive [...] »