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
Examining the Korean War

Allow students to explore historical events through multiple perspectives [...] »

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
Historical Thinking Matters
Historical Thinking Matters

Primary sources in both English and Spanish on the Spanish American War, [...] »

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 4: Mandel v. Kleindienst (1972): Censorship via Visa

This guide traces the history of ideological visa denial to explore [...] »

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

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

Rethinking "Westward Expansion": A Guide for Preservice Teachers

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

Teaching with Timelines
Image, Squared Circles-Clocks, 25 Oct 2006, Leo Reynolds, Flickr CC

Construct an ongoing, shared classroom timeline in middle and elementary [...] »

1916 Children's Code of Morality: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Primary sources from the Library of Congress help students explore a [...] »

Ask a Master Teacher

Teaching with Lectures and Documents
Photo, students IV, May 1, 2007, Aaron TD, Flickr

Using a variety of instructional strategies in your classroom makes good [...] »