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
Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems

Learn about the experiences of immigrants detained at Angel Island and how [...] »

Tenement Life

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

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, [...] »

Electronic Schoolhouse / La Escuela Electronica

Explore materials on the Latino experience in New York from 1861 to the [...] »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Crop It

Use this four-step learning routine to deeply explore visual primary sources [...] »

Housing and Houselessness: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Help students understand the how policy and structural forces have shaped [...] »

Religion and the Labor Movement: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Engaging Library of Congress primary sources that connect religion and [...] »

Tramping Through History: Crafting Individual Field Trips

Go forth, and contextualize! Give students the opportunity for solo [...] »

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

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

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 [...] »