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
Transportation: Past, Present and Future

What pushes and pulls people into new ways of life? In this lesson, students [...] »

Evaluating the Validity of Information

Did the Chinese discover America before Columbus? How would or does this [...] »

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English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Life, Liberty and Property: What’s the Big Idea?

Explore a lesson, designed especially for English Language Learners, that [...] »

Electronic Schoolhouse / La Escuela Electronica

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

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Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Document-Based Whole-Class Discussion

Classroom discussions need not be argumentative and unproductive. Discover a [...] »

Using Old Maps as Tools to Explore Our World

Maps show far more than how to go from point A to point B! Discover how to [...] »

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

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

What Is an "Inquiry Lesson"?

Hypothesize, test, and acknowledge how sources form different "pictures of [...] »

Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom

Political cartoons are often conceptually complex, but offer valuable [...] »

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Ask a Master Teacher

Meshing History and Montessori Method
Photo, "Montessori en famille, vie sensorielle," 2007, valilouve, Flickr, cc

In the Montessori philosophy, which prioritizes creativity, how can you best [...] »

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