Welcome to Teaching Materials

Photography, My Desk, 15 March 2006, Flickr CC

Use this strategy to help students discover historic actors—the people, objects, and motivations that create history.

Uncovering Human Agency
In English Language Learners

Help students understand the how policy and structural forces have shaped how people in the U.S. access housing. 

Housing and Houselessness: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers
In Teaching Guides

Thesis statements form the backbone of history essays and DBQs.

Stating Your Case: Writing Thesis Statements Effectively
In Teaching Guides

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
What Do You Mean?: How Language Changes Over Time

This creative lesson transforms language into a historic artifact and [...] »

What Really Happened? Comparing Stories of the First Thanksgiving

Take a variety of perspectives into account before moving past the first [...] »

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English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Talking History

Students shy or hesitant to speak up? Check out these tips to get students [...] »

The Struggle for Time: Using Persuasive Essays to Teach Elementary History

From chanting to formal essay framing—discover creative ways to frame ELL [...] »

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Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
9/11 and Commemoration: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Help students understand the events of 9/11 and how such events are [...] »

Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom

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

Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

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

Native Women and Suffrage - Beyond the 19th Amendment: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Using primary sources from the Library of Congress, help students reconsider [...] »

Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students

Using the premise of a mystery, elementary students act as history [...] »

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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 [...] »

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