Welcome to Teaching Materials

The iPad: A Digital History Gateway
In Ask a Master Teacher
Researching the Role of the Map in History Teaching
In Ask a Master Teacher

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
Watergate and the Constitution

To indict or not to indict? Watergate raised complicated questions [...] »

Declaration of Independence: Rough Draft to Proclamation

How did the final version of the Declaration differ from Jefferson's draft [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
The Struggle for Time: Using Persuasive Essays to Teach Elementary History

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

Using Non-Linguistic Representations to Strengthen Historical Thinking

Discover alternatives to writing based student activities. Why not encourage [...] »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Truth in Transit: Crafting Meaningful Field Trips

Leave your students with intellectually and emotionally significant memories [...] »

Document-Based Whole-Class Discussion

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

Using Historical Ephemera in the Classroom

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

Stop Action and Assess Alternatives

Teach students to explore contingency with this great lesson plan idea.

[...] »
Structured Academic Controversy (SAC)

Are classroom discussions about winning the argument or about understanding [...] »

Ask a Master Teacher

Researching the Mexican American War
Lithograph, Battle of Buena Vista, 1847, Currier & Ives, LOC

Whether you are writing a paper or just curious, here are some great [...] »