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
Building the Erie Canal

Cutting through New York from the ocean to the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal [...] »

Theodore Roosevelt and the 1912 Election

Students learn more about the larger than life figure of Theodore Roosevelt [...] »

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History
Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History

Explore mysteries in Canadian history in both French and English.

[...] »
Uncovering Human Agency
Photography, My Desk, 15 March 2006, Flickr CC

Use this strategy to help students discover historic actors—the people, [...] »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
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 [...] »

Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students

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

Truth in Transit: Crafting Meaningful Field Trips

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

Historical Agency in History Book Sets (HBS)

Looking for ways to use fiction in your elementary history curriculum? Read [...] »

Incorporating 20th Century US Environmental History in the K-5 Classroom

This guide consists of curated primary and secondary sources to help [...] »

Ask a Master Teacher

Slave Badges
wood engraving, The African slave-trade, 1884, LOC

Slave badges were used in Charleston to keep track of slaves. Can you build [...] »