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
Evaluating the Validity of Information

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

Building the Erie Canal

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

English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Summarizing and Paraphrasing
Photo, Year 3~Day 106 +77/365 AND Day 837: U.S. History, Old Shoe Woman, Flickr

Paraphrasing and summarizing exercises help ELL students improve at [...] »

Scaffolding with Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are helpful for students with limited English proficiency [...] »

Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Mormons and Westward Expansion: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers

Teachers guide students to create interactive digital maps detailing the [...] »

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

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

Webquest, Inquiry, and Lincoln’s Views on Technology

Searching for new, exciting ways to engage your students in the classroom? [...] »

Historical Agency in History Book Sets (HBS)

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

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 [...] »

Ask a Master Teacher

National History Day in Kentucky
photograph, Hand painted mural promoting the revolution in Havana Cuba, Jan 2010

NHD is a great way to get students to interact with history. KY teachers [...] »