New & Noteworthy

Teaching With Historical Film Clips

Interested in using documentaries or footage of historic events like the Army-McCarthy hearings in your classroom? Be sure to check out our guide to teaching with historical film clips! Divided into elementary, middle, and high school examples, this guide helps teach students to analyze historical footage and documentaries. The guide also features a list of open-access film archives with historical footage.
Learn more!

Elementary

Tenement Life

In this lesson plan from the Tenement House Museum, students learn about the life of Victoria Confino, an immigrant girl in New York City. Victoria’s report card, her father’s passport, a family photo, and a postcard help students discover clues about her life and family. The site also includes links to an interactive game and a virtual tour of the Tenement House Museum. Learn more.

Middle

Do I Have a Right?

Developed by iCivics, this free, upbeat, and engaging online game is designed to teach students about constitutional rights. To play, each student joins a law firm specializing in constitutional law and gains points for taking on clients and winning cases. The site also includes pre- and post-game activities to build on the experience. Learn more.

High

The Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Is it possible to discover the true story behind the decision to drop the atomic bomb? Textbooks often struggle with portraying the U.S. decision to use atomic weapons against Japan in WWII. In this Beyond the Textbook we take a look at what textbooks, historians, and source materials have to say about this controversial event. Read more.

Historical Thinking

Teaching American History

Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr.

What can primary sources reveal about the connections between these two men? Watch as historian Pellom McDaniels III examines a telegram and a speech that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. planned to give at the Jackie Robinson Testimonial Dinner in 1962. What forces helped make Robinson the person he was? How did he become a star athlete and a civil rights pioneer? When is baseball more than a game? View here.

Flow of History

The Flow of History, a TAH project from Vermont and New Hampshire, has created digital toolkits focused on themes such as early settlement, westward expansion, industrialization, citizenship, and the Civil War. Units may include frameworks, informational essays, timelines, sample lessons, and recommended reading. The site also offers useful examples of project management for grant coordinators. Learn more.