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Spotlight on Elementary Education

In this Lesson Plan Review, students analyze primary and secondary sources describing an encounter between the Lewis and Clark expedition and a Native American tribe. The lesson overall is a great way to encourage students to work collaboratively to analyze this important historical interaction from multiple perspectives.

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Lesson Plan Reviews

Evaluate key elements of effective teaching Watch the INTRODUCTORY VIDEO
Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems

Learn about the experiences of immigrants detained at Angel Island and how [...] »

Jamestown: The Starving Time

Only 60 settlers out of 600 survived the winter of 1609–1610 in Jamestown [...] »

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English Language Learners

Instructional strategies and resources for ELL
Using Non-Linguistic Representations to Strengthen Historical Thinking

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

Life, Liberty and Property: What’s the Big Idea?

Explore a lesson, designed especially for English Language Learners, that [...] »

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Teaching Guides

Explore new teaching methods and approaches
Using Blogs in a History Classroom

Setting up and maintaining a blog for your classroom is easy (and typically [...] »

Writing to Learn History: Annotations and Mini-Writes

A pen or pencil in your student's hand is an excellent tool for teaching [...] »

Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents

Teach your students to read like a historian with this guided four-step [...] »

Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students

To engage with a source, ask, "What do I know, what do I want [...] »

Adapting Documents for the Classroom: Equity and Access

Documents are riddled with difficult vocabulary. Don't be afraid to adapt [...] »

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Ask a Master Teacher

Building Background Knowledge for English Language Learners
Photography, foreign language books at martin luther king memorial library in wa

How can we help our 5th-grade ELL students build background and make [...] »

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