Using Primary Sources in the Classroom: Misc. Resources
for Teachers

"Annenberg Learner uses media and telecommunications to advance excellent teaching in American schools. This mandate is carried out chiefly by the funding and broad distribution of educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development of K-12 teachers. It is part of The Annenberg Foundation and advances the Foundation's goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge."

The ART & ARCHIVES teaching resource is a series of ten lessons developed to enable teachers to bring the experience of the American West to life for their students by linking the rich primary sources from the Sid Richardson Museum and the National Archives and Records Administration - Southwest Region.

Best of History Web Sites is an award-winning portal that contains annotated links to over 1200 history web sites as well as links to hundreds of quality K-12 history lesson plans, history teacher guides, history activities, history games, history quizzes, and more.

Free primary source materials for social studies teachers.

DocsTeach combines primary source content with the latest interactive capabilities of the Internet.
Not only does the site invite educators to explore thousands of documents in a variety of media—items such as George Washington’s draft of the Constitution, the cancelled check for Alaska, and President Richard Nixon’s resignation letter—but it also allows teachers to combine these materials using tools to create engaging activities that students can access online.

"Use these lesson plans, created by teachers for teachers, to explore geography and maps."

"The modules cover more than twenty topics that correspond to the major periods in American history and take into consideration the history standards, both required and advanced, to which high school students are held. Each module includes:

-a succinct historical overview
-learning tools including lesson plans, quizzes, and activities
-recommended documents, films, and historic images

"This guide avoids some of the obvious things, like using Google Docs for collaborative writing, and instead focuses on some of the lesser-used Google tools options like publishing an online quiz using Google Docs. In all there are 33 pages containing 21 ideas and how to instructions for creating Google Maps placemarks, directions creating and publishing a quiz with Google Docs forms, directions for embedding books into your blog, and visual aids for accessing other Google tools."

A gateway to web resources and threaded discussions for high school and college teachers of U.S. history survey courses. It presents first-person narratives about the experiences of ordinary Americans from 1876 to 1946, interactive exercises, a monthly quiz, student work on the web, ways of linking the past with current issues, and annotated syllabi that present approaches to teaching using new technology. (George Mason University, National Endowment for the Humanities)

A Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on the Web

UT Arlington Library provides K12 teachers, librarians, administrators and students with free access to many of the services only a large university library can provide. Services include tours, borrowing privileges, and instruction sessions for classes.

"This site provides the tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. What items, for example, would you put in a box to describe your life; the life of a Victorian Servant or Roman soldier; or to show that slavery was wrong and unnecessary? You can display anything from a text file to a movie. You can also view and comment on the museum boxes submitted by others."

This workshop provides a varied program of lectures, demonstrations, analysis of documents, independent research, and group work that introduces teachers to the holdings and organization of the National Archives. Participants will learn how to do research in historical records, create classroom material from records, and present documents in ways that sharpen students' skills and enthusiasm for history, social studies, and the humanities.

Includes primary sources and curriculum ideas. Resources are grouped by theme like Civil Rights, Colonial America, and Native American History.

The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. Includes primary sources, lesson plans, and activities.

This website contains reproducible copies of primary documents from the holdings of the National Archives of the United States, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government, and cross-curricular connections.

Uses properties listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of products and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.

A public education service of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin, in partnership with 16 other organizations. Begun in 2001, its purpose is to interpret and share the results of archeological and historical research on the cultural heritage of Texas with the citizens of Texas and the world. In this virtual museum you will find information and images of many different aspects of the cultural heritage of Texas, a legacy spanning at least 13,500 years.

The SSC hosts a number of primary resources from US and Texas history designed to support the TEKs requirement that students locate and use primary sources. There are also suggestions on how to analyze primary resources.

Verizon Thinkfinity offers comprehensive teaching and learning resources created by our content partners – the most respected organizations in each academic subject and literacy. The easy-to-navigate K-12 resources are grade-specific and are aligned with state standards.

"UT Arlington has a variety of programs for middle and high school learners to test their interests, get comfortable with the college experience, and grow in confidence and ability."