Teachers and students can bring history to life by donning period clothing or carrying objects common in past eras to engage students and enhance classroom presentations.

The following articles have been selected from our three main journals for K-12 teachers: Social Education, Middle Level Learning, and Social Studies and the Young Learner. These articles are grouped by topic for easy reference. Also included are recent current event responses that address racism and call for human rights education. NCSS Current Events Responses (2020)Teaching about Race and Racism in the ClassroomThe African American Struggle for Civil RightsSlavery and Its LegacyRacism and Discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and People of ColorHuman Rights EducationMiddle Level…

On July 25, 1898, during the Spanish–American War, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans gained U.S. citizenship in 1917. 101 years later, the debate over Puerto Rico's political status continues.  Learn and teach about Puerto Rico's history and the Spanish-American War with articles and teaching activities from NCSS peer-reviewed publications Social Education and Social Studies and the Young Learner. Also explore a sampling of resource collections from some of our colleagues. Examine the history of Hispanic heritage in North America in this special section: "The Hispanic Heritage of…

Immigration from Central America and the President's family separation policies are front and center in today's headlines, but the historical roots of migration to the United States are too often unknown or unexplored.Teaching for Change developed a series of four lessons with the country of El Salvador as a case study to provide important historical context for contemporary immigration issues.  The lessons were developed for use in conjunction with the website When We Were Young There Was a War. Students learn about and discuss: What factors were responsible for the waves of migration from…

Resources from NCSS Journals to help you teach about Hispanic heritage during Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 to October 15. */

Explore what the Library of Congress has for teachers, including primary source sets and lesson plans for teaching with primary sources, and professional development opportunities. Take a quick tour of ways to connect with experts from the Library and tap into the Library’s vast collections to find even more resources for your classroom. Find out why one Summer Institute participant described the Library as having “layer upon layer of awesome.”

The Library of Congress is continually adding new content, features, and expertise to its website, loc.gov. In this session, learn about new ways to connect with and explore the newest online collections and resources, and much more. Highlights include the Library’s Teachers site (loc.gov/teachers), A Century of Lawmaking (new and improved!), the World Digital Library, and favorite shortcuts, such as Free to Use and Reuse sets.

The Ken Burns Classroom Collection on PBS LearningMedia offers hundreds of standards-aligned classroom lessons based on films by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and their collaborators, including The Civil War, The Roosevelts, The West, The Vietnam War, and many more. This webinar will showcase inquiry-based strategies for integrating documentary film clips and primary sources into instruction. You will hear from experienced educators who have developed lesson materials for the collection and implemented the lessons in their classrooms. Participants will emerge inspired with new ideas for how to…

In Pursuit of Equity: Book Banning and Censorship Book bans in schools and libraries are on the rise. Last school year, more than 850 individual titles were impacted by censorship efforts of local groups and state decision-makers. How can educators and students navigate censorship in their communities? NCHE and NCSS united for a fourth virtual Equity Summit in October 2023 in support of our history and social studies educators and students, with a focus on book-banning and censorship. These are the session recordings from the Summit. 

Today the grandchildren of Vietnam War veterans are attending middle and high schools throughout America, sitting side-by-side with the children of those who served more recently in Desert Storm and the Iraq War. But how much do they really know about these conflicts and the sacrifices their dads, moms and grandparents proudly made? Joining with social studies departments throughout the Country, the Veterans National Education Program (V-NEP) is teaching the lessons of these wars in the classroom. During the 2018-2019 school year, V-NEP will provide teachers with a free, collection of video…