Classroom Materials

More materials coming soon!

16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

Movable Mayhem: Pop-Up Books through the Ages

Sheets of paper layered one behind the other to create a 3D scene of buildings as if they rise up a hill. At the bottom is a body of water with fountains and a decorative balustrade running along its edge. Above this is a large neo-Romanesque house. Above this is an even larger rectangular building with grand entrances on each side, domes on the corners, and many flags. Above this is a cathedral-like building with tall windows filled with light and many domed towers. A US flag flies from its central, largest dome. The buildings are surrounded by lush plants.

Dr. Suzanne Karr Schmidt, Newberry Library
March 3, 2023

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Elementary School, Lesson Plans

The Carrington Store

Black-and-white photograph of a two-story building standing alone and fronting a street with horse drawn vehicles. The first floor has a covered awning over the sidewalk labeled "E.H. Carrington Groceries" and has advertisements for a variety of products. Six well-dressed people stand under the awning.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
January 31, 2023

20th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Blockbusting

Single page of cursive text in pencil. The text describes the author's experiences and advocates for better housing access for African Americans in Chicago

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
December 16, 2022

15th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Skills Lessons

Skills Lesson: Anatomy of a Manuscript Page

Page of an illuminated medieval manuscript. A border of leaves and flowers surrounds Latin text handwritten in black. There are two small images within the text. In the upper left the Virgin Mary holds Jesus inside of an illuminated "O." In the lower left, a person with a halo and a blue cloak holds a goblet.

Joe Stadolnik, PhD
December 12, 2022

15th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Skills Lessons

Skills Lesson: Reading Middle English in Manuscript

Detail of lines of Middle English text on vellum

Joe Stadolnik, PhD
December 12, 2022

15th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Lesson Plans

Contexts for the Book of Margery Kempe

Colored drawing of a nun (St. Bridget) writing at a writing desk. An angel whispers in her ear while a monk prays next to her. Above her head is a dove descending from a burst of light representing the Holy Spirit. On either side of the dove are depictions of Jesus Christ. On the left, God the father (an older man with a beard) holds him after he was taken down from the cross. On the right, the Virgin Mary holds him as a baby. All the figures are white.

Joe Stadolnik, PhD
December 5, 2022

20th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Elementary School

Latinx Discrimination

Black-and-white sign on a wall reading "We Serve White's Only; No Spanish or Mexicans." Originally from the Russell Lee Photograph Collection, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
November 9, 2022

18th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Middle School

The Will of Eduarda Rita Garduño

Two-page spread of a modern printed book.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
November 3, 2022

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

United States Expansion, Migrants, and Transportation Technologies, ca. 1810-1930

Colored map showing roads and bodies of water. Surrounded by a border of black-and-white photos advertising the local area, including photos of forests, lakes, Native people, moose and bear, and homes,

Gabrielle Guillerm, PhD
September 14, 2022

18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Maps as Heritage: Commemoration and Travel in American Cartography

Hand-drawn map, showing the country from Lake Superior and the Mississippi in the east to Pacific Ocean in the west and the Kansas River in the south to the northern boundary of the Louisiana Territory in the north. The map shows the locations of many Indigenous groups along with natural features like rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges.

Nicholas Kryczka, PhD
August 31, 2022

16th Century, Collection Essays

The World According to Comenius: Seen and Unseen in the Orbis Sensualium Pictus

Single page an early printed book. Text is in English and Latin in black in an 17th-century font (some "s"s written as "f"s). On the left-hand page is a circular woodblock print image showing the land with people (numbered 9), animals (8), fields (7), hills (5), and trees (8); the sea with fish (4) in it, the sky with birds (3) and a band of clouds (2); above the clouds is darker sky with stars (1). Abov the image is the title "Mundus" and below it the title "The World."

Evan Dutmer, Ph.D., Culver Academies
April 20, 2022

Classroom Materials, Resources

Historical Thinking in Elementary Classrooms

Black and white newsboys posing in front of a stone building holding stacks of newspapers.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson are the authors of Examining the Evidence: Seven Strategies for Teaching with Primary Sources. American historian James Harvey Robinson said, “In its amplest meaning History includes every trace and vestige of everything that man…

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
April 7, 2022