I made a current-affairs video about Alberta's referendum and a free classroom pack for students aged 15+. It's aimed at civics and media literacy, rather than being a standalone history lesson, but it may fit a source-analysis class. The activities ask students to check what a source supports, distinguish a proposal from a measure already in force, and revise claims that go beyond the evidence.

There are 15-, 25-, and 45-55-minute options. The pack hasn't been independently classroom-piloted. The production workflow is AI-assisted, and I reviewed the material before release.

Video: https://youtu.be/BXci1MYQvUc Free classroom pack: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18GRQUbjGEX17jbJwQ493_57Wj1a-s0kq

Years Apart is a quick daily browser game where Instead of memorizing raw dates, students drag a tape measure to guess when events happened relative to each other.

The goal is to give them a quick moment of fun that actually builds chronological awareness. The game mixes ancient milestones (like the Pyramids) with modern anchors they actually relate to (like the release of Fortnite or the first iPhone). It creates great "aha!" moments when they realize how warped our sense of time can be.

It’s designed to be a completely frictionless 2 minute bell ringer:

• Free and zero ads
• No logins or downloads

Link:https://yearsapart.app

Anyone have ideas or a lesson (or a video) on immigration and nativism during the late 1800s and early 1900s? Ideally, it'd work within a 40-60 minute chunk of time and be geared towards high school students.

Thanks in advance!

Three new ways to explore history on HistoryMaps:

Choose Your Own History — Step into history, make decisions, and discover where your choices lead. http://history-maps.com/choose-your-own-adventure

VidQuiz — Create interactive video quizzes, share them, and test your historical knowledge as you watch and learn. https://history-maps.com/vidquiz

Polities — Explore the world’s kingdoms and empires on an interactive map, and see how their borders changed through time. https://history-maps.com/polities

I'm looking to found one in my school and I'm just wondering what you guys did in yours with your students, to get some inspiration. I tried last year and my school said our ideas were too similar to just the history class. My current goal statement is, "To explore history without the bounds of curriculum in a student-led environment and establish a community of students interested in history to share ideas.

I'm thinking of letting students do short fun presentations each meeting, and have discussions on certain topics, but I'm honestly at a bit of a loss. I really don't know what good activities would be.

I need to be really specific otherwise they'll tell me to try again next year. I'm thinking 30 minutes weekly, but that could be changed.

Thanks!

hi everyone! i am currently an english teacher but am thinking about maybe adding history to my certification and transitioning to history when a spot opens up. however, as my degree is in english, i am admittedly a little daunted by the thought of taking the history GACE (licensure exam in GA). basically — if there are any teachers who switched to history or anyone who has taken the history GACE, i would so appreciate your tips/advice/study materials you used that helped you.

History and geography teachers, what's the hardest concept to teach visually, and what tools fall short when you try? I'm thinking about things like border changes, migration patterns, how events in one place connected to another. Curious what you're actually using in the classroom and where it breaks down.

Want to assign a book during our totalitarianism unit. I don’t want to use 1984 because of its length. I used to assign Anthem, because students read the Communist Manifesto and wanted to give them something from a writer with an alternate perspective. Would Fahrenheit 451 work?

Hey guys!

I'm a junior in college. I'm taking highschool methods right now, and will begin writing my thesis in the next semester. I'm very split on what I want to do, and i'm not sure how to pick.

I really love knights, though i know study of armor and European martial arts is difficult and convoluted. Furthermore, my college does not have a European history professor really. If it was feasible, I'd love to do this topic. Even just talking about the evolution of the Helmet would be cool.

Another topic i've thought about is Colonial Africa in 1870's beginning with the Berlin conference. That time period interests me, really i'm pretty interested in the Zulu and their Military under Shaka.

What did you do? Is there certain topics that will help me more in teaching? Or should this be my own thing? I am thinking about getting a masters in History and then maybe a Ph.D to become a professor, but i'm not sure.

I'm teaching a unit on the history of urbanization and am looking for film depictions of Victorian/Industrial-era cities, particularly slums. I'll be using Jacob Riis' photographs from New York and want to accompany scenes from popular movies.

So far on my list are Gangs of New York and various film adaptations of Dickens novels. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I’m teaching grade 12’s on practicum, teaching assessing significance/defending points with evidence through World War Two. I haven’t taught history before plus I’m a student teacher so don’t have a big tool kit of ideas. We do a lot of learning the content through practicing the skills, but I’m having trouble thinking of more activities than “look at this evidence packet, come to a conclusion”. My classes aren’t super talkative so pair work seems to work best but I’m just trying to make it more fun than “small lecture on skill/topic context, now look at evidence, now do written practice of the skill”. Any general class structure ideas or activities are greatly appreciated :)

My school is doing a door decorating contest for Halloween. I want to make my door something that bridges history and Halloween but am struggling to think of any ideas.

So far the only idea I’ve come up with is historical puns like “Napoleon BONEapart” “MUMMY Theresa” and “Frank-EINSTEIN”, but I’m not sure I even like that idea.

Any suggestions?

Made a poster for the Boston tea party for history but it’s boring to make a normal poster so I made it better.

Hi,

I’m taking my social studies classes to Ellis Island soon, and I was wondering if anyone has any good lesson resources or ideas that students can complete while they are on the island?

I am drawing a blank at what to have them do! The last few years I just let them wander around without an assignment but I don’t feel like they pay attention enough to what they are seeing.

Edit: looking for something that works for 7th grade!

I'm 8 years in and when I started everything was very "inquiry design model" based and my state standards are also pretty rooted in the inquiry process deal. So my summative assessments and units were usually centered around "using the lesson materials to serve learning the process of doing the claim and writing it." Answer the big opened ended compelling question sorta deal. Which isn't bad necessarily but kinda hits a wall if you can't get the kids to eventually jump up to doing their own research. Which I just can't do with my lower classes.

So I've been pivoting back to covering the content a little more (which I find much more enjoyable) and trying to keep the claim writing related to more specific content or primary sources. And I think I'll do one big paper a quarter as one of my assessments.

So my question is this: what do you think the ideal way to assess at the end of a unit? More traditional mix of TF/MC/vocaby stuff, short answers, and all that? A DBQ and an essay? Always an essay? I've been trying so far to have all writing stuff the kids do happen in my actual classroom to avoid AI slop but that puts a limit on how much they can write unless I'm devoting a week of classes to a big essay. Thanks!

I am a new history teacher! My bread and butter is US History. I am teaching Ancient. I am having trouble coming up with lesson plans that really catch the kids attention. Luckily I have gotten through river valley civilizations.

I’m headed into mythology and religion. Getting into Classical Greece soon! What are some ideas/resources I can use to really engage the students. I’m excited for these lessons. I just need some help for high school

As stated in the title, there are rumors that I will be taking the AP U.S. history class next year. The teacher who is teaching it currently will still be in the building, and I know I can ask him for guidance; however, I wanted to ask you all, "What are your suggestions for preparing to teach this course?" Next year, when I teach this, it will be my 3rd year as a teacher and my first AP class. I will also have completed 4 classes in my masters in American History.