Related Readings and Other Resources for Teaching with Primary Sources

The American Archivist

Archival Outlook

Other Resources

  • The Volunteers: Americans Join World War 1, 1914–1919. This free curriculum includes twenty-two lesson plans for secondary school classrooms that helps students analyze the history of World War I through the lens of volunteer service, both before and after the period of American neutrality, and aims to continue the legacy of volunteerism established during World War I by encouraging students to engage in local, regional, and international service. Learn more about the projectdownload twenty-two free lesson plans, and visit the Teacher Toolkit for additional resources.

  • The South Asian American Digital Archives (SAADA) has a mission to document, preserve, and share stories that represent South Asian Americans' unique and diverse experiences. Check out SAADA's lesson plans incorporating oral history and artifacts from the archives.

  • TeachArchives.org is an innovative resource for teachers, administrators, librarians, archivists, and museum educators. It offers sample exercises and informative articles based on a new approach to teaching in the archives. TeachArchives.org is the result of Students and Faculty in the Archives (SAFA), a three-year grant at Brooklyn Historical Society.

  • The Library of Congress Teacher's Page offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations. 

  • The Stanford History Education Group explores how history is taught and learned. Includes "Reading Like a Historian curriculum that engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features sets of primary documents designed for groups of students with diverse reading skills and abilities.

Know of another good resource for teaching with primary sources? Email Editorial and Production Coordinator Abigail Christian to add it to the list!