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"History by Era" is the Institute's innovative new approach to our shared national history. At its core it is a collection of fifty individual introductions written by some of the most distinguished scholars of our day. It thus speaks to the reader not in one voice, but in fifty different, unique voices as each of these scholars interprets the developments, movements, events, and ideas of a particular era. Each Era follows the same template so that readers can move easily from one to another. An introduction to the time period is followed by essays by leading scholars; primary sources with images, transcripts, and a historical introduction; multimedia presentations by historians and master teachers; interactive presentations; and lesson plans and other classroom resources. Read an Introduction to History by Era from our senior editor, Carol Berkin, for more detailed information.

Your gateway to innovative, standards-based online resources for teaching and learning American history, designed and developed by the National Museum of American History as part of Verizon's thinkfinity.org consortium. Explore the rich resources of the Museum and bring history to life with artifacts, primary sources, and online tools for the classroom, afterschool programs, and home.

History Happens is a collection of music videos about characters from American history. Our goal is to inform and inspire young people that an individual can make a difference--as evidenced by the many acts of courage, endurance and passion that make up the American story. These music videos can be used as a platform for all kinds of innovative, multi-disciplinary, project-based teaching/learning experiences. To learn more about our programs, please feel free to contact us by telephone or email.

Here is a description of Contextu via Richard Byrne's Free Technology For Teachers posting: Ken Halla, the blogger behind the US History Teachers Blog, has been working on an excellent new site for students of US History. The new site is called ContextU and its purpose is to help students see the greater context for significant events in history. The first iteration of ContextU is focused on the American Civil War. On ContextU students select from a table of contents an event, piece of legislation, or theme to see it in the context of other events, pieces of legislation, and themes leading to the start of the Civil War. Through timelines, Google Maps, diagrams, flow charts, timelines, and text ContextU provides context for each chosen event, piece of legislation, or theme. Students can jump from event to event or from theme to theme by following the hyperlinks within each diagram.

On Wednesday, August 3 and Thursday, August 4, 2011, the National Museum of American History, National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Pentagon Memorial Fund, and Flight 93 National Memorial, will offer a FREE online conference, September 11: Teaching Contemporary History, for K-12 teachers. Designed to provide educators with resources and strategies for addressing the September 11 terrorist attacks, the conference will include roundtable discussions with content experts and six workshop sessions. 

Great collection of American History, World History, and geography resources.

Article from the October 2008 issue of T.H.E. Journal featuring an interview with Jen Dorman about the creative use of podcasting in teaching American history.

American dynasties really cool digital game about American history

As Nat Wheeler, learn about the difficult decisions colonists made a they decided to fight for or against the British crown! A beautiful interactive and a fabulous way to learn about US History.

This interactive site provides you resources covering people and events in American History from 1600-1900.

Efren "Bata" Reyes is more popularly known in the world of pool as "The Magician." He is the first non-American winner of the US Open Nine Ball Championship and named by the United States Billiards Media Association's (USBMA) the best player of the decade. Efren is the first player in WPA history to win world championships in two different disciplines. The AZ Billiards Money List named him as the top earning pool player five times.

Danica Sue Patrick is a professional race car driver, model, and advertising spokesperson who is renowned for being the most successful woman in the history of American Championship Car Racing. Throughout her career as a race car driver, Danica has achieved feats that most people would think can only be done by men, amazing so many racing fans because of the things that she accomplished in a sport dominated by the male gender.

The federal education program appropriated funds "based on good test scores in math, science, and reading," she said, but it did not distribute money for history or civics. O¹Connor¹s new web site aims to right that wrong. Launched on May 24, iCivics.org is a rebranded, expanded version of an earlier site called OurCourts.org. "Barely one-third of Americans can even name the three branches of government, much less say what they do," O'Connor said. "… I'm worried." Games on iCivics include "Do I Have A Right," in which the player runs a virtual firm specializing in constitutional law; "Executive Command," which offers a chance to play president; "Supreme Decision," about the Supreme Court; "Branches of Power," which gives the player control of all three branches of government; and "LawCraft," in which the player is a member of Congress. The iCivics program is based at Georgetown University Law School. O'Connor is the project founder and leads the board of the nonprofit iCivics Inc., iCivics spokesman Jeffrey Curley said. The project began in 2007 and is in use at schools around the country.

Interactive anatomy of human body via Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Kids can learn about English, Current Events, American History and more by listening to these video raps. 

A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures streamed with essays about the traditions and filmmaking. The site includes transcriptions, study and teaching guides, suggested readings, and links to related websites.

Experience the Underground railraod through this downloadable and streamable FREE interactive game. As Lucy King, escape slavery via the Underground Railroad.