This website from the Immigration History Research Center and the University of Minnesota has collections of digitized letters written by immigrants and to immigrants. It contains original images of the letters as well as translations, since most letters are in languages other than English. This website allows students a first person perspective of the challenges faced by immigrants to the U.S.
This site draws from a number of collections (University of California Berkeley, The California Historical Society, and hosted by the Library of Congress). It includes photos, artwork, letters, diaries, and legal documents. The documents touch on the Immigration experience for people coming to the West Coast from China as well as document many of the contributions made by Chinese Immigrants.
This site is a WEALTH of information on the history of the United States. It includes letters, documents, photos, audio and video that are all in the public domain (and there fore also legal to use) since they are all owned by the U.S. government. Using the search box will yield many results. My favorite search on this site is to find primary sources about the great depression. A search tip: be sure to click "gallery view" when you look at your search results. It helps you know what type of source you are looking at.
This site covers historical topics, contains historical images and has a special teacher page with lessons and materials that are ready to use in the classroom. I love this site and use it often especially when I need some extra material for historical holiday celebrations in the classroom.
This website has loads of links to primary sources on US history. I like the flexibility of the "more browse options" to find collections by time period, place or source format in addition to the browse by topic option. Source formats include books, periodicals, photos and film, some dating back to the 1400's. The "today in history" link is a good place to find daily tidbits to throw into lessons.
This site from the Library of Congress provides a vast collection of primary sources for educators. I like the way the site is organized so you can browse the collections by topic. One of the collection highlights is the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Abraham Lincoln. This is a collection of more than 11,100 items donated to the Library of Congress in 1953. This collections includes Lincoln's life, Presidency, slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Primary sources available from the Lincoln era include newspapers, Lincoln's law papers, sheet music, broadsides, prints, cartoons, maps, drawings, letters, and campaign tickets.
There is a lot on this website for students to search for primary and government documents. They are organized by topic or you can search for specifically what you need. This site is a great resource . There are many different ways you could use the documents found here.
This site provides information that teachers from many different disciplines could use in their classrooms. There's information about literature, the environment, immigration, as well as culture and sports. There's also a link specifically for teachers where they can get lesson plans and ideas for their classroom.
search: Oregon Trail
first person accounts and maps that help to explain trails and settlements
Lincoln Public - grade 4 - Social Studies
* Major rivers and terrain determined trail paths and settlement sites
* Motivation varied (Oregon = land, California = gold, Mormon = religious freedom)
There are some great sites at this source. Their topics run from Women's history to Native American history. There are even maps. This would be a big help for upper elementary to 12th grade.