Teaching Materials

We are pleased to share many of the teaching materials and ideas that we used to develop this site with other faculty. The site can be used at college and university levels as well as at the secondary and elementary levels. As teachers of U.S. history, we need reliable tools and original sources for our students. All resources in this site are available free and open-source for use in academic classrooms. Choose a link below for more information, a demonstration, and information about using these technologies in your own teaching.

• FAQ for Teaching Railroads and the Making of Modern America What are views and how can I use them? What primary sources are in this site and how are they organized? What is text analysis and can students use it? and more . . .
• Ideas for Teaching with Railroads and the Making of Modern America We have listed here sample lessons and ideas for short and long format assignments for students to do in class or as homework, including our top documents for classroom teaching.
• Interviews with Teachers Quicktime clips with interviews with teachers currently using the site in classrooms. Brief, to-the-point, and inspiring.
• The History Lab: Tools for Teaching History Take a look at our list of University of Nebraska-developed software tools for teaching as well as others freely available from other universities and developers. Students are using technology more than ever in their research and our teaching practices are changing with the digital age.
• Comment on the Blog Join our Roots of Modern America Blog to comment on and share ideas about the railroads site, U. S. history, railroad history, and teaching with the site.