March 4, 2025

Teach Texas History is a new email for K-12 educators from the Texas Historical Commission's State Historic Sites.

We provide Texas history resources and information about the THC's 40 State Historic Sites to support your teaching. Please forward this email to others who you think would be interested! 

Bell Ringer

• Encourage close-looking by having students use See, Think, Wonder with a selection from this digital collection.
• Synthesize student learning about concepts like freedom or democracy using this poetry generator.
• Spark some lively classroom conversation by tuning in to this playlist of the top 50 recordings in Texas history.

Homework

• Teaching your high school students about the Battle of the Alamo? Check out this simulation lesson, along with other Texas lessons and primary sources for history and government classes. 
• The Library of Congress holds primary sources for events in Texas history, such as the Galveston Flood of 1900.
• This digital resource kit explores the roles of women and children on the Texas frontier. 

Extra Credit

• The National Museum of the Pacific War will host a Summer Institute for Teachers, available both in-person and online.
• "What does America mean to you?" Students in grades 3-12 can win a once-in-a-lifetime "American Field Trip" for writing or illustrating their response.
• Students in 4th and 7th grade can enter the Save Texas History Essay Contest by writing about any historical person, event, place, group, or cultural tradition that helped shape Texas. 

Field Trip

• Mark your calendars for some springtime fun across the state, include a corn festival in San Antonio, a commemoration of the Battle of San Jacinto, a Victorian picnic in Rockport, and a chance to meet horses, camels, and longhorns in Fredericksburg.
• Take virtual tours of sites like the El Paso home of the multicultural Magoffin family, the birthplace of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the home of influential midcentury statesman Sam Rayburn.
• During a visit to Caddo Mounds, you can borrow backpacks on birdwatching, gardening, and STEM to enjoy while exploring the grounds.

Library

• There are historical markers in all 254 counties in Texas. Search the Texas Historic Sites Atlas to find one near you.
• There's always something happening at our State Historic Sites. Follow them on social media to find out what's going on in your region.
• Interested in taking your students to a State Historic Sites? Click on "Plan Your Visit" on any site page to see their school tour offerings.

Texas Time Travel

Explore Texas' rich history and culture through authentic historical places in your region and across the Lone Star State.

Markers

State historical markers can be found in all 254 Texas counties. Find the one closest to you in our Texas Historic Sites Atlas.

THGAAC

The Texas Holocaust, Genocide, & Antisemitism Advisory Commission provides resources and education to combat hatred and prejudice in Texas.