AS SEEN ON SHARK TANK
Primary Source Replicas Your Students Can Hold
Help students think like historians through museum-quality replicas of the documents that shaped American history and the National Council for History Education's History's Habits of Mind.
Nine classroom-ready lessons featuring replica documents, ready-to-teach activities, and digital resources. Everything you need to bring inquiry-based history to life.
Turn Students into Historians
History feels more real when students can hold it in their hands.
When students examine a replica of Thomas Jefferson's handwritten ice cream recipe, the Louisiana Purchase treaty, or Rosa Parks’ police report, they’re no longer simply learning about history. They're thinking like historians.
Each unit centers on a museum-quality replica of an authentic historical document, giving students the opportunity to analyze evidence, ask questions, and make interpretations. This hands-on approach transforms history from something students memorize into something they discover.
Ready-to-Teach Primary Source Lessons
Teaching with primary sources shouldn’t require hours of preparation. Every unit includes everything you need for a meaningful classroom lesson:
- A museum-quality replica of a primary source document
- A student-friendly transcript with vocabulary support
- Historical background reading that builds context
- Inquiry and discussion questions that encourage deeper thinking
- Ready-to-use classroom activities
- A teacher answer key with sample responses and teaching notes
- Digital versions of every resource for projection or printing
Designed to fit into a single class period with minimal preparation.
Developed in Partnership with the National Council for History Education
The National Council for History Education (NCHE) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing history education and supporting the professionals who teach it. Through professional development, community, and advocacy, NCHE helps educators bring the past to life in classrooms across the country.
This curriculum is built around NCHE's History's Habits of Mind—a framework that develops the historical thinking skills students need to move beyond memorizing facts and toward understanding the past through evidence, context, and inquiry.
Each lesson is intentionally paired with one of these Habits of Mind:
- Interrogating Sources – Evaluate evidence, identify bias, and determine credibility.
- Diversity of Cultures – Explore how different cultures, beliefs, and experiences shape history.
- Understanding Impact – Examine how historical events create lasting consequences.
- Decisions and Choices – Consider the difficult decisions people faced and the consequences that followed.
- Critical Reading – Analyze historical documents closely, using evidence to support conclusions.
- Historical Empathy – Understand the perspectives, motivations, and experiences of people in the past.
- Complex World – Recognize that historical events rarely have simple causes or solutions.
- Past Shapes the Present – Connect historical events to the world students live in today.
- Patient Reflection – Reflect thoughtfully before forming conclusions, recognizing that historical understanding develops over time.
Together, these Habits of Mind help students build the curiosity, analytical skills, and historical perspective they'll use long after the lesson ends.
Nine Classroom-Ready Lessons Across U.S. History
| Historical Document | Era | History's Habit of Mind |
|---|---|---|
| Warrant for Tituba & Sarah Osborne + Deposition by Rev. Samuel Parris | Colonial America | Interrogating Sources |
| Thomas Jefferson's Ice Cream Recipe | Founding Era / Early Republic | Diversity of Cultures |
| Louisiana Purchase Treaty | Westward Expansion | Understanding Impact |
| Sarah Hale's Letter to Lincoln + Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation | Civil War | Decisions and Choices |
| Hearing Transcript from U.S. v. Susan B. Anthony | Reconstruction & Women's Suffrage | Critical Reading |
| Hawaiian Petition Against Annexation + Letter from Queen Liliʻuokalani | America on the World Stage | Historical Empathy |
| Memo on the Use of Choctaw Code Talkers in World War I | World War I | Complex World |
| Eisenhower's Order of the Day + D-Day Platoon Leader Sketch | World War II | Past Shapes the Present |
| Rosa Parks Police Report, Bus Diagram & Fingerprint Card | Civil Rights Movement | Patient Reflection |
Everything You Need for an Entire Year
For just $99, you'll receive:
- Nine complete classroom-ready lessons
- Museum-quality replica historical documents
- Digital downloads of every resource
- Student activities and discussion materials
- Teacher answer keys
- Standards-aligned instruction grounded in historical inquiry
Everything you need for an entire year of inquiry-based U.S. history instruction.
Flexible Enough for Every Classroom
Physical + Digital
Receive beautifully printed replica documents for hands-on learning, plus digital versions you can project, print, and share with every student.
Teach It Your Way
Teach the lessons in order, select the topics that fit your pacing guide, or incorporate individual lessons into your existing curriculum.
Standards-Aligned
Flexible enough to meet your state’s education and skills and standards.
Inquiry at the Center
Rather than memorizing facts, students evaluate evidence, consider multiple perspectives, and develop the historical thinking skills used by historians.
History By Mail on Shark Tank
Frequently Asked Questions
The curriculum works best for grades 5–12. Transcripts include vocabulary support for younger students, and inquiry questions scale up for high school analysis.
The lessons are built on NCHE's History's Habits of Mind and are flexible enough to meet state social studies and literacy standards. Each unit lists the skills it targets.
Almost none. Each unit is designed to fit a single class period and includes background reading, activities, discussion questions, and a full answer key.
Yes — every resource comes as a digital download you can project, print, or share with every student. Digital access is delivered instantly by email.
Yes. Please feel free to call or text send to our customer service team 8am-5pm EST M-F at (855) 651-0419 or to order with a purchase order, or ask about department and school-wide pricing.
Every purchase is backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
