Information updated Monday, April 27, 2009

Custer-Bonanza school built 1880's                      ISHS 73-215.1

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Motivate learning! Enrich your studies! Experience Idaho's heritage by visiting our sites, using our educational materials, or taking part in our other programs.

Lesson Plans for Teachers

  Educators - we've added a new classroom activity!  Using our new Loaded: Extracting Idaho's Motherlode exhibit, students can discover primary and secondary sources for their research projects:  overview and activity, activity worksheet, worksheet key.

Old Penitentiary Activity Sheets are now available! Twelve worksheets help educators prepare students for their field trip to the Old Penitentiary. (Acrobat format.)

School lesson plans for Capitol-related topics are available in .pdf format.

Download Oregon Trail lesson plans. (Acrobat format.)

Lesson Plans produced by teachers participating in past Teacher Institutes:

• The Lewis & Clark Dilemma: Good or Bad?
• Lewis & Clark Tree Identification
• A Hunting Expedition: Looking at Different Perspectives
• Lewis & Clark Field Trip
  

Other Educational Activities

Check out our Educational Series - articles on Idaho history for younger readers.

Take part in Idaho History Day programs throughout the state.

The Prospector Club is designed especially for fourth graders studying Idaho history. This junior historian program inspires the student to actively participate in the study of state history.

Read archived copies of the Prospector Club newsletter.

Resources for Teachers on the Idaho State Historical Society Website

Looking for historic photos, maps or documents for use in your classroom?  Check out these resources:

• Bob Lorimer Photograph Collection - Bob Lorimer (1918-1975) was a writer, columnist and photographer for several Boise Valley newspapers including the Idaho Statesman, 1964-1975.
• Idaho License Plates - Historic license plates from 1914 to present.
• Image Catalog for Statehouse - Images for the renovated and expanded Idaho Statehouse.
• Mining in Idaho - This selection highlights mining as it pertains to Idaho history with selections focusing all across the state.
• Sherwood Photograph Collection - Photographs from the Henry's Lake region of Idaho.

• Sigler Photograph Collection - R. Harold Sigler was a portrait photographer in Boise from the mid teens through the 1950s.
• Shorty Fuller Photograph Collection - E. L. "Shorty" Fuller photographed the Treasure Valley as a freelance photographer during the 1930s and 1940s.

Learn about select oral history projects:

• Smokejumping and Firefighting Oral History Project - View indexes and listen to excerpts from men and women who helped suppress or manage blazes in the forests of not only Idaho but also forests throughout the U.S. West.
• Veterans History Project - View a list of interviewed veterans from Idaho.
• Women in WWII/ Veterans History Project - Interviews conducted for this project include the stories of working women on the homefront and oversees.  This project also records the remembrances of citizens living in the United States, Japan, Germany, England, Russia, and the Netherlands during World War II.

Read short essays on a variety of topics in Idaho history in our  Reference Series.

View a list of historic buildings and sites in Idaho on the National Register of Historic Places.

Learn more about our individual site programs

Idaho Historical Museum

Old Idaho Penitentiary

Idaho Archaeology & Historic Preservation Month, held in May each year, is an opportunity for the public to learn about Idaho's past. Idaho Archaeology & Historic Preservation Month is a fun and informative way to learn about prehistoric and historic archaeology in the State. In today's world, where the natural and cultural landscapes are changing daily, it is important to understand and preserve these very fragile resources. Public presentations on historic preservation topics are available from staff members of the State Historic Preservation Office. Presentations include such topics as architectural history styles, placing properties on the National Register of Historic Places, and strategies for teaching using historic places.The Idaho State Historic Preservation Office is the coordinating agency for Idaho Archaeology & Historic Preservation Month. Posters, brochures listing statewide events, and bookmarks are produced each year. If you would like additional information, please contact the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office, 210 Main St., Boise, Idaho 83702 or call 208-334-3847.

Monographs in Idaho Archaeology and Ethnology is a new series published by the Archaeological Survey of Idaho. The purpose of the series is to distribute as widely as possible the results of archaeological work in Idaho. The first monograph in the series is entitled "Cold Storage on the Snake River Plain: Archaeological Investigations at Bobcat Cave" by Lael Suzann Henrikson(1996). For more information about the series contact the Idaho Historic Preservation Office.

The Idaho Archaeological Society Annual Conference is co-sponsored by the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office. The event is held in September or October of each year. Avocational and professional archaeologists from Idaho and surrounding states present papers on current research in Idaho. For more information contact the State Historic Preservation Office.

The Public Archives and Research Library (PARL) offers a variety of outreach activities and materials.  Read more here.

The Idaho Oral History Center can help educators and students learn how to incorporate oral history into their teachings or research activities. Click here to email the Oral Historian for additional information about programs and services.

If you can't visit us in Boise, try our Outreach programs--traveling trunks, traveling exhibits, public presentations, slide or video shows, and more. Read more. (Acrobat format.)


Contact Information
Old Idaho Penitentiary
Amber Beierle
Interpretive Specialist
2445 Old Penitentiary Road
Boise, ID 83712
208-334-2844, Fax 208-334-3225
Email

Idaho Historical Museum
Kurt Zwolfer
Education Specialist
610 N. Julia Davis Dr.
Boise, ID 83702-7695
Phone:208-334-2120 ext. 11, Fax:208-334-4059
Email

History Day
Karen Grindle
History Day Coordinator
610 N. Julia Davis Dr.
Boise, ID 83702-7695
Phone:208-334-2120 ext. 11, Fax:208-334-4059
Email

Idaho Archaeology & Historic Preservation Month
Mary Ann Davis
Idaho State Historic Preservation Office
210 Main St.
Boise, Idaho 83702-7264
Phone: 208-334-3847, Fax: 208-334-2775
Email

Public Archives and Research Library
Linda Morton-Keithley, Administrator
2205 Old Penitentiary Rd.
Boise, ID 83712
Phone: 208-334-3356, Fax: 208-334-3198
Email



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