If you teach any US History lessons, whether elementary, middle, or high school grades, the daily update for the National Archives is a great resource to subscribe to. Tuesday’s update featured an image of a 1868 drawing of and patent application for a typewriter. The National Archives posted a related lesson plan for teaching about the invention of the telephone and electric lightbulb. The lesson plan could be adapted to include the drawing of and patent application for the typewriter.

Applications for Education
These lesson plans could be useful for getting students to examine the inventions of the 19th century that contributed to the convenience of their lives in the 21st century.

Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:
Picturing the Century – Lesson Plans and Worksheets
Bill of Rights Rap
Think About History Trivia Game