A teaching guide for an interdisciplinary assessment technique or research project using creative and language arts. In this hands-on and engaging activity, students explore postage stamps as symbols of American history before designing a commemorative stamp; defending their subject selection and artistic choices through presentation and persuasive essay writing. Activity challenges should feature current studies and relevant classroom goals (ex. heritage month themes, explorers, authors, characters) for cross-subject exploration.

A topical collection featuring African-American leaders, inventors, activists, sports figures, and culture-shapers whose lives changed history. Teaching Tips can be found in "notes." These stamps are part of the Black Heritage Stamp Series. U.S. postage stamps were in use for nearly a century before Booker T. Washington became the first African American to appear on one. A handful of additional black history-related designs appeared between 1940 and 1978, when the U.S. Postal Service introduced the Black Heritage series. USPS continues to issue a stamp featuring a notable Black American every February in conjunction with Black History Month and at other times during the year. Today the Black Heritage issues are the longest-running U.S. stamp series.

A resource demonstrating a fun and engaging teaching strategy, Stamp Stories. Postage stamps are not simply a means to send a letter but can serve as windows into the history and cultures of the world. Every stamp tells a story. Simultaneously a primary and secondary source; the subject depicted on a stamp presents opportunities for innovative teaching strategies that appeal specifically to visual learners. In this lesson, students build their own stamp collections to show what they’ve learned and debate why the stamps they've chosen reflect the given theme. This specific collection features the Civil War but the technique may be applied to any subject or theme as an assessment, review tool, or ice breaker.