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Overview

One of the goals of The Texas History for Teachers (TX4T) project is to provide educators with materials that meet the varying needs of students in today’s dynamic classroom. To do so, TX4T offers content in multiple formats and versions. This page outlines the different options available and our roadmap for the future.

Types of Content

TX4T provides several types of content to support teachers and students:

  • Classroom Activities: Unit-based lessons, exercises, and projects designed to introduce, teach, or reinforce historical concepts and skills. Typically provided as downloadable documents, and slideshow presentations. These materials follow best practices in pedagogy and are aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards.
  • Videos: Short introductions and historical video tours narrated by historians that provide background and context about major people and events in Texas history. These are suitable for classroom discussion or individual student viewing.
  • Special Projects: We are experimenting with several tools to bring Texas History to life including interactive, 360-degree virtual tours of historical sites and landmarks in Texas. Look for an expansion of these materials during 2026.

Grade Level, Foundation, and Advanced Versions

To accommodate varying student abilities and learning paces, TX4T provides three versions of many lesson materials:

  1. Grade Level: Suitable for most students, offering a balanced approach to content and activities.
  2. Foundation: Designed for students who may need additional support, this version simplifies complex concepts and in some cases provides more limited answer choices.
  3. Advanced: Written for students who may benefit from more challenging materials and encourages deeper critical thinking.

Teachers can select the appropriate version based on their students’ needs.

File Formats

Standard Document Formats

Most TX4T classroom activities and lesson plans are provided in multiple file formats.

-PDF: Ideal for printing and offline use, preserving the original formatting.

  • Microsoft Word (DOCX): Editable format for teachers who wish to customize the materials.
  • Microsoft PowerPoint (PPTX): For slideshow presentations used in classrooms.

All files are provided with standard accessibility-related features such as alternative-text for images, headings, tags, etc.

Translations and Interpretations

  • Spanish translations are being provided for written lesson materials. Translations are made by a native Spanish speaker and/or professional translation service to ensure accuracy and cultural relevance. Translations are a work in progress and may not be available for all materials. By the summer of 2026 we expect to have the majority of all completed lesson materials translated as well as Spanish subtitles for all videos.
  • American Sign Language (ASL) interpretations are being provided for videos to ensure accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. ASL interpretations are performed by certified interpreters and are included as a picture-in-picture variant of the original video. All videos on the TX4T site will have an ASL interpretation in the Spring of 2026.

Audio Readings, Braille, and Tactile Versions

  • Audio readings of lesson materials are being produced to support auditory learners and students with visual impairments and are available as downloadable MP3 files. Recording of these versions is a work in progress.

  • Braille and tactile versions We recognize that TVIs shoulder a heavy workload and we are attempting to help ease it by providing files in several formats to support their work. TX4T staff are not specialist in braille transcription or tactile graphics production, but members of our staff have had limited training through Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) workshops and are slowly adapting our lesson materials with the principles learned there. Translation efforts are ongoing and at present we offer the following with caveats:

    1. dxb Files: Ready to emboss files that are compatible with Duxbury Braille Translator software and many professional embossers. See next note about file preparation.
    2. Preparatory Source Files: We are providing Word documents formatted with BANA template standards applied in .docx or .doc formats to aid TVIs with further edit or provide unique transcriber notes. TVIs should note that adapted content can contain unedited visual graphics or instructions/activities that may not make sense without modification. Our staff is working through these materials to produce alternatives and embedded tactile versions but in the meantime, we recommend TVIs review and edit these documents for individual student needs before transcription.
    3. Tactile Graphics: We are experimenting with producing tactile graphics suitable for use with swell paper and embosser technology and plan to have a limited number of graphical maps and images available for download in the Spring of 2026.

VR Tour Alternative Formats

  • 360-Degree Virtual Tours: At present, TX4T has published a single virtual tour using the Matterport platform. This tool allows student to experience a real world location in an immersive way, however, the content embedded in the viewer lacks some accessibility features. In 2026 we will be releasing text-based and audio-tour alternatives to this media.