Retro Report

💡New Lesson Plan: #Teachers, check out a new #ELA lesson plan related to our video, "The Moon's Lasting Pull." Register for free access: https://retroreport.org/lesson-plan/lesson-plan-who-owns-the-moon/

New video: How do people know when history is happening? Patriot leader John Adams wrote to a friend in 1774 predicting that he would not live to see American independence realized. Only a year later, the American Revolution began. Learn more: retroreport.org/video/when-i...

Civil discourse, critical thinking and collaboration aren’t just classroom skills, they’re the foundation of a functioning democracy. We explore how the framers came together to draft the U.S. Constitution in a new short video and lesson: retroreport.org/video/an-enl...

New Video: Teachers, explore the origins of the Constitution in a new video. Use it to teach about how the framers drew on Enlightenment ideas to create a new government. This is the second video in a series marking America's 250th anniversary. Learn more: retroreport.org/video/an-enl...

The American Revolution was tied to rivalries that stretched across Europe. This new video explores how France and Spain helped the American colonists gain independence from Great Britain. Learn more in a new video and lesson plan about #America250: https://ow.ly/Tge550Z1GeH

How did the French become a key ally of Americans during the Revolutionary War? Learn more in the first video of a new #America250 series: https://retroreport.org/video/how-the-world-came-to-fight-in-americas-revolution/

New Lesson Plan: Are you looking for engaging materials to mark #America250? Check out our new short doc on the Revolutionary War. In a related lesson plan, students will assess how foreign alliances and global rivalries shaped the war’s outcome. Learn more: https://ow.ly/uym550Z0s3i

New Video: #Teachers, check out a new video and lesson plan on the Revolutionary War. Use these materials to explore how foreign powers turned a colonial revolt into a global conflict. This is the first video in a series marking #America250. Learn More: retroreport.org/video/how-th...

💡 NEW LESSON PLAN: LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. were won — and sometimes lost — through decades of protests, court cases, and hard-fought legal change. In this new lesson, students will analyze how LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. have changed over time. Learn more: retroreport.org/lesson-plan/...

💡NEW CLASSROOM RESOURCES: Teachers, access a new lesson plan and writing activities from The Writing Revolution to use with our video that teaches students how the federal government reintroduced the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park: retroreport.org/lesson-plan/...

💡NEW LESSON PLAN: #Teachers, access a new lesson plan and writing activities to use alongside our popular video on the Berlin Airlift. Register for free access: retroreport.org/lesson-plan/...

💡NEW LESSON PLAN: #Teachers, use your free Retro Report account to access a new lesson plan on surrogacy. This short video and lesson plan can be used in a variety of classes, such as #biology, #lifesciences and #civics and #government classes: retroreport.org/subjects/civ...

UPDATED RESOURCES: Our Teaching with Primary Sources collection has been updated to include 40 films. Each short film is accompanied by a primary source pack and scaffolded writing outlines to meet the needs of a variety of learners. Learn more: retroreport.org/collection/t...

💡NEW LESSON PLAN: Have your students explore how the approval of the birth control pill in the U.S. in the 1960s had lasting cultural, political, and economic effects on American society with this new video and lesson plan. Register for access: retroreport.org/lesson-plan/...

2/ Learn how the pill’s impact on American families is still being felt more than six decades later in a new video. Watch: retroreport.org/video/the-bi...

New Video: The introduction of the birth control pill in 1960 had profound political, social and economic impacts. Learn more in a new video: retroreport.org/video/the-bi...

UPDATED RESOURCES: Our Teaching with Primary Sources collection has been updated. You can access 40 films that fit seamlessly into U.S. History and Civics courses. Each short film is accompanied by a primary source pack and scaffolded writing outlines. Learn more: retroreport.org/collection/t...

Teachers use Retro Report because our materials are carefully reported, present multiple perspectives and engage students in critical thinking. Create your free teacher account on our website today to access 350+ videos, hundreds of lesson plans, an exclusive newsletter and webinars: bit.ly/RR-Reg

This new short doc revisits a teenager's act of resistance during life under surveillance in East Germany. Click here to watch the full video, and register to access free classroom resources: retroreport.org/topics/cold-...

Have you tried out Retro Report's new AI teaching assistant? Use this tool to help you find Retro Report resources in a matter of seconds. This season, use it to find classroom-ready AP exam review resources. Register for free access via email: bit.ly/RR-Reg

As a teenager in East Berlin, Tim Eisenlohr joined an underground environmental movement to share information that the government wanted kept secret. His arrest by Stasi officers sparked public outrage. Learn more in a new short video: retroreport.org/topics/cold-...

1/ New Video: What limits did the East German government place on speech during the Cold War? As a teenager in East Berlin, Tim Eisenlohr joined an underground environmental library that shared uncensored information. In 1987, he and others were arrested during a Stasi raid.

NEW INTERACTIVE TOOL: Have your students explore key events, foreign policy decisions and moments of resistance that defined the Cold War, drawing on Retro Report documentaries, archival materials and primary sources to bring the period to life. Learn more: retroreport.org/subjects/wor...

What was life like in a divided Berlin before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989? Hear from Germans who lived very different lives, in Soviet-aligned East Germany on one side and democratic West Germany on the other, in a new short video: retroreport.org/video/berlin...

Did you know that the fall of the Berlin Wall was triggered by a botched government announcement? Learn about what led to the fall of the Wall and the reunification of Germany in a new short video: retroreport.org/video/berlin...

💡 NEW LESSON PLAN: Through this new video and lesson plan, students will examine the Berlin Wall from multiple angles to understand the human cost of the Cold War and the forces that ultimately brought the wall down: retroreport.org/video/berlin...

1/ New Video: From 1961 until 1989, the Berlin Wall separated East Berlin, controlled by the Soviet-backed East German government, from West Berlin, aligned with Western democracies.

Find what you need — faster — with Retro Report’s new AI teaching assistant. Use this new tool to help you sift through our 350+ video library in a matter of seconds. Register on our website to explore the tool today: bit.ly/RR-Reg

New Lesson Plan: In this new lesson plan on the 1970s energy crisis, students will evaluate how political alliances and technological innovations restructure global interdependence. Register to access: retroreport.org/lesson-plan/...

In June 1979, President Carter installed solar thermal panels on the roof of White House as a symbol of energy independence during the energy crisis. Learn more about the oil shortage of the 1970s and the push for renewable energy technology in a new short video: retroreport.org/video/the-pr...

In June 1979, President Carter installed solar thermal panels on the roof of White House as a symbol of energy independence during the energy crisis. Learn more about the oil shortage of the 1970s and the push for renewable energy technology in a new short video: retroreport.org/video/the-pr...

In honor of #CivicLearningWeek, check out our Civics Resource Center today. Classroom materials include our Citizen Nation: Civics Skills collection, with skills-based videos that show students how to become engaged citizens: retroreport.org/civics-resou...

Oil prices are rising as the conflict in the Middle East continues. In the 1970s, the U.S. faced an energy crisis that nearly quadrupled the price of oil and triggered nationwide fuel shortages. A new short doc provides historical context to today’s headlines: retroreport.org/video/the-pr...

1/ The E.P.A. helped implement landmark environmental laws that protected endangered species, ensured safe drinking water and reduced pollution, such as the Clean Air Act. However, opponents argued that these regulations were overly burdensome on businesses.

2/ Experts who led the earliest days of the modern environmental movement say they are worried that progress will be lost. Learn more in our latest video: retroreport.org/video/chokin...

Are you looking for more ways to make your lessons more engaging? Browse Retro Report's variety of interactive maps and timelines today. Learn more: retroreport.org/interactive/

3/ This is a Steenbeck editing bed, which streamed a 16mm film of the January protests during Mimi's visit. These films were shot by U.S. government employees and are in the public domain. Watch Mimi's research come to life in our latest video: retroreport.org/subjects/civ...

3/ Please help us welcome our Engaging with Revolutionary History Teacher Fellows. This fellowship brings together more than 40 teachers who meet monthly in virtual seminars to research and develop classroom resources connecting the Founding period to the present: retroreport.org/education-en...

2/ We’re pleased to announce the 2026 Council of Educators. This group of 25 educators will meet in our newsroom this summer for an annual summit to create new resources and primary source sets. Meet the Council of Educators here: retroreport.org/education/co...

What does the life cycle of trash look like in the U.S.? Jeremy Wang, a member of RR's 2025 Council of Educators, explored this concept with his students using one of Retro Report's videos. Are you interested in accessing free resources to use with your students? Register today: bit.ly/RR-Reg.

#Teachers, explore a new short video, made in collaboration with @revealnews.org, that focuses on the Panama Canal's role in U.S. strategy, and its lasting impact on relations in the region. Plus, register to access two new lesson plans: retroreport.org/subjects/civ...

New Short Video: In 1971, Frances Moore Lappé published “Diet for a Small Planet,” a book that blended political insights with plant-based recipes. Learn how Lappé’s book helped transform American attitudes about food and vegetarianism: retroreport.org/video/how-di...

9/ Pinterest elected Retro Report to participate in the 2025 Educator’s Fund, which supports free classroom resources for teachers. If you use Pinterest, you can see and save our education resources. Follow us here: www.pinterest.com/RetroReportO...

8/ We also published a number of new interactive resources this year, on topics such as LGBTQ+ activism, population policies and natural disasters. Explore all of our interactives on our website: retroreport.org/video-librar...

6/ This collection, developed with the Windward School and funded in part by a Teaching With Primary Sources grant from @librarycongress.bsky.social, includes primary source sets and scaffolded writing outlines that support the diverse needs of all learners: retroreport.org/collection/t...