Decades of research into which instructional strategies are successful in K-12 history and social studies conclude that having students write is extremely important. Effective writing assignments--whether a 3- to 5-paragraph essay, a longer term-paper-style assignment, or even a fictional short story based on a historical period or event--require…

Historical thinking and historical analysis have become significant themes within the ranks of social studies educators. In this article, the author talks about the importance of teaching historical analysis and historical thinking using the Internet. He presents websites that both explain the two concepts and also provide lesson plans,…

Students are quite interested in stories about young people throughout history. Students want to know what it was like to be a kid during the U.S. Civil War, during the Great Depression, or during the tumultuous Vietnam War period. They want to know what going to school was like, what young people did for entertainment and recreation, and what…

In this article, the author discusses how to teach the 2006 elections in middle or high school social studies and provides ways and some websites for social studies teachers at all grade levels to help teach about the 2006 midterm elections. One way to teach about the midterm elections would be to develop individual or group assignments that focus…

Presents an introduction and overview concerning integrating use of the Internet with citizenship education. Briefly reviews Web sites useful for citizenship education. These include Thomas, which provides summaries of bills currently going through Congress, and the Electronic Policy Network. (MJP)