Introducing patriotic holidays such as Veterans Day with historical photographs and other primary sources in classrooms can not only spark children's interest, but also promote critical thinking and historical comprehension. Meaningful, hands-on historical lessons can also motivate children to take informed action about issues they care about. We…

A recent community wide reading program offers a valuable opportunity for students and teachers to respond to literature by attending community wide events, creating art, and developing relationships with community members.

As the author does his job, trying to sponsor and support reading and writing practices that will ideally enrich lives and communities throughout Arkansas, he is always tempted to rewrite the American Declaration of Independence so that its second paragraph begins this way: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created…

In 1998, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center launched OurStory: History through Children's Literature, a history and literacy program series for family visitors to the Museum that was designed to help children and adults enjoy exploring history together. Ten years later, to reach a broader, national…

Bringing history home, an elementary history curriculum and professional development project, began in 2001. As originally conceived, the project's main purpose was to move history from the margins described by Bruce VanSledright into the mainstream of the K-5 school day. Seven years later, the Bringing History Home (BHH) instructional units are…

This paper challenges a pervasive curricular justification for educationally acquainting young people with stories of genocide and other moral horrors from history. According to this justification, doing so favours the development of psycho-social soft skills connected with interpersonal awareness and the establishment and maintenance of positive…

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the nation's largest living history museum, in partnership with the Social Science Education Consortium, scholars, educators, and teachers, has developed engaging learning materials for social studies classrooms. One such program is the Colonial Williamsburg History and Civics Project, which is based on…

Described is a project in which the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History and the George Meany Memorial Archives analyzed a collection of advertising materials of the Pepsi-Cola USA company and conducted interviews to gather historically valuable information concerning the company. Valuable social history information was…

The Federal School was a correspondence art school in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the early 20th century. At that time, scientific methods changed the organization and practice of commercial art training and industrial education, which included correspondence courses from the Federal School. Standards of intelligence were determined with…

High school U.S. history students in New Jersey simulate city planning and construction. Students allocate available natural resources, designate population size, building types and locations, governmental structure, and future growth plans, and construct a scale model of their imaginary city. (AM)

Describes LaGuardia Community College's American Social History Project. Focuses on four aspects of the program: a multi-media curriculum based on the recollections and writings of the "unsung heroes" and ordinary people who shaped U.S. history; a thematically integrated cluster of four courses; a pedagogy of collaborative learning; and…

While the bicentennial of the Constitution is beginning to have public impact, it has made little impression on research in the fields of history, law, and political science. Books about the Constitution are listed and a calendar of conferences on the U.S. Constitution is provided. (MLW)

The 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland, which was located between New England in the north and Maryland and Virginia in the south, has received little attention from most historians of colonial America. The New Netherland Project was formed in 1974 under the sponsorship of the New York State Library and the Holland Society of New York…

Briefly outlines three major themes of American urban history pertaining to the study of all communities, and describes a program using extensive comparative community field studies which reinforces these themes. Emphasizes readings, discussion, field trips, and a month of field work. (Author/CK)

In 1996, Leeward Community College (Hawaii) participated in the American Association of Community Colleges' Exploring America's Communities project, which works to strengthen the teaching and learning of American history, literature, and culture at U.S. community colleges. Working as a team, faculty members examined the multi-cultural groups in…