Experimental archaeology is a vibrant and fascinating field that offers great opportunities for hands-on student learning in history. Although it is typically taught by archaeologists and anthropologists, it is certainly accessible and easily adapted to history courses. In addition to teaching "Introduction to Experimental Archaeology"…

History departments at many colleges and universities offer upper-level courses that focus upon the craft of the discipline. These stand-alone methods classes often lack the specific time period and geographic region that typically anchor history curriculum. Although most graduate programs in history provide in-depth exposure to historical theory,…

In this article, the authors trace their writing instruction through the 2016-2018 school years. They begin by describing how they framed the foundations of historical work and the importance of this framing for the later production of historical narratives. Then, the authors discuss how they integrated traditional literacy instruction with…

In particular, the study of history--its scope, reliance on analytical narrative, and methodology of tracing change and continuity over time--provides for an exchange of meaningful narratives. As historians Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier argue, "All cultures, all peoples, tell stories about themselves, and it is these stories that help…

Young children can engage in close reading, critical thinking, and historical thinking when age-appropriate texts are coupled with discipline-specific tasks. Prior knowledge is an impediment, though. Primary elementary learners simply do not have much of a historical schema. Because of primary elementary students' familiarity with Thanksgiving,…

The year 2013 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of E. P. Thompson's "The Making of the English Working Class" (1963). Throughout the year, essays, articles, and conference panels--indeed, whole conferences--explored the legacy of this influential historian and his most monumental work. 2013, coincidentally, also marked…

The author of this essay argues that historians should join their colleagues in the sciences in creating supportive environments for undergraduate research. Despite the apparent hurdles to overcome, historians can devise effective undergraduate research experiences that mimic those occurring in the chemistry, biology, and psychology labs across…

While the field of history education elucidates a clear and ambitious vision of high-quality history instruction, a current challenge for history educators (including teacher educators, curriculum specialists, and school-based history and social science supervisors) becomes how to illuminate and capture this when observing classrooms to research…

As part of a U.S. Department of Education grant to expand Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Albright College, the authors of this article, one a historian and one an artist, teamed up to teach a course called Revolutions: Art and Revolution in Latin America. In the class, they proposed to combine a studio art printmaking class with Latin…

As every history professor soon discovers, undergraduates often have trouble writing effective openings for their book reviews and research papers. some students hand in essays that begin with anodyne general pronouncements ("throughout history, some things have changed, while others have remained the same"), while others hand in essays without…

Students sometimes resist the history lessons their teachers try to impart; challenging the purpose and relevance of the information being shared. However, reading "The Giver" can help to bridge the gap between students accepting and rejecting the lessons of history while learning to value the skills such as citizenship and awareness associated…

Teachers can engage students in historical thinking by intentionally structuring close reading tasks. This article provides a practical and theoretical examination of the learning and teaching during a 30-minute social studies class in which students studied colonization by reading a primary source text from the Jamestown Colony. Students used…

For the author, teaching history has become a double challenge: to help students understand both "History" (the narrative crafted by the historian, based on documentation, supported by previous scholarship, and bound together through logical argument) and "history" (the real events that occupied real lives that are largely…

In April 2011, Congress slashed funding for a majority of programs tied to education. Several programs related to professional development for teachers did not survive. While cut severely--from $119 million in Fiscal Year 2010 to $46 million (a loss of $73 million or 61% of its funding)--Teaching American History (TAH) grants lived, albeit by…

The American Historical Association (AHA) and the National Council for History Education (NCHE) have recently advocated for raising the visibility of historians--and the significance of history coursework and subject matter preparation--in pre-service history teacher education. In 2006, NCHE adopted a position statement on history teacher…