Shifting to an inquiry-based practice can be challenging. How should teachers get started? How many times should teachers plan for inquiry? What do teachers do when students struggle with inquiry? How long does it take for students to buy in to the inquiry process? These kinds of questions, and the concerns that underlie them, can create an…

In this article the author reflects on her visits to American schools to talk about the experiences she describes in "Red Scarf Girl." In her book, she explains picture by picture, story after story how she and her family lived in darkness, how they were brainwashed, and about the concentration of power in China. She stresses that …

There is much that can be learned from a curriculum developed in The Netherlands, a country famous for having been "claimed from the sea." Nothing can be truer than that, but there is more to the story than just the physical aspect of claiming land from the water. The identity of the Dutch, the history of their maritime and seafaring…

The nation's classrooms have become more diverse, and children of Hispanic heritage represent a large and an important part of this multicultural mosaic. Events such as the commemoration of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon's historic voyage offer teachers the opportunity to reflect on important events of the past and connect them to students'…

The social landscape of the United States can be mapped by using a series of cultural fault lines. This topography portrays conditions that descriptions of the surface fail to illuminate. Many of these schisms are the by-product of ideological positions that diminish personal responsibility and thoughtful civic discourse. If left unattended, these…

Teaching about China can often be difficult because Chinese culture is very different from the culture of most American students. Students in social studies classes can find it hard to relate to such a distant and unfamiliar country. As China becomes a more and more integral part of the social studies curriculum, teachers must find effective…

Provides a brief summary of the French experience with nuclear power. Contrasts this experience with the nuclear power generation program of the United States. (JDH)

In today's culturally diverse and interconnected world, elementary teachers have a primary responsibility for opening students' eyes to the world and its peoples. Without understanding diverse cultures locally and globally, young people cannot make sense of issues and events that affect their lives nor can they make informed economic, political,…

Discusses the history of baseball cards and their use in the classroom as historical documents. Includes five exercises which deal with trading cards and the game itself. Provides a blown-up version of a 1950's Minnie Minoso baseball card to be used with one of the exercises. (GEA)

Excerpted from The People's Republic of China,'' No. 4 in the Issues in United States Foreign Policy series, the material discusses (1) Profile, (2) Customs, Etiquette, and Rhetoric, (3) Women in the P.R.C., (4) Cuisine, (5) Medicine and Health, (6) Education, (7) Language, and (8) Communes and Agriculture. (JB)

Topic 4, Relations Between East and West, from a theme issue on Teaching World History Through Science Fiction, illustrates with this 1951 story that there are many ways of living in the world which, although different from the Western way, are worthy of equal respect and dignity. (JB)

Describes a classroom game designed to help junior high students understand the historic and social relationships associated with clan names in the Manding-speaking areas of West Africa. (CK)

Describes a project, developed for elementary children, which compares childhood in 19th and 20th century New England. Study begins with patterns and characteristics of contemporary childhood, and proceeds to children taking roles as members of real families from the 1820s in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Use of the living museum, Old Sturbridge…

Books and articles about the history of childhood are presented in this brief bibliography. Areas covered are: 1) general histories of childhood and youth; 2) childhood in medieval and early modern Europe; 3) childhood in 17th and 18th century Europe and America; and 4) childhood and adolescence in the United States during the 19th century. (JDH)