History is a process. Just as science is the quest to discover and understand the truth about the world we live in, so history is the quest to discover and understand the truth about our world in the millennia that led up to this moment. These authors asked children who ranged in age from 6 to 12, first grade to sixth, how we know what happened in…

The present study examines the ancient Greek history curriculum and the corresponding textbook as they are implemented in the fourth grade of primary school in an aim to determine whether and to what extent empathy is recognized as a fundamental tool for historical understanding. A close examination of the curriculum revealed that empathy is not…

This article describes an extracurricular social studies enrichment program called the Clio Club. "Clio" is derived from the Greek muse of history, and the club offers a variety of activities to help students discover and interpret social studies beyond the traditional school hours. They meet after school and on weekends both at their…

Community festivals allow students opportunities to meet key contact people and investigate local resources. Further, the excitement of the social festival is infectious; it encourages learning among people of multiple ages in a common area. Festivals serve to define the community, transmit culture, and allow the community to participate in…

Alternately referred to as historical role-playing, dramatic improvisation, sociodrama, or first-person characterization, role playing is a teaching strategy that often uses official accounts, personal narratives, and diaries to recreate a particular time period, specific event, or breathe life into a character from history. Historical…

Preservice teachers are often amazed at the wealth of print and Internet resources available. They look forward to selecting appropriate ones to make people and events in the past seem real to children. In addition to these, perhaps some of the most meaningful sources might be those they and their future students locate and/or create themselves.…

There is a very limited body of research on how teachers use materials from local history sites in their teaching. This paper reports on a descriptive study that progressed in two phases. In phase one, we surveyed all fourth grade teachers in one county's public schools regarding their use of curriculum materials provided by local history sites,…