As historians, we are dependent on evidence, which comes in many varieties. Rosalind Stirzaker here introduces a project which she ran two years ago to encourage her students to think about artefacts in a different way. They have examined randomly preserved artefacts such as those of Pompeii, and sets of artefacts which were deliberately chosen,…

Much has been written about the benefits to be derived by incorporating the history of mathematics into its teaching. Of the various ways to do this, the use of original sources is among the most thrilling for the insights and the challenges it offers for students and instructors alike. In this paper, we describe examples of one particular…

Lessons in community building and cultural understanding are important aspects of a 21st-century education. Through such lessons, students gain the keys to societal understanding as they gain knowledge about their cultural and historical contexts, and use that understanding as a setting for exploration of deeper values, emotional experiences, and…

In high school American history classrooms all over the country, the Civil War is a staple in the curriculum. Of course, that is to be expected given the pivotal place that the Civil War occupies in the nation's history. Indeed, it is not unusual for high school teachers to devote weeks of instruction to exploring the causes leading up to the war,…

Unfortunately, many students, are failing to learn history. Fifty-seven percent of high school students scored "below basic understanding" on their knowledge of United States history. Interestingly, less than half of the students were familiar with Patrick Henry, the War of 1812, the Marshall Plan, or the Great Society. Perhaps the time…

This casebook of materials about William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" will enrich students' understanding of the historical context of the play and encourage interpretations of its cultural meaning. Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" reflects perennial cultural concerns about order and freedom, particularly as they clash in the…

This booklet describes how students and other researchers can use historical resources in their community to explore the history of their school and to determine how that history relates to community-wide and statewide developments. Although the manual is written primarily from the perspective of the public schools, the underlying theme of the…

Presents a high school unit about the U.S. Industrial Revolution featuring the Boott Cotton Mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. Includes student objectives, step-by-step instructional procedures, and discussion questions. Provides two maps, five illustrations, one photograph, and three student readings. (ACM)

Students from the University of Montevallo, Alabama's public liberal arts university, re-created the Battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862) approximately twenty miles north of Corinth, Mississippi. For ten weeks in a classroom environment, nineteen students studied strategy, operations, and tactics that affected events nearly 143 years prior. Then,…

The Great War of 1914-1918 significantly shaped the course of the 20th century, both at home and abroad. How can this pivotal event be personalized and brought to life for students in the new millennium? Few survivors of the World War I era are alive today to directly share their recollections of this historical time. Yet, by delving into the…

Utilizes the 17th-century fur trade rivalry between the French and the English for a classroom experiment in the writing of history. Students produce their own account of a historical event based upon a reading of primary source documents. Peer reviews and teacher comments guide the students through several drafts. (MJP)

Asserts that teachers should educate students to use historical research methods, even in the elementary and intermediate grades. Argues that, although history should be taught as a "story well-told," it should also be discovered, just as historians discover it in the course of their research. (CFR)

Contends that during the Great Depression the federal government gave the visual arts unprecedented support. Presents a classroom lesson on a public controversy regarding a Works Progress Administration sponsored mural in an Idaho city. Includes teaching suggestions, recommended topics for student projects, and four primary sources. (CFR)

Suggests incorporating reading, writing, and social studies within the context of literature. Includes reading lists and activities for teaching about the Victorian period in a two-month social studies unit that incorporates science fiction, mysteries, and fairy tales. Children discuss old photographs, examine artifacts, visit a Victorian mansion,…

The booklet describes the local history component of an interdisciplinary high school course on American Studies. The program involves students over a three-year period in collecting, recording, organizing, interpreting, and disseminating the history, culture, and tradition of Scituate, Rhode Island. The booklet is presented in six chapters.…