A classroom examination of the featured historical article announcing North Carolina's ratification of the Constitution can springboard into a lesson on federalism, the Bill of Rights, and the ratification process.

When digital assistants are used to process search queries, generate driving directions, or answer voice commands, advanced technologies gather available data and use this information to perform tasks that require decision making and problem solving. These examples of machine learning have become commonplace in our everyday lives. Machine learning…

As society continues to confront the implications of fake news and misinformation for American democracy, particularly the effects on public institutions, it is natural to turn to examples from the past. Digital libraries and archives provide students with unprecedented access to media from the past. Digital history includes the raw materials of…

The very first presidential proclamation was issued by President George Washington in the fall of 1789, during his first year in office. It followed a request from a joint committee of Congress asking that Washington recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. On October 3, Washington did just that--he…

The story of Abraham Lincoln's reaction to meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe is well known. Supposedly, the president greeted the formidable author with, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!" Although the two did meet in November 1862, there is no evidence that Lincoln said anything of the kind.…

The next American president will likely be the candidate who crafts the best "impression" in the media. It is the job of social studies teachers to help students separate impressions from substance and to understand the role that media play in crafting people's meaning making and shaping their decision making. Social studies teachers can help…

Discusses the problems of teaching current events to primary grade students and suggests methods of instruction. Problems include determining areas of interest, levels of knowledge, extent of misconceptions, and ability to understand a given issue. Methods suggested are daily newspaper clippings, small group discussions, and opinion polls. (AM)

The words "values" and "American Values" have been nearly ubiquitous in presidential election coverage on television and radio, in the print media, and on the Internet. But teachers know that it is a touchy topic to cover in the classroom. Trying to find the right approach to teach about values is difficult at any time; and, in a presidential…

Suggests that slave advertisements from old southern newspapers can be used to help teachers convey the nature of slavery. Includes a selection of slave advertisements with analysis and questions for discussion. Recommends the use of such advertisements for units on the causes of the Civil War or the lingering effects of slavery on society today.…

A study involving 2,000 8th and 11th grade students showed that males and females appear to be different in their news knowledge and news acquisition habits. Boys knew more about national and international events than girls, watched more television news, and read newspapers more often. (RM)

States that two primary sources of historical information about the Great Irish Famine are newspaper articles and diaries. Provides six newspaper accounts about the Irish Famine from 1845 to 1848 and journal entries by Elizabeth Smith (a landowner's wife in Ireland) describing the conditions in Ireland in 1847. Includes questions. (CMK)

Reviews arguments for and against mainstreaming and presents strategies for using newspapers in elementary school mainstreamed social studies classrooms. Gives examples of newspaper learning activities related to community affairs, social competencies, safety, and prevocational skills. (DB)

Description of a newspaper-school teaching project in Peoria, Illinois, that attempts to motivate student interest in world affairs and international interdependence. The project involves student activities complemented by newspaper clippings on topics such as culture, agriculture, and sports. (ND)

A junior high school teacher describes how newspapers can be used to teach elementary, middle, and junior high school students about the different lifestyles of the American colonists. (Author/RM)