"Enlivening Secondary History" is the ideal handbook for busy history teachers who want to do something different in their classrooms, but have little time to plan and organise their lessons. Featuring tried-and-tested practical ideas complete with relevant exemplars and step-by-step advice, this best-selling book is a compendium of creative…

How an introductory political science course called "The Elements of Political Theory" is taught using Plato's "Republic," Hobbes's "Leviathan," the "Declaration of Independence," and the "Communist Manifesto" is discussed. In the course, students contrast the way ancients and moderns differ in…

Contains a primary source document--a letter written in 1916 protesting U.S. Postal Service censorship of an anarchist publication--and suggests ways to use the document in secondary U.S. history classes. Samples of student surveys on mail censorship and a document analysis worksheet are included. (AM)

Discusses methods for increasing students' appreciation of and interest in history by incorporating the human element into the narrative. Suggests that this can be accomplished by utilizing diaries, journals, oral histories, and living people. Argues that the brief coverage of events presented in texts does little to give students a feeling of the…

Examples of primary source materials that can be used in a U.S. history survey course are presented to illustrate the use of primary documents to provide insight into how particular individuals or groups reacted to specific events. An introduction to the documents and their significance in U.S. history is provided, along with suggestions for class…

Philography, or autograph collecting, is a good way to liven up social studies classes. For example, after watching the TV miniseries "Winds of War," students wrote to famous real life participants in the war asking them a variety of questions. The response rate was nearly 100 percent. (RM)

To learn about the history of psychology, college students presented past research papers in psychology as if they were the original author, and the audience was confined, in raising questions, to their understanding of the prevailing state of knowledge and social outlook at the time of the paper's original publication. (RM)

Urges using resources from professional publications, scholastic journalism periodicals, and exchange publications from peer groups as primary teaching tools in the journalism classroom. (AEA)

Using primary sources in literature classrooms--getting students to examine authors' manuscripts, notebooks, and letters--helps students to develop critical methods and analytic skills for questioning literature's minute particulars. (RL)

A photograph of the Lincoln Memorial under construction is a useful primary source for studying topics in United States history. Seven suggested teaching strategies are listed. (AM)

Describes a critical thinking activity for secondary school social studies students using a letter written in the nineteenth century. The letter contains references to unfamiliar people and events. Through research, students are able to trace the exact date of the letter and to identify the people and events. (KC)

Describes history's curriculum role as it fell from a status of prominence in the 1890s to one of unimportance, submerged in social studies. Notes that history is again becoming an important curriculum area. Suggests that the resurgence of history education is the result of history educators' focus on what to teach and exciting teaching methods.…

Presents a secondary lesson for high school students based on a controversial 1892 proposal in Congress to reduce the size of Yosemite National Park. Includes a map and petition signed by John Muir, the first president of the Sierra Club, which was formed to oppose the proposal. The lesson includes class discussion and activity suggestions. (CFR)

Undergraduate history students can gain insight into the historical process from a short exercise using copies of documents that give conflicting interpretations of the same event. Explains how to lead class discussions based on two letters about lawlessness in Arizona in the 1880s. (Author/AV)

The author suggests using historical memoirs and autobiographies to involve today's students in the lives of the children of pioneer America. He describes some particular memoirs he has presented to elementary classes. (Editor/SJL)