As early as the mid-1970s, William H. McNeill, the father of modern world history scholarship, warned that the pervasive tendency for faculty to pursue ever-narrowing specializations, combined with a widespread distaste for teaching survey courses, will be history's undoing. In his mind, without concerted pedagogical attention aimed at both…

This book offers the tools teachers need to get started with a more thoughtful and compelling approach to teaching history, one that develops literacy and higher-order thinking skills, connects the past to students' lives today, and meets social studies 3C standards and most state standards (grades 6-12). The author provides over 90 primary…

This learning activity, "Feeding Your Family for a Year," teaches students about how the shift from nomadic, hunter-gatherer societies to agrarian societies led to inequities in resources, which in turn allowed a leisure class to develop (Cordes & Ibrahim, 2003). The activity demonstrates how an unequal distribution of resources,…

James Loewen has revised "Teaching What Really Happened", the bestselling, go-to resource for social studies and history teachers wishing to break away from standard textbook retellings of the past. In addition to updating the scholarship and anecdotes throughout, the second edition features a timely new chapter entitled…

The purpose of this article is to introduce text sets of picture books that address 10 ancient civilizations commonly taught in middle school and also offer instructional strategies that could be used for critical and multicultural literacy exploration. Beginning with discussion of the importance of picture books and text sets in the middle school…

Learn how to design history lessons that foster students' knowledge, skills, and dispositions for civic engagement. Each section of this practical resource introduces a key element of civic engagement, such as defending the rights of others, advocating for change, taking action when problems are observed, compromising to promote reform, and…

Teaching history should not be reciting an endless list of dead men, entombed between the covers of a textbook. Instead, "Breaking Away from the Textbook" offers a fascinating journey through world history. Not a comprehensive, theory-heavy guide, this book focuses on active classroom activities, methods for students to grapple with humanity's…

Teaching history should not simply be an endless recitation of irrelevant facts, entombed between the covers of a textbook. Instead, "Breaking Away from the Textbook" offers a fascinating journey through world history. Not a comprehensive, theory-heavy guide, this book instead focuses on exciting classroom activities, methods for students to…

That primary source documents have the power to bring the past alive is no news to social studies teachers. What is new in the last 10 years is the number of digitized documents available online that teachers can download and use in their classrooms. Encouraging teachers to utilize this ever-increasing treasure trove of resources was the goal of…

This study guide has been developed to accompany the film "Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh." The guide is organized in two sections: Preview and Postview. In the Preview, students are introduced to Hannah Senesh. They learn the historical context of her story, and they begin to consider some of the main themes…

This article describes a themed classroom project designed to teach about the culture and civilization of ancient Egypt. In preparing the project, it is noted that teachers should remember that different learning styles, including activities that provide meaningful experiences, are appropriate in accommodating the various ways children learn.…

This article describes a three-stage model for teaching historical writing to senior high school students. The model is applied to the incident known as "Bloody Sunday" which occurred in Northern Ireland in 1972. (JDH)

Reviews literature about the Warsaw ghetto uprising in April, 1943, in which Jewish resistance fighters fought to the last against the Nazi war machine. The author notes that history textbooks at both high school and college levels give virtually no mention of the revolt. (Author/KC)

This unique set of multimedia resources for middle and high school teachers of history, literature, social studies, and the arts, provides background, lessons, and ideas for studying and discussing the book "The Children of Willesden Lane" (2002). This book is based on the true story of Lisa Jura, a young girl who escaped Nazi persecution, as told…

Describes a lesson for use in U.S. or world history courses to help secondary students understand how common human concerns and problems have been reflected in codes of law that have been created over time. Students read about and compare the Code of Hammurabi, Mosaic Law, and Roman Law. (AM)