Focuses on an art project that integrates history and social studies. Students depict an historical event that had an impact on the United States with a combination of drawing and transferred images (from the copy machine). Discusses some of the students' works in an advanced drawing class. (CMK)

Presents a lesson that centers around the 1847 article "Little Men and Women." Helps students confront myths about the absence of childhood in the past and provides a context about notions related to growing up. Discusses four areas of understanding needed when teaching the history of childhood. (CMK)

Presents a lesson on the origins of adoption, focusing on the work of the Children's Aid Society in New York City (NYCAS) and the Children's Aid Societies (CAS). Asks students to compare modern notions of adoption to the historical attitudes revealed in a document from 1913. Includes document. (CMK)

Presents a lesson on Betsey Sompayrac, a free woman of color living in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Focuses on her will and its contents and historical issues surrounding the will. Students transcribe the will and write a paper, drawing conclusions from the document. Includes a transcription of the will and the document assignment. (CMK)

Presents a lesson for high school students in which they collect and analyze data using questions from the actual Census 2000 long form and then participate in a simulation of a local planning council meeting to consider the short- and long-term community needs. Includes the Census 2000 long form. (CMK)

During the New York City Draft Riots the city's own inhabitants unleashed a torrent of violence and destruction that chiefly targeted African Americans. What originated as a protest against the enforcement of the Conscription Act quickly escalated into a riot that erupted at the volatile nineteenth century crossroads of race, class, and economic…

Over the past four years, the author has attempted to compare students' participation patterns during electronic threaded discussions and face-to-face classroom discussions. Most recently, he considered the interactions of 40 students in two world history classes at a public high school. These students regularly engaged in classroom discussions…

"Johnny" may be learning more about reading and mathematics, but he may have little time to study the discoveries of Columbus, the tenets of the U.S. Constitution, or the social and political causes of the Civil War. Those time-honored topics--as well as lesser-known events and figures throughout history--are fighting to maintain their…

This study investigated Catholic and Protestant students' ideas about historical significance in Northern Ireland. The research was conducted in two secondary schools in a medium-sized rural town, and data were derived from a ranking task and semi-structured interview with 40 students, aged 12-17, equally divided between the two communities.…

In this article, the author describes a technique she uses to achieve an autonomous student discussion. The technique involves setting up highly structured debates, whose content is informed by coherent sets of primary sources and whose form models one aspect of how professional historians work. Students are required to read about twenty to…

One of the most popular courses on college campuses and one of the time periods that still provokes considerable interest among high school students is the 1960s. Drawing on his experience as an author of several documentary collections and as a teacher, the author of this paper suggests ways that teachers and students can use primary sources to…

Using films to teach historical time periods, people, or events is not a new idea. In this article, the author contends that teachers who use film solely to teach historical facts or to test students' ability to stay awake miss an important opportunity to aid in the development of students' real historical understanding. Instead, teachers should…

History teaching continues to be driven by an overriding emphasis on information coverage. This trend has resulted in a fragmented approach to teaching that privileges the acquisition of facts over in-depth study (Evans 1989; Evans, Avery, and Pederson 1999; Goodlad 1984; Newmann 1988; Onosko 1992, 1996; Onosko and Swenson 1996; Wiggins 1989).…

Edward Thorndike may be counted on to say in few words what amounts to a highly complex idea. He once said that, with learning as with any activity, ability must be supplemented by interest or desire. "If we wish to learn a certain thing, we must arouse adequate interest... we must transmute this general wish into an interest that will carry us to…

This article reviews the findings of a small-scale investigation into the criteria used by a number of SACWG departments for assessing final-year project modules in business and history and other written history assignments. The findings provide the basis for a broader discussion of the issues relating to the formulation and use of assessment…