Students in grades six through 12 in 40 states are participating annually in a History Day competition. Rules for the 1983 contest are briefly described. (AM)

Describes a living history program at the Old Town State Park in San Diego, California for elementary children. Program activities and the roles of volunteers and teachers are discussed. (AM)

Presents an activity which encourages hypothesis testing and introduces the study of prehistorical and historical societies. Students formulate a hypothesis about an artifact; then the teacher gradually introduces more information. Students refine their hypotheses and test them against what the artifact was used for. (KC)

Problems in the interpretation of the term empathy, and the value of the development of empathy in the teaching of history are discussed. Although the definitions here are presented in the context of history, they are relevant to the teaching of other subjects where an empathetic response is sought. (Editor/KC)

Explores some of the threats to accuracy in biographies for children. Illustrates how carelessness and oversimplification, inadequate data, unreliable sources, and social mores and taboos can lead to inaccuracies in this genre. (SR)

A new generation of history textbooks, produced since the 1994 release of controversial national history standards, is now being reviewed by key states. These textbooks appear at a time when educational publishing is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few huge media corporations. Discusses the business of educational publishing, which is…

Discusses the impact of literary retellings of historical events (specifically the use of informational storybooks to teach social studies) on children's understanding of social studies. Argues that, unless mediated by additional reading and focused discussion, informational storybooks can create a host of problems for social studies teachers. (SR)

Responds to an article in the same journal which argues that the use of informational storybooks creates a host of problems for social studies teachers. Argues that historical fiction must be considered differently than informational storybooks on science topics, and that a detailed examination of historical fiction is necessary before dismissing…

Describes how a Barnard history professor's effort to engage students in key texts through role-playing is catching on at other colleges. (EV)

In this article, the authors speak of an encounter they had in which they discovered some forgotten and unused historical resources hidden in a storage closet at the Cherokee County Georgia Historical Society. From these resources, they were able to weave an intriguing narrative encompassing people and events in history. They hope their story will…

A debate over a New York state commission formed to study how slavery was portrayed in schools showed that after more than a decade of adding multicultural curricula, educators there were still at odds over how the distinctive experiences of racial and ethnic groups should be taught, and who should decide. While some educators and observers in the…

Online genealogy tools is an unexpected resource as these tools not only serve valuable for genealogy research, but also can be used by students to learn about their country's past and learn to use primary materials to draw conclusions. Some of these Online sources like the 1880 census available at www.ancestry.com, www.thepastwhispers.com, which…

Social studies and history have taken a back seat to other subjects in recent years, but the author argues that there is far too much at stake to allow these important fields to become irrelevant. To drive home the point, in this article, he shares a story about the 9/11 Commission, that made headlines in 2004.

History education lends itself to considering historical problems from the perspective of people of that time and exploring their thinking or "predictions" about the problems' possible effects. Building lessons around the use of prediction-making humanizes history because it allows students to investigate historical events and understand…

Peer review can be a valuable tool in the writing development of high school sophomores. Specifically, this research study explores the use of peer review to improve writing skills and to build content knowledge in a social studies high school classroom through the use of peer interaction. The problem in social studies high school instruction is…