Noting that Alice in Wonderland's journey is not unlike the experience of an immigrant who relocates to a new country, this lesson plan uses passages from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," along with various history texts, class discussions of students' experiences, and primary source documents and images from the American Memory collections, to…

This guide aims to help busy elementary teachers make the best use of a whole range of evidence for teaching history in schools today, covering areas of study at both Key Stages 1 and 2 (in the British school system). The guide includes: clear, richly illustrated explanatory text for the non-expert, with practical advice and project ideas; how to…

Design and technology are subjects that are about the real world, involving the application of scientific and related knowledge to a problem. The built environment is an excellent context for work in this area, as every building involves both design ideas and technological skills. This guide suggests practical activities and ideas for using the…

By the turn of the 20th century, many wealthy families, including the Vanderbilts, had palatial houses along the Hudson River, between New York City and Albany (New York). In 1895, Frederick Vanderbilt, grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, built his country estate overlooking the Hudson River in Hyde Park (New York). With more than 600…

This guide book helps to place the Ellis Island Museum (New York) and site within the context of the worldwide, continuing history of immigration. The guide views immigration as a continuing social process that brings people from one part of the world to another where they contribute the richness of their labor to their newly adopted home. Ethnic…

A Study of the 19th century pottery industry through the use of local records reveals how these primary source materials may be used as research materials in teaching social studies. (Author/KM)

Describes a secondary course on "American Pluralism" which emphasizes both content and process. The content and primary source readings, and how these lend themselves to students' use of interpretive skills are discussed. Examples from the test developed to evaluate the course are provided. (RM)

Maintains that children's ability to communicate can be enhanced significantly if language is considered a process which cuts across and connects everything that is taught and learned in school, including social studies. Suggests four activities on pioneer life which are based on this premise. Activities stress word understanding, listening,…

Presents an activity for senior high government courses about how President Johnson used his powers of persuasion to obtain civil rights legislation. Students analyze the effectiveness of arguments and persuasive techniques in two letters from President Johnson to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. (RM)

Presents an activity for high school government or U.S. history classes on President Johnson's attitudes toward education. Students analyze and discuss four primary source documents--a speech, memos, presidential remarks on the signing of education amendments, and a political cartoon. They write a paragraph on Johnson's role in education. (AM)

Reports on the use of magazine advertisements in an elementary French class to give insights into aspects of traditional and contemporary French civilization. Included are techniques for presentation, use of students' native language, what the ads reflect, outline of possible themes, and reproductions of several advertisements. (AMH)

Describes a college-level course in cultural geography which employed novels as instructional resources to help students understand how particular individuals and groups dealt with the environment of specific places through time. Novels such as "Babbitt" and "The Grapes of Wrath" illustrate influences of technological change and regional…

History is created, not born, as a group of students discovered three summers ago when preparing for the Francis W. Parker School's celebration of its 75th anniversary. Describes the search for the school's history and the experience of students learning about their school's past. (Author/RK)

Author states that "...quantitative studies have demonstrated the impossibility of understanding the American Revolution without understanding the society in which it emerged. Combining the quantitative studies of early American social structure with the exploration of popular ideology or culture should...make possible a sense of how revolutionary…

Illustrates how to teach U.S. history through the use of original documents such as Charles Nickerson's cartoon, "Images of the Fifties from Disneyland to Suez." States that the original artwork for this cartoon, which portrays the Eisenhower years, is in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas. Provides a pretest, teaching…