Reviews various ways of teaching history: as narrative, as a process for teaching thinking skills, as perspective for making comparisons across time and culture, and as personal philosophy for interpreting the present. (Author/AV)

Senior high school American history teaching units developed around significant themes or areas reflecting the nation's exploration, settlement, and growth can be rewarding and meaningful teaching-learning experiences. One such unit, planned around the theme of settlement of the American Great Plains, can serve to illustrate the value of this…

Describes a college-level United States history/ecology course which examined American attitudes toward the environment, environmental use and abuse, and the conservation movement. For journal availability, see SO 506 393. (Author/DB)

The unity of past and present provided by historical novels changes reading about history from dull lessons to interesting stories that youngsters can emphathize and identify with and that, in many cases, strongly relate to their own experiences. (Author)

History textbooks usually read like dictionaries and encyclopedias--compact, fact-filled, and dry. To help senior high school students get meaning from this kind of text, teachers can use graphic techniques to preview the text, to guide students during reading, and to review the text after the students have read it. (RM)

Describes a history course on the college level that uses biographies to help students connect important political leaders, such as Hitler and Machiavelli, to the time and place that shaped their actions. Reports on the effectiveness of the class. (RKM)

Describes how Canadian retail history can be used to study Canadian history. Claims such activities can help students learn the economic development of Canada. (RKM)

Outlines a project in which the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 is used to teach about gathering information from primary sources. Includes suggestions for using this project as a model for analyzing historical events in any location. Emphasizes importance of having students draw conclusions from primary sources. (BSR)

Discusses the fact that although Jewish (along with Greek ideas) and Christian ideas make up the roots of Western culture, they are hardly mentioned in recent historical textbooks. This shortchanges students because they fail to learn the religious sources of human rights and democracy. (PS)

Traces the history of photography, revealing how advances in photographic technology affected society. Suggests ways in which photographs can be used in the classroom, mentioning cautions to consider when using old photographs. Shows how photography is beneficial to the study of women's history. Includes five photographs. (AEM)

Available evidence suggests that the curriculum theories of social studies professors are seldom the same as teachers' curriculum practices. Three 10th-grade U.S. history classrooms were studied to explore curriculum consonance: the relationships among the intended curriculum, what ensues in the classroom, and what students learn. Includes 36…

Discusses a walking trip through Elfers, Florida, which gives intermediate level students a basis for a real understanding of the state's history, climate, economy, and natural resources. Describes how students prepare for the outing by examining maps and interviewing their parents and grandparents about life when they were in school. (GEA)

This article reports on a pilot study on the development of historical understanding of elementary school children. Historical fiction was shared with second, fourth, and sixth grade children who retold the story and answered questions. Results are evaluated and suggestions for history instruction at the elementary level are discussed. (Author/MT)

States that history instruction can be made meaningful and enlightening only by examining historical choices and their results against available options and likely consequences. Presenting examples, the author argues that well-crafted historical simulations focusing on such elements as choice and consequence, strategy and tactics provide a useful…

Discusses use of computer conferencing in history instruction at Rochester, New York Institute of Technology. Describes how students hand in papers and communicate with their blind professor using personal computers and modems to send and receive electronic mail on the mainframe. Examines student reactions to project and evaluates program in terms…