Presents a lesson on American Indian tribal sovereignty. Discusses the concept of sovereignty as it developed in the United States. Describes three Supreme Court decisions that established (1) Indian tribes were sovereign before European contact and (2) some sovereign powers were restricted after the United States was established. Includes a chart…

A case is made for the use of the politically provocative photomontages of Heartfield (a.k.a. Berlin-born Helmut Herzfeld) in the German classroom. The interplay of language, art, culture, and history makes them especially useful as realia. A model for teaching them is presented, including a chronology and nine reproductions. (Author/LB)

Offers conclusions of research examining the U.S. history knowledge of 263 elementary education majors. Reports poor performance for the students. Suggests that the students have a greater understanding of more recent historical events than of earlier U.S. history. Argues that knowledge of history is essential in understanding the world and…

Discusses the development of a world history curriculum for the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) School District. Describes a program rooted in chronology and geography with interpretive frameworks for comparative study of change in diverse civilizations. Lists reawakening teachers' interest, updating training, and extending resource availability as…

Describes the contributions of anthropometric history to the understanding of standards of living in the past. Defines anthropometric history as a methodology that uses body height as a proxy measure for economic variables determining how well the human organism thrives in its socioeconomic environment. Suggests that anthropometric methodology…

The author discusses with Charlotte Crabtree, principal author of the California History Social Science Framework, the place of history within the curriculum in the context of recent social studies curriculum reforms. Delineates how multiculturalism, religion, and history are treated in the framework. Describes the textbook selection process and…

Provides a narrative (reading level 10.5) for the classroom teaching of events leading up to the Battle of Wounded Knee. Includes an annotated bibliography of primary source materials. Offers in the narrative a historical review of the events leading up to the battle. (NL)

Presents seven annotations from documents found in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database about the U.S. Constitution that are appropriate for secondary and higher education students. Documents include mock dialogues, teaching with documents, and a discussion on the impact of the U.S. Constitution bicentennial on teaching.…

Describes creating for the National Archives Public Education Department a historical drama, "Second in the Realm," based on the story of the Magna Carta. Demonstrates the effectiveness of historical drama as a teaching tool. Explains the difficulties of writing such dramas and provides guidelines for overcoming these problems. (NL)

Presents suggestions for teaching activities and student projects using Franklin Roosevelt's war address following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Recommends vocabulary emphasis, class discussion, and classroom listening to a recording of the speech. Suggests comparing the speech to Patrick Henry's famous speech and interviewing individuals…

Recommends that teachers present the years 1000 to 1750 as the "Traditional Europe" period, rather than as a combination of several periods. Identifies shared religious, intellectual, and artistic traditions; landed aristocracy; a peasant economic base; and an urban mercantile class as the era's distinctive characteristics. (DK)

Attempts to refute the multiculturalist revisionism surrounding the observance of the Columbian Quincentenary. Notes that warfare, epidemics, deforestation, and political turmoil existed in the Americas before Columbus' arrival. Discusses Christianity's central role in medieval Europe, some of multiculturalism's contradictions, and the importance…

Describes the process of developing performance-based tests for elementary history and social sciences in California. Explores development of open-ended questions, examples of questions and student answers, and scoring. Discusses prompts such as categorizing, chronology, cause and effect, controversy, multiple perspectives, interpreting symbols,…

Describes a competitive learning activity for social studies based on the idea of basketball play-offs. Suggests that the exercise allows students to review and discuss U.S. history while engaging in higher cognitive thinking skills. Describes a format in which students analyze the historical background of each president. Includes seeding charts.…

Suggests that Benjamin Franklin's autobiography contains many useful messages for today's students. Discusses Franklin's list of virtues that he followed in an attempt at attaining moral perfection. Includes temperance, industry, justice, tranquillity, and humility. Describes the message of Franklin's lesson as one of achieving through effort…