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Best Practices

Engage students in a creative learning activity that will teach them to understand the importance of multiple perspectives and historical context. Though this unit focuses exclusively on colonial and pre-Revolutionary America, the concepts and practices outlined in the activity can be adapted for other periods in history. FIND OUT MORE »

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Examples of Historical Thinking

Scholars, students, and teachers model historical thinking

John Brown

Chandra Manning discusses the song “John Brown's Body,” and how [...] »

Photo, 1932, U.S. Senate Historical Office

What can a photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 reveal? Donald A. [...] »

Photo, [Old hermit Roy Ozmer. . . ], 1957, Flickr Commons

Watch this flash movie for a peek at how historians read and question sources. [...] »

Maine Results. Herblock cartoon, 1932

Donald A. Ritchie, Historian of the U.S. Senate, asks how a political cartoon [...] »

Untitled daguerreotype of Niagara Falls taken in 1853 by Platt Babbitt

What does an 1853 daguerreotype have to say? Plenty, says Frank Goodyear, [...] »

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Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Detail, KWL graphic organizer

Eighth-grade teacher Amy Trenkle keeps students on-task before, during, and [...] »

Photo, "Bells from the 'Polar Express,'" Old Shoe Woman, 2006, Flickr, cc

A 3rd-grade teacher leads her students through analysis of child labor [...] »

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Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Photo, "Street Arabs in Sleeping...," Jacob A. Riis, c. 1880s, History Matters.

Textbook illustrations are often overlooked as historical evidence. [...] »

Photo, A private interview between a young immigrant . . . , Edwin Levick, NYPL

The Bracero Archive’s tutorial shows how to conduct successful interviews. [...] »

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Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

Marginalia, CHNM

The language of history textbooks challenges English language learners and [...] »

Negative, "Sgt. John Clem, U.S.A.," 1855-1865, Library of Congress

Help students identify with the past via children who lived through the Civil [...] »

Marginalia, CHNM

Turn your textbook into a conversation by scanning its language for biases. [...] »

Photography, Cooking with Kids class, 25 Jan 2008, Penn State, Flickr CC

Turn your students into 'master chefs' by using learning menus that allow [...] »

Poster, Williams, Brown & Earle, Inc., Grown Ups Enjoy Reading, Also., NYPL

Class discussion and personal inquiry builds an interactive relationship [...] »

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