New & Noteworthy

First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run

Thanks to your Facebook votes, we're featuring the 150th anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run. Learn what happens when middle school students visit the battlefield to create their own videos and practice the historian's craft. View here.

And discover how General “Stonewall” Jackson earned his nickname during the battle, thanks to this free National Park Service audio tour found in History in Multimedia.

Elementary

Cintia Cabib's Interdisciplinary Gardening

Summer’s here and gardening is on the minds of many. So how about incorporating a school garden into next year’s social studies curriculum? Explore the history of school gardens and get ideas on how green spaces can support interdisciplinary learning. Learn more.

Middle

Baseball in Black and White

The boys of summer are back on the diamond, but how much do you really know about our national pastime? Test your knowledge about the history of African American participation in baseball and see if you qualify for the Hall of Fame! Take the quiz!

High

JAH Film Review: Titanic

Looking for strategies to teach critical analysis of movies depicting historical events? We are delighted to bring you the first in a series of film reviews reprinted from the Journal of American History, beginning with the blockbuster, Titanic. Follow our blog for a new review each month! Read more.

Historical Thinking

Teaching American History

Scholars in Action: Analyzing a 19th-Century Daguerreotype

Listen as Frank Goodyear, Assistant Curator of Photographs at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, interprets a 19th-century daguerreotype (an early form of photography). Learn his strategies for analyzing photographs, what kinds of questions to ask of an image, and what other sources can help place the image in context. Learn more.

Making Connections: Using What’s Taught

How do you ensure that teachers can use what they learn during professional development workshops back in their classrooms? Learn how one TAH group from Ohio effectively combined historical content with practice by having teachers collect contemporary oral histories in their community. Watch here.