Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

What meanings does the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, have? Historians Christopher Hamner and Michael O'Malley try to answer this question.

World War II Memorial

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Is a school an island? James Liou talks about working to integrate schools into the community, as practiced at Boston Community Leadership Academy, Boston, MA.

Students in the Community

In Teaching in Action

Watch Briana Zavadil White introduce teachers to portraits of inventors and presidents from the 19th century.

National Portrait Gallery: Teaching with 19th-Century Portraits

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Spotlight on Elementary Education

Oral histories and interviews are a unique form of historical documentation. This guide by Linda Shopes offers an overview of the various ways oral history can be integrated into classroom discussions. Though some of the techniques will have to be adapted for elementary students, the ideas Shopes presents are extremely useful. FIND OUT MORE »

Example of Historical Thinking

Scholars, students, and teachers model historical thinking

Close Reading of a Primary Document

On the website Historical Thinking Matters, a student reads aloud a [...] »

Creative Memo on Lay's Products

Potato chip marketing—how a luxury item became an everyday U.S. food.

Massive Resistance Political Cartoons

Watch J. Douglas Smith discuss the Massive Resistance policy enacted by U.S [...] »

Abolitionist Speeches by African American Women

How do the speeches of Sojourner Truth and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper [...] »

FDR's Fireside Chats

Historian Allida Black analyzes FDR's April 28, 1935 Fireside Chat. What [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Teaching Strategies for Museums: Graphic Organizers

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

Opening up the Textbook: Voices from My Lai

High school students use primary sources to question their textbook's [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Reading Like a Historian

Use the Stanford History Education Group's curriculum to teach historical [...] »

Making Sense of Oral History

Work with oral history interviews as historical evidence.

Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

Children’s Voices from the Civil War

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

Using Historiography to Analyze the Mexican-American War

Allow students to see that history as we know it is interpretation, [...] »

Building a Conversation between Textbooks, Students, and Teachers

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

Opening Up the Textbook

Make the most of your textbook—engage students in close reading and analysis [...] »

The Grammar of History Textbooks, Part I: Language Analysis

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