Welcome to Best Practices
Spotlight on Elementary Education
Example of Historical Thinking
Historian Allida Black analyzes FDR's April 28, 1935 Fireside Chat. What [...] »
Teaching the Reconstruction? Ford's Theatre's Sarah Jencks leads teachers [...] »
Excite students by introducing them to primary sources that answer questions [...] »
Is reading a piece of historic literature once enough? Not if you want to [...] »
What does an 1853 daguerreotype have to say? Plenty, says Frank Goodyear, [...] »
Teaching in Action
An 8th-grade teacher asks: Was early 20th-century America a "melting pot" or [...] »
Teacher Bill Kendrat demonstrates the techniques he uses to draw students in [...] »
Using Primary Sources
National Park Service lesson plans, teaching materials, and vibrant images [...] »
When visiting historical sites, sometimes you need a visual/emotional "hook [...] »
Teaching with Textbooks
Allow students to see that history as we know it is interpretation, [...] »
Turn your textbook into a conversation by scanning its language for biases [...] »
Turn your students into 'master chefs' by using learning menus that allow [...] »
The language of history textbooks challenges English language learners and [...] »
Show your students how to challenge the authority gap between the textbook [...] »