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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

Photo, Final Day, April 11, 2005, *styler, Flickr

National History Day identifies secondary sources along with suggestions for their use.

Secondary Sources: What Are They?

In Using Primary Sources

Photography, James Lequlla: Newsboy, May 1910, Lewis Wickes Hine, LOC

Teach students how to utilize primary sources with this game from Annenberg Media

Interactivity

In Using Primary Sources

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

FDR's Fireside Chats

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

Cross-checking Sources and Testing Hypotheses

Challenge students to gather evidence from multiple primary sources. Here, a [...] »

Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty

Educators tour the NMAAHC exhibit "Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: [...] »

Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr.

What connections do documents related to the Jackie Robinson Testimonial [...] »

Creative Memo on Lay's Products

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

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Causal Reasoning

The fictional Alphonse the Camel provides insight for one classroom.

Foundations of American History: John Brown Song

How did people in the North feel about John Brown after his raid on Harpers [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Document Analysis Worksheets

Find the National Archive's worksheets for analyzing a variety of primary [...] »

Teaching with Historic Places

Looking for new ideas on how to teach with the historic places in your [...] »

Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

Using Historiography to Analyze the Mexican-American War

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

Children’s Voices from the Civil War

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

The Grammar of History Textbooks, Part I: Language Analysis

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

Building a Conversation between Textbooks, Students, and Teachers

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

Learning Menus: Textbooks a la Carte

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