Welcome to Best Practices
Spotlight on Elementary Education
Example of Historical Thinking
Today, we accept paper—and electronic—money as a fact of life. Historian [...] »
Watch Smithsonian curator Barbara Clark Smith discuss John Smith’s Map of [...] »
One institution, two very different perspectives. An expert contrasts [...] »
What can an inventory tell you about daily life in Delaware in 1804? Curator [...] »
Absolving the guilty and punishing the innocent. Historian Elizabeth Reis [...] »
Teaching in Action
Did two bullets begin WWI? Explore causation in your classroom.
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A 3rd-grade teacher leads her students through analysis of child labor [...] »
Using Primary Sources
Improve your historical analysis skills by learning about different types of [...] »
Quantitative data, although seemingly daunting and impersonal, can help you [...] »
Teaching with Textbooks
Turn your students into 'master chefs' by using learning menus that allow [...] »
Make the most of your textbook—engage students in close reading and analysis [...] »
Turn your textbook into a conversation by scanning its language for biases [...] »
Allow students to see that history as we know it is interpretation, [...] »
Show your students how to challenge the authority gap between the textbook [...] »