Welcome to Best Practices
Spotlight on Elementary Education
Example of Historical Thinking
![](/sites/default/files/styles/splash_thumb_images/public/CreativeMemoSplash.jpg?itok=mg4kVQum)
Potato chip marketing—how a luxury item became an everyday U.S. food.
[...] »![](/sites/default/files/styles/splash_thumb_images/public/maine.jpeg?itok=m1ElhmRg)
Donald A. Ritchie, Historian of the U.S. Senate, asks how a political [...] »
![](/sites/default/files/styles/splash_thumb_images/public/ww2splash_1_0.jpg?itok=AB20NsB-)
Historian Christopher Hamner introduces educators to the World War II [...] »
![Photo, Is Anybody Home?, August 13, 2006, Pink Sherbet Photography, D Sharon Pruitt, http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/215475882/ Photo, Is Anybody Home?, 2006, Pink Sherbet Photography, D Sharon Pruitt, Flickr](/sites/default/files/styles/splash_thumb_images/public/splash-eoht-window.jpg?itok=Q9NuPVBI)
Excite students by introducing them to primary sources that answer questions [...] »
![](/sites/default/files/styles/splash_thumb_images/public/Jeffersons_Confidential_Letter_-_432x240.jpg?itok=nZE7dcVH)
Jefferson, surprised by the Louisiana Purchase? Maybe not. Historian Leah [...] »
Teaching in Action
![](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail1/public/Teaching_Historical_Interpretation_through_Planning_-_432x240.jpg?itok=4JOoy3Bo)
Watch this 9th-grade teacher lead his class in planning, writing, and [...] »
![Video screencap, Organize Your Thinking to Critically Analyze Text, 27 Feb 2012 Video screencap, Organize Your Thinking to Critically Analyze Text, 27 Feb 2012](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail1/public/thinkingsplash.jpeg?itok=U-73A1LV)
Discover the multiple strategies 5th-grade teacher Jennifer Brouhard uses in [...] »
Using Primary Sources
![film negative, Man working with a projector in a movie theater, 1958 Feb. 9, Marion S. Trikosko, LOC film negative, Man working with a projector in a movie theater, 1958 Feb. 9, Mar](/sites/default/files/styles/splash_thumb_images/public/filmssplash.jpg?itok=no5bOViW)
Transform film from a source of entertainment to a piece of historical [...] »
![Photomechanical print, Young America and the Moving-Picture Show, 1910, L.M. Glackens, LOC Photomechanical print, Young America and the Moving-Picture Show, 1910, L.M. Gla](/sites/default/files/styles/splash_thumb_images/public/artsplash.jpg?itok=uwmjRrd3)
Analyze art in the classroom with these resources from the Picturing [...] »
Teaching with Textbooks
![](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail1/public/reading_splash.jpg?itok=R5n-Kb7G)
Class discussion and personal inquiry builds an interactive relationship [...] »
![Negative, "Schoolroom. Concho, Arizona," Russell Lee, Oct. 1940, Library of Congress Negative, "Schoolroom. Concho, Arizona," Russell Lee, Oct. 1940, LoC](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail1/public/OpeningUpSplash.jpg?itok=fdiWKOhR)
Make the most of your textbook—engage students in close reading and analysis [...] »
![Marginalia, CHNM Marginalia, CHNM](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail1/public/GrammarHistIISplash3.jpg?itok=iEed4BmM)
Turn your textbook into a conversation by scanning its language for biases [...] »
![Negative, "Sgt. John Clem, U.S.A.," 1855-1865, Library of Congress Negative, "Sgt. John Clem, U.S.A.," 1855-1865, Library of Congress](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail1/public/ChildrensVoicesCWSplash.jpg?itok=DAhU9TSA)
Help students identify with the past via children who lived through the [...] »
![Marginalia, CHNM Marginalia, CHNM](/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail1/public/QuestioningTextbook432x240_0.jpg?itok=THmRe8wz)
Show your students how to challenge the authority gap between the textbook [...] »