Welcome to Best Practices
Spotlight on Elementary Education
Example of Historical Thinking

Analyzing a source requires context for a more complete understanding.
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Can you trust a biography? Historian Tiya Miles analyzes an 1869 biography [...] »

Historian Chandra Manning analyzes Civil War letters from black and white [...] »

A student demonstrates thinking aloud reading two documents.
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Take a look at artifacts from the past—what might they be? Teachers model [...] »
Teaching in Action

Elementary teacher Karen Eanes hooks her students with engaging historical [...] »

Is a school an island? James Liou talks about working to integrate schools [...] »
Using Primary Sources

National Park Service lesson plans, teaching materials, and vibrant images [...] »

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

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

Show your students how to challenge the authority gap between the textbook [...] »