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

Written primary sources only tell you so much. To learn about history that [...] »

What do these letters from a women's rights activist reveal about social [...] »

Watch J. Douglas Smith discuss the Massive Resistance policy enacted by U.S [...] »

Donald A. Ritchie, Historian of the U.S. Senate, asks how a political [...] »

How did the World War II internment of Japanese Americans happen? Historian [...] »
Teaching in Action

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

The fictional Alphonse the Camel provides insight for one classroom.
[...] »Using Primary Sources

So you don't live near Gettysburg or the Alamo—can you still teach with [...] »

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

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

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

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

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

Make the most of your textbook—engage students in close reading and analysis [...] »