Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

Daunted by teaching the Bill of Rights and its complex vocabulary to students? Middle-school teacher Christine Valenti explains how she introduces her students to the Amendments.

Teaching the Bill of Rights

In Teaching in Action

One institution, two very different perspectives. An expert contrasts records.

Narratives of Slavery

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Jefferson, surprised by the Louisiana Purchase? Maybe not. Historian Leah Glaser looks at a letter from Jefferson requesting funding for the Corps of Discovery.

Jefferson's Confidential Letter to Congress

In Examples of Historical Thinking

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

Creative Memo on Lay's Products

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

What do slave receipts reveal? Ever considered using similar documents to [...] »

Close Reading for Vocabulary, Context, and Tone

Analyzing a source requires context for a more complete understanding.

Sourcing a Primary Document

See sourcing in action, as a historian reads a document about the Scopes [...] »

Smithsonian American Art Museum: "Westward the Course of Empire"

Watch Suzannah Niepold guide TAH teachers through analyzing the differences [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Causal Reasoning

The fictional Alphonse the Camel provides insight for one classroom.

Historical Context and Roleplaying

A 5th-grade teacher teaches historical context through roleplaying [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Making Sense of Oral History

Work with oral history interviews as historical evidence.

Making Sense of American Popular Songs

Don't overlook song as a way of understanding the past.

Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

Questioning Textbook Authority

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

The Grammar of History Textbooks, Part I: Language Analysis

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

Children’s Voices from the Civil War

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

Using Historiography to Analyze the Mexican-American War

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

Opening Up the Textbook

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