Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

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

Photo, George Gaskell and Colm Muircheartaigh, c1980s, LSE Library

Quantitative data, although seemingly daunting and impersonal, can help you understand the past.

Making Sense of Numbers

In Using Primary Sources

Photo, ". . . Texas-New Mexico Pipeline Company. . . ," 1972, Hiser, Flickr

Virginia Tech’s short video shows how to analyze primary sources and put them in context.

SCIM-C: Historical Source Analysis

In Using Primary Sources

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

A Close Look at the FDR Memorial

Historian Christopher Hamner visits the original Franklin D. [...] »

National Portrait Gallery: Teaching with 19th-Century Portraits

Watch Briana Zavadil White introduce teachers to portraits of inventors and [...] »

Narratives of Slavery

One institution, two very different perspectives. An expert contrasts [...] »

Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman

Can you trust a biography? Historian Tiya Miles analyzes an 1869 biography [...] »

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

How does the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Washington, DC, depict Grant and [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Organize Your Thinking to Critically Analyze Text

Discover the multiple strategies 5th-grade teacher Jennifer Brouhard uses in [...] »

Using Maps as Primary Sources

A 4th-grade teacher shows strategies for encouraging and supporting student [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Thinking Like a Historian

Learn how to teach your students historical thinking with this informative [...] »

Making Sense of Films

Work with early twentieth-century film as historical evidence. What [...] »

Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

The Grammar of History Textbooks Part II: Questioning the Text

Turn your textbook into a conversation by scanning its language for biases [...] »

Children’s Voices from the Civil War

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

Questioning Textbook Authority

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

Building a Conversation between Textbooks, Students, and Teachers

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

Learning Menus: Textbooks a la Carte

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