Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

Photo, Thinking of You, 12 July 2008, Fabiana Zonca, Flickr

Improve your historical analysis skills by learning about different types of causes and evidence.

Key Concepts in Historical Thinking

In Using Primary Sources

Photo, Bayard Rustin, 1964, Library of Congress

If students lack historical context, they can miss the substance of a reading. Watch a high school sophomore use what he knows about the 1950s and 1960s to approach a diary extract.

Reading for Context

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Screencap, Native American mask detail, 18 Jul 2012, American's History in the M

In this series of exercises, students are presented with Native American masks and must contextualize them.

Interactive Exercises—Analyzing Artifacts

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

My Lai Massacre Political Cartoon

Professor Meredith Lair examines a 1971 political cartoon and what it says [...] »

1853 Daguerreotype

What does an 1853 daguerreotype have to say? Plenty, says Frank Goodyear, [...] »

Piscataway Park and Tobacco Farming

What was it like being a small farmer in the 1700s? Follow a tour group [...] »

Intertextual Reading of Two Primary Documents

A student demonstrates thinking aloud reading two documents.

Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr.

What connections do documents related to the Jackie Robinson Testimonial [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Causal Reasoning

The fictional Alphonse the Camel provides insight for one classroom.

Reading and Thinking Aloud to Understand

Two practices help students to make sense of primary source documents on the [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Making Sense of American Popular Songs

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

Analyzing Composition in Paintings

Incorporate art into lesson plans with this resource from The Metropolitan [...] »

Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

Children’s Voices from the Civil War

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

Opening Up the Textbook

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

The Grammar of History Textbooks, Part I: Language Analysis

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

Learning Menus: Textbooks a la Carte

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

Questioning Textbook Authority

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