Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

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What connections do documents related to the Jackie Robinson Testimonial Dinner in 1962 make between these two men?

Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr.

In Examples of Historical Thinking

The National History Day’s guidelines for defining and locating primary sources.

Primary Sources: What Are They?

In Using Primary Sources

Use autobiographies to deconstruct views of slavery and historical heroes.

Frederick Douglass's Autobiographies

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

Reading for Context

If students lack historical context, they can miss the substance of a [...] »

Abolitionist Speeches by African American Women

How do the speeches of Sojourner Truth and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper [...] »

The Election of 1932: Photographs of FDR

What can a photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 reveal? Donald A. [...] »

Intertextual Reading of Two Primary Documents

A student demonstrates thinking aloud reading two documents.

Touring Monticello

Tour Monticello with TAH teachers and learn about the history behind Thomas [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Causes of World War I

Did two bullets begin WWI? Explore causation in your classroom.

Third Graders Analyzing Historical Sources

A 3rd-grade teacher leads her students through analysis of child labor [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Media Analysis Tools

These worksheets from the Library of Congress help students analyze primary [...] »

George Washington, A National Treasure

This website by the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery will help students [...] »

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 [...] »

Questioning Textbook Authority

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

Using Historiography to Analyze the Mexican-American War

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

Building a Conversation between Textbooks, Students, and Teachers

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

The Grammar of History Textbooks, Part I: Language Analysis

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