Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

How does the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Washington, DC, depict Grant and the Civil War? Historians Christopher Hamner and Michael O'Malley take a look.

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Negative, "Letters. Posting of letters III," c.1920-1950, Theodor Horydczak, LoC

Watch a scholar interpret letters from labor activist and reformer Sarah Bagley.

Scholars in Action: Analyzing 19th-Century Letters

In Using Primary Sources

Photo, V-mail, February 1943, U.S. Office of War Information, LoC

Source and approach letters and diaries with historical thinking.

Making Sense of Letters and Diaries

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

Japanese American Internment: Ansel Adams Photos

If the U.S. interned you and your family, how would you respond?

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Teaching the Reconstruction? Ford's Theatre's Sarah Jencks leads teachers [...] »

Ford's Theatre: Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Ford's Theatre Society's Sarah Jencks leads teachers through Abraham Lincoln [...] »

Touring Monticello

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

Primary Sources as Windows into the Past

Excite students by introducing them to primary sources that answer questions [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Opening up the Textbook: Voices from My Lai

High school students use primary sources to question their textbook's [...] »

Recreating the Cuban Missile Crisis

Ninth-grade teacher Jamie Kimbrough asked her students to stand in Kennedy's [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

George Washington, A National Treasure

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

Media Analysis Tools

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

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 [...] »

Learning Menus: Textbooks a la Carte

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

The Grammar of History Textbooks, Part I: Language Analysis

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

Opening Up the Textbook

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