Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

Watch Suzannah Niepold guide TAH teachers through analyzing the differences between two versions of Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.

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

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Detail, KWL graphic organizer

Eighth-grade teacher Amy Trenkle keeps students on-task before, during, and after a museum visit with graphic organizers.

Teaching Strategies for Museums: Graphic Organizers

In Teaching in Action

Photo, Students on Stage at Holton Arms Schoo c. 1920-1950, Library of Congress

A 5th-grade teacher teaches historical context through roleplaying activities.

Historical Context and Roleplaying

In Teaching in Action

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

1853 Daguerreotype

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

Sourcing a Primary Document

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

Civil War Letters

Historian Chandra Manning analyzes Civil War letters from black and white [...] »

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

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

Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty

Educators tour the NMAAHC exhibit "Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Teacher Bill Kendrat demonstrates the techniques he uses to draw students in [...] »

Causes of World War I

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

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Reading Like a Historian

Use the Stanford History Education Group's curriculum to teach historical [...] »

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 [...] »

Children’s Voices from the Civil War

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

The Grammar of History Textbooks Part II: Questioning the Text

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

Using Historiography to Analyze the Mexican-American War

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

Learning Menus: Textbooks a la Carte

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