Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

Check out these sites for excellent primary source material.

Online Primary Source Collections

In Using Primary Sources

Potato chip marketing—how a luxury item became an everyday U.S. food.

Creative Memo on Lay's Products

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Two practices help students to make sense of primary source documents on the internment of Japanese Americans while improving their reading skills.

Reading and Thinking Aloud to Understand

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

The Election of 1932: Photographs of FDR

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

Civil War Letters

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

Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty

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

World War II Memorial

What meanings does the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, have? [...] »

Japanese American Internment: Ansel Adams Photos

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

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Causes of World War I

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

FDR's Fireside Chats

High school teacher Joe Jelen combines roleplaying and critical analysis—by [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Integrating Material Culture into the Classroom

Use this guide developed by PBS and the Antiques Roadshow to teach [...] »

Evoking the Past

When visiting historical sites, sometimes you need a visual/emotional "hook [...] »

Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

Opening Up the Textbook

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

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 [...] »

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 [...] »