Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

With the advent of industry and western expansion, U.S. businesses mass produced dreams of affluence and progress.

Daily Objects, 19th-century America

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Ninth-grade teacher Jamie Kimbrough asked her students to stand in Kennedy's shoes. How did they decide to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Recreating the Cuban Missile Crisis

In Teaching in Action

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

Abolitionist Speeches by African American Women

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

National Portrait Gallery: Teaching with 19th-Century Portraits

Watch Briana Zavadil White introduce teachers to portraits of inventors and [...] »

Primary Sources as Windows into the Past

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

A Close Look at the World War II Memorial

Historian Christopher Hamner introduces educators to the World War II [...] »

A Close Look at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

Historian Christopher Hamner engages educators in close questioning of the [...] »

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

FDR's Fireside Chats

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

Teaching the Bill of Rights

Daunted by teaching the Bill of Rights and its complex vocabulary to [...] »

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.

Making Sense of Maps

What questions should you ask when viewing maps as historical evidence?

Teaching with Textbooks

Techniques for promoting historical inquiry

Using Historiography to Analyze the Mexican-American War

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

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 [...] »

Children’s Voices from the Civil War

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

Learning Menus: Textbooks a la Carte

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