Best Practices | TeachingHistory.org

Welcome to Best Practices

What meanings does the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, have? Historians Christopher Hamner and Michael O'Malley try to answer this question.

World War II Memorial

In Examples of Historical Thinking

Ad, 1954, Linit Perfect Laundry Starch, Ad*Access

Advertisements have surrounded us for years. How can you interpret them? Where can you find them?

Making Sense of Advertisements

In Using Primary Sources

Historian Rosemarie Zagarri reads the Declaration of Independence closely, taking time to define its context and its effects.

Declaration of Independence

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

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

Watch Suzannah Niepold guide TAH teachers through analyzing the differences [...] »

Slave Life at Mount Vernon

How do the buildings and artifacts at Mount Vernon reflect the lives of the [...] »

Two Blues Songs

Written primary sources only tell you so much. To learn about history that [...] »

Japanese American Internment: Ansel Adams Photos

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

Creative Memo on Lay's Products

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

Teaching in Action

Teachers demonstrate promising teaching practices

Of the Student, For the Student, By the Student

Sixth graders in Prince William County film their interpretations of the [...] »

Using Maps as Primary Sources

A 4th-grade teacher shows strategies for encouraging and supporting student [...] »

Using Primary Sources

Strategies for analyzing primary sources

Making Sense of Letters and Diaries

Source and approach letters and diaries with historical thinking.

Scholars in Action: Analyzing 19th-Century Letters

Watch a scholar interpret letters from labor activist and reformer Sarah [...] »

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, [...] »

Questioning Textbook Authority

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

Building a Conversation between Textbooks, Students, and Teachers

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

Opening Up the Textbook

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

The Grammar of History Textbooks, Part I: Language Analysis

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