The magnitude of change in the few years following 1858, 1938 and 1985 is barely comprehensible, let alone believe. Even though we can’t predict our future, we can get a better sense of scale of what we’re facing in comparison to other periods of massive change.
Good history lesson recipes work. This one mixes pictures that demand explanation with three compelling stories threaded together with whole-class discussion and primary source analysis, topped off with a direct connections to students’ lives today.
Primary and Secondary source identification is a staple of history lessons, but like history, the difference isn’t as clear cut as it first appears. This simple exercise will generate interesting discussions with students and adults.
Teaching the value of citation and the role in plays in making sense of the world is easier than choosing to require MLA or Chicago or deciding how many points proper citation format is worth.
Hooking student attention with a story of a prank using new technology is too easy to pass up because it can lead them into a lesson on historical evidence and historiography
What lessons can be found in a routine announcement from a college athletics department?
Even a children’s book can show you how edited quotes out of context can change your understanding of the past. It’s easy to check
All of our instructional choices will shape our students’ understanding of that period of history. But the vast majority of the history people’s lives remain hidden in the past, silent and unknown. If we gave the implications of our decisions the full weight of their responsibility, we’d be paralyzed.