Jeremy Thomas and Russell McBride are social studies teachers in North Carolina and, until recently, were colleagues at a charter school outside of Raleigh, serving students in grades 6-12. After learning about the Inquiry Design Model (IDM), both teachers implemented it into their classrooms and immediately saw how the blueprint helped deepen…

Shanklin understands the value of civil, public discourse in a democratic society and the need to impart that to our students. She tells us that "when students enter a community where their use of growing literacy abilities is both respected and expected, they are more likely to use what they do know, and even to push themselves further, to…

This textbook may be used as a supplementary text in history and English classes, or as an independent text. The selections, taken from a wide variety of sources, constitute a body of patriotic literature that will not fail to appeal to boys and girls to whom love of country, in these stirring times, is becoming a very real thing. The study helps…

Exposure to ideas helps young children articulate their own beliefs and sharpens their connections. Teachers can provide opportunities for children to advance their knowledge about democratic conditions through sustained discourse, or, as described in this article, purposeful class discussions followed by hands-on activities. The author describes…

This book offers a variety of practical ideas, tools, and techniques for creating democratic classrooms. It suggests exercises to get discussion started, strategies for maintaining its momentum, ways to elicit a diversity of views and voices, ideas for creative groupings and formats, and processes to encourage student participation. In exploring…

Plans and programs come in response to need. Citizens of our democracy have need of greater opportunities for truth-seeking under competent guidance. The people are hungry for increased understanding of the problems which beset them and their communities. They have a right to expect their institutions of education to give them help in their study…