This article describes the ways in which the author guided her third- and fourth-grade students in the use of historical fiction and primary and secondary sources (letters, historical newspapers, census data, photos) to think and write critically about provocative historical events. In creating their own newspaper, students learned to summarize…

In this study a group of elementary teachers use illustrations, rather than written text, to introduce their students to the peoples and places of the ancient silk routes. The illustrations are from two picture books; "Marco Polo," written by Gian Paolo Cesaerani and illustrated by Piero Ventura (1977), and "We're Riding on a…