Every major measure of students' historical understanding since 1917 has demonstrated that students do not retain, understand, or enjoy their school experiences with history. Bruce Lesh believes that this is due to the way we teach history--lecture and memorization. Over the last fifteen years, Bruce has refined a method of teaching history that…

This pamphlet on revolutionary Georgia is one of a series designed for use in the state's public schools. The objective is to present a clear, concise picture of Georgia's history during the American Revolution. The first and major part of the text presents an historical summary. It describes how Georgia was an early and strong supporter of the…

Intended for teachers of grades 5 and up, this unit provides 127 documents from California's history, 38 of which come from the California State Archives in Sacramento, one of the nation's largest and most sophisticated repositories for primary sources. The unit contains three elements: (1) a list of document descriptions, which includes a…

This book presents a teaching unit that focuses on efforts to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957--efforts that resulted in a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as "the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War." The unit explores civic choices--the decisions people make as…

Intended for teachers of grades 5 and up, this unit on Florida history aims to help teachers satisfy two educational goals of the Florida State Standards for Social Studies. The first goal is to incorporate Florida history into the curricula. The second goal is to prepare students for assessment of their ability to interpret primary sources. The…

Intended to be used by teachers of grades 5 and up, this unit deals with Texas. The unit is built around the seven standards of the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), an outcome-based social studies curriculum guide for teaching Texas history. The guide includes the following standards: citizenship, economics, geography, history,…

The U.S. frontier (1785-1861) is the focus of this unit of study for grades 5 and up. This unit contains four elements: (1) a list of documents with their specific archival reference numbers and a brief synopsis of their historical significance to the unit's theme; (2) a set of reproductions of documents; (3) 15 separate classroom activities; and…

This unit of study (for grade 5 and up) about the American frontier contains four elements: (1) a set of reproductions of documents; (2) a list of documents with their specific archival reference numbers and a brief synopsis of their historical significance to the unit's theme; (3) 15 separate classroom activities; and (4) an issue of…

Predicated on the idea that children can connect with Americans of the past by reading quality fiction, nonfiction, and folktales, this book presents a diverse selection of children's literature that supports American history and social studies texts in grades K-8. The book is divided into two parts--the first part aimed at primary grade children…

This bulletin contains 11 personal statements by K-12 social studies teachers from across the United States that reflect their philosophical approach to teaching social studies and focus on what they do in the classroom. Most of the chapters contain brief selections from classroom materials. The titles include: (1) "Following Our Forebears'…

Commemorating the nation's Bicentennial, this publication provides essays from two distinguished American historians entitled "The American Dream Among Nations--What Promise ? What Fulfillment?" and "From Independence to Interdependence." The first essay, written by Richard B. Morris, describes how the American Dream was shaped…

This unit of study (for grades 5-8 and up) about the U.S. Civil War features original documents from the National Archives and Records Administration. All the records used in the unit reflect the actions of the federal government or citizens' responses to these actions. These records were selected for their historical value, their legibility and…

Because religion has greatly influenced the course of U.S. history and because it continues to have an impact on U.S. life, an examination of its role is a necessary part of social studies. In order to understand U.S. society, citizens must know something about the development of the religious ideas, practices, and institutions found in the United…

This book of readings and a study guide on energy is part of the twelfth Course by Newspaper, "Energy and the Way We Live." Courses by Newspaper is a program presenting college-level courses to the public through the cooperation of newspapers and participating colleges. Other components of this course are the Source Book (SO 012 722) and…

This unit of study (for grades 5-8) about immigrants to the United States during the 19th century contains four elements: (1) a set of reproductions of documents; (2) a list of documents with their specific archival reference numbers and a brief synopsis of their historical significance to the unit's theme; (3) 10 classroom activities; and (4) an…