The annual "National Council for the Social Studies" (NCSS) Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People list often contains picture books that profile citizen role models--people who worked to change society for the better. In 2018 the list includes beautiful, thoughtful biographies of people who chose "doing good" over…

The use of testimony in teaching about the Holocaust has long been a practice, relying on resources such as memoirs, diaries, and audio recordings. Having first-person accounts provides a window into the experience of those who lived the historical events that now fill the pages of text. As we mark the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II…

In this article, the author goes beyond Supreme Court decisions to investigate the upbringing and personalities of three Supreme Court justices who left their mark on history: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and Sandra Day O'Connor. His interviews with their biographers, G. Edward White for Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Juan Williams…

Merrill Hartshorn, for three decades the driving force behind the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), died in 1985. This tribute, written by a former NCSS president and longtime friend of Hartshorn, describes Hartshorn as "the torchbearer of a social studies tradition." (RM)

A selected list of audiovisual materials useful for teaching the Bicentennial are annotated including a review of Bicentennial biographies. (JR)

A junior high level social studies unit designed to determine the characteristics of a real and fictionalized "great" person is described. (DE)

Suggests that character and personality profiles can heighten student interest in history. Provides an outline for writing a report on an historical personality and recommends activities which involve students in simulation and creative writing. (Author/DB)

The author of this article, president of NCSS (2004-2005), is a professor of social studies education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This address was delivered at the 84th NCSS Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, November 2004. The author's vision for social studies and NCSS in the twenty-first century comes from growing up in a…

Reviews the accomplishments of John Glenn as a pilot, astronaut, senator, and pioneer in relation to his 1998 flight that made him the oldest person to ever travel into space. Includes photographs for students to study, and recommends classroom activities related to Glenn's career. (DSK)

Provides historical information on the importance of political leaders' character. Explains that there are three attributes of aspirants for the presidency: character, personality, and biography. Introduces the ideas of James Barber in "The Presidential Character" that focuses on the relationship between presidential character and behavior in…

Provides information on the social conditions of women during the American Revolution, brief profiles of six women from the time period, and primary source material drawn from personal letters and publications. Includes discussion questions for middle school students and an activity for high school students. (CMK)

Provides a sample unit, "Women's Rights in Canada," that uses biographies and autobiographies to enliven the lessons. Suggests ways to introduce the topic at the elementary level. Provides bibliographies of films, human rights materials, Canadian resources, biographies, and autobiographies. (GG)

Written primarily for children in grades K-8, the books selected for this annotated bibliography emphasize human relations. Books on U.S. history and culture, world history and culture, contemporary interests and controversies, understanding oneself and others, and religion, as well as biographies, autobiographies, folktales, and legends are…

Each year, the journal "Social Education" contains an annotated bibliography of notable children's trade books in the field of social studies, evaluated and selected by the Book Review Subcommittee of the National Council for the Social Studies-Children's Book Council Joint Committee. This second compilation represents a two-year compilation…