An intensive five-day all-day humanities course on 18th century thought and culture for eighth graders that involved 11 different departments is described. The course helped students recognize that what they were taught in one class could reinforce and illuminate what they were learning in another course. (RM)

A serious academic curriculum must ask students, particularly in high school, to critically analyze and evaluate primary sources of information. How a lesson was developed around conflicting Senate testimony over the 1892 Homestead Steel Strike is described. Teachers can easily produce such lessons. (RM)

Describes a workshop in which doorknobs were introduced as one set of physical objects which could help both teachers and students develop a better understanding of social history and the past. Teachers examined decoration, design, function, and technical developments and learned the historical significance of a formerly insignificant object. (KC)

Discusses an elementary teacher's use of educational skits in history instruction. Describes the preparation of skit scripts. Observes that children who grow up passively watching television need encouragement to become actively involved in learning. Suggests that rehearsing the past may be the best way to prepare for the future. (SG)

Teachers of history in high school should use historical research as a teaching device. Advantages are that it permits teachers and students to learn together through discovery, integrates national and local history, and encourages students to develop respect for history and historians. (Author/DB)

Discusses a study of teacher conceptions of the meaning of history. Concludes that history teachers tend fall into five broad categories: (1) storyteller; (2) scientific historian; (3) relativist/reformer; (4) cosmic philosopher; and (5) eclectic. Suggests that teaching should be grounded in an explicit educational philosophy that is developed in…

Maintains that U. S. history has produced a vast literature of books and journals covering political, social, and economic history. Presents a bibliographic listing of what the author considers the most authoritative and accessible thematic treatments of U.S. History and scholarship. (CFR)

Contends that contemporary historians are redesigning U.S. history and its boundaries by including traditionally ignored groups. Asserts that history education that redefines boundaries in intellectually exciting ways should be valued. Provides a bibliographic essay on new historical scholarship and interpretations. (CFR)

Describes a sixth grade class in which students examined World War II throughout a school year. Identifies curiosity as the factor that helped children most in learning about the war. Reviews teaching strategies used and kinds of questions students asked. Discusses student problems with the vocabulary of the subject matter. Includes student…

Asserts that public policy analysis has a time-honored tradition in civics education. Provides a four-part teachers' rationale for including the study of child-labor legislation in social studies courses. Includes a five-part classroom format for teaching public policy analysis. (CFR)

Maintains that, if Richard Nixon is to be considered as a significant historical figure, his personality and complexity must be studied. Asserts that Nixon viewed the world as an unremitting struggle and unceasing competition in which an individual could only succeed by his own efforts. (CFR)

Contends that the elementary classroom can be an ideal place for instituting authentic assessment. Provides suggestions for beginning to use authentic assessment approaches in elementary social studies. Includes four sample performance items and suggestions for scoring performance-based tests. (CFR)

Maintains that the expansion of voting rights to African Americans and women is an appropriate topic for Social Studies courses. Discusses suffrage in New York state between 1848 and 1920. Includes a table depicting the women's suffrage campaign in New York state and a list of other resources on the topic. (CFR)

Contends that students enjoy social studies instruction more when new information can be personalized and reshaped into original material. Reports on the content and teaching methods used in an ancient middle east unit designed for the sixth grade. Includes three charts and one table that illustrate the instructional strategies. (CFR)

Maintains that recent developments of local, state, and national exit outcomes call for changes in assessing student performance. Discusses the use of cooperative learning modules in European history and global studies. Asserts that cooperative learning techniques call for much more student-student and teacher-student interaction. (CFR)