Biographies are one of our best tools for diversifying the curriculum. In this article, we describe The Biography Clearinghouse, a free resource designed to inspire teachers to use high-quality biographies in their classrooms. We then elaborate on curricular possibilities in K-8 classrooms. We end with a discussion of the Investigate, Explore, and…

Learning and innovation skills such as creativity, critical thinking and problem solving, communication, and collaboration can be fostered through learning about STEAM role models. Using selected picture book biographies, teachers can help their elementary students visualize the experiences of these individuals as they developed and refined ideas…

A long tradition of both State and religious interest and support characterised provision for education on the island of Ireland from the 1700s. Following the partition of Ireland in the 1920s, the newly created political entities of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland forged separate and distinct education policy trajectories that largely…

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 purpose of this article is to explore how teachers can use biography breaks to address the National Council of the Social Studies C3 inquiry framework and in the process meet requirements of the Common Core State Standards. We begin by illustrating and explaining biography breaks. Then we introduce the C3 framework and explain as well as…

This article presents a principal's story of social justice practice in a Hong Kong primary school. The narration accounts for the notion of social justice through his practice in various ways. Studying in a "rooftop" primary school located in a public housing area in Hong Kong was the principal's salient memory of his first year of…

Biography is a popular approach to history education in the younger grades, especially when teaching units of study during Women's History Month, which is March. A biography-centered approach, however, can be problematic when such lessons are not tied to any context, promoting the misconception that individuals create social change in isolation.…

Gerard Leonard and Kathleen Allen describe a variety of nature experiences as a part of the Montessori elementary tradition, beginning with a warning about the way contemporary life constrains children's experience of nature. Through a lyrical rendering of the nature-based expressions of children, Leonard and Allen look at a variety of approaches…

Personal biography influences preservice classroom teachers' (PCT) perceptions and attitudes related to school-based physical activity promotion (SPAP). Using an uncontrolled prepost design, this study investigated associations between biographical variables and changes in PCTs' SPAP attitudes and perceived competence while enrolled in a 16-week…

American publishers have published numerous children's books about Barack Obama over the past several years; most take the form of informational biographies. This article reports on a research project aimed at how these books incorporate sociohistorical narratives, particularly those related to the civil rights movement. Though the features of the…

When teachers in elementary and middle school classrooms portray history as an immutable sequence of certain facts, dates, and events, young learners tend to view the past, and by extension the future, as something fixed and inevitable. Learning about the past through investigating biographies can help counter this tendency by teaching students to…

Heroism means different things to different people. Uncovering individual definitions requires discussion and personal insights. Five brief biographies to stimulate discussion are included. Activities are suggested. (MT)

Analyzes the development of an elementary school teacher and her mathematical life history. Contains 57 references. (MKR)

This document discusses biographies of women, chosen to appeal to young girls, including "So Young a Queen,""Indian Captive,""Wilderness Wife,""Louisa,""Molly Garfield in the White House,""I Mary,""I Varina,""Pattern for a Heroine: The Life Story of Rebecca Gratz,""Theodosia,""Child of the Silent Night,""The Silent Storm," and "Invincible Louisa."…