This document presents information on Nigeria for use in the elementary classroom. A basic theme of the text is change. Nigeria is currently in a state of change, as are most developing countries. North American children often have an idea of African people as poor and backward. In this text, Nigerian people are presented as a people with a rich…

The adventures of Ibn Battuta, the Muslim world traveler, provide a mechanism for teaching about the early 14th century. The study of Ibn Battuta helps students to understand what is known about the past and how it is known, in terms of both history and historiography. The unit can be presented in connection with such commonly taught topics as…

The integration of the study of art and history in a broad context of social, cultural, and political meaning cultivates a students' creative, aesthetic, critical and art historical sensibilities. This unit of study explores the time of the Roman Emperor Trajan, the decades from A.D. 98 to 180, a period considered to be the height of civilization.…

These curriculum materials about various aspects of the United States Constitution are designed as supplements to high school courses in history, civics, and government. They include 60 original lessons for students, accompanied by lesson plans for teachers, and are divided into five chapters. Chapter I, "Documents of Freedom" includes…

Designed to be used by secondary school students, this booklet makes use of Rochester (New York) related materials to teach about the popular taste of middle-class Americans living in the northeastern region of the United States in the latter part of the 19th century during the period known as the "gilded age." This was the period when…

Schools are too often places in which answers are conveyed to questions students are rarely, if ever, asked. This article offers, therefore, some examples of content--animating and throughline questions--and assessment practices that centralize questions rather than answers. While animating questions return teachers to the mysteries that excite us…

We are often reminded that we remember little of what we hear and read but much of what we teach. The very act of teaching forces us to clarify our understanding and to process it so that it can be communicated in a structured, clear and accessible way. Here, Heather Scott describes how she got an initially reluctant Year 12 group at Challenge…

Helping students to understand how and why people in the present interpret the past differently is a challenge. It is also vital if we are to develop an understanding of why the meanings we ascribe to the past are not fixed, but rather are subject to our own prejudices or goals. A number of articles in previous editions have explored how students…

This unit on Wyoming's early settlement and ethnic groups provides concepts, activities, stories, charts, and graphs for elementary school students. Concepts include the attraction Wyoming held for trappers; the major social, economic, and religious event called "The Rendezvous"; the different ethnic and religious groups that presently…

This handbook of historical sources for use in the school includes suggestions, leads, and examples, which serve as springboards to other sources, encouraging the teacher to consider various ways in which original source materials might be used in an instructional setting. The following categories are used as one way of looking at primary sources:…

Defines oral history as the act of talking to another person about the past. By obtaining the common man's view, a more complete interpretation of the past results. Outlines an oral history unit on the depression. Activities include tape recorded interviews and use of letters, pictures, diaries, newspapers, films, music, and books. (KC)

Provides examples of multidisciplinary approaches for teaching history and social studies to junior high students. Claire Zeni discusses art and architecture; Vilca Peggy Dunievitz illustrates the integration of student art projects into a history program; Ellen Santora covers the use of folklore; and Mary Ellen Wynne deals with the use of foods.…

Contends that social studies teachers are just as likely to experience student motivational problems as teachers of other subjects. Discusses issues related to student motivation and asserts that the teacher-student relationship is a critical variable. Presents and discusses 10 recommendations and classroom activities. (CFR)

Describes a project to produce classroom materials for world and U.S. history based on primary source documents. Recommends departing from textbooks to penetrate particular historical problems through the units described. Suggests that such projects teach students the complexity of history, encourage active learning, and display a variety of…

Notes that teachers can make writing assignments more acceptable by using innovative techniques. Suggests that using letter writing for research projects is a good motivational technique. Asks students to assume roles of persons of a specific historical period and write from the first-person perspective. Includes sample letter. (NL)