Students, especially young children, recognize differences. This guided inquiry positions elementary students to consider the (dis)abilities they see and do not see. This article couples trade books emphasizing diverse perspectives--general, American, people of color, international contexts, fiction, and disparate (dis)abilities--with evocative…

Second-graders engaged in complex reading, writing, and thinking about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Close readings of secondary and primary sources situated students to discover incongruencies between what is reported within trade-books and what is revealed within historical documents. Scaffolding directed students' scrutiny of…

This article presents activities for pairing three graphic novels with primary sources to teach the civil rights movement to teens. Reading civil rights-related graphic novels, and reviewing corresponding primary sources, can provide students with a deeper understanding of this tragic time in U.S. history and provoke discussions about racial…

Suffrage leader Alice Stone Blackwell wrote in 1914 that "the struggle has never been a fight of woman against man, but always of broad-minded men and women on the one side against narrow-minded men and women on the other." Carrie Chapman Catt agreed, writing that the enemy of suffrage was not men, but resistance to change. How many…

Engaging in student-centered learning with primary sources has become a priority in the teaching of history in classrooms throughout the educational spectrum. Approaching photographic evidence in the history classroom through a contextualized and systematic method of analysis is one way of involving students actively in their own education while…

In searching for a way of teaching American history as something that truly belongs to women, and men, to the powerful as well as to those who lack power in a formal sense, as something that is not the story of white people with an interesting person of color charitably thrown in for good measure, Boisseau writes that while many influential…

Given the overt political nature of this topic, an additional theoretical postulate, the Triadic Theory of Power was also presented as another framework to conceptualize the external and internal forces which shape the formation of contemporary education policy. Predicated upon the scholarship of Nobel laureate James Q. Wilson, Andrew McFarland…

Provides historical information on the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" and the role of A. Philip Randolph who originally conceived the idea for the March. Features a letter from A. Philip Randolph to President John F. Kennedy. Includes a list of teaching activities. (CMK)

During inclement weather in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1968, two separate incidents caused black sanitation workers to strike for job safety, better wages and benefits, and union recognition. Mayor Henry Loeb was unsympathetic and opposed to the union. Martin Luther King agreed to lend his support to the sanitation workers and spoke at a rally…

Paul Robeson was an athlete-scholar-concert artist-actor who was also an activist for civil and human rights. The son of a former slave, he was born and raised during segregation, lynching, and open racism. Robeson was one of the top performers of his time, earning more money than many white entertainers. His travels overseas opened his awareness…

Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many people considered a radical change in the U.S. Constitution. Militant suffragists used tactics such as parades, silent vigils, and hunger strikes. In 1870 the 15th amendment to…

In the mid-19th century people believed religious, moral, social, or political perfection was obtainable, not unlike Mrs. Amelia Bloomer. Bloomer's battles reflected and influenced gender roles in the 19th century as the United States debated social reforms and constitutional rights, such as the right to petition and the right to vote, among…

Using primary source documents, this teaching unit focuses on changing women's roles, growing awareness of gender inequities, and activist responses to these conditions in the United States between 1820 and 1860. Teacher background materials include a unit overview, correlation to National Standards for United States History, unit objectives, a…

Presents a case study used for teaching about World War I. Describes Bridgeport, Connecticut, during the period 1914-17. Includes maps, ethnographic data, and primary materials, such as newspaper accounts and speeches by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. Provides learning objectives, study questions, and a glossary. Discusses the impact of the war on…

A school-year research experiment using primary resources to teach an important national issue--protest movements against the Vietnam War at the local level--is an excellent way to motivate students and energize classroom teaching. Every local community in America has its own story to tell about the war in Vietnam. Whether it is about a local son…