Designed for a ninth grade gifted history class, this interdisciplinary unit of study includes critical examination of two interpretations of the character of Shakespeare's Richard III. (RM)

A photograph of the Lincoln Memorial under construction is a useful primary source for studying topics in United States history. Seven suggested teaching strategies are listed. (AM)

Values and benefits derived from the study of American history have changed over the years. Historians must more adequately describe the principal benefits to be obtained from the study of American history and consider ways in which history instruction can be revitalized to help those benefits to be realized. (CJ)

Describes a secondary reading program which uses historical fiction to enrich social studies courses. A bibliography of the fiction used is included. (RM)

Describes a method to help students become participants in historical analysis rather than observers of ancient history. Mesopotamia is used as a case study of a culture for which opportunities exist for conjecture, hypothesis formation, research, extrapolation, problem solving, and statements of causality. (Author/DB)

Presents results of a study of student attitudes toward United States history 10-week minicourses. Course titles include America's West, Roaring Twenties and Desperate Thirties, Nuclear Age, and Popular American Image. Concludes that minicourses allow students to choose among a variety of offerings and to determine which subjects are relevant and…

This article outlines a conceptual framework for a high school or college level unit on local history and demonstrates use of the framework through a case study of Whitehall, Georgia. Information is presented on planning the unit, selecting a community, teaching methods, collecting data, and identifying likely sources of information on community…

Outlines procedure for group activity centered around an historical event. The group must perform mathematical problems in reaching a solution to a feudal community's moral dilemma. Copies of handouts are included. (KC)

The author, a former chief reader for Advanced Placement European History, provides secondary school and college instructors with criteria for constructing essay examinations. Topics include goals, language/wording, directions, sequence of questions, breadth versus specificity, compare and contrast questions, quotations, dates, and current events.…

Explains how history courses can be enlivened by an approach which encourages students to imagine how history would have turned out if certain events had happened differently. (DB)

Points out the value of including a unit of journalism history in courses on journalism fundamentals. Outlines two possible ways of organizing such units--chronological and topical--and suggests possible topics and resources. (TJ)

Discusses how students can learn history and use research skills as they study the genre of biography. Presents a biography unit on Western artist Charles M. Russell. (RS)

Offers suggestions concerning the nature of memories as captured in oral interviews by analyzing interviews with former employees of the Studebaker Corporation automobile plant in South Bend, Indiana. Stresses not only what people remember, but also how they go about the creation of their memories and how their memories give meaning to their…

Describes thematic teaching, presents a rationale for it, and offers middle grades and secondary teachers of history and social studies some practical suggestions for implementing thematic teaching in their classrooms. Presents thematic units on religion, and on national identity and diversity. (RS)

UCLA has issued world history standards calling for less memorization and more historical thinking skills. The standards are neither rigid nor doctrinaire, but they have been criticized for promoting a national curriculum, stressing 20th-century events, downplaying traditional U.S. heroes, exhibiting an anti-Western bias, confusing suggestions…