This volume of essays is collected and reconfigured from more than 150 original speeches and papers of Milton Meltzer. Throughout the book, Meltzer makes a case for the value of good writing and the importance and utility of literacy instruction using nonfiction. Meltzer addresses the need for better-written history texts and encourages students…

Based on the idea that the study of history should include the perspectives of all the people who lived during a certain time period, this unit offers as many different points of view as possible. Students are introduced to primary source materials and exposed to literature (especially historical fiction), poetry, and drama that reflects the…

This document discusses the movement to bring original historical sources into the classroom. Because students of history need access to sources of information that provide direct or primary evidence about reality, teachers must show that realistic alternatives to the traditional history text exist. In the first section of this paper, efforts to…

The author describes the impetus for and content of the Lilly Program in American History at Indiana University, funded by the Lilly Endowment, which investigated the state of high school history instruction, provided teacher training on the basis of the diagnosed needs, and evaluated the results of the training. (JH)

Several theories are given that provide the history teacher with a vehicle to explain elements of Puritan society as revealed by belief in witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. (Author/JR)

This project was designed to examine the selection and use of films in the teaching of history, the nature of the film medium as an instrument for learning, and the manner in which the discipline and the medium can be combined effectively in the classroom. Teachers need to be made aware of audiovisual materials available to them and methods of…

Examples of how oral history can be used in the secondary classroom are provided.

Reading past issues of one's school newspaper provides a source from which an era may be studied through student perspectives. The papers afford an examination of World War II, the "happy days"of the 1950s, and the turbulence of the 1960s, as well as an analysis of faculty censorship before that time. (KC)

Describes the use of "ideal-typical-historical" concepts in teaching history. Such concepts are abstract exaggerations which help develop an understanding of reality. Explains how the ideal-typical-historical approach uses a method of comparison to explain unique features of historical events. For journal availability, see SO 506 245. (Author/AV)

Excerpts from two propaganda leaflets distributed by Germany during World War I to demoralize American soldiers. Teaching suggestions encourage students to examine the leaflets' tone, guess who the authors might have been, and analyze the leaflets as examples of a propaganda technique. (AV)

Efforts to maintain or strengthen the place of history in the curriculum require a solid, theoretical justification of history's utility--a utility whose description has proven elusive. (MJB)

Discusses how using literature can enhance the teaching of history. Contends that literature conveys the texture of life in the past. Textbooks do not provide this sense of the past. (RKM)

Explores the influence of Jacksonian democracy upon the ideas and activities of William Lyon Mackenzie, a reformer who sparked the 1837 Yonge Rebellion in upper Canada. Examines similarities in several original documents written by Mackenzie and Jackson. (RKM)

Defines new directions that immigration history has taken in the 1980s, and indicates areas in which further work should be done. A variety of subjects are discussed - from recent immigration arrivals to new methods of historical data collection. (BSR)

Examines the frequently found gap between the teaching of facts and the learning of critical thinking skills in the history classroom. Describes how history facts can be taught through the application of critical thinking skills. Includes sample test items and teaching examples. (JDH)