While it is widely acknowledged that classroom practice is shaped by its context, the dynamics of that shaping remain elusive. This study conceptualizes the ways in which changing social conditions and national priorities enter into US curriculum practice. Initially, the focus was on the US Census 2000 results showing an increasingly diverse…

Argues the usefulness of timelines for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade history instruction, contending that timelines reveal history's unfolding better than fact-recall techniques. Presents ways to use timelines, including autobiographical, large display, and manipulative timelines, and combining timelines with biographies. Suggests timelines help…