If high school history courses are meant to introduce students to the paradoxes and debates of American history, then they should study the 1619 Project, the authors argue in this article. College history students regularly debate the extent to which slavery was formative to the development of American systems of law, business, medicine, religion…

A current topic in U.S. public schools is teaching issues of racial discrimination in American history. There are those motivated by political gain for elected office that are trying to shut down conversations about slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws in K-12 schools while others point out the central role that race has played in U.S. history…

First-grader students engaged in a guided historical inquiry about Abraham Lincoln. The teacher carefully intertwined historical content, close reading, critical thinking, and text-based writing during Reading, Writing, and Social Studies classes. Students scrutinized secondary sources, which were largely biographies of Lincoln, to build their…

In this study, we explored the potential of two forms of discussion (disciplinary vs. traditional) for 39 sixth- and seventh-grade students with or at-risk for LD, before writing historical arguments. Nine teachers who led small group discussions in six heterogeneous social studies classrooms implemented the intervention. Students who were…

Although the Common Core and C3 Framework highlight literacy and inquiry as central goals for social studies, they do not offer guidelines, assessments, or curriculum resources. This practical guide presents six research-tested historical investigations along with all corresponding teaching materials and tools that have improved the historical…

Historical thinking is an integral part of understanding and doing history, as well as a good example of the kind of critical thinking necessary in today's society. This study, conducted in two phases, investigated ways in which students are brought to this higher level of thinking in the social studies classroom. Data collection occurred…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of Walton, Reed, and Macagno's (2008) dialectical framework on middle school students' historical discussions and written arguments. To do this,151 middle school students from six classrooms were randomly assigned to one of two conditions and asked to participate in a three-week…

This quasi-experimental study uses mixed methodologies to examine learning engagement on a social studies unit test based on primary and secondary sources (a "document-based question", or DBQ), to determine whether the use of film in a DBQ changes the nature of historical inquiry. The study was conducted in two Grade 7 classes taught by the same…

Although the literature base is replete with ideas about how to develop and support rich social studies teaching, advocates have been unable to show a consistently positive effect. Good history teachers take no single shape. Grant (2003, 2005) suggests that it is the interplay of teachers' deep subject matter knowledge, knowledge of their…

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…

Science fiction essay for social studies students is used to stimulate analysis of a peoples' characteristics and point of view. (JB)

Provides information on Manifest Destiny and the expansionist ideals of the United States, especially during the 19th century. Offers a lesson plan that will help students understand the concept of Manifest Destiny, including an assessment activity, how to expand the lesson, an appendix, and references. (CMK)

Step-by-step guidelines to help educators and community groups implement a National Women's History Week essay contest, in which elementary and secondary students write about women, are provided. Students are encouraged to write about a woman they personally know so that they can conduct an oral history interview. An alternate approach would be to…

Nine essays, written by distinguished historians and scholars at Yale University, discuss both content and teaching techniques about the American Revolution and the Bicentennial. The essay titles include (1) What Not to Teach about the American Revolution, (2) The British Side of the Revolution, (3) Women and Revolution in the 18th Century, (4)…

America's leading historian of education recounts a lifetime in the cause of responsible school reform. Diane Ravitch's blow-by-blow description of run-ins with Afrocentrist firebrand Leonard Jeffries, misguided feminists at the AAUW, the language sensitivity police, and others offers a fascinating perspective on how the education establishment…