Outlines a lesson for high school students covering religious controversies in New York City schools in the 1840s. Issues pertain to Irish-Catholic immigrants' objections to public school religious instruction and attempts to obtain public support for parochial schools. Includes handouts concerning religious freedom, Bishop John Hughes' opinion,…

Discusses a survey of 56 advanced placement (AP) U.S. history teachers. Explores the scope of AP history and types of posttest activities used after Advanced Placement examinations. Concludes that public school courses developed more deeply into post-1960 events than the private schools did. Describes movies, debates, simulations, and local…

Explains a lesson in which secondary social studies or history students research origins of the freedoms to assemble and petition the government. Points out that the lesson provides students with an opportunity to examine how these freedoms evolved since the American Revolution. Reports that students discuss how to protect these freedoms during…

The Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy is a coalition of friends who share a vision of the potential of education. Founded in 1997 at a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College Teachers, the Hamer Institute conducts seminars and workshops for K-12 teachers and students that feature the role…

This document suggests ways of using children's literature to enrich the study of military history. The book is divided into six literature units that list and describe appropriate books, learning activities, and resources for teaching about specific wars. Studying historical periods through literature offers an invigorating, interesting way to…

Educational reformers have been concerned about an apparent lack of depth in most social studies curricula with the traditional pressure to "cover" vast amounts of content leading to limited student retention of knowledge. Observational studies have analyzed numerous high school social studies classrooms in which teacher-led…

The author stresses the need for college history instructors to make an effort to help students learn how to take good lecture notes, understand reading assignments, and obtain practice in writing. He also encourages more strict admission requirements in writing skills and college-wide adoption of more rigorous coursework. Students in American…

Instructional episodes are developed in this guide to illustrate focus and strategies for teaching Negro history K-12. Each episode reflects the anticipated social and intellectual maturity of the pupil at the grade level selected. Materials for primary levels stress human interaction within society; materials and activities chosen for grades 5,…

Colonization of America is the theme in this second social studies unit for 6th grade students. Reasons for colonization are briefly discussed. The unit then takes up the Spanish settlement of Mexico, the way in which the Spanish took their culture with them to the new world, differences in the way in which the Aztecs and the Spanish perceived the…

The Plains Indians are studied in unit seven, the last resource unit in the sixth grade social studies course which focuses on culture. This unit provides two case studies of the Cheyenne and the Mandan for students to examine similarities and differences between the two cultures. The lives of the Indians are analyzed through the white man's…

This interdisciplinary American studies curriculum guide for grades 7 through 12 provides a people-oriented approach to American history. Intended to give a sense of history to motivated and nonmotivated students, the guide describes six units which can be used singly as minicourses or together as an in-depth course on American life. Each unit…

Reports on a middle school project that created a living history environment focused on the Civil War. For three months the students "became" students at the Hopewell Conservatory in Virginia during the 1860s. They corresponded with Civil War soldiers and immersed themselves in the culture of the period. (MJP)

Presents a high school lesson on Hitler's death camps and the widespread policy of brutality and oppression against European Jews. Includes student objectives, instructional procedures, and a chart listing the value of used clothing taken from the Jews. (CFR)

Presents a high school lesson plan about U.S. government policy regarding Native Americans that is based on the National Standards for United States History. Includes a map, a reprint of a painting, and five primary source documents. Provides student objectives and step-by-step instructional procedures. (CFR)

Compares questionnaire results sent to elementary and secondary school teachers in Indiana and Japan. Surveys how and what is taught about World War II. Reports teachers in the United States concentrate more on Europe, Pearl Harbor, and fascism, whereas Japanese teachers are more concerned with Pacific theater. Concludes Japanese teach peace…