The premise of the Teaching American History (TAH) project—a discretionary grant program funded under the U.S. Department of Education’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act— is that in order to teach history better, teachers need to know more history. Unique among professional development programs in emphasizing specific content to be taught over a particular pedagogical approach, TAH grants assist schools in implementing scientifically-based research methods for improving the quality of instruction, professional development, and teacher education in American history. Illustrating the diversity of these programs as they have been implemented in local education agencies throughout the nation, this collection of essays and research reports from TAH participants provides models for historians, teachers, teacher educators, and others interested in the teaching and learning of American History, and presents examples of lessons learned from a cross-section of TAH projects. Each chapter presents a narrative of innovation, documenting collaboration between classroom, community, and the academy that gives immediate and obvious relevance to the teaching and learning process of American history. By sharing these narratives, this book expands the impact of emerging practices from individual TAH projects to reach a larger audience across the nation.

A resource for all who teach and study history, this book illuminates the unmistakable centrality of American Indian history to the full sweep of American history. The nineteen essays gathered in this collaboratively produced volume, written by leading scholars in the field of Native American history, reflect the newest directions of the field and are organized to follow the chronological arc of the standard American history survey. Contributors reassess major events, themes, groups of historical actors, and approaches--social, cultural, military, and political--consistently demonstrating how Native American people, and questions of Native American sovereignty, have animated all the ways we consider the nation's past. The uniqueness of Indigenous history, as interwoven more fully in the American story, will challenge students to think in new ways about larger themes in U.S. history, such as settlement and colonization, economic and political power, citizenship and movements for equality, and the fundamental question of what it means to be an American. Contributors are Chris Andersen, Juliana Barr, David R. M. Beck, Jacob Betz, Paul T. Conrad, Mikal Brotnov Eckstrom, Margaret D. Jacobs, Adam Jortner, Rosalyn R. LaPier, John J. Laukaitis, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Robert J. Miller, Mindy J. Morgan, Andrew Needham, Jean M. O'Brien, Jeffrey Ostler, Sarah M. S. Pearsall, James D. Rice, Phillip H. Round, Susan Sleeper-Smith, and Scott Manning Stevens.

Presenting U.S. history as contested interpretations of compelling problems, this text offers a clear set of principles and strategies, together with case studies and "Mystery Packets" of documentary materials from key periods in American history, that teachers can use with their students to promote and sustain problem-finding and problem-solving in history and social studies classrooms. Structured to encourage new attitudes toward history as hands-on inquiry, conflicting interpretation, and myriad uncertainties, the whole point is to create a user-friendly way of teaching history "as it really is" ─ with all its problems, issues, unknowns, and value clashes. Students and teachers are invited to think anew as active participants in learning history rather than as passive sponges soaking up pre-arranged and often misrepresented people and events. New in the Second Edition: New chapters on Moundbuilders, and the Origins of Slavery; expanded Gulf of Tonkin chapter now covering the Vietnam and Iraq wars; teaching tips in this edition draw on years of teacher experience in using mysteries in their classrooms.

Written by a history educator, this exciting guide provides a unique approach that makes it easy for middle and high school teachers to engage students' critical thinking in history and social studies. Using a "CSI approach" to history, the author's six powerful strategies tap into students' natural curiosity and investigative instincts. Students become detectives of the past as they ghost-hunt in their neighborhoods, solve historical crimes, prepare arguments for famous court cases, and more. Each ready-to-use technique Demonstrates how students can use primary and secondary sources to solve historical mysteries, Includes sample lessons and case studies for Grades 5-12, Aligns with national standards, making the book useful for both teachers and curriculum developers, Features review questions, reflections, and Web and print resources in every chapter for further reading. Incorporate these strategies into your classroom and watch as students discover just how thrilling and spine-chilling history can be! Book jacket.

"The second edition of this best-selling book offers the tools teachers need to get started with an innovative approach to teaching history, one that develops literacy and higher-order thinking skills, connects the past to students' lives today, and meets state and national standards. The author provides an introductory unit to build a trustful classroom climate; over 70 primary sources (including a dozen new ones) organized into six thematic units, each structured around an essential question from U.S. history; and a final unit focusing on periodization and chronology. As students analyze carefully excerpted documents-speeches by presidents and protesters, Supreme Court cases, political cartoons-they build an understanding of how diverse historical figures have approached key issues. At the same time, students learn to participate in civic debates and develop their own views on what it means to be a 21st-century American. Each unit connects to current events, and dynamic classroom activities make history come alive. In addition to the documents themselves, this teaching manual provides strategies to assess student learning; mini-lectures designed to introduce documents; activities to help students process, display, and integrate their learning; guidance to help teachers create their own units, and more"--

“Should be in the hands of every history teacher in the country.”— Howard Zinn James Loewen has revised Teaching What Really Happened, the bestselling, go-to resource for social studies and history teachers wishing to break away from standard textbook retellings of the past. In addition to updating the scholarship and anecdotes throughout, the second edition features a timely new chapter entitled "Truth" that addresses how traditional and social media can distort current events and the historical record. Helping students understand what really happened in the past will empower them to use history as a tool to argue for better policies in the present. Our society needs engaged citizens now more than ever, and this book offers teachers concrete ideas for getting students excited about history while also teaching them to read critically. It will specifically help teachers and students tackle important content areas, including Eurocentrism, the American Indian experience, and slavery. Book Features: An up-to-date assessment of the potential and pitfalls of U.S. and world history education. Information to help teachers expect, and get, good performance from students of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Strategies for incorporating project-oriented self-learning, having students conduct online historical research, and teaching historiography. Ideas from teachers across the country who are empowering students by teaching what really happened. Specific chapters dedicated to five content topics usually taught poorly in today’s schools.

Criticizes the way history is presented in current textbooks, and suggests a more accurate approach to teaching American history.

This volume presents the documents necessary to understand the essential ideas and debates that shaped the founding of the American civic order. It beings with documents that display both the problems that led to the calling of the Constitutional Convention and the ideas that shaped the debates in Philadelphia. It concludes with two documents - Washington's Inaugural Address and Madison's speech on the amendments to the Constitution (the Bill of Rights) - that show the new government beginning to function. The heart of the book is the documents presenting the debates at the Constitutional Convention and the debates over ratification. With its document introductions, annotations, and helpful appendices, this collection is an indispensable resources for understanding the American Founding.

Respected Christian educator, Dr. James Stobaugh, offers an entire year of high school American history curriculum in an easy to teach and comprehensive volume. American History: Observations & Assessments from Early Settlement to Today employs clear objectives and challenging assignments for the tenth grade student. From before the birth of our republic to the principles of liberty, American history trends, philosophies, and events are thoroughly explored. The following components are covered for the student:Critical thinkingExaminations of historical theories, terms, and conceptsHistory makers who changed the course of AmericaOverviews and insights into world views. Students will complete this course knowing the Christian influences that created a beacon of hope and opportunity that still draws millions to the United States of America. This 384-page student resource should be used in conjunction with the American History: Observations & Assessments from Early Settlement to Today for the Teacher. British History and World History are included in this comprehensive high school history curriculum for 10th, 11th, and 12th grades offered by Dr. James Stobaugh and Master Books.

No topic in U.S. history is as emotionally fraught, or as widely taught, as the nation's centuries-long entanglement with slavery. This volume offers advice to college and high school instructors to help their students grapple with this challenging history and its legacies.