When teaching students about the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the impact these explorers had on the future of Westward Expansion, I see a great opportunity to frame the expedition as a story of hard work and perseverance. Though they …
In my social studies curriculum, we examine how the culture of a population changes over time due to outside influences. The best example of this is The United States, often described as a “melting pot.” I first pose the following …
In a unit on Puritans and Colonial America, in which students learn that the Puritans fled from England to pursue religious freedom, I would use the Cheyenne proverb, “Our first teacher is our own heart.” I would introduce this conversation …
Sometimes good teaching involves misdirection. You start with a topic that seems unrelated to the class, drift to another activity and then to another. If all goes well, (a big assumption!) your students are emotionally and intellectually invested in learning. …
We’ve seen how essential questions can organize an entire US history course. This week we see how one can begin a unit on the Women’s Movement and inspire students to become more thoughtful about how gender roles affect human identity …
Seems counter-intuitive to me. But maybe I’m missing something. Inspired by stoic philosopher Epictetus, here’s how you can work through the 3-Step conversation method to create an essential question for a US history unit on imperialism.
Respect is something adolescents think a lot about After all, there are great rewards to being respected: more friends, love from parents, favors from teachers and acceptance from society. That’s a pretty sweet deal. American history is replete with leaders …
