Games And Strategies For Teaching U S History

Developed by an acclaimed history teacher in Iowa, this popular resource includes 14 simulations, debates, quiz games and strategy games. It covers key topics from the first explorers to the 2000 presidential elections. Convene a constitutional convention, re-fight the Civil War, relive the Crash of ’29, and much more. Use this ingenious text to reinvigorate your history classes.

For teachers at the college and high school levels, this volume provides cutting-edge research and practical strategies for incorporating sports into the U.S. history classroom.

"Williams′ passion for helping teachers look at content in new ways is precisely what we need. This book challenges educators to think outside the box." —Dennis Denenberg, Professor Emeritus Millersville University "This is not your typical social studies methods book. Williams′ highly readable prose shows a deep respect for the marriage of American history content and teaching." —Elaine Wrisley Reed, Retired Executive Director National Council for History Education Turn your students into history detectives with these innovative teaching strategies! 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 crime scenes, 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!

For teachers at the college and high school levels, this volume provides cutting-edge research and practical strategies for incorporating sports into the U.S. history classroom.

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 thinking and argumentative writing of academically diverse students. Each investigation integrates reading, analysis, planning, composing, and reflection into a writing process that results in an argumentative history essay. Primary sources have been modified to allow struggling readers access to the material. Web links to original unmodified primary sources are also provided, along with other sources to extend investigations. The authors include sample student essays from each investigation to illustrate the progress of two different learners and explain how to support students’ development. Each chapter includes these helpful sections: Historical Background, Literacy Practices Students Will Learn, How to Teach This Investigation, How Might Students Respond?, Student Writing and Teacher Feedback, Lesson Plans and Materials. Book Features: Integrates literacy and inquiry with core U.S. history topics. Emphasizes argumentative writing, a key requirement of the Common Core. Offers explicit guidance for instruction with classroom-ready materials. Provides primary sources for differentiated instruction. Explains a curriculum appropriate for students who struggle with reading, as well as more advanced readers. Models how to transition over time from more explicit instruction to teacher coaching and greater student independence. “The tools this book provides—from graphic organizers, to lesson plans, to the accompanying documents—demystify the writing process and offer a sequenced path toward attaining proficiency.” —From the Foreword by Sam Wineburg, co-author of Reading Like a Historian “Assuming literate practice to be at the core of history learning and historical practice, the authors provide actual units of history instruction that can be immediately applied to classroom teaching. These units make visible how a cognitive apprenticeship approach enhances history and historical literacy learning and ensure a supported transition to teaching history in accordance with Common Core State Standards.” —Elizabeth Moje, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, School of Education, University of Michigan “The C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards and the Common Core State Standards challenge students to investigate complex ideas, think critically, and apply knowledge in real world settings. This extraordinary book provides tried-and-true practical tools and step-by-step directions for social studies to meet these goals and prepare students for college, career, and civic life in the 21st century.” —Michelle M. Herczog, president, National Council for the Social Studies

Engaging the Past: Action and Interaction in the History Classroom provides practical steps toward using engaging strategies in the classroom to teach students to think historically. These strategies include an approach developed by the author called “The You Decide! Lecture,” and innovative ways to use board games and role-playing games in the history classroom. The goal is not simply to add window dressing to fundamentally dull lessons, but rather to re-examine how teachers think about students as learners of history. This book follows the growing trend within historical pedagogy to care less about content coverage and more about deep engagement, student learning, and the importance of historical thinking. The students in our classrooms today are the history teachers of tomorrow and awakening them to the exciting complexities of the past is critical to keep the study of history thriving.

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.