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The article discusses strategies for teaching the historical concept known as the Columbian Exchange. It examines teaching narratives of explorer Christopher Columbus, concepts such as demographics, epidemics, and mineral flows, in addition to linguistic and literary histories, and the trend of Eurocentric historiography. It also examines the book "The Conquest of America" by scholar Tzvetan Todorov and the scholarship of scholar Alfred Crosby.

The article discusses the role of narrative in the study and teaching of U.S. history, with a particular focus on U.S. history survey courses. Emphasis is given to the author's experiences of asking students to write a short history of the U.S. It is suggested that storytelling is an important way in which people understand the world, and that teachers should embrace the structure of stories while teaching students to examine metanarratives critically.

The article discusses the role of questions in the study and teaching of U.S. history. According to the authors, designing history courses around open-ended questions encourages students to think critically and to practice reasoned analysis rather than memorization, as well as to explore connections between the past and the present. Examples from junior high, high school, and college-level courses are presented.

The article explores the author's experiences of using the U.S. motto, E Puribus Unum (from many one), as a narrative framework for the teaching of U.S. history in a survey course format. It is suggested that this framework allowed students with differing viewpoints to discuss and examine critically the meaning of U.S. history. Topics discussed include power, liberty, marginalized social groups, and democracy.

The article discusses the online study and teaching of history. Particular focus is given to the authors' experience of designing two online, asynchronous courses for teachers, centering on Virginia history and U.S. history respectively. Details on the use of primary and secondary source materials in online teaching are presented. The authors emphasize the roles of flexibility, interaction, and feedback in online learning.

The article offers the best way to empower students to understand how Civil War armies worked and fought. It recommends the use of maps, text sources, photographs, sketches and trips to the field itself. It also shows how military history has remained a useful tool to teach students how to think historically and holistically.

An essay is presented on the use of political cartoons in the teaching of U.S. environmental history. According to the author, these cartoons can serve both to ease student discomfort with controversial topics and to provide insight into historical perspectives on environmental issues. Details related to environmental commentaries by cartoonists such as J. N. Darling, Herbert Block, and Dave Horsey are presented. The author also suggests methods of obtaining cartoons for classroom use.

In this article, the author discusses her experiences teaching a high school environmental history seminar. Particular focus is given to changes in students' conceptions of progress and the relationship between humans and the environment as they completed the course. According to the author, learning about environmental change, natural catastrophes, and economic systems caused students to question their assumptions about human agency and control. Topics discussed include innovation, chance, and discussion-based pedagogy.

The article discusses the September 11 Digital Archive, an online collection of documents, images, video, oral histories, and audio artifacts related to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Particular focus is given to the use of the web site in the study and teaching of the 2001 attacks. According to the author, the site can be used to teach history students about the process of interpreting historical evidence and can give them a chance to form their own thoughts on the attacks and their political and social implications. Details related to suggested student assignments which make use of the archive are also presented.

The article discusses the use of living history interpretation as a classroom teaching tool, with a particular focus on the author's portrayal of radical abolitionist John Brown in her elementary and high-school history lessons. It is suggested that this method helps both students and teachers to become engaged in the lesson material. The author presents several suggestions for creating an accurate, interesting, and informative historical persona, handling classroom discipline while in character, and assessing what students have learned from the exercise. Details related to Brown's life are also presented.

The article discusses the use of digital media in museums' educational programs, with a particular focus on Colonial Williamsburg. According to the authors, Colonial Williamsburg's Electronic Field Trip series and other online content provide an interactive and immersive experience for students unable to travel to the site. It is suggested that the increasing digital accessibility of museum collections and resources has the potential to turn museums into core curriculum content providers. Details related to Colonial Williamsburg's Digital History Center and online collections, including issues of the periodical "The Virginia Gazette," are presented. Other topics include blogs, podcasts, and historical re-enactments.

The article discusses how to use patents and their associated narratives to teach U.S. history. The author begins by detailing what a patent is. The author states that a patent is a document explaining the discovery, how it is constructed, and what it is claiming as a monopoly due to its novelty. How to access patents in the U.S. is explained. The author addresses how patents can provide information on what was challenging inventors and scientists of the time. The article also discusses the visual evidence provided by patents.

The article provides an overview of a lesson plan that promotes visual literacy skills through an examination of former President Abraham Lincoln's legacy on race in the U.S. It comprised images from the Indiana Historical Society's Jack Smith Collection. It refers to the issues of racial slavery and control, as well as inquires on what one really sees upon viewing an image of Lincoln and African-Americans in a celebratory print about emancipation. Through this lesson plan, students will examine Lincoln's policy of emancipation and their own attitudes about history, race and Lincoln. It also enhances their skills on history education and humanities discipline. National standards, materials objectives and procedures of the lesson plan are also presented.

The article focuses on the strategy in teaching snapshot history in the U.S. The high school teachers are working to embed literacy skills, broaden snapshot understandings of students with diverse needs and maintain the rigorous clip demanded by a standard-based curriculum. The paper also explores the flapper stereotype and serves to broaden student understanding from a quick-fact snapshot to a critical analysis of the complexity of women's changing roles and behaviors. It presents the primary sources for the discussions including films, images and songs.

The article offers information concerning the teaching strategy for historical thinking and the scopes of trial in the U.S. It explores the renewed debate over birth control, stem cells and evolution. It highlights the Web site called the Historical Thinking Matters (HTM) as a tool to give information and evidence from the past. It focuses on key topics of the country's history in the 1920s that is designed to teach students how to critically read primary sources. The site presents three sections that include a general introduction to how historians reach conclusions that matter. It also presents students with topics of inquiry and the last section provides a set of teacher materials and strategies.

The article discusses the teaching strategy that can be applied by history teachers in teaching historiography to high school and undergraduate students. These teaching methods include a discussion on the definition of history, an analysis of historical events that are supported by a logical interpretation of primary and secondary sources, and answering historical questions or solves historical problems. Among the steps to be followed by teachers in analyzing published historical events include an informative discussion on the authors background, identification of the historical topic, and determining the thesis in historical writings.

The article traces the inclusion of history in the education curricula of the U.S. high schools. In the late nineteenth century, history was included as a so-called modern subject wherein it enjoyed decades of solid growth. Kenneth Jackson and Theodore Rabb were among the historians given credit for the evolution of the subject. Sponsored by the National Education Association and chaired by Harvard President Charles W. Elliot, the Committee of Ten published a series of reports to help guide schools towards some uniformity. Better methods of teaching such as questioning, critical discussion and student participation were emphasized.

The article examines the inclusion of history in the educational curricula of U.S. colleges and universities. In 1907, the Mississippi Valley Historical Association was founded wherein American history had a subordinate position within growing history departments. Introductory survey courses were then introduced to serve as prerequisites to more advance history courses wherein in it usually focused on European history and rarely on American history. By 1930, history has already established as an academic discipline which was made possible by important reforms in higher education.

The article presents a lesson plan and a teaching strategy on the history of the Latino GLBT history in the U.S. The three most important concepts in the study of Latino GLBT history are the following: the borderlands, the diaspora, and the transnation. The author assesses the political, social, and historical circumstances affecting the racial and sexual minority. He also highlights the liberation movements in the Latino GLBT community. The author have suggested several activities wherein students can understand its history.

The article presents lesson plan regarding the social history of the gay liberation movement in the U.S. during the 1960's. The decade featured the sexual revolution which focuses on the question of equality for GLBT people. The author cites the various aspects and features of the lesson plan. GLBT people played a significant part in local and national student movement and the emergence of the New Left. The decade also featured the gay liberation movement. Finally, the author discusses the various exercises regard the subject matter.

The article features the lesson plan of teaching Benjamin Franklin's "Autobiography." The author describes the characteristics and features of Franklin's autobiography. The autobiography continues to offer teachers a remarkable opportunity to have students explore and discuss the eighteenth century world through the eyes and words of an individual whose name they know. The lesson plan addresses the standards in the national Standards for U.S. History. The author highlights the illustrious career of Franklin. The author relates the procedures how to teach the autobiography of Franklin.

The article focuses on the significance of material culture in presenting a perspective on the significant aspects of U.S. history. Examining, handling, and analyzing objects can make the past come alive for students particularly those who have trouble finding excitement in more traditional document-based approach. Significantly, material culture constitutes the stuff of human existence and the tangible yield of human conduct. The author describes the procedures in examining and analyzing material objects.

The article focuses on the rationale and necessity of using biographies in classroom discussions particularly in the teaching of history. Textbooks and monographs often describe change stemming from demography, economics, politics, and other broad causes, but without biography they remain descriptions of impersonal forces. Biography connects the human element with the historical events. One can also encounter the personal myths of others and that well-crafted biographies afford oneself to achieve a deeper understanding on the individual and oneself. One can better understand historical developments in the study of American history. Cultural misunderstandings represent one aspect in the use of biography. The author presented typical biographies of prominent personalities.

The article presents a lesson plan on African American homesteading after Civil War America in the Central Plains. The article begins with a comment on the frontier aspect of American history, stating that it lacks moral aspects and is discouraging for the present generation. The history lesson plan is standardized by the 'National Standards for United States History' and aims to give students thorough knowledge of western settlement. The multi-objective lesson is explained in five class sessions. The lesson incorporates narratives, first-hand perspectives and accounts of the homesteaders from American literature, which helps students to understand the emotional aspects of homesteading and also provides exposure to environmental history and geography of the Central Plains.

The author reflects on the Autry National Center's slogan of "What's West, What's Next" to discuss the changing perspectives of historians on the history American West. He presents Frederick Jackson Turner's pioneering old frontier theory that was initially accepted but later challenged by Nelson Limerick's new frontier theory that defined America as a multi-ethnic country shaped by men and women. The author explores some of the historian's works using criteria that include the frontier region divide, convergence of cultures, and the efforts to delink the myth and history to create a more realistic history. The author concludes with suggestions for further research to clear up the 'messiness of history' and make it more meaningful.

The article presents several suggestions to teachers on teaching Mexican American History to the present generation of high school students in America. The author stresses the importance of understanding history so that the students can learn the experiences of ethnic Mexicans in the United States and their relations to other Americans in the past. The author outlines some central factors in Mexican American history like land loss, migrations and oppression faced by Mexicans in 1848 and the Chicano movement. The author makes a fervent appeal to teachers of history to focus on these aspects when teaching the history of the American West.

The article discusses the impact of American Indian history on the study of American history in the last decade. The author begins by referring to the "historiography" courses in early 1990s, which examined the changing currents of American historical writing. The courses include the study of a number of journals, book reviews and historiography collections of American history. The author gives brief notes on how some of these books and journals explored the impact of American Indians' experiences in the history of America. The author concludes that this scholarly work has destroyed many familiar perceptions of American history. Historians are weaving Native peoples in more capacious, diverse and complicated paradigms of American history.

The article discusses the history of the American West in a new perspective to make it more interesting than ever before. The author begins by stating that the well-known concept that America was barren till its discovery is a myth. The author suggests that a different and analytic approach into history will show that the West was not a blank wilderness waiting to be discovered but rather a set of linked communities filled with Indian and European people engaged in colonial rivalries, imperial schemes and global trading networks. The author explores the history covering various aspects such as communities of trans-Mississippi West, events at Fort Vancouver and the Alamo of San Antonio. The author concludes that though this viewpoint is complex, it is an exciting way for students to learn history.

The article presents a lesson plan designed to analyze the debate about national identity and nationalism in the United States during the 1930s. The plan also explored how songs during the period reflected the politics and values of the era. According to the author, the lesson plan is an ideal exercise for history students and teachers. It could help them understand the reasons why the definition for the terms America and American vary by time and space and what songs depict the idea of nationalism in the country.

The article presents a lesson plan designed to help students understand the nature of the Great Depression and World War II using classical music. The lesson plan aims to demonstrate understanding of how American life changed during the years 1929-1945, the period of depression and war. The lesson used the music of the era's prominent composer, Aaron Copland. The author traced the history of Copland's career, his achievements and the connection between his compositions and the history of the United States.

The article discusses the significance of the 19th century musician, Antonin Dvořák, on the use of music in teaching American history. The author traced the history of Dvořák's career, his most notable compositions and the songs that he wrote that are appropriate for teaching history. The author also analyzed the messages in the musician's compositions related to American history.

The article highlights several songs that have social significance and can be used in teaching American history. According to the author, the history of the United States is reflected in American music. This characteristic of the country's history will help in the effective use of music in teaching history. The author also adds that the use of songs in teaching history can have numerous benefits, particularly the songs with social messages. Some of the songs analyzed by the author are "A Friendly Invitation to a New Plantation" and "The Desponding Negro."

The article discusses the history of migration in the U.S. Prior to independence attained by the Americans, there were two major streams of migration including that which involves people taken as slaves from western Africa and that of European migrants, particularly the British Isles and German-speaking states. The largest migration to the U.S. during the 19th to the 20th century came from Europe. The use of steam transportation and the expansion of railroad lines make migration easier and cheaper. In the 1910's, the Mexican Revolution triggered migration in the southwestern area. Through the mid-20th century, the shifts in U.S. immigration policies eliminated anti-Asian bias. A study on migration and the concept of transnationalism, which emerged in the 1990's, are presented.

The article narrates the experience of the author about the use of the magazine, "North & South" as a medium in teaching the history of the U.S. Civil War. The author claims that the magazine is ideal since its article are of appropriate length and are written by experts, which include some of the most respected Civil War historians. He also appreciated the presence of discussions on the lives of soldiers, their experiences of battles, which students read through wartime letters, diaries and essays of soldiers that may be found among the issues of the magazine. The students were also asked to read articles on former president Abraham Lincoln and on the role of African Americans in the war.

The article discusses a lesson plan in teaching market revolution in the U.S. The activities included in the lesson are directed towards fulfilling standards in the National Standards for United States History. Student objectives that are involved in the study of market revolution are presented. Large manufacturing experiments were conducted in Lowell, Massachusetts that involved employing young country girls who are at the right age but not yet married. These exercise would let students experience in situations that they may face if they are in antebellum America.

Presents a lesson plan discussing the significant role of Harriet Tubman in the Underground Railroad for helping enslaved African Americans escape from the South during the U.S. Civil War. Activities of Tubman as a spy for the Union and the first woman to lead U.S. soldiers into combat; Efforts of Tubman to acquire government compensation for her exploits during the Civil War; Details of the sample lesson plan.

Presents lesson plans discussing gender roles and transformation of women in the Roaring Twenties in the U.S. Definition of notions of gender formation; Objectives of the lesson plan; Social conditions of women in the era; Portrayal of women's gender roles in popular culture; Details of the sample lesson plans.

Presents views on how to teach United States history. Model of teaching of United States history used in East Harlem middle schools; Emphasis on scholarship in a college context by federally funded Teaching American History (TAH); Purpose of the seminar, which is to bring exposure to a new perspective and a chance to discuss and develop understanding; Constraints of textbook style and topic coverage.

Reports on a lesson plan to study lynching in the Jim Crow South. Study of lynching, which illuminates the basest traditions of American life alongside the nation's highest aspirations; Questions about the history and development of American democracy; Assignments to help students practice evaluation of primary and secondary historical materials.

Focuses on the contribution of architecture to the study of History in the U.S. Development of the student's life-long curiosity and exploration of the past; Chronological framework of the style changes of American architecture; Discussion on material culture and architecture.

Provides insights for history teachers on lessons about air-conditioning. Influence of science and technology on historical developments; Innovation of climate control technology; Status symbol in an increasingly consumer oriented culture.

The article discusses the History Survey Project (HSP), an initiative by the Center for History Teaching & Learning at the University of Texas at El Paso to examine history survey courses across the state of Texas and to provide suggestions for improvements in teacher training and teaching methodology in such courses. Details on the role of cognitive science and pedagogical research in the program are presented. Curriculum design is also discussed.

The article discusses the role of fieldwork in the study and teaching of environmental history. Particular focus is given to Environmental Field Semester (EFS), an interdisciplinary program co-taught by the author at Brandeis University, in which students combine environmental history with field biology, Geographic Information System (GIS) computer mapping, and research. According to the author, firsthand experiences of this kind help students to understand the relationship between the environment and the men and women who work in it, and to think critically about the factors that have influenced humans' decisions and actions regarding the land. Details related to student projects examining the effects of past land use on the current environment are also presented.

The article reports on the use of biographies and autobiographies in teaching disability history. Biographies can be used by teachers as a teaching method for historical projects and are often used for people with disabilities as inspirations to students to behave well. Biographies of people with disabilities can, in addition to bringing inspiration for overcoming obstacles, teach many complex aspects of history. "The Education of Laura Bridgman," by Ernest Freeberg, tells the story of Laura Bridgman, the first famous deaf and blind woman but also depicts the religious and intellectual history of the 19th Century. "The Radical Lives of Helen Keller," by Kim E. Nielsen discusses Helen Keller but also politics in the U.S. INSET: Who was Helen Keller?.

The article focuses on the integration of the hip hop music in oral history programs in the U.S. New technologies put oral traditions and storytelling skills in danger with the potentials that they will die out and will leave people without connection to the people that came before them. One way of solving possible elimination of history information among young people is through oral history programs, however, these are only offered in elementary schools and not in middle and high schools. Through the hip hop music, educators find inspiration in integrating the programs in it. Several hip hop artists integrated oral history into their music that pushed older students to imitate them. Examples of these are "December 4," by Jay-Z and "Fort Minor," by Kenji.

The article discusses the Liberia Project that focuses on teaching students on human rights in the U.S. It states that teachers and students are working together to developed new teaching strategies to introduce the complexities of the past particularly history and human rights, and its enduring impact on people's lives. It explores the Liberian children's situation and the possible impact of its history on teaching American children and other students throughout the school. Moreover, teachers challenged their students to think for themselves as they challenged themselves to reach across the discipline and involve their colleagues in an amazing multidisciplinary approach to history.

The article presents a lesson plan on teaching the history of lesbian representation of lesbians in postwar U.S. The subject matter explores the social constructions of gender and sexuality of lesbians during that time. The author explores the media representations of lesbians in the postwar period. Despite censorship and restrictions, lesbian representation in popular culture was prevalent. The author pointed out that children should be familiar with historical research and writings on the history of sexuality. The author cites several teaching aids and materials for the subject matter.

The article presents a lesson plan which features entrepreneurs Madam C. J. Walker and J. C. Penney. The lesson plan will help students master the standards set by the National Standards for U.S. History. The workplaces described in the lesson reveal a good deal about the philosophers and interests of two successful early twentieth-century businesspeople like Walker and Penny who struck their principles as they pursued their dreams. The activities and procedures to be implemented in the lesson plan are presented.

The article presents a lesson plan for teaching the impact of women in the past American west. The article explains that the present generation perceives the women of the past incorrectly in stereotypes such as wife and mother, schoolteacher and dance hall girl. The lesson focuses on five main strata of women of late nineteenth and early twentieth century West examining characteristics, roles and contributions from the women. These groups include Native American, Mexican and Mexican American, African American, Asian and European women. The article enlists the standards of the lesson from 'The National Standards for United States History' and explains the four sessions of the lesson plan.

The article discusses the practice of medicine in the most devastating conflict in American history, the civil war. It describes how important military medicine was in those times when diseases attacked and wounded soldiers were perennially increasing. It suggests to history teachers that they may use the history of medicine and its practice during the civil war as a tool to broaden the history student's horizons. It recommends two books on the core background of north and south forces in the civil war.