12 Best Instructional Strategies to Thrive as a Social Studies Teacher
Teaching high schoolers is an intimidating beast. There, I said it, because it doesn’t do anyone any good to keep that truth unspoken. But it’s also a ton of fun…
5 Activity Ideas for Teaching about World Poverty
For students who have never known an existence outside their G7 lifestyle, it can be tough to understand the intensity and pervasiveness of extreme worldwide poverty. It’s mind blowing to…
Incorporating an Oral History Interview Project into your Social Studies Class
Adding in more project-style inquiry learning is equal parts exciting and overwhelming. And creates a lot of questions. However, if you carefully select a project you know will hit meaningfully…
Your Guide to Project Based Learning in a Social Studies Classroom
Project-based learning has been experiencing a bit of a spotlight for the last few years. Heck, even Bill Gates put a PBL-praising book on his 2019 recommended book list. But when you…
75 Spirit Day Themes Ideas that Include All Students
Of course, we want to create positive school culture when we plan Homecoming or any Spirit Week. However, many popular dress-up themes that seem benign can have the opposite effect…
Your Go-To News Media Evaluation Strategy (Plus FREE Download!)
The ability to assess news media effectively is perhaps THE most important 21st century critical thinking skill there is, especially since media now infiltrates all aspects of our lives and can…
Your No-Fail Strategy to Analyzing Images in History Class
Historical art and photographs are some of my favorite primary sources to use while teaching US History, in part because there is an endless supply of rich, engaging, layered sources…
Your Guide To Teaching Political Party Ideologies
Whether it is to kick off your Civics course, build up to Election Day, or deliver as a stand-alone exercise, “political parties and their different ideologies” is a must-cover topic…
Feature image photo credit: Josh Johnson
5 Super Easy Ideas for Incorporating Civic Engagement in Your Government Class
It really can be argued that Government and Civics is one of the most essential classes students can take during their K-12 experience. That’s because a huge reason behind our…
Teach How to Analyze Political Cartoons with this No-Fail Strategy
Political cartoons are a must if you’re teaching Civics, but also for any US History or Current Issues class. They are accessible to lower-level readers and ELL students yet still challenge higher-level…
