Three Branches of Government: Activity Ideas that Engage
No matter how you structure your Civics class, you’re doing a Three Branches of Government unit. There's no way around it. And it’s for sure your biggest unit, with endless…
Avoid these 3 mistakes when asking questions in your social studies classroom
Asking questions seems easy enough. But after spending any time at all teaching you know it’s not. Certainly, not asking great questions anyway. It’s one of those subtle yet fundamental skills I…
Teach Historical Text-Based Writing Like A Pro
Primary source analysis is the cornerstone to teaching history these days. And once you have a few good analysis strategies in place, it’s easy to assume your students can seamlessly turn their…
37 Community & School Staff Appreciation Days to Celebrate
It truly takes a village to raise a child and the school community has never been more essential in supporting our students. In my high school Leadership class, we add…
7 Ways Teaching Writing in History will Empower Your Students
We know teaching writing in history class is important. But it can also be incredibly daunting to even think about how to weave it into your content-heavy classroom. So, we…
How to Teach the Election Even in Polarizing Times
Never before have teachers, especially civics teachers, been in such a delicate, but essential, position to be reliable, non-partisan, and unbiased sources on current politics. The 2016 election left so…
5 Websites That Will Help You Teach Civics Like A Pro
We all know about the amazing iCivics web-based curriculum, the generous endeavor founded by former Justice Sandra Day O’Conner. In fact, it seems to be recommended so much in Facebook groups that…
How to Design Inquiry Lessons for Your Thematic History Class
You are committed to switching to thematically teaching your history class, you’ve read my blog post of the 5 steps to building a thematic unit, you have a unit and theme…
Build Inclusive & Antiracist US History Activities with These 10 Questions
Last month, I detailed some actionable tips for guiding you to be more antiracist and inclusive in your overall instruction and classroom, so that is a great place to start if…
5 Social Justice Projects That Will Empower Your Students
You probably went into teaching social studies because you have always been a bit of a nerd for learning the real story behind the accepted narrative and somewhat politically involved…
