How to Effectively Build a DBQ Classroom
The document-based essay is hard. Hard to teach. Hard to learn. But that’s because it’s the culmination and synthesis of all the historical thinking skills in one. So, we leave it to…
How to Analyze Primary Sources with This Simple Strategy
The ability to analyze a primary source document effectively is perhaps the most important critical thinking skill students should have walking out of your history class. But where do you even begin…
13 Awesome Kindness Projects for Middle & High School
“Fun!” That’s the reason many students participate in their schools’ Student Council and Leadership programs. They want to have fun. Has that been true for you? Because it’s certainly been…
5 Easy Globalization Activities that Will Shock Your Students
For students who don’t know a time when cell phones didn’t have the internet, it can be tough for them to appreciate just how recently the world became so deeply interconnected. Even…
Designing & Teaching US History Thematically in 5 Steps
For the vast majority of us, our high school United States History class was taught chronologically, and the idea of a thematic structure wasn’t even one you philosophized over with…
12 Classroom Activities That Awesome Social Studies Teachers Use
Content can be a killer. It dominates everything in secondary social studies. But that doesn’t mean it has to be all drill and kill. While PBL and thematic units are my jam,…
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…
