19 Ideas for Setting Up Your Social Studies Classroom
This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you purchase them at no additional cost to you. This helps me keep this blog running. Setting a classroom…
Deconstructing Essay Questions in 4 Simple Steps
All students need support in learning how to deconstruct an essay prompt. Whether it’s for an AP or on-level class, no matter now straightforward or complex the question, it needs…
How to Scaffold Social Studies Essay Writing Like a Pro
Essay writing is the one thing I felt the least prepared to teach when I become a social studies teacher. And by least, I mean not at all. Early in…
How to Create Inquiry-Based Learning in Social Studies
For the vast majority of us, our high school history and social studies classes involved either a lot of memorization, a lot of movies, or both. Either way, they didn’t…
5 Thematic Inquiry Ideas to Frame Your US History Course
So, you’re interested in teaching history more thematically, but not quite ready to commit? Or you’re following a strict scope and sequence, but want to zoom out at least a…
Teach Primary Source Analysis Like A Pro With These 5 Strategies
Any history teacher knows that a primary source-based course is the best way to teach the stories and lessons of the past in a way that’s both rich and intriguing. …
Fail-proof sentence starters for writing for primary source analysis
Analyzing primary sources actually means three separate things: reading, thinking, then writing. But we often talk about it and teach it as if it’s all a singular thing. It’s not. …
One Simple Hack to Teach Historical Argument Like a Pro
One of my favorite parts about teaching social studies is that there is inherently never a right answer. For being a huge rule-follower in every other aspect of my life,…
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…
