Useful Links for American History Teachers

I retired from teaching a decade ago but still take an interest in education. A few of my blog posts might interest history or social studies teachers.

I started writing my own materials my first year in a classroom, when I found the textbook our school used was almost never interesting to students. I always tried to humanize those we studied and read voraciously, looking for examples and stories that would intrigue students and illustrate important points.

You can find a few of these stories—and a couple of ideas for classroom control—if you check out the following links.

*

Many teachers have said they like the reading list I compiled for my students. If you’re an avid reader yourself (and most social studies teachers are) see: A Reading List for American History.

Several hundred books are listed and briefly described.

*

I am particularly proud of my post about 9/11, which has been viewed almost 24,000 times on my blog. This one I wrote after I retired. But I’m pretty sure, based on several decades dealing with teens, that it would interest students. It’s moving in the way I believe history should move people.

See: Who Were Those People Who Died on 9/11?

*

The post on Jim Crow has been viewed more than 20,000 times. I had a reading similar to this, which I used in my classroom.

I know my students were always stunned by the variety of ways in which the races were segregated, spanning the spectrum of life, from cruelty to idiocy (no interracial checker playing!?!)

See: In Honor of Martin Luther King Jr.: 100 Examples of Jim Crow.

The Emperor of A, B, C and D also deals with the topic, from the perspective of how constraining standardized testing can be. You might get a couple of ideas on how to address the topic, however.

See also: The Emperor of A, B, C and D (Auxiliary Post), which is more popular on my blog than the original post.

Of interest: Sixty Years Ago: Brown v. Board of Education.

*

My students always liked the story of Women in the Revolution. (I sell an updated and better version on my website at TpT, called “Remember the Ladies.” This reading worked perfectly as the basis for a full-period skit.

In fact, I tried hard to increase the focus on women in history. You might also like A Bride Goes West: A Woman’s View of Frontier Montana. I can attest that my classes always found Nannie Alderson’s story of ranching and raising a family on the frontier, starting in 1883, to be interesting.)

Your students might also be interested in You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, the story of the fight for women’s rights that began in the 1960s.

*

The story of Thomas Jefferson’s Slave Son, Madison Hemings, might fill in an interesting piece when you cover slavery.

Oddly enough, I found using stories from Gone with the Wind helped students understand what slavery was really like. The author, Margaret Mitchell, was blind to reality, which helped make a critical point. See: Teaching About Slavery: A Novel Approach.

Another excellent resource, if you’ve never seen it, is A Former Slave Writes His Master.

For a few good ideas you might find value in you look at Teaching about Slavery.

*

Another topic we covered in depth in my class was the Holocaust—and the whole horrible history of dehumanization (including by teens of other teens). You might find value in: Notes on Hitler and the Nazis (the opening quote, alone is useful, and always caught my students’ attention). If you’ve never read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich from which many of the details come, I highly recommend it.

Light summer reading at a mere 1,136 pages!

See also: Holocaust Ideas for Teachers.

And, if you’ve never read Mein Kampf, I can spare you the pain: I Read Mein Kampf so You Don’t Have To.

I sometimes compared the ideals in the Declaration of Independence with the thinking of Adolf Hitler, with good result.

*

My classes always liked the story of the Salem Witch Trials. In fact, I did the same lecture on the topic, six times a day, twenty-five years in succession, until I could have talked about the trials in my sleep.

Details on the trials and stories from women who traveled West by wagon and the picture of the sequoia tree branch always got students’ attention. See: A Few Good Ideas for American History.

You might also get some ideas about the Pilgrims from: The First Thanksgiving: What Your Third Grade Teacher Didn’t Tell You.

*

The gold rush seemed easy to make interesting. The story of the gold nugget found in Brazil in 1985—the size of a briefcase—always sparked interest. The story of the S.S. Central America is also compelling. See: A Few Good Ideas for American History, Part II.

Photo from author's collection; not far from Jeffrey City, Wyoming (population 58)
My students were always interested in pioneer days and the idea of wide open spaces.
Wyoming, even today, has five people per square mile.

*

If you’ve never had veterans talk to your students—and I mean really talk about what war is like—our school found it was easy to get them to come in and visit for a whole day. Joe Whitt’s story about the Battle of Savo Island made it hard to hold back tears. Some of our former students, who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan now visit my old school. It was one of the best days we had every year—and now that I’m retired that remains true with younger teachers taking over the program. See: The Veterans Come to Loveland Middle School. (We also found it relatively easy to set this up, so students heard a number of speakers all on the same day.)

See also: Sham Standards: Governor Kasich and the Standardized Testing Fetish.

Scars from the Civil War and Scars Today might help you tie the experiences of soldiers in 1863 with soldiers today.

If you want one good story about what it was like to serve for four bloody years in the Confederate army, Sam Watkins’ tale is great. My student loved this reading; and we used it (and others on the war) to do a great skit. For the reading, see: A Rebel Soldier’s War. 

To understand how my students turned detailed readings into memorable presentations, see the ending to: The Yellow Brick Road to Nowhere.

For ideas about how to work really good skits into your own class, see: How I Worked Skits in My Class. My students performed marvelously when it came to this kind of activity.

Teaching about Gettysburg may also provide teachers with a few useful ideas.

Personally, I always tried to make sure my students knew war wasn’t glamorous. You might like: The Tenth Anniversary of the Start of the Iraq War.

*

If you’d need good examples of why the fight for freedom mattered in the period from 1517 to 1689, see: The Battle for Freedom in England and America. The examples here might help students understand why the U.S. Constitution includes the guarantees of liberty it does.

I always enjoyed focusing on the Declaration of Independence. I explain how we approached that topic in Do You Know What the Declaration of Independence Means?

My students found the story of Watergate fascinating. See: An Affair Called Watergate.

*

I had fun teaching about the Northwest Cultures, along the Pacific coast, and my students seemed to enjoy the lesson. See: Stefanie’s Astute Observation.

If you focus on Native American cultures, the story of the Chachapoya, who were crushed by the Incas, might be of passing interest. My students found it interesting to imagine that at a time the French and English were establishing their national boundaries, the Aztecs in Mexico and the Incas in South America, were doing the same. See: The Chachapoya of Peru (A. D. 650 to 1470).

 

Notes on Sitting Bull and the Sioux may also provide examples to use in your classes.

I found William Taylor’s account (he survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn) to be of great interest. I read his story after I retired. See: With Custer on the Little Big Horn. Again, you may be able to pick out details and work them into your own lessons.

*

In honor of my father, I did a post comparing life in 1915, the year he was born, to life a century later. Teachers might find some of the examples interesting. See: What a Difference a Century Makes.

*

The tragic story of three sailors trapped alive inside the sunken battleship West Virginia, after the attack on Pearl Harbor is chilling and sad. See: A Particular Tragedy at Pearl Harbor.

If you’d like a reading about the attack itself, see: The Story of Pearl Harbor. My students found this interesting.

The story of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is also compelling.

General Interest: Classroom Management

I highly recommend this seating chart, which students liked and also allowed for improved classroom control—a winning combination! Not that any of us ever have to worry about classroom control: The Best Seating Chart Ever.

I did come up with a creative way to use writing “punishments.” See: Elvis’ Belly Button Lint. Or: “Stupid Essays” as a Creative Punishment. These two posts are a bit duplicative, I’m afraid.

I had good success posting interesting quotes on my classroom walls. See: A Few Quotes that Still Matter.

If you’d like to read about a few errors to avoid as a young teacher (or an old one, for that matter), you might enjoy “Snowballs” Fly in History Class and Other Mistakes.

The Case of the Missing Homework might amuse you, as my students played a trick on me with great success.

I’m sure every middle school teacher in history has had to deal with the problem of students being bullied. I explain my approach: Bullies in Middle School.

I do sell my best writing for students at my TpT website: Middle School History and Tips for Teachers.