The following lesson plan uses the historical thinking skills of comparative and cause and effect to analyze two historians' perspectives on the Rwandan genocide. Helen Epstein and Philip Gourevitch relate their perspectives about that African genocide and students are asked to analyze those points...
For well over a millennium, Western Europe was unified by religious orthodoxy to the Roman Catholic Church. Although the church had been challenged on numerous occasions, religious uniformity only began to collapse during the 16th century during the period known as the “Protestant Reformation.”
I was pleasantly surprised with my students’ efforts and results on the Civic Engagement project in COVID spring 2021. The student-government connections were not what they might have been in a non-pandemic year, but with proper social distancing and a reliance on email and telephone calls, several...
Early in a school year it can be a real challenge to know how to begin teaching students critical skills they need to score on the AP® U.S. History Exam. I don’t think there is any one right way to begin approaching exam skills with our students, but, personally, I like to begin with something that...
If you read my previous blog post, The Most Foundational Document: The U.S. Constitution, you'll have noticed a classroom activity for the Constitution unit. If you were interested in finding out more on this activity, you're in luck
Do you struggle with teaching over 800 years of content and building college-level skill proficiency to AP® World History students? Does teaching AP® World seem like riding an escalator, where you are never being able to get off on a floor to explore? Are you always struggling with timing and...
Most AP® European History teachers try to pace their class by killing Napoleon prior to winter break. Hopefully the attached lesson plan will be useful as you wind down this semester as it requires students to categorize the policies of Napoleon Bonaparte and create a complex thesis that will be...
One of the most vexing problems facing students and teachers alike is the teaching of Federalist #10. Federalist #10 and the issue of factions is critical to understanding the Madisonian model, and the complexities of the design scheme of the United States’ federal system. While students generally...
I must have convinced you of the need to build a classroom community from my first post because…you’re here. Or maybe you already know that you need to build a classroom community, so you clicked on my post. Thank you. You are what makes this blog and your classrooms special! That is why students...
You know the Style #4 Free Response Question on the College Board’s national Government exam can be a real challenge. I am talking about the argument essay that takes more time for students to plan and write. Because it is a little more challenging, I tend to dread then delay teaching it. Not a...
.png "Untitled (Zoom Events Header)")