History and Social Science

• EDSITEment!
• Historical Thinking Matters
• Read Like a Historian
• Spice
• Teaching a People's History
• The Choices Program
• The National Archives

• The Documents Based Questions (DBQ) Project
• Docs Teach
• EyeWitness to History

• Documentary Storm
• Free Documentaries

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• American Historical Association
• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
• The Library of Congress
• The National Archives
• National Humanities Center

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• Vision for the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3): Framework for Inquiry in Social Studies State Standards document
• Civic-Learning Compendium for the California History-Social Science Framework document

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• California Council for Economic Education
• EconEdLink

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• California for World History, UC Santa Cruz
• World History Association

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The Individual & The Community - 6^th Grade

The National Paideia Center, along with Ross Anderson (Moore Square Museum Magnet School, Raleigh, NC), Amy Freeman (Chattanooga School for the Arts and Science, Chattanooga, TN), Melissa Hedt (Ashville Middle School, Ashville, NC), Nathan Marsh (Pueblo School for the Arts and Sciences, Pueblo, CO), designed a module for sixth-graders entitled: The Individual and the Community: My Responsibilities in a Time of Crisis. They included Paideia’s Socratic Seminar as a strategy for teaching students to address the task.

Ancient India & China Explanatory - 7^th Grade

Donna Schaidle, Kevin Biddle, & Jeremy Troop (Elizabethtown Area School District, Pennsylvania) call on students to synthesize their learning in response to this teaching task: “After researching secondary sources on ancient India or China, write a report that explains the geography, culture/customs, and government of these civilizations. What conclusions or implications can you draw? Cite at least three sources, pointing out key elements from each source.”

When should the United States become involved in Foreign Wars? - 7^th Grade

As the United States grew and developed in the early 1900’s, it took on more and bigger responsibilities. As its interest expanded, the country became concerned with the affairs of other nations. The United States took a wider range of responsibilities in the world and became involved in foreign wars.

Alexander the Great Was He or Wasn’t He a Great Military Leader? - 8^th Grade

Throughout history, many military leaders have led conquests as a way to increase power and as a result have established an improved status in modern textbooks. Some of the most exceptional of these generals have been assigned the label of great.   Historians often argue in comparing the greatest of these commanders and whether they deserve such reverence. One of the men that is always used as a standard-bearer is Alexander the Great, because of his success in battle and the influence he had on those the followed. The question really becomes, how great was this young Macedonian king?

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Comparing Economic Systems

Kathy Thiebes from Centennial High School in Portland, Oregon, offers an argumentation module for teaching this task: “What combination of market and command systems do you believe creates an ideal mixed economy? After reading informational and opinion texts, write an essay that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the texts. Be sure to acknowledge competing views.” 

Ideologies of the 19th Century

Laura Jordan (Washington, DC, private school) shares a history module that asks students “Of the political ideologies we’ve studied in this unit which do you think was the most influential ideology in Europe during the years of 1814-1871?”

Cold War Argumentation

Kathy Thiebes (Centennial High School, Gresham, Oregon) asks students to evaluate the question “How effective was the United States government in its attempt to halt the spread of communism in Europe and Asia between the years 1945 and 1975?” The students use primary source documents and earlier class work to develop their essays.

US Policy of Isolationism vs Aggression in 1930s

How did the US policy of Isolationism affect Fascist (Germany/Italy) aggression in Europe and Japanese aggression in the Pacific, 1933-1939.

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