When I was a little girl, I used to sit on the floor of my family home and read the World Book Encyclopedia. Yes, I know, today that would be considered a very “nerd” thing to do. Maybe it was then, too, but not among my friends. When I was bored, I’d pull a random … Continue reading
One key way to encourage student questioning is to think about the questions that creative professionals in a discipline might ask. Every field moves forward when individuals ask questions. Helping students understand the questions in a field helps them envision how the creative processes of the discipline move forward. So, what about history? As a … Continue reading
It is a strange phenomenon when your early days become the stuff of antique stores and history books. I’m occasionally startled in antique stores to see toys from my childhood. And when I talk to young friends about their studies of the Viet Nam War or the Civil Rights movement, it is clear that those … Continue reading
The U.S. Library of Congress is a treasure trove for teachers—so much so that it can become a bit overwhelming. So, for today, I’d like to share just one resource, Lyrical Legacy, a collection of 400 years of American song and poetry. Few things can give us insight into a place or period of history … Continue reading
What is more universally interesting than food? Whatever time or place we might be studying, someone was eating. And so, one of the most fascinating and underused resources for exporing history is period cookbooks. Early cookbooks weren’t just about food. They often contained recipes for medicines, advice for gathering wild plants safely, and instructions for … Continue reading
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