Silent Cal on the Fourth of July

Today, we celebrate the Fourth of July with barbecues, parades, marching bands, and fireworks. But in earlier times, the day was also marked by specially prepared orations that commemorated our founding principles. A wonderful example of this at once celebratory and reflective genre can be found in the present selection, a speech that President Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) delivered in 1926 in honor of the Declaration’s sesquicentennial.

President Coolidge affirms the … Read more »

Close Reading Activity: The Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, two days after it adopted the Lee Resolution that declared the united colonies’ independence from Great Britain, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), which explains that decision by “declar[ing] the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Engage your students in a close reading of the Declaration of Independence with the help of these discussion questions from our Independence … Read more »

Is Nonfiction as Important as Fiction?

While reading fiction has tremendous benefits for students, Walt Gardner suggests that nonfiction reading ought to serve a vital role in English classrooms as well. The Common Core State Standards place a large emphasis on nonfiction, much to the chagrin of some English teachers, but Gardner argues that this emphasis serves to both inspire students and prepare them for adulthood.

We may typically think of fiction reading as the … Read more »

Lesson Plan Idea: Songs of the Revolution

From our Independence Day ebook: Read these famous songs of the Revolutionary War period, and learn what role music played in the shaping of the country as it evolved from 13 struggling colonies into a nation. Each song selection includes questions for class discussion.

“Yankee Doodle”
John Dickinson, “The Liberty Song”
Thomas Paine, “Liberty Tree”
Nathaniel Niles, “The American Hero”
William Billings, “Chester”
Henry Archer, “The Volunteer … Read more »

New Ebook on Independence Day

What is the legacy of the Declaration of Independence and its self-evident truths of equal and unalienable rights? Our new ebook, “The Meaning of Independence Day,” explores the history and ideas behind the American Founding and their significance for our present personal freedoms and national flourishing. 

The ebook contains over 50 selections, from colonial times to the present, chosen and arranged to illuminate a series of themes: declaring, securing, … Read more »

Blogger Spotlight: The Past, Present, and Future of Education

Each Friday we highlight some of our favorite education blog posts from the week. This week’s edition includes new ideas for teaching history and the importance of remembering our past.

Struggling to integrate the Common Core into your curriculum? Check out Benjamin Herold’s post about award-winning software that can help.

Why should students study the Gettysburg Battle? Brad Burenheide explains as we approach the 150th anniversary.

Portraits of Veterans: … Read more »

Why Don’t Students Read for Fun?

While summer vacation may be the perfect time to enjoy a new book, millions of college students appear to have little interaction with literature. Danny Heitman, writing in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, describes the dismal state of reading for pleasure among America’s youth. As a college writing professor, Heitman witnessed students’ apathy toward literature, with most students in his seminar course listing Harry Potter as the … Read more »