We at WSPWH are excited to be part of the Civics Renewal Network, an alliance of 26 nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations that provide free online classroom resources for civics education. Search the network’s online library for resources from EDSITEment, Share My Lesson, the Bill of Rights Institute, and many more.
Get involved with the network this Constitution Day, September 17, with the Preamble Challenge. You’ll find a … Read more »
The University of Chicago Magazine profiled WSPWH editors Amy and Leon Kass in its March/April issue. In the article, the Kasses describe their long teaching career at Chicago, their turn to civic education, and their ultimate embrace of digital learning. A snippet:
Now countless students can explore the big questions with the Kasses’ help without having to come to Chicago or even go to college. The Kasses launched a website last … Read more »
On this day in history, 1885, Mark Twain published his famous novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Learn more about Twain’s distinctively American sense of humor with a lesson plan for his short story, “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg” (1899), regarded by many as his most successful fiction after his two celebrated novels, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. After working through the lesson plan, watch WSPWH editors Amy and Leon Kass … Read more »
Christmas is just around the corner! Incorporate the holiday spirit into your class before your students leave for break. Here are our top ten resources for an educational Christmas in the classroom:
On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution was ratified by the states. The amendment formally abolished slavery, declaring “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
This year, the nation will celebrate Thanksgiving on November 28th. Bring holiday spirit to your class with these helpful teaching tools. Here are our top 10 Thanksgiving resources to use in your classroom:
November 19, 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Delivered by Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, the short speech went on to become one of the most famous in American history, and is inscribed onto the Lincoln Memorial. Honor this important historical moment in your classroom. Here are ten helpful ideas:
On the morning of November 11, 1918, after four years of war, Allied and German powers met in Rethondes, France, to sign an armistice that halted the hostilities of World War I. The agreement was signed shortly after 5:00 a.m. and went into effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, finally bringing to an end the carnage of the Great War—the … Read more »
Happy Saturday! This Monday is Veterans Day. What are you doing to commemorate the day? After the jump, we suggest five ways you and your students can get involved—and make Veterans Day more than just a long weekend.
By Katie LeValley
Veterans Day is Monday, November 11. How are you commemorating the holiday in your classroom? Here are 10 ideas to enhance your class’s discussion this Veterans Day:
Distinguished scholar-teachers Amy and Leon Kass demonstrate how short stories, speeches, and songs can be used to enhance civic education and how a pedagogical approach that stresses learning through inquiry can make primary sources come alive for students of all ages.
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“What a wonderful collection of American songs, speeches, and stories. It should be valuable for teachers, students, parents, and readers of all kinds.”
— Diane Ravitch