Two Must Have Resources for History Teachers

Beyond the Bubble History Assessments is an excellent educational resource from Stanford Education Group. The core philosophy underlying Beyond the Bubble is to help students develop critical thinking skills to use in , among other things, reading and analysis of historical documents. It provides a collection of pre-designed assessments or HATs (History Assessments of Thinking) that will help teachers ‘measure students’ historical thinking rather than recall of facts’. The emphasis is on equiping students with the appropriate conceptual tools to analyze, evaluate and critically interact with document sources in such a way that enhances their  historical thinking.  These assements come with a number of accompanying documents teachers can use in designing their history lessons and facilitating 'classroom discussions about historical topics’.Also, the assessments target a wide range of historical skills including: sourcing, periodization, use of evidence, corroboration, contextualization, and background knowledge. Check out this video to learn more about Beyond The Bubble.

Another equally important resource for history teachers and students is Reading Like A Historian which is also from Standford History Education Group. 'The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills. This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues and learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence. To learn more about how to use Reading Like a Historian lessons, watch this series of videos about how teachers use these materials in their classrooms.'

Source: Common Sense Education