Teaching Students to Study History

Here are some ideas to use when teaching history.

• Have your students answer who, what, when, where, and why questions about historical events you select.
• Have your students read a section from the textbook you select. Then have them rewrite the section in their own words.
• A dialectical journal is like a conversation between a reader and what the reader is reading. Have your students draw a line down the center of a sheet of paper. Have them copy a passage from the textbook on the left side. Have your students write their own thoughts and observations about the passage on the right side. Have your students focus how the passage is linked to past and has implications for now and for the future.
• Have your students write a narrative about an event from the perspective of someone who lived at the time the event occurred.
• Have your students construct history timelines such as the events leading to the American Civil War or important inventions of the 20th century.