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Joanne Jacobs
Jun 11, 20222 min read
Kids, you’re not ‘stamped’
Moshe K. Levy considers himself “pro-human” rather than “anti-racist,” he writes on FAIR’s site. So he’s not a fan of Ibram X. Kendi’s...
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Joanne Jacobs
Oct 17, 20182 min read
Teach history, not ‘social studies’ units
Periodically, my eighth-grade teacher would fill the blackboard with everything we should “know” for the test. I remember “1777” (battle...
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Joanne Jacobs
Oct 13, 20181 min read
What should every American know?
What should every American know? Aspen’s Citizenship and American Identity program is asking. The video features four immigrants talking...
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Joanne Jacobs
Oct 4, 20181 min read
Educational videos don’t have to be boring
Screen time isn’t necessarily wasted time, writes Mike Petrilli. His 10-year-old son learned about Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who defended Korea...
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Joanne Jacobs
Oct 3, 20181 min read
1/3 can pass U.S. citizenship test
When was the U.S. Constitution ratified? Which countries did the U.S. fight in World War II? Asked multiple-choice questions from...
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 3, 20181 min read
Return of the hero
“We live in an era where we knock down old American heroes for all their imperfections, when no leader wants to admit to fault or...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jul 23, 20182 min read
AP for all: Does it help students succeed?
Kalan Houser took the AP World History at Port of Los Angeles High School in May. As more students take Advanced Placement classes, a...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jul 4, 20182 min read
It’s all hate speech now
The Declaration of Independence includes hate speech, according to Facebook’s algorithm. Christian Britschgi explains on Reason‘s blog....
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Joanne Jacobs
May 21, 20182 min read
Is This <i>Really</i> Insensitive?
Or will some people look for any excuse to act aggrieved? The principal of Cherry Hill High School East has apologized for “insensitive”...
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Joanne Jacobs
Mar 21, 20181 min read
Learn, talk, think
Three girls are using prior knowledge, texts and images to rank five Civil War heroes in order of heroism. Then they’ll write essays...
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Joanne Jacobs
Mar 20, 20182 min read
History is taught as texts without context
Studying texts, without context, is no way to learn history, writes Will Fitzhugh on Diane Ravitch’s blog. But it’s the Common Core way....
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Joanne Jacobs
Mar 3, 20181 min read
Teaching ‘Black Panther’
Black Panther, a huge box office hit, is a “hit with teachers” too, reports Brenda Iasevoli in Ed Week. Teachers are building lessons...
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Joanne Jacobs
Feb 8, 20182 min read
Teaching slavery
To illustrate the horrors of slave ships, a middle-school teacher told three black students to lie on the floor and stepped on a girl’s...
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Joanne Jacobs
Dec 15, 20171 min read
Churchill is in, but AP is light on liberty
College Board’s revised AP European History Course and Exam Description is better, but still light on liberty, writes David Randall in...
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Joanne Jacobs
Nov 13, 20171 min read
Teaching Veterans Day
What So Proudly We Hail has published a Veterans Day curriculum, which includes Mark Twain’s The War Prayer, an Ernie Pyle dispatch,...
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Joanne Jacobs
Nov 12, 20171 min read
Vets’ students don’t care about war
Students don’t care about America’s wars, writes Tyler Bonin, a Marine and combat veteran who now teaches history in North Carolina. When...
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Joanne Jacobs
Nov 7, 20172 min read
Teaching ‘social justice’ — or propaganda?
St. Louis teachers are turning their classrooms into “hubs of social justice,” reports Kristen Taketa for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A...
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 7, 20171 min read
California dumps ‘mission’ project
When California fourth-graders study state history, they build a model of a mission out of clay, cardboard, sugar cubes, popsicle sticks,...
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Joanne Jacobs
Aug 24, 20173 min read
Won’t know much about history
“They’re trying to take away our history,” said President Trump at an Arizona rally. He cited the middle-of-the-night removal of The...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jul 13, 20172 min read
Mattis: Study history
Learn history, Defense Secretary James Mattis said in an interview with the Mercer Island High School (Washington) Islander. He cited...
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