Joanne Jacobs
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
May 9, 20222 min read
What’s ‘age appropriate’ for young students?
Parents and teachers want lessons to be “age appropriate,” but disagree on when children are ready for painful topics, writes Marta W....
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...
Joanne Jacobs
Oct 12, 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...
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...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 2, 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...
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....
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...
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....
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...
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...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 30, 20171 min read
To teach reading, teach history, science …
Reading isn’t a “general skill that can be applied with equal success to all texts,” writes cognitive scientist Dan Willingham in the New...
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...
Joanne Jacobs
Nov 8, 20172 min read
Red gild: Schools whitewash communism
Yesterday, Russians celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution. Russian are “ambivalent” about their communist history,...
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...
Joanne Jacobs
Sep 6, 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,...
Joanne Jacobs
Aug 23, 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...
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...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 10, 20172 min read
For a more perfect union
Elementary schools have contributed to national discord by neglecting to teach American history and civic principles, writes E.D. Hirsch...
Joanne Jacobs
Apr 9, 20171 min read
High school goes Hamilton
Students are “learning U.S. history” from Hamilton, the hottest show on Broadway,” reports Wayne D’Orio in Education Next. EduHam funds...
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