The Answer Sheet: history


Posted at 04:02 AM ET, 05/16/2013

How to teach history (and how not to)
By Valerie Strauss
History is fascinating but too often kids find it boring in history class. Here's what to do about it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:02 AM ET, 05/16/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Making It Relevant, Teaching History

Posted at 10:55 AM ET, 05/09/2013

Appreciating teachers (for a change)
By Valerie Strauss
Here are some thoughts through history about teachers and their impact, from Socrates to Jon Stewart.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:55 AM ET, 05/09/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Quotes Throughout History, Some Kind Words, Teachers

Posted at 05:02 AM ET, 04/24/2013

How private money is driving public education policy
By Valerie Strauss
" I find the brazenness, arrogance, and disregard for public decision making of current philanthropic attempts to influence federal policy just as dangerous to democracy as the critics of the original foundations contended so vociferously 100 years ago."

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:02 AM ET, 04/24/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  A Brief History, Billionaires

Posted at 04:01 AM ET, 04/12/2013

'Learning disabilities' movement turns 50
By Valerie Strauss
Fifty years ago the phrase "learning disabilities" was coined -- and a movement began.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:01 AM ET, 04/12/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  A Brief History, Learning Disabilities

Posted at 12:29 PM ET, 04/01/2013

King Kugel: An April Fools' history lesson
By Valerie Strauss
Back in1983, Boston University's public relations folks decided to have a little fun with April Fool's Day. Here's how the AP got duped.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:29 PM ET, 04/01/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  April Fool's Day, Did This Really Happen?, History

Posted at 02:46 PM ET, 02/19/2013

What's wrong with this tweet about black history from D.C. state education agency?
By Valerie Strauss
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education, the state education agency of the District of Columbia, tweeted about Booker T. Washington. Here's why it is wrong.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:46 PM ET, 02/19/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  African Americans in White House, Black History Month, Booker T. Washington, From D.C.'s State Ed Agency

Posted at 01:05 AM ET, 02/18/2013

2013 Presidents' Day quiz
By Valerie Strauss
How much have you learned (or, rather, do you remember) about U.S. presidents?

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:05 AM ET, 02/18/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  American History, Test Yourself

Posted at 10:58 AM ET, 11/29/2012

Updated: Michelle Rhee writes a zealot's manifesto,' er, memoir
By Valerie Strauss
Michelle Rhee has written a memoir that gives her version of reality about the years (2007-2010) that she ran D.C. Public Schools and became a national leader of corporate-based school reform. The book is due out next year but Washington City Paper's Loose Lips has already read it and describes it in less than flattering terms. Here are some of the highlights.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:58 AM ET, 11/29/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  D.C. Public Schools, Michelle Rhee, Rhee-visionist History

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/27/2011

Parents as tigers and wimps: Cycles in child rearing and schooling
By Valerie Strauss
An educator explains how the media hullabaloo over Amy Chua’s 'Tiger Mom' and angry rebuttals from many parents (and grandparents) are at the root of the traditional vs. progressive cyclical conflicts that have ebbed and flowed over what reforms work best in U.S. schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 01/27/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  amy chua, battle hymn of the tiger mother, history of school reform, larry cuban, parenting, parenting techniques, school reform, tiger mom, tiger mother

Posted at 03:16 PM ET, 01/13/2011

Va. orders history textbook review -- finally
By Valerie Strauss
The Virginia Board of Education has finally taken the first step toward removing two elementary school history textbooks that it had earlier approved despite many errors.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:16 PM ET, 01/13/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  errors in textbooks, five ponds press, history textbooks, textbook controversy, textbook errors, textbooks, textbooks and errors, virginia board of education, virginia history, virginia textbooks

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 01/08/2011

Why Fairfax's textbook recall is surprising
By Valerie Strauss
Now that Fairfax County is recalling a fourth-grade social studies textbook with dozens of errors, the question is why any other system using them hasn't done the same thing.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:30 AM ET, 01/08/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  a history of us, errors in textbooks, history textbooks, joy hakim, textbook adoption, textbook adoption process, textbook recall, textbooks, virginia social studies textbooks, virginia textbooks

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 12/30/2010

Learning the French Revolution with Lady Gaga: Teachers sing history lessons
By Valerie Strauss
Imagine learning about the French Revolution through a rewritten version of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 12/30/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Arts Education, Arts Education | Tags:  bad romance, dear prudence, french revolution, history and the arts, history class, history lessons, history songs, jennie from the block, jennifer lopez, lady gaga, music and history, teaching history, the beatles

Posted at 03:30 PM ET, 11/24/2010

The first Thanksgiving proclamation, by George Washington
By Valerie Strauss
From a 1789 newpaper, here's President George Washington's proclamation of the first official Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:30 PM ET, 11/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  first thanksgiving, george washington, history of thanksgiving, thanksgiving, thanksgiving holiday, washington's proclamation

Posted at 02:19 PM ET, 11/24/2010

Why we don't eat deer for Thanksgiving (the Pilgrims did)
By Valerie Strauss
When did Americans start eating turkey on the national holiday of Thanksgiving? It wasn't when, or for the reason, you probably learned in school.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:19 PM ET, 11/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  abraham lincoln and thanksgiving, colonists thanksgiving, george washington and thanksgiving, ha, history of thanksgiving, pardon and turkey, pilgrims, plymouth colony, presidential pardon, presidential turkey, squanto, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dinner, the first thanksgiving, turkey, wampanoag indians, when was the first thanksgiving?

Posted at 03:05 PM ET, 11/11/2010

What you should know about Veterans Day
By Valerie Strauss
Here are some things you should know about Veterans Day, starting with this: Many Americans confuse it with Memorial Day.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:05 PM ET, 11/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  U.S. veterans, arlington cemetery, arlington national cemetery, armistice day, facts about veterans day, history of veterans day, tomb of the unknown soldier, tomb of the unknowns, veterans day, war veterans

Posted at 09:22 AM ET, 10/31/2010

A real Halloween fright: Costume contracts
By Valerie Strauss
Lots of schools have banned Halloween. Some say they don’t have time for Halloween frivolity; others worry that the day has religious overtones and families could be offended. And then there are those that set down so many rules about wearing a costume that the fun can get knocked out of it. Here's a contract kids and parents had to sign at one school.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:22 AM ET, 10/31/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  costumes, first amendment, halloween, halloween and schools, halloween costumes, history of halloween

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/28/2010

Why are we failing in history, science education?
By Valerie Strauss
An award-winning writer of history and science textbooks writes about the importance of great textbooks and explains why so many are so terrible.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 10/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  history, history textbooks, joy hakim, science, science textbooks, textbook adoption, textbooks, virginia textbooks

Posted at 10:10 AM ET, 10/20/2010

The rich irony in Virginia’s history textbook error
By Valerie Strauss
There is rich historic irony in the news that a textbook given to Virginia’s fourth graders wrongly claims that thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War: The process by which textbooks are adopted by states began because Southern states after the war did not want their children to read the North’s version of the conflict.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:10 AM ET, 10/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Curriculum, Curriculum, Curriculum | Tags:  black confederates, civil war, confederate soldiers, diane ravitch, did blacks fight for the south, history textbooks, jay mathews, textbook adoption, textbooks, the confederacy, virginia textbook, virginia textbooks

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/11/2010

Stuff you should know about Columbus
By Valerie Strauss
A lot of what you think you know about Christopher Columbus is probably wrong. Here are some things about the explorer that might surprise you.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 10/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  1492, christopher columbus, columbus bio, columbus biography, columbus day, columbus facts, discovery day, explorers, facts about columbus, history, native people

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 09/16/2010

Are Texas's social studies standards really so bad?
By Valerie Strauss
Texas has now officially adopted highly controversial new social studies standards. Here's a different view of the standards and the process by which they were approved.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 09/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  rewriting history, texas rewrites history, texas social studies standards, texas standards

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 08/25/2010

'Impossible' working conditions for teachers
By Valerie Strauss
Will Fitzhugh writes about a recent trip to Florida, where he did a workshop with teachers on student research papers -- and then realized that the teachers can't use what they learned in the classroom.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 08/25/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Teachers, Teachers | Tags:  class loads and teachers, class size, florida teachers, history papers, research papers, right to work state, teachers

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/23/2010

The history of ice cream (July is National Ice Cream Month)
By Valerie Strauss
I love history. I love ice cream (and so did George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and, of course, Dolley Madison). So, to mark National Ice Cream Month, for which we have Ronald Reagan to thank, here is the history of ice cream. It’s more interesting than you might think and even your kids might like it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history, july is national ice cream month, national ice cream month, the history of ice cream

Posted at 12:06 AM ET, 07/23/2010

From a list of ideas to an 11,200-word essay
By Valerie Strauss
In this letter a high school student details how he wrote a scholarly history paper that was published and what he learned from the experience.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:06 AM ET, 07/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  concord review, history, how to write a research paper, walter johnson high school, writing research papers

Posted at 07:12 AM ET, 07/03/2010

Top 5 Independence Day myths
By Valerie Strauss
Did you know that American independence wasn't really declared on the Fourth of July? Or that most delegates to the Constitutional Convention didn't sign the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July? Read on.

By Valerie Strauss  |  07:12 AM ET, 07/03/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  adams and jefferson, declaration of independence signed, facts about independence day, facts about july 4, history, independence day, john adams and thomas jefferson, july 2nd and independence, july 4th, malia obama and birthday, the crack in the liberty bell, the liberty bell, when did adams and jefferson die, when was independence declared

Posted at 10:13 AM ET, 07/02/2010

Declaration of Independence rough draft shows crossout
By Valerie Strauss
Just in time for the Fourth of July, the Library of Congress has this news: Hyperspectral imaging of Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence has confirmed that he originally wrote the phrase “our fellow subjects,” but then scrawled over it the word “citizens.”

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:13 AM ET, 07/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Fourth of July, July 4, declaration of independence, declaration of independence and signers, declaration of independence text, history, independence day and history, library of congress and declaration, thomas jefferson and declaration

Posted at 02:06 PM ET, 06/23/2010

Law student James Madison rediscovered through lost notes
By Valerie Strauss
The discovery that a series of aw notes thought to have been written by Thomas Jefferson were actually penned by James Madison has led to a call for a reassessment of the fourth U.S. president.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:06 PM ET, 06/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history, james madison and law, james madison notes, jefferson's papers, library of congress and jefferson, library of congress and madison, lost notes found, madison notes found, thomas jefferson and james madison

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/24/2010

Bad standards: Not just in Texas
By Valerie Strauss
Texas isn’t the only place with lousy social studies standards, though you might be forgiven for thinking so considering all the attention that Texas Board of Education has received in recent months as it adopted a new set of standards.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  Indiana textbooks, Oregon standards, Texas board of education, Texas social studies standards, Texas standards, history, social studies standards, standards, textbooks

Posted at 10:56 AM ET, 05/22/2010

California bill takes aim at new Texas standards
By Valerie Strauss
A bill introduced in California seeks to protect the country’s largest school system from the Texas Board of Education and its new social studies standards.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:56 AM ET, 05/22/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Texas social studies, Texas social studies standards, Texas standards, history, social studies standards, texas board of educaiton

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/18/2010

Protesters call IB program un-American. Is it?
By Valerie Strauss
How American history is taught is clearly on the minds of protesters in Idaho who trying to get the International Baccalaurate program tossed out of schools because, they say, it is, anti-American, and of Arizona legislators who passed a law restricting ethnic studies.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/18/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  AP,IB,honors, AP,IB,honors | Tags:  IB protesters, arizona ethnic studies, arizona law and immigrants, ethnic studies law, history, international baccalaureate, law restricting ethnic studies

Posted at 03:23 PM ET, 05/13/2010

Did Texas school board abuse its power?
By Valerie Strauss
With the Texas State Board of Education getting ready to adopt controversial new social studies standards, a new report accuses the panel of abusing its power and asks the state Legislature to intervene. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of...

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:23 PM ET, 05/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history, history standards and texas, texas board of education, texas social studies standards

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/04/2010

Arizona strikes again: Now it is ethnic studies
By Valerie Strauss
First Arizona passed a law requiring police to question anybody who looks like an illegal immigrant. Then we learn that the state order school districts to get rid of teachers with very heavy accents. Then the legislature approved a bill targeted at a Mexican-American studies program that the state education chief doesn't like. Arizona doesn't know when to quit.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Arizona and heavily accented teachers, Arizona and law, Arizona immigrant law, Mexican-american studies, ethnic studies in Arizona, heavily accented teachers, history

Posted at 11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010

Teaching the Civil War: Debate still alive
By Valerie Strauss
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s apology for leaving slavery out of a proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month cannot gloss over the fact that the issue is still alive. While there is little disagreement among professional historians that slavery was the central reason for the secession of 11 Southern states from the union and the eruption of the war, it is still taught as only one of the issues in many Southern schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  causes of civil war, mcpherson and civil war, obama, obama and civil war, obama and history, slavery as cause of civil war, teaching the civil war, virginia gov. civil war, virginia politics

Posted at 06:04 PM ET, 04/07/2010

McPherson on slavery and Virginia's governor
By Valerie Strauss
Civil War expert James McPherson says that Virginia Gov. McDonnell had it wrong when he indicated that slavery was not “most significant” for Virginia as an issue during the Civil War period. Let's hope Virginia's student learn Civil War history the way McPherson teaches it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:04 PM ET, 04/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Confederate Month, Gov. McDonnell, James McPherson, Virginia, history

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/07/2010

Texas did not really rewrite history--Sewall
By Valerie Strauss
The director of the independent American Textbook Council says that the reports that came out of Texas about conservative changes to the social studies curriculum are wrong.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 04/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  T, Texas and history, Texas board of education, Texas conservatives, Texas curriculum, Texas social studies, Texas standards

Posted at 06:29 AM ET, 04/02/2010

James McPherson on Texas history curriculum
By Valerie Strauss
I asked award-winning historian James McPherson how much we should worry about the changes to social studies curriculum being made by conservatives in Texas. Here's what he said.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:29 AM ET, 04/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history curriculum, texas, textbooks

Posted at 10:20 AM ET, 03/17/2010

Texas and its history mess--deja vu all over again
By Valerie Strauss
Texas is under scrutiny for silly and historically inaccurate revisions that its state board of education made to its American history curriculum. But it's not the first time Texas has been in a mess with its history textbooks.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:20 AM ET, 03/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Texas history standards

Posted at 03:49 PM ET, 01/21/2010

That first big research paper
By Valerie Strauss
The following was written by Christiane Henrich, a 17-year-old high school student about how she wrote her first substantial research paper, which was published in the academic journal for high school students, The Concord Review. She begins: "Before crafting my research paper on U.S. Civil War Medicine, I had never composed a piece of non-fiction literature beyond six or seven pages. Twenty pages seemed to be an unconquerable length." I remember the dread that filled me as my AP United States History teacher, Mrs. Melissa Humphrey, handed out the assignment for the twenty-page research paper. She also passed around copies of The Concord Review as examples of research papers done well. For us, the first deadline was only a few weeks away. We had to have a thesis. It was then that I truly realized the depth of this academic adventure. My job was not to simply report on some topic in U.S. history; I had to prove something. I had to create an arguable thesis and defend it. I was overwhelmed.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:49 PM ET, 01/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  history paper

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 01/18/2010

Listening to 'I Have a Dream'
By Valerie Strauss
It is one thing to read the words “From every mountainside let freedom ring,” and it is entirely another to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver the magnificent "I Have a Dream" speech that helped change U.S. history. Once you hear it, it is not possible to forget. So today, on this national holiday that commemorates King and his impact on this country, sit down with your children and listen.... Where you can hear and see it, and why it wasn't easily accessible for a long time.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 01/18/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Civics Education, Civics Education | Tags:  Martin Luther King, history

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 12/14/2009

How should history be taught?
By Valerie Strauss
Most historians writing about the historic events of the last year in the United States would likely concentrate on the election of the first black president, Barack Obama, and the conditions that led to his victory. Not Howard Zinn. The longtime historian and social activist said he would instead focus on “people who are still struggling." This approach to history--focusing on how ordinary people help turn people rather than presidents and generals--was seen in "The People Speak," a film documentary that premiered last night on The History Channel. What do you think of Zinn's approach to history?

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 12/14/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  teaching history

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 11/26/2009

Why we eat turkey on Thanksgiving (when the Pilgrims ate deer)--and other holiday myths
By Valerie Strauss
This is the story you and your kids probably learned in school: In 1621, Pilgrims, dressed in black and white with buckles on their shoes, held a feast in Plymouth Colony to celebrate their first harvest. They invited Wampanoag Indians, and everyone gobbled down turkey and pumpkin pie. It turns out that only some of that is true.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 11/26/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Civics Education | Tags:  Thanksgiving, historical myth, history

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 09/07/2009

A Lesson on Labor Day
By Valerie Strauss
Labor Day is the perfect day to explain to kids complaining about going back to school just how much worse things could be for them. In fact, they once were: Kids were forced into back-breaking jobs day and night in...

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 09/07/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Civics Education | Tags:  American history, Labor Day, workers