10 Ideas for Teaching About Flag Day (even if you are out for the summer)

Flag Day falls on June 14 and it provides opportunities for teaching about American history using the flag as a focal point. If your school is still in session, it is easy to find and plan lessons for Flag Day; however, with many schools on summer break, it is more difficult to reach out to … read more »

Fake News – What can we do about it?

80% of middle schoolers mistake sponsored content for real news 3 in 4 students can’t distinguish between real and fake news on Facebook Fewer than 1 in 3 students are skeptical of biased news sources (ISTE Fake News Infographic 2017) As educators, what can we do to make sure our students are not counted as … read more »

International Museum Day, Let’s Go For a Virtual Visit!

May 18 is International Museum Day; however, not everyone has access to a museum to visit. So what do you do? Take a virtual visit, of course! If you read Ruth Okoye’s recent blog on virtual field trips you already have lots of ideas with places to visit and how to make the most of … read more »

Analyzing Media In the Classroom

Media is all around us. Students need to be able to analyze media in the classroom and in their daily lives. Analyzing media should be one of the first media literacy activities to be incorporated into the classroom as it is one of the easiest activities to integrate. Teachers use media in the classroom to … read more »

Bringing Historical Events Alive In Your Classroom with Primary Sources

On February 19, 1942, FDR signed Executive Order 9066 which paved the way for Japanese internment camps. Teaching sensitive and complicated topics like this one is made easier with the use of primary sources. In this article entitled Teaching Difficult Topics with Primary Sources from the National Council of the Social Studies journal Social Education, … read more »