July marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark legislation passed on July 26, 1990, that broke down barriers to inclusion in society. Disability Pride Month was first celebrated that same year, taking place in Boston, Massachusetts in the US. Celebrations follow, with th…
Accessing Inquiry for English Learners through Primary Sources will be offered at the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) in Northampton, Massachusetts in a two-session format, meeting Thursdays a month apart, October 19 and November 16.
Multilingual learners can benefit from primary source activities, and all students can find compelling questions in the history of immigrants…
First posted to the TPS Teachers Network by Laurie Risler, and published as an Emerging America blog post on February 5, 2021 with the title, Using History's Mysteries to Teach African American History (guest post).
Update: in 2022, iCivics incorporated Laurie Risler and Kelley Brown's groundbreaking elementary inquiry curriculum into their array of teaching resources under the name Pri…
Every unit of the Reform to Equal Rights: K-12 Disability History Curriculum includes an introduction to the topic of disability, including strategies to address disrespectful vocabulary.
There are many words about disability that are offensive in today's usage but that are unavoidable in primary sources–even current sources. (Think for example of the term, "dumb," which once meant n…
High quality social studies education is an essential tool to maintain and advance American democracy. American history teachers follow rigorous professional standards because they understand this enormous responsibility. The organizations and principles below aim to support teacher in the challenging environment that many of them face across the United States today.
A powerful and ri…
When the Founding generation talked about the pursuit of happiness they had specific ideas in mind– a tranquility or contentment–the ability to look back on one’s life and feel satisfied with one’s decisions and behavior. To that generation, living a virtuous life was key to human happiness.
Kelley Brown, The Pursuit of Happiness:
The upcoming Emergin…