Teaching History, Learning Citizenship

Learn how to design history lessons that foster students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for civic engagement in grades 6–12.

Each section of this practical resource introduces a key element of civic engagement, such as defending the rights of others, advocating for change, taking action when problems are observed, compromising to promote reform, and working with others to achieve common goals. Primary and secondary sources are provided for lessons on diverse topics such as Alice Paul and the Silent Sentinels, Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor, Harriet Tubman, Reagan and Gorbachev’s unlikely friendship, and Lincoln’s plan for reconstructing the Union.

With Teaching History, Learning Citizenship, teachers can show students how to apply historical thinking skills to real-world problems and to act on civic dispositions to make positive changes in their communities.

Book Features:

• Ready-to-use lessons on important historical topics that are likely already part of the history curriculum.
• Materials that allow teachers flexibility in the way lessons are designed.
• Lessons aligned with important civic engagement themes, including ideas for additional historical topics that are useful to teach similar material.
• Strategies to help teachers facilitate the transfer of thinking skills and concepts (such as empathy, corroboration, and historiography) into the realm of civic engagement.
• Background knowledge customized for use with the documents included in the book.

Jeffery D. Nokes is an associate professor in the History Department at Brigham Young University and a former middle school and high school teacher.

“Teachers will appreciate the adaptability of the unscripted lessons in this book. Each lesson provides background historical context for the teacher and the resources to expose students to themes of civic engagement that cut across historical time periods and current events. With the case studies, ideas, and sources in this book, teachers can instill students with the dispositions of democratic citizens.”
—From the Foreword by Laura Wakefield, interim executive director, National Council for History Education

"Jeffery Nokes has provided history teachers with a gift: A book that draws a straight line between helping students become critical historical thinkers and helping them become engaged citizens. Educators can find it all in one place—a thoughtful introduction to each topic, primary sources for teaching, graphic organizers, and more. This book is indispensable for teachers who want to create a classroom that buzzes."
—Sam Wineburg, Margaret Jacks Professor of Education and (by courtesy) History, Stanford University

“This timely book rethinks the nexus between history and civics instruction. Jeffery D. Nokes does this by mining U.S. history for teachable moments of civic engagement. Each chapter is a historical case study that engages students in a documents-based analysis of democratic citizenship in action. Teaching History, Learning Citizenship addresses a critical need in our national civic life.”
—Matthew T. Downey, emeritus professor of history, University of Northern Colorado

Contents

Foreword Laura Wakefield  ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1.  A New Vision of History Teaching 5
Knowledge 6
Skills 7
Dispositions 7
Section and Chapter Organization 8
Knowing and Doing Citizenship 9

Part I. Defending Civil Rights: Looking Out for One Another 11

2. John Adams, Josiah Quincy Jr., and the Boston Massacre Trial 13
Students’ Background Knowledge 13
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 13
Historical Thinking Skills: Corroboration 14
Lesson Ideas 15
Instructional Materials 17

3.  Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad 22
Students’ Background Knowledge 22
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 22
Historical Thinking Skills: Historiography 23
Lesson Ideas 24
Instructional Materials 26

Part II. Collaborative Problem-solving: Making a difference by Coming Together 31

4. Committees of Correspondence 33
Students’ Background Knowledge 33
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 33
Historical Thinking Skills: Contextualization 34
Lesson Ideas 35
Instructional Materials 37

5. Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor 42
Students’ Background Knowledge 42
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 42
Historical Thinking Skills: Historical Empathy 44
Lesson Ideas 44
Instructional Materials 46

Part III. Compromise: Sacrificing for the Common Good 51

6. The Great Compromise 53
Students’ Background Knowledge 53
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 53
Historical Thinking Skills: Historical Perspective Taking 55
Lesson Ideas 55
Instructional Materials 57

7. Compromise and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 62
Students’ Background Knowledge 62
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 63
Historical Thinking Skills: Change and Continuity  64
Lesson Ideas 64
Instructional Materials 66

Part iv. Getting along with Adversaries 71

8. Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction: Binding a Nation’s Wounds 73
Students’ Background Knowledge 73
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 73
Historical Thinking Skills: Ethical Judgment 75
Lesson Ideas 75
Instructional Materials 78

9. Reagan and Gorbachev: Adversaries and Friends 84
Students’ Background Knowledge 84
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 84
Historical Thinking Skills: Argumentative Writing 85
Lesson Ideas 87
Instructional Materials 89

Part V. Demonstrating Disapproval: Courageously Taking a Stand 97

10. Alice Paul and the Silent Sentinels 99
Students’ Background Knowledge 99
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 99
Historical Thinking Skills: Photograph Analysis 101
Lesson Ideas 102
Instructional Materials 104

11. Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and the 1968 Olympic Protests 109
Students’ Background Knowledge 109
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 109
Historical Thinking Skills: Contextualization 110
Lesson Ideas 111
Instructional Materials 113

Part VI. Civil Disobedience: When All Else Fails 117

12. Susan B. Anthony and the Election of 1872 119
Students’ Background Knowledge 119
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 119
Historical Thinking Skills: Identifying Historical Significance 120
Lesson Ideas 121
Instructional Materials 123

13. James Farmer Jr. and the Freedom Riders 128
Students’ Background Knowledge 128
Historical Background for Teachers and Students 128
Historical Thinking Skills: Sourcing 129
Lesson Ideas 130
Instructional Materials 132

References 138

Index 143

About the Author 153