Social Education
February 1998
Volume 62 Number 2

The Start Is as Important as the Finish: Establishing a Foundation for Study of the Holocaust
Samuel Totten
Discovering what kind of knowledge base students bring to study of the Holocaust can help overcome misperceptions and increase understanding of this complex and tragic event.

Team-Teaching AP History and English
David Traill, with the assistance of David Harvey
The challenges posed by moving to a 4x4 block schedule caused these teachers to join forces and create a combined syllabus for teaching AP history and English at both the junior and senior levels.

The Depression in the South: Seymour Foge#146;s Images of African Americans
Robert L. Stevens and Jared A. Fogel
As the nation’s economic life hit rock bottom, a young artist hit the road, drawing sketches that recorded the plight of southern African Americans and their dignity in the face of it.

Brick Walls and Breakthroughs: Talking about Diversity with White Teacher Education Students
Rahima Wade
Asking preservice teachers to reflect on commonly-expressed statements about teaching children of color was a first step in breaking down some “brick walls” to understanding and appreciating diversity.

Looking at the Law
Teaching About the Death Penalty
John Paul Ryan and John Michael Eden
Opening discussion of the death penalty may cause students to reconsider their deeply felt, but often unexamined, convictions on this vital legal and moral issue.

Teaching Ideas
Exploring Vietnam: A Multiple Intelligence Portfolio of Learning
Linda A. Hoover and Randall Taylor
The issues of the Vietnam War can become very real to students when Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence is made the basis of class assignments.

Connecting Narrative and Historical Thinking: A Research-based Approach to Teaching History
Robert H. Mayer
History in the classroom is most compelling when the inquiry process builds upon strong grounding in the narrative of human events.

Is Group Decision Making in the Classroom Constructive or Destructive?
Rhonda King and John King
It’s not enough to teach students how to articulate their views in class; to make good group decisions, they need to learn listening skills as well.

Teaching with Documents
The Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection
Lee Ann Potter and Wynell B. Schamel
Why does the Philippines celebrate its independence on a different day from when the U.S. granted it on July 4, 1946? The answer lies in the different perspective from which Filipinos view what Teddy Roosevelt called the "splendid little war" of 1898.

Surfing the Net
Instructional Strategies for the World Wide Web
C. Frederick Risinger
Everybody knows there’s a lot of great information on the Internet, but where are the sites with good ideas on how to use the World Wide Web in class? Fred Risinger has some answers.

Point of View
The Problematics of Character Education and Civic Virtue: A Critical Response to the NCSS Position Statement
Kevin A. Vinson
Stating our commitment to character education and civic virtue is but a first step in considering how social studies professionals should teach the meaning of citizenship.

Book Review
History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past
Robert Cohen
The history standards wars are not yet over, as this book by closely involved scholars makes clear.