ABSTRACT
In history courses the author took in school the people read about history, talked about history, and wrote about history; they never actually did history. The teacher initiated the class by turning on the overhead projector and informing students that they should take notes on World War I and that, when they were finished, they could watch CNN’s broadcast of the Gulf War. For a course in history to be a useful and thought-provoking learning experience, it must engage students in the application of evidence to make reasoned arguments about the past. The lessons discussed are exemplars of how to generate historical thinking with students. The classroom lessons narrated within the book are connected by their use of these specific thinking skills. Adding historical thinking to the curriculum deepens students’ understanding of specific historical content while simultaneously reinforcing the thinking skills necessary for them to compete in the modern world.
