At Thinking Nation, we are passionate about advancing reading and information literacy. Our mission is to equip educators and students with the tools they need to succeed in today’s complex learning landscape. To achieve this, we design resources that not only foster literacy development but also align seamlessly with key strands of the Common Core standards.
We recognize the hurdles students face when engaging with complex texts. That’s why we provide access to diverse and thought-provoking primary and secondary sources. These materials are intentionally challenging, encouraging critical thinking and deeper engagement with the past. However, as our Director of Curriculum, Annie Jensen, recalls from her own teaching experience, success with these texts requires more than exposure. She vividly remembers handing her students a primary source and simply instructing them to “analyze.” The blank stares and confusion made it clear—they needed explicit tools and guidance to navigate the complexities of the material.
In response, Thinking Nation developed scaffolded graphic organizers (THINKS) and other resources designed to make these complex texts more accessible. These tools empower students to break down challenging materials while honing essential historical thinking skills. By connecting these resources to literacy development, we help educators inspire a love of reading, an appreciation for history, and the analytical skills students need to thrive in any discipline.
Historical Thinking Skills with Definitions
This week, we’re excited to share something special. As advocates for lifelong learning and literacy, we asked our Thinking Nation staff to share their top book recommendations for 2025. But we didn’t stop there—we’ve tied each recommendation to one of the ten historical thinking skills embedded in all our resources. These skills go beyond history; they are universal, applicable across disciplines, and essential for developing informed, critical thinkers.
We hope you’ll enjoy this curated list of books and see how the power of reading can inspire a deeper connection to history, literacy, and beyond. Let’s continue fostering a love for learning and a passion for the stories that shape our world.
Thinking Nation’s Staff Book Recommendations for 2025
(Click any of the below pictures to buy the book!)
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We are currently 12 days away from election day here in the United States (in case you haven’t been paying attention). If you live in any of the swing states currently being bombarded with hundreds of political advertisements, rest assured that your regular programming will return shortly. Presidential elections eclipse almost everything else in the news cycle and dominate the attention of the nation like few other events can. While elections are temporary, they are important and impactful. The history of the United States, in fact, is intertwined with and demarcated by important political elections. Below are some of the most pivotal elections in United States history.
Election of 1800: “Revolution of 1800”
The United States was a young democracy that had yet to experience a shift in political power. In other parts of the world, a shift in political power was usually accompanied by violence and turmoil. However, the “Revolution of 1800,” as it has come to be called, served as an important moment in the history of American elections because it was the first peaceful transfer of power between political parties.
Election of 1824: “The Corrupt Bargain”
The race for the White House in 1824 was radically different from that of 1800. First, there were four candidates competing for the presidency; secondly, the election was decided by the House of Representatives. Andrew Jackson was denied the presidency because Henry Clay, who was also running for president, threw his support behind John Quincy Adams and mobilized others to stop Jackson. In 1828, Jackson, buoyed by supporters that believed that he had been denied the presidency in a “corrupt bargain,” would become the first President of the United States that was not directly connected to the “Founding Fathers.”
Election of 1860: The Rise of Honest Abe
It is an overused adage but: “Elections have consequences.” The Election of 1860 was one of the most consequential presidential elections in American history, as it directly led to the outbreak of the American Civil War. This election took place amid deep sectional tensions between the North and the South over the issue of slavery, and the results effectively split the nation along regional lines. Abraham Lincoln, the leader of the newly formed Republican Party, was elected with approximately 40% of the popular vote. Forty-four days after the election, South Carolina would be the first state to secede from the Union. The Civil War consumed Abraham Lincoln’s entire presidency.
By the election of 1932, the United States was in the midst of a Great Depression. Unemployment was at an all-time high and Herbert Hoover was hesitant to get directly involved in addressing many of the issues facing Americans. By 1932, Americans were ready for a change and elected Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States. Roosevelt’s victory in 1932 set the stage for his unprecedented four-term presidency and the transformation of American politics and government in response to the challenges of the Great Depression and World War II.
Election of 1960: A New Frontier
The Election of 1960 was one of the closest and most historic presidential elections in American history. It was notable for its televised debates, its tight margin of victory, and the election of John F. Kennedy (JFK), the first Catholic and the youngest person ever elected as president of the United States. The election also marked a generational shift in American politics. “Let the word go forth from this time and place,” JFK said during his inauguration address in 1961, “that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” This new generation would expand the Cold War internationally and set a new tone for Civil Rights domestically.
Election of 2008: Obama
The Election of 2008 saw the election of the first African American President of the United States, Barack Obama. Obama came to office as dissatisfaction with George W. Bush and the collapse of the banking system were dominating the news. Obama ran on a platform of “hope” and “change,“ promising to end the divisive politics of the past, reform the healthcare system, address climate change, and restore the U.S.’s global standing.
Election of 2016: Trump
The majority of the political forecasters were wrong – Hillary Clinton would not become the 45th President of the United States. Instead, the election was won by a business mogul, who openly questioned Obama’s birthplace and who engaged in unscripted dialogue with reporters. Trump effectively used Twitter to bypass the traditional news media and to communicate directly with Americans. Trump’s approach with his rivals and his ability to pull from traditional Democratic voters essentially shifted the political landscape of the United States.
Here at Thinking Nation, we believe in teaching historical thinking skills so that people can learn how to stay informed and so that they can actively participate in the political process. Thinking Nation believes in cultivating thinking citizens. So while this election will come and go, the need to continue to promote democratic participation, critical thinking, and equity will continue to drive the work we are doing at Thinking Nation. Democracy demands it. Join us.
Texas Council for Social Studies
Will you be at the Texas Council for Social Studies? If so, come say hi to Annie Jenson, our Director of Curriculum. She is presenting and will be holding down our booth in the exhibit hall. Check out our press release for more information!
During the 1960s, Robert Rosenthal, a psychologist, and Lenore Jacobson, an elementary school principal in California, set out to explore the effect of an educator’s expectations on student learning and instruction. In their study, elementary school teachers were told that certain students in their class were “academic bloomers” and that these students were expected to show significant academic growth during the school year. The study noted that, once told about the “academic bloomers,” teachers began to pay more attention to these students, began offering more feedback on their work, and took more time to provide challenging learning experiences. As a result of the teacher’s high expectations, these students, who were randomly selected and were not necessarily “academic bloomers,” showed increases in their IQ compared to the other students in the class.
While the Pygmalion Effect Study, as it has come to be known, helps forward the idea that high teacher expectations can lead to higher educational outcomes for students, we know that many teachers continue to have a cycle of low expectations for students and their learning. Low expectations for student learning are influenced by many variables, including the teacher’s own personality, past experiences, the socioeconomic background of students, and the racial makeup of the school. We, as teachers, need to believe that all students can learn and that we can provide learning experiences that are challenging and doable. We need to break the cycle of low expectations. It takes work, but it can be done!
The Pygmalion effect, for its part, is often viewed as a chicken and egg problem (expectations can influence performance but performance can also influence expectations, making it difficult to know which comes first). What is clear is that teachers make instructional decisions based on their perceptions of what their students can achieve and can often avoid exposing students to rigorous learning material because they have become convinced that it is out of the range of what their students can do.
At Thinking Nation, we believe that teachers should have high expectations for their students and for their learning. We challenge teachers to raise their expectations! Our resources provide ample opportunities for students to engage in critical thinking, evidence gathering, and argumentation. These skills, while difficult to teach, can make learning more relevant and more engaging for students. As a result, when students feel more engaged in their learning, they are more likely to challenge themselves and to grow academically. High expectations directly influence the learning materials the teacher selects or does not select. Our resources are built with the unyielding belief that all students can learn and that students can do hard things!
Anyone who has ever watched a student playing video games can understand what determination to learn looks like. There is always a point in the game when a challenge is so demanding that the student “gives up.” Later, they return to the task and try again, and often fail to succeed even after a second try. Undeterred, the student continues to try over and over until they “get it.” While we are not arguing that a curated research paper (CRP) or a formative assessment is as innately engaging as a video game, we are arguing that students will challenge themselves and persevere when they feel the task is worthwhile. So let’s set high expectations for our students and design learning experiences that reflect those expectations. Onward!
Watch our video discussing the need for high expectations in social studies education.
Richard Feynman, the famed American theoretical physicist who notably worked alongside J. Robert Oppenheimer during the building of the first atomic bomb, once said, “If you can’t explain something in simple terms, then you don’t understand it yourself.” This quote by Feynman highlights the not-so-obvious fact that in order to truly master a concept, idea, or theory, one must be able to explain it and teach it to others.
During the past couple of months at Thinking Nation, we have been working on developing graphic organizers that can support students in understanding how to apply and interpret historical thinking skills. Specifically, we have created graphic organizers that have focused on the historical thinking skills related to continuity and change over time, evaluating evidence, evaluating perspectives, evaluating arguments, and quantitative analysis. These historical thinking skills, while complex, are essential in helping students think critically and deeply about historical events.
The process of creating these graphic organizers has been a team effort by Thinking Nation’s curriculum staff. On one document, for instance, we made over dozens of edits trying to simplify the language, visuals, instructions, and graphics for both middle and high school students. Just when we thought we had finally captured the essence of the historical thinking skill in the graphic organizer, one more comment or a bit more feedback would send us back into another review cycle. The refinement process has been long, but has produced solid work that takes multifaceted historical thinking skills and shows students how to apply them.
For example, in primary sources and secondary sources students often encounter different types of claims made by historical figures. Not all claims are equal, and history students need a systematic method for evaluating these claims. To help students, we developed a simple acronym titled “CLAIM.” CLAIM stands for: Claim, Logic, Authority, Intuition, and Merit. Each of the letters in the acronym is aligned to a specific element for evaluating claims, and has scaffolded questions that help students methodically evaluate the claim.
Another example of how we took complex concepts and created resources for students to use can be seen through the continuity and change graphic organizer. In history, there are hundreds of events that have precipitated great changes for people and society. During the era of Reconstruction, for instance, social life for many African Americans changed throughout the country, yet economic opportunities remained out of reach for many newly emancipated people, who, out of necessity, turned to sharecropping. The advanced graphic organizer developed by our Thinking Nation team allows students to unpack historical events – like the Era of Reconstruction – and analyze the juxtaposition of what changed and what continued on for a particular group in society. Additionally, students are asked to justify why one of the cited examples in the graphic organizer represents a major continuity or change in history.
Throughout his life, Richard Feyman wrote and lectured extensively about concepts related to quantum mechanics and physics. His books have sold widely in various languages throughout the world because of their broad readability and for the ways Feynman made complex ideas accessible to laymen. The ability to explain the complex to others and to simplify multifaceted concepts takes skill, time, and effort. The work we did here at Thinking Nation over the past month will help explain complex concepts in simple terms to students, and will help teachers teach and reinforce those skills over the course of the school year. As a team, we are proud of the work we did and are convinced that it will help students become better historical thinkers!
THINKING NATION TEACHERS! Head to the Teacher Tool Kit when logged in to download all of the new graphic organizers!
