Blog - Thinking Nation

More Than Meets the Eye: Helping Students Decode Historical Images

Behind every historical image is a perspective, a message, and a moment waiting to be unpacked. Our job is to help students find it.

Scaffolding Visual Literacy in History

Recently, I was reviewing a 7th grade U.S. History lesson plan that directed students to analyze various images of the Boston Massacre to evaluate multiple perspectives of the event. (Sidebar: if you are looking for an engaging read on this topic, I highly recommend Serena Zabin’s The Boston Massacre: A Family History (2023). Easy 5⭐ for me!)

As I considered the lesson, I reflected on how often students struggle to evaluate historical images. Key elements are frequently misread, symbolism can be missed, and the artist’s intent is often misunderstood. So I decided to create an introductory activity to better prepare them. It starts by having students understand the purpose and significance of image analysis as a historical investigative tool:

Being able to analyze visual images—like paintings, photographs, political cartoons, and posters—is an important skill for understanding history. These images are more than just art; they are historical evidence created during or about a specific time. They help us see what people valued, feared, or believed, and they often show details that words alone can’t capture.

Learning to “read” an image helps us think critically, ask good questions, and make connections between the past and the present. Just like a primary source document, a historical image tells a story—if you know how to look closely!

Then, I created a step-by-step process to help them engage. Here’s the gist:

Step 1: Brainstorm – Read the source information and list what you already know.

Step 2: Focus – Find the most prominent element in the image. Describe your observation, then connect with your prior knowledge, and finally infer what the artist is hoping to convey.

Step 3: Zoom In – Separate the image into quadrants in order to take note of even minor elements the artist included and make notes of elements and messages in each section.

To support deeper engagement, I also created a question bank organized by Depth of Knowledge (DOK) levels. These prompts help students explore purpose, symbolism, and perspective at increasing levels of complexity.

Spending time explicitly teaching how to analyze visuals strengthens students’ understanding of the past and encourages them to consider historical nuance and ambiguity. This skill is foundational‒not just for historians, but for informed citizens in today’s media-saturated world.

Real Life Application

Now, hang with me through this tangent and then I’ll get you the tool so you can utilize it with your students.

Last week, my book club discussed Lois Lowry’s Tree. Table. Book. (2024). It tells the story of the two Sophies of Chocorua Street who are neighbors and best friends. The surprising thing is that they are seventy-seven years apart. Young Sophie (age 11) tries to save old Sophie (age 88) from being taken to a memory-care facility due to her intensifying dementia. Throughout the book club, we explored both the simplicity and the complexity of the story.

As I sat there, I was suddenly considered the cover of the book. Initially, I had dismissed it as a sweet and simple cover. But then I applied the very same visual analysis tools that I had just created for the lesson plan.

Step 1: Source: I know Lois Lowry wrote Number the Stars about the Danish resistance during the Holocaust. I also know that the title mimics a cognitive recall test.

Step 2: Prominent Element: I notice the two characters. They are facing each other. Their age difference is evident. But their glasses and face expressions are similarly contemplative.

Step 3: Quadrants: I see the two moons in the top corners and the shift in colors to highlight day and night. The center tree is blooming on the left and is bare on the right. Characters in the background illustrate components of the story.

When I noticed all these elements, a simple illustration became rich with meaning‒just like the novel itself. And this is the power of image analysis.

Why This Matters

Teaching students visual literacy in history empowers them to engage more fully with the past. When they engage, they learn. When they learn, they grow. And when they grow, they become informed participants in our democracy.

Want to try it out?

a graphic organizer to teach visual literacy in history

If you are interested in trying this with your students, grab the worksheet here. Swap out the image (in this lesson, students had already previewed the Boston Tea Party in a prior lesson) for one they have seen before. Then challenge them with a new complex image.

If you use this strategy for visual literacy in history in your classroom, I’d love to hear how it goes!

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

AP Practice Exams Provide the Practice Students Deserve

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
– Mike Tyson

It’s a line that’s both blunt and true, especially if you’ve ever walked into something big thinking you were ready, only to get caught off guard. That’s how a lot of students feel on AP exam day. They’ve studied. They’ve reviewed. But when the test begins, it can feel like taking a hit they didn’t see coming.

Just like fighters need to train for fight night, students need to train for AP exams. Not just with content review, but with real, exam-like practice that simulates the pressure, pacing, and performance required to succeed. That’s what Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams are built for.

These practice exams are full-length, standards-aligned, and designed to match the feel and format of the official College Board exams. Students currently preparing for AP U.S. History, World History, European History, or U.S. Government and Politics can use these tools to build confidence and sharpen their skills. And here’s what makes them different: as soon as a student finishes, they get detailed feedback on both multiple-choice and free-response sections—powered by AI and grounded in College Board rubrics. The feedback is immediate, clear, and specific.

This isn’t just about more practice, it’s about better practice.

In 2024, approximately 35.7% of U.S. public high school graduates took at least one AP Exam, with 22.6% achieving a score of 3 or higher. That’s a lot of students engaging with challenging coursework, and every one of them deserves tools that help them feel ready when it matters most.

Teachers play a crucial role in that preparation. By signing up at Thinking Nation’s website, teachers can access a discount code to share with their students, making these practice exams even more accessible. When students complete an exam, they can immediately share their results with their teacher. That report gives educators powerful insights into how their students are doing and where they might need extra support.

We’ve heard from so many teachers this year asking for a resource like this. Something that gives their students a real taste of the AP exam and the kind of data that helps guide instruction. The AP Practice Exams do both.

They’re not a silver bullet. But they are one of the smartest ways students can prepare for what’s ahead and one of the most direct ways teachers can help them get there.

Let’s help students train like it matters BECAUSE IT DOES.

Reflecting on the National Council for History Education

Last week, Spenser and I headed to St. Louis, MO for the annual National Council for History Education (NCHE) conference. I took some time on the plane home to reflect on my time there and thought it was worth sharing with all of you!

Another airplane (long 😬 ) post as I’m now headed back home from NCHE. Well, National Council for History Education, you curated quite the conference. I was continually humbled by the number of people who came up to me to share how they engage with Thinking Nation. To those of you who came up and shared, thank you. It meant so much!

Sometimes, we continue to press into a vision, seeing its worth but unsure of its impact. Hearing impact stories was like caffeine for the tired soul. Professors of History came and shared how they utilize our historical thinking skill icons as references in their classrooms. Professors of Education shared how they provide our Source Analysis protocols (available for free :)) to the future teachers in their methods class. Thinking Nation has become a framework for understanding how to teach the discipline of history. A vision for systemic change in social studies is taking shape!

Teachers came up to Spenser and me and shared how they embed our historical thinking skills into their classes to provide consistency through the discipline. Scholars showed me how they cite our white paper in their own work. Museum educators even came and shared how they use our framework in their own spaces! Several people came up just show gratitude and provide encouragement for our mission. Honestly, I could go on. I left so encouraged and excited for how Thinking Nation can and does support schools and the broader social studies landscape and am thrilled for the continued work to be done.

Speaking of continued work, being able to sit down and talk collaboration with so many fellow colleagues just continued to fuel my fire to do this work.

Finally, to end the conference presenting alongside Ebony McKiver of Social Studies Accelerator about how we can build better bridges between museums and K-12 institutions and having people come up to us and thank us and tell us it was the best session they attended, or that they plans for how to do more explicit integrations in their own community, was so encouraging.

Again, I’m so humbled and encouraged. Thank you for a dynamic NCHE 2025. Can’t wait for 2026!

EDUCATION NONPROFIT THINKING NATION MAKES HIGH-QUALITY ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) SOCIAL STUDIES TEST PREP MORE EQUITABLE AND ACCESSIBLE BY BRINGING AI-POWERED PRACTICE EXAMS DIRECT TO STUDENTS

New AP Practice Exams Mirror Authentic AP Exam Testing Experience, Provide Instant, Detailed Feedback to Help Students Prepare and Boost Scores

NORTHRIDGE, Calif., March 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — As we head into the final months of the academic year, Advanced Placement (AP) exams taking place this May 5-16 mark a critical milestone for millions of high school students striving to earn college credit and showcase proficiency in coursework. To support students in their preparation for AP exams this spring, Thinking Nation, a national 501(c)(3) committed to empowering students to thrive as engaged and critical thinkers for the future of democracy, today announced the launch of its AI-powered AP Practice Exams for AP U.S. History, AP European History, AP World History, and AP Government and Politics students.

“We designed these AI-powered practice exams to give students a true AP exam experience with instant, actionable feedback,” said Valentina Carvajal Bueno of Thinking Nation who held a key role on the AP Practice Exam development team. “Every student deserves access to high-quality test prep, and this tool helps level the playing field so every student can prepare with confidence.”

Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams simulate the official AP exam environment, including the writing component, from section timing to question difficulty, to prepare students for exactly what to expect at an affordable price. Unlike other study methods or preparation tools, Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams provide instant, AI-generated feedback and actionable study insights, helping students pinpoint exactly where they need to improve.

Students can choose to complete an entire exam or focus on specific sections, tailoring their prep to their needs. By practicing in an authentic test setting, students gain confidence, reduce test anxiety, and improve their time management—key factors in earning a top score. Simultaneously, students have the option of sharing their test results with their teachers, providing them with valuable data on the specific units, skills and exam components to target instruction in the final weeks leading up to the exams.

AP U.S. History teacher, History for Humans creator, and teacher coach Dan Lewer shared, “Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams are an amazing resource to help students feel more prepared and confident for the AP exams – one I plan to use with my students every year. The instant feedback on both multiple choice and free response questions helps students understand how to improve their scores in real time. Not only does it save teachers valuable time on grading and feedback, but the detailed performance reports also provide essential insights to guide review before the big day.”

Developed and evaluated by experienced AP teachers and AP exam graders, Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams are in strict accordance with the most current guidelines and criteria from the College Board, the AP exams’ governing body. This alignment ensures that students become well acquainted with the exam’s structure and expectations.

“I wish something like this existed while I was in high school. I’ve made a career by making one-minute history videos, but unfortunately, students today need to have more in-depth knowledge and access to affordable test prep if they’re going to pass the AP,” said history teacher and Thinking Nation partner Lauren Cella. “That is why I trust Thinking Nation’s team of AP graders, historians, and AP teachers who have created this test to be as close as possible to the real thing.”

The AP Practice Exams are available 24/7 and are priced at $15 per exam to make quality test preparation accessible to all students. Other practice test packages, courses, and tutoring costs range from $295 to $799 or more and do not offer the targeted feedback and authentic simulation that Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams do. Students and parents can learn more about Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams and directly purchase one by visiting the organization’s website.

Subscriptions to Thinking Nation’s AP Practice Exams are also available to teachers and school districts. Teachers can easily assign the exams to students, who can then submit their responses online. Detailed performance feedback is generated instantaneously, allowing students to make targeted improvements in their preparation and teachers to fine tune classroom instruction and reviews leading up to the official AP exams. To learn more about the AP Practice Exams platform and how to implement it in your school or classroom, visit Thinking Nation’s website.

To contribute financially to the organization’s work to transform social studies classrooms across the country, go to thinkingnation.org/donate.

About Thinking Nation
Thinking Nation is a national 501(c)(3) committed to empowering students to thrive as engaged and critical thinkers by supporting teachers with meaningful curricula, training, and technology to transform social studies education for the future of democracy. We believe that education is our greatest equalizer, and that every student, regardless of zip code or socio-economic background, deserves access to learning practices that reflect the diversity of identities, histories, contributions, and experiences to support enriched educational opportunity, equity, and success for all. Thinking Nation currently serves more than 35,000 students in 16 states and the District of Columbia. For more information about Thinking Nation or to support the organization’s work to transform social studies classrooms across the country, please visit thinkingnation.org/donate.

Media Contacts
Laura Wessells and Martha Holler
ShinePR for Thinking Nation, thinkingnation@shinepr.com

Civic Learning Week is a Time for Teacher Appreciation

[A quick note: It was so great to meet so many of you at the California Council for Social Studies conference this past weekend. I loved hearing so many inspiring stories at our booth and sessions!]

This is the week!

I feel like the phrase “now more than ever” is a perennial favorite in the civics community. But perhaps it is because the time is always ripe to practice civics. Civics goes beyond knowledge of the government. It is a worldview that we can collectively exercise to both strengthen our democracy and our society. Civics Matters.

In this 3rd annual Civic Learning Week, orchestrated by our friends at iCivics, I wanted to take the time to reflect on what Civics education means in Thinking Nation classrooms.

As I wrote awhile back, I believe that a quality history education is an exercise in civics. When we teach history, we are equipping students with valuable dispositions that transcend the classroom. When students practice historical empathy they are utilizing essential skills for understanding their neighbors and the diverse perspectives they encounter. They can apply the same skills used in contextualizing past events when they are better trying to understand the context of our time. When evaluating evidence in primary sources, they are internalizing questions that we must ask about present sources if we want to be media literate. I could go on.

Historical thinking empowers students to be the citizens our society needs if we want to preserve and protect our constitutional democracy. As I reflect on what this means for us at Thinking Nation during Civic Learning Week, I want to take a moment to thank some teachers who are doing this in their classes.

Shouting Out Our Teachers!

The Inner/Outer Circle of a Socratic Seminar

📣 Shout out to Mrs. Mayra Brady at Cabrillo Middle School in Ventura, CA! Mrs. Brady had her 6th graders engage in a socratic seminar using primary sources from Confucianism and Daoism. During the seminar, students challenged one another to think critically about similarities and differences between the philosophies, pushing one another to cite evidence to support their claims.

📣 Shout out to the social studies department at Birmingham Community Charter High School in Van Nuys, CA for creating vertically-aligned goals around student thinking using student writing data. I’m grateful to Dr. Carlo Aaron Purther, the department head, for putting the needs of teachers first so that they can put the needs of their students first. The resulting student growth is admirable.

📣 Shout out to Miss Emily Reuter at Alliance College-Ready Gertz-Ressler High School in Los Angeles, CA for carving out the time for her students to prep for the AP exam through providing multiple practice exams.

📣 Shout out to Ms. Ali at Maya Angelou Schools in Washington, DC, for leaving no stone unturned when exploring ways to empower her students with the skills and dispositions they need for success.

📣 Shout out to Ms. Becca Schaeffer-Dombkowski at Highland High School in Highland, AR for giving her students who feel less comfortable in writing the opportunity to share their evidence-informed perspectives through socratic seminars in her class.

I have the privilege of working with many teachers throughout the country and the above examples are only scratching the surface of all the amazing work I get to witness in classrooms, department meetings, and PLCs. Civics may not be in the title of many of those classes, but rest assured, students are being equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to contribute to a flourishing democracy and thrive in an ever-changing world.

This Civic Learning Week, we are so grateful for all of you.

Welcoming Valerie Nesmith-Arechiga to the Team!

For this week’s blog, I asked our new Director of Partnerships to take over and introduce herself. We are thrilled to have Valerie on the team as her passion for relationship building is so critical for cultivating thinking citizens. Read on from Valerie to learn more about what makes her such a great asset to Thinking Nation!

Valerie Presenting for the Rockport Fulton District Administrators Retreat.

I’m Valerie Nesmith-Arechiga, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of this amazing community! With over a decade of experience as a teacher, instructional advisor, and administrator, I’ve dedicated my career to supporting educators and transforming schools. And now, as the Director of Partnerships at Thinking Nation, I’m on a mission to build powerful connections with teachers, administrators, and district leaders to drive real, lasting change!

🌟 My passion? Empowering educators through dynamic professional learning communities and data-driven conversations that equip them with the tools to make real-time instructional shifts—helping students soar to success! I firmly believe that strong relationships build strong schools, and I can’t wait to collaborate with each of you to foster a culture of growth, equity, and excellence.

Welcoming my middle school students the on the first day of school by showcasing our local mascot, cheerleaders and athletes from Texas A&M-Corpus

Oh, and did I mention I’m also a doctoral candidate at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi? My research on Latina K-12 principals fuels my drive for inclusive leadership and equity in education—because when we lift each other up, we all rise!🌟 I’m beyond excited to be part of the Thinking Nation mission, and I can’t wait to connect, learn, and grow with this incredible community. Let’s make magic happen together! 💡🎉

The Benefits of AP Practice Exams by Thinking Nation

For six years, I had the incredible opportunity to teach Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) at a high school in Los Angeles. Many of my students were tackling an AP class for the very first time, not quite sure what they had signed up for. My mission? To equip them with the skills, discipline, and knowledge they needed to not just survive but thrive – and, of course, pass the AP exam.

Success didn’t come easy. It took lots of practice – sometimes for hours on Saturdays (yes, Saturdays!). My students took time taking past AP exams, and I spent just as much time grading them, breaking down their responses, and giving detailed feedback on where they could improve.

Year after year, I saw my students’ passing rates steadily climb, and one thing became crystal clear: the best way to get better at APUSH was to take mock exams – lots of them. By my final year teaching the course, my students were sitting for three full-length exams each year, strategically spaced in October, January, and April.

A few weeks ago, I decided to step into my former students’ shoes and take Thinking Nation’s practice APUSH exam myself. I wanted to experience firsthand what an APUSH student would go through using Thinking Nation’s platform and I wanted to see how the reports generated from the test could provide meaningful feedback to help students improve. Here’s what I found out.

Source: Picture from one of those early Saturdays taking a full-length practice exam.

1. The exam provides a true AP exam experience

The exam offered by Thinking Nation covers every major period seen in the APUSH exam. The test is sequenced and timed along the same lines as the real AP exam (a timer is provided for students to keep track of each section). While the exam can be taken in any sequence, I highly recommend that students and teachers follow the format of the AP exam:

Section I, Part A: Multiple Choice

55 Questions | 55 Minutes | 40% of Exam Score

Section I, Part B: Short Answer

3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 20% of Exam Score

Section II: Document-Based Question and Long Essay

2 questions | 1 Hour, 40 minutes | 40% of Exam Score

2. The reports provided after each section will improve the way students can study before test day

As a teacher, I often gave my students written feedback along with a rubric. This practice exam by Thinking Nation takes it to a whole new level.

In the sample report below, students were given a breakdown of the percentage of questions answered correctly by period. This report allows students to focus their studying on the periods in which they answered the least amount of questions correctly (on the report below, the student should focus on Periods 5, 6, 7, and 9).

Additionally, on the SAQ, LEQ, and DBQ students are provided with a rubric score, direct feedback, and a visual of the required sections that they scored on. As a teacher, this type of report would be extremely helpful in supporting students’ work on specific writing skills before the exam. On the report below, for instance, the student did not use adequate outside evidence in their paper. This feedback would allow me, as the teacher, to ensure that I am showing my students how to bring outside evidence into their essays.

3. You can get a true picture of where you stand before exam day in order to protect your investment of time and money

Investing in AP courses success makes financial sense. The average cost per college credit is around $410, which means a typical three-credit course runs close to $1,600. In contrast, an AP exam costs about $129 – offering students a chance to earn college credit at a fraction of the price. But just as passing an AP exam can save thousands in tuition, taking a high-quality practice exam can help students avoid unnecessary retakes, saving both time and money. At just $15, a Thinking Nation practice exam is a smart investment in boosting students’ confidence and performance.

While Thinking Nation doesn’t provide direct AP scores for its practice exams, students can easily use publicly available AP score calculators to estimate their performance. These tools, though not officially endorsed by Thinking Nation, can provide a general idea of scoring trends. I recommend trying multiple calculators with slightly different scoring curves to get a broader sense of a student’s potential range. Of course, keep in mind that these estimates are just that – estimates – and actual AP® exam results may vary.

Here are my recommendations.

4. The AI generated feedback rivals the feedback that could be provided by the most dedicated AP teacher

Apart from raw scores, students are provided with specific and timely feedback that has been customized by our executive director, AP readers, and lead test creators. The feedback explains each aspect of the rubric to the students and provides suggestions on what they could do to improve and to be awarded full credit.

5. This will be a game-changer for any AP social studies teacher

The last thing any AP teacher or student will have is extra time. That is why these practice AP exams are game-changers. The practice exams are graded instantly and students are provided with feedback in real-time. The feedback comes in a ready-to-download report for each section and it can be shared with the student’s teacher/tutor.

Final Thoughts

One of the most impactful strategies I used as an APUSH teacher was having my students engage in deliberate practice. It was time-consuming, but the payoff was huge – it gave them a clear sense of how they would perform on the real AP exam and helped them focus on the areas where they needed to improve the most. Looking back, I wish I had access to Thinking Nation’s practice exams. Not only would they have saved me countless hours, but they also would have provided deeper insights into my students’ performance, allowing for more targeted support. Don’t miss out – set up your Thinking Nation practice exam today!

THINKING NATION TO LEAD CONVERSATIONS ON HISTORICAL THINKING AT REGIONAL AND NATIONAL EDUCATION CONFERENCES IN Q1 2025

Sessions Will Explore Civic Learning, Literacy, AI and Innovative Approaches to Social Studies Education

NORTHRIDGE, CA (Feb. 18, 2025) – Thinking Nation, a national 501(c)(3) committed to empowering students to thrive as engaged and critical thinkers for the future of democracy, is excited to announce its participation in four major education conferences taking place across the nation between February and March 2025.

“February and March are such exciting months for us at Thinking Nation as we get to make our way across the country to collaborate and learn from social studies educators in a diversity of contexts,” said Zachary Coté, Executive Director, Thinking Nation. “We are humbled to be able to share the things that inspire us in our sessions and we are eager to learn from so many people who care about the future of social studies education.”

During the four conferences, Mr. Coté and Director of Curriculum Annie Jenson will lead sessions that focus on civic learning, literacy, AI, and innovative approaches to teaching social studies. Session details follow:

Minnesota Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, St. Cloud, MN

Session Title: “Harnessing Storytelling: The Essential Role of Social Studies Teachers in the MN READ Act”

Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 | 3:00 – 3:50 p.m.
Ms. Jenson will discuss how high school educators can integrate storytelling—a practice long embraced by Indigenous traditions— into the classroom to create more inclusive, inquiry-driven learning experiences that spark curiosity, build literacy skills, increase engagement, and encourage meaningful connections to history. This session will provide practical strategies for selecting and implementing historical fiction in ways that cultivate empathy, promote critical thinking, and bring the past to life in today’s classrooms.

Middle States for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Lancaster, PA

Session Title: “From History to Humanity: Fostering Historical Empathy Through Perspective Taking”

Day, Feb. 28, 2025 | 9:25 – 10:10 a.m.

Ms. Jenson will lead two sessions at the conference. On Friday, February 28, 2025, she will provide high school educators with concrete strategies to integrate historical empathy into the classroom, helping students move beyond presentism to see the humanity within history. Revealing how complex individuals have contributed to history, a nuanced view of America’s past emerges with a greater appreciation for its ongoing diversity. Through hands-on activities, interactive discussions, and collaborative brainstorming, participants will explore how complex individuals have shaped history and gain practical tools—such as graphic organizers and formative assessments—to integrate perspective-taking into their teaching. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to create more nuanced, inclusive, and engaging history lessons.

Session Title: “Walking in Their Shoes: The Role of Historical Fiction in Building Empathy and Engagement”

Day, March 1, 2025 | 2:40 – 3:25 p.m.

Ms. Jenson’s Saturday, March 1, 2025, session will explore the power of storytelling in the classroom and how historical fiction can bring diverse voices to life for students. Through hands-on activities, interactive discussions, and collaborative brainstorming, participants will engage with practical resources—such as graphic organizers and lesson planning templates—to develop tailored strategies for integrating historical fiction into their curricula. Attendees will leave with concrete ideas to enhance student engagement, foster perspective-taking, and deepen historical understanding.

California Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Burlingame, CA

Session Title: “AI Can’t Replace Historical Thinking, But It Can Help Us Teach It”

Friday, March 7, 2025 | 11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.

Mr. Coté has been selected to lead two sessions at the conference. On Friday, March 7, 2025, he will lead an interactive session on the paradox of AI in history education—while AI offers efficiency, it provides little incentive for students to think historically. Educators will explore strategies to empower students as critical thinkers in the age of AI, engage in an AI-graded assessment on historical analysis, and discuss how to integrate AI responsibly in the classroom. Attendees will leave with practical insights and free resources to enhance historical thinking while maintaining civic responsibility in their teaching.

Session Title: “Does History Really Repeat Itself? Helping Students Understand Change Over Time”

Saturday, March 8, 2025 | 2:40 – 3:40 p.m.

In his second session, Mr. Coté is joined by Carly Donick, an educator from the Ventura Unified School District in Ventura, CA, and the recipient of both the California Council for Social Studies and National Council for Social Studies Middle School Teacher of the Year awards. They will help participants explore continuity and change over time as more than just academic tools. This session will propose that continuity and change over time are dispositions that cultivate literacy growth in academics and empathy in students’ social-emotional growth. Participants will engage with easy-to-use tools that foster the historical thinking skill of continuity and change over time that can provide meaning to how we interact with historical narratives in the classroom.

National Council for History Education Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO

Session Title: “Building Bridges between K-12 and Museum Institutions Strengthens Learning”

Saturday, March 22, 2025 | 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Mr. Coté will be joined by Ebony McKiver of Social Studies Accelerator in a collaborative discussion on strengthening the connection between K-12 classrooms and museum institutions. Too often, teachers underutilize museum collections and expertise, while museums create lessons that rarely reach students. This session explores a Washington, DC-based case study demonstrating how intentional collaboration can bridge this gap, aligning historical standards with local resources. Participants will engage with practical strategies to integrate museum expertise into their curriculum, making history more accessible and relevant. By fostering stronger partnerships, this session aims to enhance historical inquiry and model a more cohesive approach to public education.

In addition to speaking at two education conferences this quarter, Mr. Coté will attend the Civic Learning Week National Forum held at Stanford University on March 13, 2025.

For more information on Thinking Nation’s innovative approach to fostering historical thinking in social studies education, visit thinkingnation.org. Educators can explore Thinking Nation’s Best Practices Repository for valuable resources and strategies. To contribute financially to the organization’s work to transform social studies classrooms across the country, go to thinkingnation.org/donate.

***

About Thinking Nation

Thinking Nation is a national 501(c)(3) committed to empowering students to thrive as engaged and critical thinkers by supporting teachers with meaningful curricula, training, and technology to transform social studies education for the future of democracy. We believe that education is our greatest equalizer, and that every student, regardless of zip code or socio-economic background, deserves access to learning practices that reflect the diversity of identities, histories, contributions, and experiences to support enriched educational opportunity, equity, and success for all. Thinking Nation currently serves more than 35,000 students in 16 states and the District of Columbia. For more information about Thinking Nation or to support the organization’s work to transform social studies classrooms across the country, please visit thinkingnation.org/donate.

Media Contacts

Laura Wessells and Martha Holler

ShinePR for Thinking Nation, thinkingnation@shinepr.com

Setting the Tone for Historical Thinking

January was a long month. Still, there were two incredibly bright spots that I want to draw attention to.

On January 24th, Thinking Nation spent the day at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Then, on January 28th, I had the privilege to work with the social studies leaders representing all of the Regional Education Service Centers in Texas in Waco, TX. Both instances were unique and yet there was a unifying principle that was woven through each: setting the tone for historical thinking.

The National Archives

First, our experience at the National Archives was incredible. As many readers know, Thinking Nation is partnering with several Charter School LEAs in D.C. to provide a custom curriculum that is both aligned to the new standards for the District and designed to empower students to think and consider the diverse stories throughout history.

Our Group in the Rotunda at the National Archives

Our Director of Curriculum, Annie Jenson, and myself had the privilege of walking through the new curriculum with almost 40 middle and high school teachers who serve students throughout D.C. We started our morning hearing from the National Archives’ education team about the wealth of great primary sources accessible through DocsTeach. Then, before the building opened to the public, we were welcomed into the Rotunda to see the original Founding Documents and into the Records of Rights exhibit that houses many fascinating documents around human rights, including a 1297 copy of Magna Carta.

To have that time at the start of our day with such important documents was really such a special experience. I’m so grateful to the National Archives for hosting us.

The rest of our time was leading a professional learning day for the teachers using our curriculum. We explored the thinking behind the curriculum, walked through some of the resources, and practiced the types of thinking that the curriculum demands of students. There was so much energy and collaboration in the room. It was such an exciting way to kick off the curriculum that students are now engaging with across Washington, D.C.

Our professional learning day in the Jefferson Room of the National Archives

The Texas Regional ESC Collaborative

Just four days later, I was in Waco, TX working with regional social studies leaders from across the state of Texas. Together we explored two questions:

1. How do we build a common language for what it is we do as social studies educators?
2. How can we incorporate a common language for success for our students across social studies?

Using Thinking Nation’s resources and assessments, we walked through ways to effectively answer both questions. Without getting too much in the weeds, the throughline answer to both of these questions is historical thinking.

At Thinking Nation, we define historical thinking as:

The disciplined process of properly analyzing and interpreting sources, events, and their outcomes in order to better understand the past and the people who shaped it.

Perhaps we can unpack this definition in another post, but I hope it serves as a helpful grounding to what we explored in Waco, and four days prior, in Washington, D.C.

As anyone who has spent any time with me knows, I think alignment is critical to social studies’ longevity and success. This naturally means that alignment in social studies is critical to the preserving and protecting of democracy. If we can’t align around what it is we do and how we measure success in what we do, we can not appropriately collaborate across our discipline—a discipline that empowers students with the skills and dispositions to contribute to a flourishing democracy.

We are living in polarized and unpredictable times. But historical thinking can unify our pursuit for a healthier democracy. When teachers in Washington, D.C. were analyzing primary sources in order to determine their historical significance, they were practicing historical thinking. When leaders in Waco, TX were evaluating the evidence behind certain historical claims, they were practicing historical thinking. In both cases, the thinking processes practiced served to empower the learner as an active participant in the learning process. Moreover, the learner’s agency in the process provided them with the necessary skills and dispositions to contribute to our democracy (Check out this past blog post to download free historical thinking posters!).

We all teach in diversity of contexts. Still, if we can collaboratively set the tone of our classrooms around historical thinking, we can better serve our students and prepare them for civic and life success. I was so encouraged through my experiences in Washington, D.C. and Waco, TX that there are so many of us seeking to do that.

Press Release: THINKING NATION PARTNERS WITH PUBLIC MEDIA BROADCASTER WETA TO MAKE HISTORICAL THINKING RESOURCES AVAILABLE WITH THE RELEASE OF GREAT MIGRATIONS: A PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

New Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Docuseries Tells the Story of African American Movement Over the Last Two Centuries; Thinking Nation Resources Support Educators in Teaching Social Studies as a Discipline, Empower Students to Thrive as Engaged and Critical Thinkers

NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Jan. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Thinking Nation, a national 501(c)(3) committed to empowering students to thrive as engaged and critical thinkers for the future of democracy, today announced its partnership with WETA, the flagship public media company in the nation’s capital, to make historical thinking resources available across the nation concurrent with the release of the new PBS docuseries Great Migrations: A People On The Move. The series premieres Jan. 28 at 9 p.m. ET on public television stations nationwide and continues the following three Tuesday nights.

The four-part Great Migrations series will focus on African American movement over the 20^th and 21^st centuries and the meaning behind those movements. At the center of Great Migrations is renowned historian and scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and American Research at Harvard University. Dr. Gates also hosts the acclaimed series Finding Your Roots. Great Migrations will be broadcast on 350 public stations nationwide.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Thinking Nation on engaging educators and students with the themes of this series,” noted Amy Labenski, Senior Director, National Impact & Engagement, WETA National Productions. “Our organizations have a shared goal of empowering deep engagement with history and civics, and this project allows us to serve communities across the nation with quality materials.”

Through the partnership, WETA will make educational materials from Thinking Nation’s inquiry-based platform available to high schools across America in tandem with the release of Great Migrations. Thinking Nation’s materials support educators as they engage students and help them learn to contextualize information, assess the multi-layered causes of moments, evaluate the evidence they encounter, and empathize with the perspectives of others.

“We are thrilled to begin this partnership with WETA. Our nonprofit exists to ensure educational equity by empowering every student to think deeply about the information they engage with, and being able to provide schools with our resources in partnership with WETA means we can better realize our mission as an organization,” said Zachary Coté, Executive Director, Thinking Nation. “Further, we cannot understand American history without understanding African American migration. We are grateful to WETA for allowing us to support the learning of this essential history.”

WETA is the second-largest producing station for public television in the United States and serves the public with educational initiatives and high-quality programming on television, radio, and digital. WETA is known for producing and distributing a range of popular educational, cultural, and public affairs programming, including PBS News Hour; collaborations with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. such as Finding Your Roots; and films by Ken Burns and Florentine Films, such as Leonardo da Vinci and the forthcoming The American Revolution. WETA also develops rich educational materials that inspire learning, support educators, and equips families with valuable resources to help children succeed.

For more information on Thinking Nation’s innovative approach to fostering historical thinking in social studies education, visit thinkingnation.org. To donate and support the organization’s work to transform social studies classrooms across the country, go to thinkingnation.org/donate.

Media Contacts
Laura Wessells and Martha Holler
ShinePR for Thinking Nation, thinkingnation@shinepr.com

Press Release: THINKING NATION LEADS 38 D.C. PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS FOR HISTORICAL THINKING WORKSHOP AT NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING

Previously Announced Partnership to Create Customized Curriculum for D.C. Local Education Agencies Kicks Off Jan. 24 With Professional Development, Introduction to New Curriculum, and Exclusive Access to National Archives’ Records of Historical Significance

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. and WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Thirty-eight public charter school social studies teachers will join Thinking Nation, a national 501(c)(3) committed to empowering students to thrive as engaged and critical thinkers for the future of democracy, at the National Archives Building on Jan. 24 for a historical thinking workshop as part of a previously announced partnership to customize a new social studies curriculum that moves beyond textbooks and features an inquiry-based approach to learning. The day will include professional development, an introduction to the new curriculum, and exclusive access to the National Archives’ records of historical significance.

The education partnership involves four Washington, D.C. public charter schools, or Local Education Agencies: E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, Friendship Public Charter Schools, KIPP DC, and Maya Angelou Schools. The new curriculum, developed with input from scholars and community members, will give students studying Grade 7 United States History and Grade 10 World History the agency to analyze the past and involves object-, place-, and document-based resources from Washington, D.C.-area museums, historic, sites, archives, and libraries, such as the National Archives. This innovative approach to learning is designed to foster a richer, more dynamic learning environment, and ultimately, to cultivate students’ civic engagement, heightened cultural awareness, and enhanced reflection and communication skills.

“I cannot imagine a more appropriate venue for kicking off this exciting curriculum with our D.C. partners,” said Thinking Nation Executive Director Zachary Coté. “The National Archives preserves records that are vital for understanding the past, and we at Thinking Nation are grateful that they are hosting this workshop, which will equip teachers to empower their students to do just that.”

Just as the standards-aligned curriculum follows an inquiry-based approach to learning social studies that emphasizes questioning, investigation, and critical thinking to promote a deeper understanding, foster curiosity, and improve retention, so will the day’s historical learning workshop. Teachers will actively participate in the same strategies prescribed for use with students–things like a web quest, a silent discussion, and an annotated source collection–and model best practices.

National Archives’ education leaders, Samantha Hunter-Gibbs and Caitlin Cutrona, will provide the participating educators with tours of the exhibit spaces, including the Rotunda galleries and train the educators on the resources available from the National Archives.

For more information on Thinking Nation’s innovative approach to fostering historical thinking in social studies education or to support the organization’s work to transform social studies classrooms across the country, visit thinkingnation.org.

Press Release: THINKING NATION RELEASES 2025 PREDICTIONS FOR K-12 SOCIAL STUDIES AND CIVICS EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES:

NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Thinking Nation, a national 501(c)(3) committed to empowering students to thrive as engaged and critical thinkers for the future of democracy, today released its 2025 predictions for K-12 social studies and civics education in the United States. These forward-looking insights reflect the evolving landscape in education and emphasize the trends of equity, critical thinking, and actionable learning.

“Perhaps the best foundation we can set for our nation’s birthday in 2026 is to shift the paradigm of social studies and civic education in 2025,” said Thinking Nation Executive Director Zachary Coté. “In many ways, 2025 is a year of transition. Our predictions below illuminate how this historical moment can be used to empower students and strengthen our democratic resolve.”

2025 Predictions for K-12 Social Studies Education

Expanded Use of AI in the Classroom
AI will become a more prominent tool in classrooms, assisting educators with assessments and innovating student learning experiences, making history and civics more engaging and accessible. However, its ethical use will be critical to ensure it enhances, rather than replaces, humanistic teaching practices.
Democratization of Education
Efforts to make college-level education more accessible will grow, with schools and nonprofits expanding dual-enrollment opportunities, fostering greater equity in and accessibility to higher education. This will afford every high school student the opportunity to work with a college professor and will accelerate the trend to earn an associate’s degree in high school.
Growth in Community-Based Learning Fundamentally Shifts Pedagogy
Schools will increasingly connect with local resources—museums, cultural institutions, and community history—to create immersive, placed-based learning experiences for students. This approach will shift teaching methods in a manner that addresses bipartisan priorities and fosters a deeper connection to local and national narratives.
A Civic Renaissance in Education
Curricula emphasizing critical thinking and historical analysis will gain traction, signaling a shift away from rote learning to a deeper exploration of history and civics as disciplines essential to the success of our modern democracy. The trend of teaching students to think like historians will gain momentum, with a focus on primary source analysis, contextualization, and evidence-based argumentation.
A Shift Toward Global Civic Education
Recognizing the interconnectedness of the modern world, educators will increasingly integrate global studies into civics and social studies curricula. This approach will emphasize pluralism, cross-cultural understanding, international relations, and the role of the United States in a broader global context, preparing students to navigate and contribute to an interdependent and diverse world.

As Thinking Nation prepares to celebrate its five-year anniversary in 2025, the organization expects philanthropic and public funding to increase in order to make these predictions a reality. This important financial support will help prioritize impactful initiatives that foster civic engagement, counter polarization, and prepare students to strengthen democracy.

Media Contacts
Laura Wessells and Martha Holler
ShinePR for Thinking Nation, thinkingnation@shinepr.com

Wrapping up 2024 to Celebrate Our Partners

It is a great honor to write the final Thinking Nation blog for 2024.

Over the past few months, our Thinking Nation team has been focused on refining our mission statement, an exercise that has been both insightful and enlightening. This process has allowed us to reflect deeply on the core principles that drive our work and our commitment to transforming social studies education.

Our mission at Thinking Nation is threefold: (1) Empower students to thrive as engaged, critical thinkers, (2) Support teachers with meaningful curricula, professional development, and technology, and (3) Transform social studies education to strengthen the future of democracy.

At the heart of this mission are the schools and educators we work with. The partnerships we’ve developed with our educational partners are the driving force behind the success of our mission.

As we close out 2024, we want to take a moment to celebrate our partners and their incredible efforts in making a profound impact on social studies education (in no particular order).

📢 Granada Hills Charter High School
For their bold commitment to integrating our approach across the entire social studies department in their first year of partnership.

📢 Birmingham Community Charter High School
For their dedication to fostering historical thinking skills through department-wide goals and leveraging the CRPs to track progress and success.

📢 Rise Kohyang Middle School
For their exemplary work in empowering middle school students to think critically about history and communicate persuasively in writing.

📢 Cabrillo Middle School
For their ongoing efforts to refine and strengthen their approach to teaching historical thinking in every classroom.

📢 LEARN 8 Middle School
For the exceptional leadership of their administrator, whose unwavering commitment to supporting both teachers and students has been key to their success.

📢 Stella High Charter Academy
For being the first school to complete the Goals, Partnership, and Strategy (GPS) plan for the 2024-2025 academic year, setting a strong example for the future.

📢 Memphis Business Academy (MBA)
For their dedicated and experienced team of educators, who are actively seeking innovative ways to transform social studies education for their students.

📢 Alliance Neuwirth Leadership Academy
For their partnership with Thinking Nation to support their scholars throughout the 2024-2025 academic year.

📢 Highland High School
For shifting the paradigm of their own department and aligning with data on historical thinking.

Let’s celebrate our partners! To all of our partners – whether you’re named here or not – please know that we are incredibly grateful for your continued collaboration. As we wrap up 2024, we want to express our sincere thanks for your commitment to our shared mission and for your ongoing support in transforming social studies education. Here’s to a 2025 filled with even more impact and growth!

Literacy Through Historical Thinking: Thinking Nation’s 2025 Book Recommendations

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!)

^{We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.}

NCSS Recap and Our Impact Report

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! At Thinking Nation, we are so grateful for all of the people that we work with that are continuing to empower students and shift the paradigm of social studies education. There is a lot of work to be done, but so many are doing the work!

This was evident at the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) conference this past weekend in Boston, MA. There were thousands of educators all genuinely seeking to better our profession in order to empower students. The energy was real! I wanted to take a brief moment to recap some highlights and express gratitude about the conference.

On Thursday, our Director of Curriculum, Annie Jenson, and myself presented at the National Social Studies Leaders Association’s conference. On the surface, our presentation on how disciplinary assessments can build better alignment may seem boring, but at Thinking Nation we genuinely believe that better alignment in social studies will empower students and legitimize our discipline. We had such great conversations with other leaders in Social Studies that day.

Will and Annie fielding questions from eager educators in the NCSS Exhibit Hall

On Friday, the NCSS exhibit hall kicked off! It was such a busy day. But for me, the most enjoyable part was watching Annie and Will Pulgarin, our Implementation Specialist, passionately share our mission and vision with educators from around the world. I feel so much gratitude to them both and feel so fortunate to work alongside them as we seek to transform social studies education.

Also, for those of you who don’t know, Will currently lives in Colombia. This means we don’t get nearly as much in person time together as I’d like. His presence this trip was such a treat. More of us need colleagues like Will!

Melissa, Anton, Louise, and myself before our Vital Issue Session

On Saturday, both Annie and myself had presentations. I had lost my voice the day before, so my initial gratitude is to all of you who attended my session and put up with me sounding like one of our middle school male students (ha!). I was fortunate to be on a panel alongside Louise Dubé from iCivics, Anton Schulzki from NCSS, and Melissa Diliberti from the Rand Corporation to discuss the state of social studies education. My takeaway? We all see the real need for bettering social studies for students and so many of us our dedicating our careers to filling that need. I am grateful to my fellow panelists for agreeing to join me for this idea of a session!

Annie wrangling in energetic educators during her session on incorporating movement into teaching historical thinking

To end my Saturday before I headed to the airport, I got to watch an expert at work. Annie’s session was up there with the most engaging sessions of the weekend. She modeled key ways to incorporate movement in the classroom when teaching and practicing historical thinking. There were more people than seats in the room, despite it being the last session slot on a Saturday evening. She had us up and moving almost the entire time, demonstrating how we can both empower our students to think historically and keep the energy high in a class period. Honestly, I was smiling the whole time. There are few things more exciting than watching someone at the top of their craft. I’m grateful to have Annie on our team!

Historical Thinking Posters!

I know many of you were looking for our historical thinking posters at the conference so I am reposting them here! Click on the poster to download.

Our 2023-2024 Impact Report + Giving Tuesday

As a nonprofit organization, our mission is only realized with community support. It is in this spirit that we are launching our Giving Tuesday and end of year campaign. We want to make all of our formative assessments, and the AI-grading capabilities accessible to all, free of charge! But we can only do this with your support. With this audacious goal ahead, I ask that as you consider where you might give at the end of the year, you consider giving to make this project a reality.

Donate here

If we’ve learned one thing in the past decade, we can’t take democracy for granted. Empowering the next generation with the skills and dispositions necessary for civic success is critical for the longevity of our democracy. Join us as we equip and empower students as critical thinkers, actively engaged for the future of our democracy.

To learn more about Thinking Nation’s work last year and our efforts to realize this vision for democracy, please check out our Impact Report, released this week!

It is in this spirit, to better our future, that I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Role of Historical Fiction in building Historical Empathy and Engagement in Social Studies Classrooms

(Read on for free resources!)

^{We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.}

In recent years, “empathy” has generated buzz‒and not always in a good way. As some, such as Paul Bloom make a case “Against Empathy,” historical empathy has gotten lumped in with the subsequent criticism.

At Thinking Nation, we see historical empathy is an essential tool in the historian’s toolbelt. But what do we actually mean by “historical empathy?”

Our Definition

Historical Empathy – Thinking historically means seeking to understand the past on its own terms by considering the context and perspectives of the era. It also means being aware of our own point of view to avoid presentism in our evaluation of the past.

In essence, historical empathy is a skill, not a feeling. It is about using context and evidence to understand the motivations and the actions of the people of the past.

However, getting students to engage in this work can be challenging. And, historical fiction can be a powerful tool to make this task easier.

The Role of Historical Fiction

According to a new NCSS publication, Inquiry by the Book: Teaching Historical Fiction With the Inquiry Design Model, by Kristy A. Brugar and Annie McMahon Whitlock, “Historical fiction situates context, content, and perspective taking or point of view in narrative form. But equally‒if not more importantly as social studies educators‒historical fiction often serves as a source for students to interrogate as they seek to understand the past.”

SAMPLE LESSON

Let’s consider a Middle School U.S. History class studying the American Revolution. You have introduced students to the Winter at Valley Forge and you want them to dive into the sources‒but the 18th-century language feels daunting.

Imagine if you started with a dense primary source , like the one written by Alexander Hamilton about the conditions at Valley Forge. It begins with: “By injudicious changes and arrangements in the Commissary’s department, in the middle of a campaign, they have exposed the army frequently to temporary want, and to the danger of a dissolution, from absolute famine.”

I bet I can guess how well that will go with your students…

Now imagine, that instead you begin class by grounding students in the skill. Hand out the Historical Empathy Graphic Organizer to help them frame the topic and consider questions that activate their prior knowledge.

Next, divide students into three groups. One group will focus on the conditions at Valley Forge, another on ideas about freedom, and the last on the role of Baron von Steuben. Each group will read an excerpt from Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson.

One group’s excerpt describes “the snores and farts” of the soldiers and expresses that an absent soldier, who was thought to be dead, was “not permitted to be dead!”

Now, you’ve got your students hooked!

Then, you have students work together to analyze the primary sources and fill out a “Notice, Wonder, Think” chart. Afterward, students can mingle with classmates to share what they learned.

Complete the lesson with a “Triangle, Square, Circle Exit Ticket.” Now, students who may have struggled to engage with primary sources are attempting and grappling with them. They likely still struggled, but just maybe, they didn’t give up.

The Power of Historical Fiction

This lesson demonstrates the impact that historical fiction can have. Students are more likely to participate in the critical thinking that historians practice. Students develop a curiosity about the people and events of the past. Students are drawn into the stories and can more accurately understand the context for life in a historical period and appropriately empathize.

Download this sample lesson here!

Fostering historical empathy and incorporating historical fiction into the classroom is a passion of mine. I’d love to hear what you think of this lesson plan or what other ways you do this with your students! Let me know by emailing me at annie.jenson@thinkingnation.org or adding a comment!

*For more book recommendations, join me on Instagram and Goodreads where I host The American History Teacher Book Club.

^{As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.}

Strong Schools, Stronger Communities: The State of Education in Los Angeles

On Friday, October 4, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools hosted a one day conference at the USC Tower in downtown Los Angeles: Stronger Schools, Stronger Communities. In alignment with its 20th anniversary and rebrand, Alliance invited education stakeholders throughout L.A. to attend the one day event. The premise alone sends a needed message to Angelenos—if we want to strengthen public education, we must work together.

Often, it feels like providing high quality education for all Los Angeles students is a competition. Traditional districts compete with charter schools for enrollments and we are still making sense of the mass exodus from public education to homeschooling during the pandemic. But rather than dwell on these hardships, the event served as a planning session for the future.

Given my current role as executive director of Thinking Nation , a Los Angeles-based social studies education nonprofit, I was especially curious about how local education leaders were going to think through our schools and our communities. At the heart of Thinking Nation’s mission is to empower students. We believe that social studies is uniquely set up to do so. But of course, our focus is just one part of a student’s day. This one day event, covering the entire school day, provides necessary context for us to fulfill our own mission. The word ‘progress’ defined the day. It was a remarkably inspiring time together. Early in the morning, our emcee and Alliance’s Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Jass Stewart, M.Ed., M.B.A.

, reminded us that when Alliance began in 2004, only 49% of Los Angeles high schoolers were graduating. In looking at LAUSD’s metrics for the 2022-23 school year, it’s now 84%. If we include charter schools, it is likely even higher. Those who care about education in L.A. have clearly done great work. But of course, the work is not over.

In the first session, panelists discussed the state of education in Los Angeles. Continuing to highlight progress, Dr. Fernando Guerra, the Director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, pointed out that capital funding is secure and will likely continue to be strong. While this funding doesn’t directly correlate to student outcomes, that funding is critical for teachers and administrators to focus on our students. But what should we focus on? This question transitioned the conversation to measurement and accountability. Myrna Castrejón, the President & CEO of the California Charter Schools Association challenged us to reach a better consensus about what makes a great school. Measurement is critical if we want to support all students, especially students in historically underserved communities. Our consensus must be backed by data, Mayra A. Lara, Ed.D., Director of Southern California Partnerships & Engagement at Education Trust – West, argued. In many cases, she pointed out, we simply don’t have the data necessary to meet student needs. To continue to progress, we must curate and make meaning of helpful data.

This focus on data and accountability is one of the core reasons that Thinking Nation works with many Los Angeles schools, including Alliance. We harness generative AI to provide feedback to students on how they think about history, that is historical thinking skills, in order to provide teachers with thorough data reports on student thinking. Our goal here, to measure student thinking rather than student knowledge, is critical in supporting teachers to empower their students with the skills and dispositions necessary for civic and economic success.

In his post-lunch keynote address, L.A. city council president, Marqueece Harris-Dawson demonstrated how student empowerment leads to progress. He shared about how Jefferson High School, just two miles from where we convened on Friday, only had 1 working toilet for its 3600 students in 1997.

Students were given the right tools, access, and time, and as a result, successfully pushed the city to reallocate $200 million in funds toward bettering school campuses. Harris-Dawson, who helped organize student activism during that time, showed us that when we tell students they are empowered, they will act on it. This takeaway, of progress toward student empowerment, was woven throughout the other sessions of the day. It was lifegiving to be among so many educators who saw that and relentlessly pursued better education in our city. Of course, as history teaches us, nothing is inevitable. Historical progress is never guaranteed and is always contingent on human choice. As evidenced by Friday’s conferences, hundreds of educators around the city are poised to make the choices that support our kids. Let’s join them.

A Historical Review of U.S. Elections

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.

Election of 1932: A New Deal

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!

High Expectations = High Outcomes

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.

Image Source: https://www.simplypsychology.org/

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.

History or the Past? The Difference that Changes Everything

[Looking to Register for our Socratic Seminar Webinar on October 17th? Click here.]

Recently, I was explaining a lesson plan that I love to a non-educator. In the lesson, students encounter the contents of a wallet that has been left behind and draw conclusions about who the owner could be. Through this investigation, students are introduced to the task of using evidence from the past to make a claim.

I love this lesson because it prompts students to think critically about how historical narratives are constructed, encouraging them to question and carefully examine what we accept as truth. The person who was listening to my story, however, was disturbed by the lesson‒stating, “But, we do know what happened in the past. We have it written down.”

While there is some truth to that statement, it really comes down to understanding the difference between “history” and “the past.” While these two words seem very similar, they aren’t the same thing and the distinction between them is important.

“The past” refers to everything that has ever happened since the beginning of time. However, much of the lives and actions of the majority of people, along with the objects they used, have been lost to time‒often because they were never recorded or were intentionally erased. This means that much of the past is truly unknowable.

“History” is the study of the past. When we are engaging in the study of the past, we are engaging in the study of the ‘knowable’ past‒ the parts that have been recorded and preserved.

“Revisionist history”

This explains why history is sometimes “revised” or “reinterpreted.” While the past itself remains unchanged, history evolves as evidence is uncovered or reexamined, at times enriching and other times disagreeing with our previous understandings.

When a historical event or development is dealt with in a new light, the author can sometimes be disparaged‒labeled “a revisionist.” These reinterpretations are often criticized not based on their merits, but simply because they challenge the established view or narrative.

Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer for The New Yorker, capitalizes on this controversy in his podcast, “Revisionist History.” By asking about the origins of the understanding about something from the past, he asks “whether we got it right the first time. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.”

It is interesting, though not surprising, that challenging the historical narrative sparks controversy, particularly among those who purport to value objective truth.

As historian James M. Banner, Jr. writes in The Ever-Changing Past: Why All History is Revisionist History, “… it is troubling to encounter people who dismiss substantiated historical evidence, plausible historical perspectives, and strongly-argued, evidence-based interpretations of the past simply because those versions of the past differ from their own, from what they think is proven and safe from challenge, or from what they dream the past ought to have been even if it never was as they imagine it.”

In the classroom

For educators, this negative attitude toward “revisionist history” creates one more challenge to teaching social studies in our current climate. The fear over and opposition to considering new evidence and arguments directly contradicts the attitude and role of historians. As we strive to empower students to think historically, we can find ourselves stuck between a rock and hard place.

Practically speaking, the role of the educator is to guide students through the process of analyzing and questioning historical narratives, equipping them with the tools to critically assess the evidence available to us at this particular moment in time. We want our students to recognize that while the past doesn’t change, history is not static, but a dynamic field that thrives on inquiry, debate, and revision when necessary.

This requires use to encourage our students to ask tough questions:

For what purpose was the historical narrative constructed?
Whose voices have been left out?
- What historical and personal contexts may have shaped the recording of the past?

Our job is not to simply teach facts and get students to regurgitate that information. Our classes become significantly more interesting when we teach them to study the complexity and nuance of the past.

In this way, we enable students to critically examine what they hear and learn not just within the walls of our classrooms, but in our fragile democracy as well. As Orwell’s quote reminds us, the ones who control the narrative of the past, hold power over both the present and future. As educators, we can equip our students with the skills and mindset to critically evaluate who has that power and hold them accountable for how they influence the stories we tell about the past and the lessons we take into the future.