The History Matters Podcast
Curious. Confident. Knowledgeable about the world. A content-rich approach to teaching history supports all this and more—even in our youngest students. Yet history has all but disappeared from American elementary schools. On the the History Matters Podcast, we explore the vast untapped potential of high-quality history instruction to build knowledge, accelerate literacy, and prepare students to participate in civic life. In inspiring conversations with curriculum experts, teachers, and instructional leaders doing this work in classrooms today, this podcast explores how history can animate the minds of young people and transform literacy, all at the same time.
Episodes
17 episodes
Introducing the History Matters Podcast Season 2: Connecting History to the Classroom | History Matters Podcast
What kinds of history instruction build content knowledge and civic awareness? Why is social studies content such a power player when it comes to literacy? How can schools make time for these critical learning opportunities? In Seas...
The Science of Learning History | History Matters Podcast
Season 2 of the History Matters Podcast begins with a fascinating conversation between a cognitive scientist and middle-school teacher about the powerful connection between social studies, literacy, and learning.Today’s guest is
Helping Students Read the World | History Matters Podcast
Social studies is an essential component of literacy, because it allows students to build the knowledge and vocabulary they’ll need to comprehend increasingly complex texts. In this episode, host
The Time for History Is Now | History Matters Podcast
Literacy and history go hand-in-glove. And when educators experience the multiplier effect of evidence-based, knowledge-building instruction in these subjects, they are moved to prioritize instructional time for both. In this episode, host <...
Kentucky’s Big Moves in Literacy and History | History Matters Podcast
Kentucky recently announced it is developing a statewide knowledge-building K-8 social studies curriculum. Teachers in the Bluegrass State have already been making the transition to follow the science of reading, to positive effect, but leaders...
How History Knowledge Fuels Literacy and Inquiry | History Matters Podcast
The science of reading is a frequent topic of conversation and source of policy reform, with new mandates for curriculum and instruction coming online in dozens of states this year. But it’s not just for literacy teachers, history educator
History as a Connected Story | History Matters Podcast
Coherent history curriculum is chronological. That’s the conclusion of April Croy and Michelle Palmieri...
Welcome to the History Matters Podcast
Welcome to the brand-new History Matters Podcast. I’m your host, Barbara Davidson, President of StandardsWork and Executive Director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. This podcast was born out of a vision—one I believe all educato...
A Case for Teaching History in Elementary School | Robert Pondiscio
Elementary schools spend almost no time teaching history. How did we get here, and how can we reprioritize this crucial foundation for literacy and knowledge? Host Barbara Davidson begins the eight-part “History Matters” podcast with a reflecti...
What Makes Great Elementary History Curriculum | Sean Dimond
Teaching history involves balance: too many facts and it’s boring, too few and students don’t have enough information to make sense of what they’ve learned. In this episode, host Barbara Davidson speaks with Sean Dimond, a former middle-...
The Power of Historical Knowledge | Louisiana Teachers
The more history young students know, the more they want to know. That’s one of the joyful discoveries that elementary teachers are making in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. In this episode, guests Angela Barfoot and Lauren Cascio<...
History Can’t Wait Until High School | Ebony McKiver
In the typical American high school, 9th-grade history students are expected to dive into the historical content, grapple with complex ideas, and engage in deep inquiry. But teenage students often lack the historical knowledge such tasks requir...
Massachusetts' Big Move on Elementary History | Jennifer Lindsey
In Medford, Massachusetts, “social studies is a subject to be valued,” fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Lindsey explains in this episode. “It’s the place to teach kids how to talk to each other and negotiate conversations and digest informat...
Building Teachers' Historical Knowledge | Courtney Dumas
What do teachers need to successfully teach high-quality history lessons in elementary school?A strong curriculum is a great start, but teachers also need aligned professional learning and time to dig in and build the content knowledge t...
The Four Questions That Make History Come Alive | Jonathan Bassett and Gary Shiffman
Many teachers build history lessons on primary sources like letters and legal documents. But without context and historical thinking skills, students can’t make much meaning from them, say guests Jon Bassett and Gary Shiffman, co-...
Curiosity That Goes Beyond the Classroom | Laura Stam
In Thermopolis, Wyoming, second-grade students love learning about the War of 1812, from the swashbuckling sea battles off the coast of Louisiana to the bombardment at Maryland’s Fort McHenry that inspired the “Star-Spangled Banner”—engaging le...
Bonus Episode: Following History's Stories, on Film | Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt
Thirteen colonies rose up, rebelled against an Empire, and won their independence. These unlikely victors built a new nation on democratic principles that inspired similar movements around the world.How should we tell the story of our na...