Teaching Things: Material Culture in the History Classroom

FAIN: ZED-284204-22

American Historical Association (Washington, DC 20003-3807)
Sarah Weicksel (Project Director: May 2021 to July 2024)

A new program of digital publications that foster the use of historical artifacts in secondary and postsecondary history classrooms. 

This publications program prepares and enables educators to use historical artifacts (i.e., material culture) in their classrooms. Tangible sources can establish connections to the past that many students consider more reliable than more traditional primary sources. Teaching with a combination of artifacts, images, and texts offers students multiple access points to history and helps them develop a range of historical and academic literacies. A booklet for teachers will serve as a guide to teaching history with material culture alongside other primary sources. Two digital Teaching Toolkits that meet C3 standards (one for secondary educators and one for college instructors) will include detailed lesson plans, object analyses, videos, discussion questions, assignments, assessment guides, and activities. A digital Object Library will include 3D scanned objects for classroom use, our Teaching Toolkits, and additional materials for teachers to craft lesson plans that fit their curriculum.