History Standards Support

Inspired by the National Council for the Social Studies1, the reference points that are bolded below can enhance your social studies instruction.

Build an understanding of the past to analyze the causes and consequences of events in history.

  • Hear Kadir Nelson reflect on “human stories” and share the inspiration for the title of We Are the Ship in his Meet-the-Author Movie.

  • View this video book trailer for Brave Girl, and discover how one girl proved you can do anything you put your mind to.

  • Listen to this audiobook excerpt and consider acts of resistance and retaliation like the characters in Phillip Hoose’s book, The Boys Who Challenged Hitler.

  • Consider how written history has hidden the stories of enslaved people in close proximity to historically celebrated figures in this Meet-the-Author Recording with Kenneth C. Davis, In the Shadow of Liberty.

Pique interest with biographies of historical figures.

  • Explore the Biography Collection and discover resources to introduce, build understanding, and connect to historical figures.

  • View author Joseph Medicine Crow’s Meet-the-Author Movie as he shares stories of his bicultural life experiences.

  • Spark discussion of prominent figures like Charles Lindbergh after listening to this Meet-the-Author Recording for The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh with Candace Fleming.

  • Celebrate the impact that women have made in the technology field with teaching ideas for Counting on Katherine.

Observe, reflect, analyze, and enliven history lessons with audio performances that contextualize a historical event or era.

  • Relive the terror of the WWII evacuation experience while listening to Ruta Sepetys’s Meet-the-Author Recording sharing the circumstances portrayed in Salt to the Sea.

  • Hear the powerful invitation to activism in this Meet-the-Author Recording for Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom with Lynda Blackmon Lowery as she describes her experience with the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama.

  • Celebrate Black voices in history and those making history today in this complete video reading by Kwame Alexander for The Undefeated.

  • Listen to the audiobook excerpt of Alan Gratz’s Ground Zero to introduce the fear and devastation of being in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

Use multiple sources to understand and appreciate different perspectives on historical events.

  • Reflect on the complexity of capturing a historical event like the Vietnam War while writing in a personal way through shared first-hand experiences in this Meet-the-Author Recording for Boots on the Ground with Elizabeth Partridge.

  • Journey North during the Great Migration in Overground Railroad’s Meet-the-Author Recording with author Lesa Cline-Ransome.

  • Watch the video book trailer then listen to the Meet-the-Author Recording with Ruth Behar for Letters from Cuba to learn about Jewish immigration to Cuba in the time leading up to WWII.

  • Consider the impacts of WWII from multiple perspectives with this Meet-the-Author Recording for Under the Broken Sky by Mariko Nagai.

View the History Collection

1. Referenced from "NCSS National Standards for Social Studies Teachers." National Council for the Social Studies, http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/teacherstandards.