The History Matters Podcast

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-founders of the Four Question Method for history instruction.“Primary sources, for us, are ways to practice doing what historians do. 8th graders aren't historians, 12th graders aren't historians. So it’s the silly mistake that says, we need to do exactly what the experts do so that we become experts. We actually need to do what the experts did before they were experts so that they became experts, which means learn a lot of stories,” Shiffman says.“One of our slogans is ‘Story First’. And everything flows from that,” Bassett tells host Barbara Davidson.In the Four Question Method, history is taught as a series of narratives and events are explored in a coherent, chronological way. Question One is simply, “What happened?” In other words, what’s the story? Question Two is “What were they thinking?” and helps students understand and interpret the perspectives of people involved in the story.Question Three is “Why then and there?” which targets explanation as a skill. For example, students studying the American Revolution can contrast the Canadian colonies, which stayed with Great Britain, with the 13 colonies that went to war. “That asks kids to think in a more sophisticated way about the specific story and say, ‘Wow, stories like this, they happen sometimes and not others. Why then? Why there?’” Shiffman says.Question Four is “What do we think about that?” and develops judgment, which Shiffman defines as “the capacity to generalize from your specific reaction to a case and to say, ‘Hold on. What are the general features of this case? And how can I make a rule to guide my own behavior in the world so that I know when to support the revolution and when not to?’ ” Bassett and Shiffman describe visiting a Tennessee classroom using a 4QM elementary history unit where students were learning about the decision of a Lakota Sioux leader to surrender the U.S. Army.“The kids in the room, they knew a lot. They knew the story, they knew about this guy, and they got to deliberate toward judgment about whether Chief Joseph made the right choice or not. They can do that in fourth and fifth grade, absolutely,” Shiffman says.This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork, on behalf of the History Matters Campaign. Follow the History Matters Campaign on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Search #historymatters to join the conversation.Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.

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 that supports confident instruction, says guest Courtney Dumas. In this episode, she explains how her organization, Edu20/20, is supporting Louisiana educators as they implement the state’s content-rich Bayou Bridges elementary social studies curriculum.Effective professional learning for social studies instruction is rooted in curriculum, but it doesn’t just cover how the curriculum works, she says. Dumas and Edu20/20 discuss specific content in detail and then lead model lessons where teachers pretend to be fifth graders, which allows them to experience the curriculum as their students will.“Professional learning in social studies is different because the No. 1 thing is the content,” she says. “In Ouachita, we talked about their grade level, their specific content, their specific units, their specific assessments. And then we had them experience a lesson as a student. And that was kind of where the magic happens.”Dumas also stresses the importance of giving teachers time to study history content together. Many elementary teachers are generalists, so building historical content knowledge is an important aspect of effective professional learning in social studies, she notes.“We set lots of high expectations for curriculum, but sometimes we don’t give teachers the time and space to meet those expectations,” she says. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t know basic history. . . It is so important that we give teachers the time and space to interact with that content.”Dumas sees a bright future for elementary history instruction, because “people are understanding the importance of it and how it complements literacy,” she says. “We think that by giving more time to ELA, that’s going to be the answer. But really, social studies is ELA,” she says. “It’s going to make them better writers, better readers, better citizens. That’s what we want.”This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork, on behalf of the History Matters Campaign. Follow the History Matters Campaign on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Search #historymatters to join the conversation.Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.

Jennifer Lindsey, a fifth-grade teacher from Medway Middle School and a facilitator for the Investigating History curriculum, passionately discusses the value of social studies in fostering critical thinking. She highlights the shift from outdated textbooks to an engaging, inquiry-based curriculum that encourages students to explore diverse perspectives. Lindsey shares how this new approach enhances literacy skills and student enthusiasm, while also preparing educators to navigate complex historical discussions with confidence and clarity.

Ebony McKiver, a curriculum expert and former high-school social studies teacher, discusses the critical need for strong history instruction at the elementary level. She emphasizes that a lack of foundational knowledge hampers high school students' ability to engage in historical inquiry. Ebony highlights how storytelling captivates young learners, making history relevant and enjoyable. She advocates for integrating social studies with English Language Arts to enhance literacy and calls for policy changes to prioritize history in early education.

Angela Barfoot, a second-grade teacher, and Lauren Cascio, a fifth-grade teacher, share their transformative experiences using the Bayou Bridges curriculum in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. They highlight how content-rich social studies instruction captivates students, making history exciting and relevant. Engaging visuals and virtual field trips, like their visit to the Poverty Point site, bring lessons to life. Additionally, linking social studies to ELA instruction fosters a love for historical texts, sparking enthusiasm and critical thinking among young learners.

Sean Dimond, a former middle-school teacher and now senior social studies editor at the Core Knowledge Foundation, shares insights on creating a high-quality history curriculum in Louisiana. He highlights the pitfalls of vague standards that once hindered learning and how the new Bayou Bridges curriculum offers a coherent, chronological approach. Discussing a captivating Civil War lesson, Dimond emphasizes the importance of narrative in teaching. With positive teacher feedback, he expresses hope for engaging students in meaningful historical learning.

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 reflective and forward-looking conversation with guest Robert Pondiscio, an author and former fifth-grade teacher who founded the Knowledge Matters Campaign.Pondiscio recalls his youthful passion for history, sparked by the nation’s bicentennial celebrations nearly 50 years ago. As a teacher, he found his students had learned very little about the past. Rather than learn facts, administrators wanted students to grapple with “essential questions”—which Pondiscio notes is impossible without the knowledge to understand them. Later, federal accountability rules prompted schools across the country to overwhelmingly focus on tested subjects. But reading is more than decoding—it is comprehension. Without background knowledge, students cannot make sense of what they read. “Everything was reading, reading, reading, math, math, math,” he says. “That’s just not how you build a reader.”Historical knowledge is especially powerful: Pondiscio notes that the nation’s founders recognized that a republic is fragile and needs virtuous, educated citizens to maintain it. Davidson asks: If you had a magic wand, what would you do? Pondiscio sets forth two big changes. First, that every school use knowledge-building curriculum. Second, that representatives from every state and district decide what basic, foundational historical knowledge kids should learn in each elementary grade:“What is it we expect kids to know to be literate, to be competent citizens, to be engaged, to be excited in participating and playing a part in the American experiment? I’d love to see schools take up that challenge.”This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork, on behalf of the History Matters Campaign. Follow the History Matters Campaign on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X. Search #historymatters to join the conversation.Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.

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 educators have—of inspiring our students to ask big questions, develop their love of learning through reading, and feel empowered to go out and explore their community and the world.We believe great history education can be a spark that causes this to happen. The History Matters Podcast will explore how it’s done.We decided to launch the podcast because, while the national conversation about the science of reading is growing, the role of content knowledge in reading is still woefully understated. We’re also concerned that much of the interest in civics education is ignoring the groundwork that must be laid in the elementary grades.I hope this podcast will show you how history serves both literacy and civic goals, and how some ground-breaking work, and practicing educators, are out there, right now, getting it done!  Welcome to the History Matters Podcast: Season 1.This podcast is produced by the Knowledge Matters Campaign and StandardsWork. Production by Tressa Versteeg. Original music and sound engineering by Aidan Shea.