Other Resources

History teaching is difficult without resources you can trust to build your lesson plans and illustrate concepts for your students. Beyond providing you with the units and flowcharts you will need to teach history using this method, I have put together an array of resources to help start or grow your virtual bookshelf, including a bibliography of reliable books (not textbooks!) on history, links to famous museums featuring artwork by artists from the time periods you'll be covering and depicting subjects you might mention, and a list of films I use in the classroom (and some I avoid!) to illustrate time periods or bring historical events to life.

History Resources on this Website

This site contains the reading and the accompanying flowcharts that my students use during their two full years of World History. The readings and flowcharts have been continuously refined over the last 27 years, and they will continue to evolve as I find new, better ways to present new and old information.

The readings our divided into 7 major sections:

  • Prehistory: the rise of civilization and the Ancient Middle East to c.500 B.C.E.
  • Birth of Western Civilization: Ancient Greece, Rome through the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and Europe through c.1000 C.E.
  • Classical Asia: Islam, India, China, and Japan from early development through c.1800 C.E.
  • Revival of the West: High and Later Middle ages, Renaissance, Age of Exploration, Reformation, absolute monarchies, and Enlightenment (c.1000-1500 C.E.).
  • The Early Modern Era: The Age of Revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, the later Nineteenth century.
  • The Early 20th Century: The upheavals of the early twentieth century (1914-45).
  • The World Since 1945: The post world-war world, the Cold War, and the "New World Order."
And for some lighter fare, check out the Fake History collection!

Further Reading

One thing should become clear from browsing this website: I do not rely on history textbooks for lesson plans, readings, assignments, or additional reading. I have found the majority of textbooks available on the market to be inaccurate, incomplete, biased, and often perpetuating long-debunked myths. If you haven't already, consider reading James Lowen's "Lies My Teacher Told" where the author reviews a dozen leading American History textbooks for high school history courses with disappointing results.

For all these reasons, I strongly recommend supplementing, or better yet whole relying, on alternate history resources when preparing your lesson plans. To ease the pain of transition, I have included some references that I value most highly:

coming soon...

Film Resources

Sometimes you'll find that a picture is worth a thousand words. While Hollywood blockbusters are rarely historically accurate, popular films can still prove useful when trying to illustrate period clothing, warfare techniques, or more broadly, the spirit of the time period in question. Below is a list of films which I show, whole or in part, to my students. Whenever possible, I have provided a link to the film's information in the International Movie DataBase (IMDB).

War

I would also recommend against certain films, despite their broad appeal, due to the virtual absence of any historically accurate information either in the plot or in the set and costumes.

  • Troy, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, 2004.

Art History Resources

Visual learners in your classroom may learn a concept or an event if it is linked to a memorable piece of art. Below are links to world-class museums where you can get some inspirations for classroom materials.

In the United States

Abroad