DECISION MAKING IN U.S. HISTORY

Author Kevin O’Reilly–an experienced, award-winning teacher–has students tackle fascinating historical questions that put students in the shoes of a range of people from the past, from the rich and famous to ordinary citizens. Each lesson can be done either as an in-depth activity requiring two full class periods, or as a "quick motivator" requiring only 20–30 minutes. Detailed teacher pages not only give step-by-step instructions for implementing each lesson but also provide lists of key vocabulary terms and famous people to go over with students, discuss specific decision-making skills emphasized in the lesson, offer troubleshooting tips, present ideas for post-activity discussions, and furnish lists of related sources. Each lesson also comes with three types of reproducible student handouts: the first clearly lays out the decision-making scenarios; a second provides "outcomes," describing the decisions that people in the past made; and the third presents related primary source readings and/or images accompanied by analysis questions.