"Why Won't You Just Tell Us the Answer?"

So there are pros and cons to this book overall. It is obviously written by the author who knows a lot about education and a lot about history. He has experience in the classroom and that shows. He has a lot of great insights and ideas. However I thought this book would be more of that type of information rather than going over specific types of lessons that he implemented, and his success or failure with them. So, I didn’t love that part so much. I did love reading about his insight and experience, he seems a wealth of information, but could have done without the specific lessons as they are not necessarily ones that I can use in my grade level.

Bruce Lesh is clearly a thoughtful teacher, and I appreciate his sharing those thoughts with his fellow history teachers. He gives his students a lot of primary texts but, crucially, argues compellingly that this is just the first step and not the cure-all for student boredom with and lack of learning in history classes. More important is that he explains carefully how to use these primary texts to teach types of historical thinking: how to analyze a text and evaluate evidence; chronological thinking and causality; multiple perspectives; continuity and change over time; historical significance; and historical empathy. It is this step that is missing from so many history classes. I read this slowly because I kept stopping to craft assignments and classroom studies as I was reading -- surely the best indicator there is about the quality of a pedagogy book!An important note: All of his examples are from US history, 19th century and beyond. If you teach in another field, his pedagogy is still great, but you won't be able to just use his examples in your classroom.

This book is an excellent resource. It's a must read for any new history teacher as well as the staid veteran teacher. After reading this book, I felt as though Mr. Lesh's classroom was my classroom. The friendly, conversational tone set in this book makes reading it feel like a collaboration with a trusted colleague in the faculty room. Mr. Lesh is still teaching and he certainly comes across as someone who loves what he does. The suggested strategies for engaging students, using primary sources, and taking risks to get students to `do history' bucks the trend of inundating students with names, dates, and facts and "teaching to the test." His lesson strategies can be applied in the classroom or adapted to fit nearly any topic in a high school survey course. The sample student work included in the text reinforces the fact that no matter where we teach or who we teach, students can learn content, but more importantly, they learn how to ask the right questions, reach conclusions and support assertions. In sum, students learn to become historians.

Excellent book! If someone has an alternative on how history should be taught, I'd like to know. He offers a clear alternatives to traditional teaching, provides examples, backs up his theories, and demonstrates that everything he does is realistic for those of us who teach average students. The idea of teaching as a narrative is misguided and Bruce proves that throughout his book. History education should revolve around investigating debatable issues and events and people by examine multiple primary and secondary sources to help students come to a historical conclusion. That is what I took away from the book. It makes a lot of sense to me and I will never go back to my old way of teaching. Highly recommended for anyone who teaches social studies or will soon to be a social studies teacher.

This book received a four star rating as it is a useful tool for history instructors seeking a way to spark student interest, and fresh methods for presenting material. To avoid simple memorizing facts and dry lecture is the goal of the instructor who makes history more meaningful and a positive learning experience. The author was able to share his classroom techniques and ideas effectively. However some of the examples used, especially in student responses, were not translated to the Kindle format and were too small to read. Other than that I found the book useful in preparing lessons and guiding classroom discussion and activities.

Mr. Lesh goes beyond what other historical thinking books do- it gives a real-life teacher perspective! In the past, I have read many books about historical thinking and how to incorporate them into the classroom, but very few of the authors have actually taught the lessons and ideas incorporated within their texts. Just talk/lecture and no examples; no proof! Mr. Lesh has not only taught the lessons, he shares his thoughts, concerns, highs, and lows in teaching the lessons and having the students work through them. These insights and student examples help the everyday teacher understand his thinking but also prepares them for similar reactions in his/her own classroom. I also appreciate that he understands this is a work in progress; trial and error. Overall, very helpful and informative.

This book provides a multitude of resources to implement in your own classroom. This is a great way to structure your classroom and make history more engaging to students who only see facts and dates when they think of history.

This is a phenomenal resource providing a banquet of ideas from which to dine. Each dish (idea) is explained very well and I plan to use many of them in my own classroom. Not only that, these "recipes" have given me insight into new ways to not only teach but to bring concepts to my students. Well worth the cost.