The History Matters Podcast

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Knowledge Matters Campaign

10 episodes

1 month ago

Thirteen colonies rose up, rebelled against an Empire, and won their independence. These unlikely victors built a new nation on democratic principles that inspired similar movements around the world. How should we tell the story of our nation’s founding? Guests Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, who co-directed The American Revolution with Ken Burns, explain how chronology and characters shape their longform PBS documentaries and accompanying curriculum materials, in a bonus episode of the His...

Education

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Education

Episodes (10/10)

The History Matters Podcast

Bonus Episode: Following History's Stories, on Film | Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt

1 month ago

17 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

Curiosity That Goes Beyond the Classroom | Laura Stam

In Thermopolis, Wyoming, second-grade students love learning about the War of 1812, from the swashbuckling sea battles off the coast of Louisiana to the bombardment at Maryland’s Fort McHenry that inspired the “Star-Spangled Banner”—engaging lessons that build knowledge alongside literary and historical thinking skills. This type of learning is powered by a strong, coherent curriculum that ensures learning connects from unit to unit and year to year, says teacher Laura Stam, a 2024–25 Goyen L...

1 month ago

16 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

The Four Questions That Make History Come Alive | Jonathan Bassett and Gary Shiffman

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 e...

1 month ago

17 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

Building Teachers' Historical Knowledge | Courtney Dumas

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. Effec...

1 month ago

15 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

Massachusetts' Big Move on Elementary History | Jennifer Lindsey

In Medford, Massachusetts, “social studies is a subject to be valued,” fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Lindsey explains in this episode. “It’s the place to teach kids how to talk to each other and negotiate conversations and digest information and form an opinion—but also listen to others’ opinions and back that up with evidence,” she says. This content-rich, inquiry-based learning is powered by Investigating History, a new, free social studies curriculum developed by Massachusetts teachers, sch...

2 months ago

17 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

History Can’t Wait Until High School | Ebony McKiver

In the typical American high school, 9th-grade history students are expected to dive into the historical content, grapple with complex ideas, and engage in deep inquiry. But teenage students often lack the historical knowledge such tasks require. If you haven’t learned much about the Civil War, for example, you won’t be ready to discuss whether the Compromise of 1877 was a fair deal. That’s one of the challenges described by this episode’s guest, Ebony McKiver, a curriculum expert and former ...

2 months ago

17 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

The Power of Historical Knowledge | Louisiana Teachers

The more history young students know, the more they want to know. That’s one of the joyful discoveries that elementary teachers are making in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. In this episode, guests Angela Barfoot and Lauren Cascio describe the rewards of using Bayou Bridges, a content-rich, knowledge-building social studies curriculum, in combination with a high-quality ELA curriculum, Louisiana Guidebooks. Extensive teacher notes, rich texts, engaging visuals, and tie-ins to virtual field trips ...

2 months ago

16 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

What Makes Great Elementary History Curriculum | Sean Dimond

Teaching history involves balance: too many facts and it’s boring, too few and students don’t have enough information to make sense of what they’ve learned. In this episode, host Barbara Davidson speaks with Sean Dimond, a former middle-school teacher and Louisiana state social studies director who is now senior social studies editor at the Core Knowledge Foundation. Dimond notes that in elementary school, history is often “a random collection of holidays,” with topics presented out of sequen...

3 months ago

15 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

A Case for Teaching History in Elementary School | Robert Pondiscio

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 n...

3 months ago

15 minutes

The History Matters Podcast

Welcome to the History Matters Podcast

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 ...

3 months ago

1 minute