Conflict Resolution andUnited States History

This comprehensive supplement for U.S. history teachers provides a motivating methodology for teaching American history. Students use conflict resolution and problem-solving skills to role-play historical figures and, in the process, gain important life skills and a rich understanding of history.The curriculum includes:

•The latest scholarship from more than 25 leading historians.

•Role-playing activities involving 20 conflicts in American history.

•Practical lessons and materials on teaching conflict resolution skills.

•A CD with reproducible primary source documents, overheads/student handouts, mapsand illustrations.

• A DVD showing middle and high school students engaged in role-playing historical figures using conflict resolution skills.

Each case study provides a detailed historical background, short biographies of key historical figures, an examination of the issues, multiple perspectives, and an analysis of the consequences, along with questions for discussion and a list of additional resources.

This Ford Foundation-funded project isa collaboration by John W. Chambers, II, Distinguished Professor of History, and Arlene L. Gardner, Esq., Executive Director, New JerseyCenter for Civic and Law-Related Education, both at RutgersUniversity.

Professor Gary Nash, Director of the NationalCenterfor History in the Schools at UCLA, callsConflictResolution and United States History:

“an innovative approach to teaching history thathelps students to become historicallyliterateandengaged citizens.”

The curriculum package includes twenty

case studies:

Volume One: The Colonial Period

through Reconstruction

  • Overview, Conflict Resolution Skills and

Tips for Teachers

  • Native Americans and European Colonists: contrasting the Puritans and Quakers
  • Could the American Revolution have been avoided?
  • Slavery and the Constitutional Convention
  • Cherokee Indian Removal
  • The War between Mexico and the United States
  • The Compromise of 1850
  • Women’s Rights in the 19th Century
  • Post-Civil War Reconstruction

Volume Two:The Gilded Age through

the Twentieth Century

  • Overview, Conflict Resolution Skills and

Tips for Teachers

  • Labor Relations during the Industrial Era: The Pullman Strike of 1894; The Paterson Silk Strike of 1913
  • Imperialism, Insurrection and Intervention

in 1898

  • U.S. Entry into World War I
  • Immigration Restrictions and the National Origins Act of 1924
  • Rosie the Riveter vs. G.I. Joe
  • The Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis
  • The U.S. and the War in Vietnam
  • The 1992 Los Angeles Riots

What teachers say aboutthe materials:

Teachers and students using the Conflict Resolution and United States History curriculum materials report the following advantages over traditional lecture-style history classes:

Increased student motivation

Greater mastery of history

Richer understanding of historical developments

Improved critical thinking and problem solving skills

Improved conflict resolution skills

Better classroom management skills for teachers.

ForU.S. historyteachersgrades 5-12,including AP.

YOU DON’T NEED ONE PER STUDENT,

ONLY ONE PER TEACHER!

For additional information contact:

NJ Center for Civic Education

848-445-3413

A sample lesson is available at