After a full year of teaching U.S. History with almost no traditional textbook, we learned a lot about what happens when primary sources become the central student text. Our course was organized around open-ended questions and a true inquiry approach, asking students to investigate, interpret, and build historical understanding from evidence.
In this session, we will share what we tried, what worked, what surprised us, and what we plan to change moving forward. Participants will leave with practical ideas, honest lessons learned, and possible entry points for bringing more inquiry and primary-source work into their own history classrooms.
