Skip to content

Sarah Cooper

Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching

  • Civics
  • Storytelling
  • Research
  • Follow

Category: Research

“The Top Skill We Can Teach Our Students: Context,” MiddleWeb

March 25, 2019June 20, 2019 Sarah Cooper

Why do we want to make our students into historians? Not because even a fraction of a percent of them might become writers or professors – but because “doing history” teaches life skills hard to learn… Continue reading

Posted in Research, Writing

“Teach Students to Read Like Fact Checkers Do,” MiddleWeb

February 11, 2019June 6, 2019 Sarah Cooper

Those of us who have used the Stanford History Education Group’s wealth of materials, from assessments to primary sources, will not be surprised to learn that founder Sam Wineburg’s new book… Continue reading

Posted in Research, Reviews

“Ways to Make Lessons ‘Great,'” Education Week Teacher

December 30, 2018June 6, 2019 Sarah Cooper

It’s tempting to describe the “shiny” lesson: the debate, the simulation, the Socratic seminar. When students connect with each other so loudly the air crackles. Of course I love those lessons. Who doesn’t? … Continue reading

Posted in Research

“My Must-Listen Podcast: ‘Teaching Hard History,'” MiddleWeb

October 8, 2018June 17, 2020 Sarah Cooper

I was way late to the podcast party. For a long time I had what I thought were good reasons: I don’t commute far. I like to listen to music, not words, while I exercise. I had a wonky old phone without enough memory… Continue reading

Posted in Civics, Research

“We Won’t Be Having Class Debates This Year,” MiddleWeb

August 21, 2018June 6, 2019 Sarah Cooper

As we start the school year, I’m just not feeling the debating spirit. Last November, I wrote about an electoral college debate gone awry in my eighth-grade history classes. The topic felt too stale and too political… Continue reading

Posted in Civics, Research

“An Op-Ed Project Based on Personal Choice,” MiddleWeb

July 29, 2018June 6, 2019 Sarah Cooper

Assigning opinion pieces on current issues gives our students voice and lets us hear their strong and sometimes fiery perspectives. When I’ve assigned op-eds in both world and U.S. history, students have responded best when… Continue reading

Posted in Civics, Research, Writing

“7 Ways to Help Students Do Research in the Stacks,” MiddleWeb

April 10, 2018June 6, 2019 Sarah Cooper

Asking students to use books for research sometimes feels old-fashioned even to me, an inveterate reader. So much exists online, in subscription databases and on the free web, and students instinctively reach for their phones or a keyboard to discover information. Yet doing research for my own master’s degree in history over the past few years… Continue reading

Posted in Research

“On the Best Days, Our Students Teach Us,” MiddleWeb

February 27, 2018June 8, 2019 Sarah Cooper

This week it has been even more of a pleasure than usual to spend time with eighth graders. They’ve been creating social reform concept maps, an oldie-but-goodie project that I… Continue reading

Posted in Research, Storytelling

“Can I Have a Do-Over? A Debate Gone Awry,” MiddleWeb

January 15, 2018June 8, 2019 Sarah Cooper

Most days, I feel reasonably positive about how my classes have gone, in this my 19th year of teaching. I usually have in mind tweaks or even overhauls for next year’s version of that topic, but rarely do I feel that an entire project has fallen short of my expectations. But last month… Continue reading

Posted in Civics, Research

“Meaningful Discussions with Nonfiction Texts,” CommonLit

September 6, 2017June 17, 2020 Sarah Cooper

Participation has always been one of the most difficult things to assess and encourage for my 8th grade history students. Sometimes the quietest students in discussion are the most devoted in their writing, and sometimes the most vocal students are not aware… Continue reading

Posted in Research

Posts navigation

Older posts
Newer posts
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
Sarah Cooper
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
  • Follow Following
    • Sarah Cooper
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Sarah Cooper
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...