Teaching History With Popular Media
Strategies for Inquiry Based Learning
Teaching Historical Thinking Through Movies, Music, and Graphic Novels
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What is the book about?
In Teaching History With Popular Media (coming soon), Dr. Chad Timm shares what he's learned in more than 30 years of teaching history to 6-12th grade students, future teachers in college, and in-service teachers through professional development. Aligned with the C3 Framework and Common Core Literacy in History/Social Studies standards, the book contains detailed instructions for nine mini-units that each link a piece of pop culture to historical thinking skills.
Chad's research supports that linking movies, music, and graphic novels to tools that promote historical thinking and inquiry learning increases student engagement and develops the invaluable skills of digital citizenship and media literacy. His research shows that the historical thinking and inquiry learning skills that help students analyze movies, music, and graphic novels are transferable with the right tools and support. On this website, he shares the tools and resources described in the book.
The book is organized in three parts, each with three chapters
Each chapter contains detailed descriptions of how to use transferrable tools to teach a historical thinking skill through music, a graphic novel, or movie. Click on each chapter title below to access teaching resources.
Part I: Using Music to Teach Historical Inquiry
Part II: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Historical Inquiry
Part III: Using Movies to Teach Historical Inquiry
About Chad W. Timm
Chad is a Professor of Teacher Education at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. After earning a Bachelor's Degree in History at Simpson College, he completed a Master's Degree in History and a PhD in Education from Iowa State University.
Chad taught 6-12th grade social studies for 15 years before moving to the college level to teach future teachers, where he's taught the last 15 years. He serves on his state social studies leadership team and provides professional developent for in-service teachers.
He's authored more than 20 articles and given more than 100 presentations on topics related to history, philosophy, and pop culture. He's been wrestling with how to integrate pop culture into history classrooms since his middle school students came to school with stories about seeing Forrest Gump in movie theaters.