Black, Avi. “Teaching World History to Sixth Graders: On the Origins of All Things.” (2010)

The writer discusses approaches to teaching a sixth-grade world history course. He notes that middle school students are naturally curious and love to ask questions, but they need to be guided to ask good questions. He states that understanding what the students already know at the start of a course and then encouraging them to build on that knowledge is a critical strategy for their long-term success in school. The writer presents three key considerations for course planning: the nature of the students, the nature of the state's academic standards, and the implications of how this group thinks about history. A course outline for a sixth-grade world history program and the related implementation strategies are provided.