A team of researchers from 35 states across the country developed a survey designed to create a snapshot of social studies teaching and learning in the United States. With over 12,000 responses, it is the largest survey of social studies teachers in over three decades. We asked teachers about their curricular goals, their methods of instruction, their use of technology, and the way they address the needs of English language learners and students with disabilities. We gathered demographic data too, along with inquiries about the teachers' training, their professional development experiences, and even whether they serve as coaches. The enormous data set from this project was analyzed by multiple research teams, each with its own chapter. This volume would be a valuable resource for any professor, doctoral student, or Master’s student examining the field of social studies education. It is hard to imagine a research study, topical article, or professional development session concerning social studies that would not quote findings from this book about the current status of social studies. With chapters on such key issues as the teaching of history, how teachers address religion, social studies teachers’ use of technology, and how teachers adapt their instruction for students with disabilities or for English language learners, the book’s content will immediately be relevant and useful.

In the first edition of this book published in 1988, Shirley Engle and I offered a broader and more democratic curriculum as an alternative to the persistent back-to-the-basics rhetoric of the ‘70s and ‘80s. This curriculum urged attention to democratic practices and curricula in the school if we wanted to improve the quality of citizen participation and strengthen this democracy. School practices during that period reflected a much lower priority for social studies. Fewer social studies offerings, fewer credits required for graduation and in many cases, the job descriptions of social studies curriculum coordinators were transformed by changing their roles to general curriculum consultants. The mentality that prevailed in the nation’s schools was “back to the basics” and the basics never included or even considered the importance of heightening the education of citizens. We certainly agree that citizens must be able to read, write and calculate but these abilities are not sufficient for effective citizenship in a democracy. This version of the original work appears at a time when young citizens, teachers and schools find themselves deluged by a proliferation of curriculum standards and concomitant mandatory testing. In the ‘90s, virtually all subject areas including United States history, geography, economic and civics developed curriculum standards, many funded by the federal government. Subsequently, the National Council for the Social Studies issued the Social Studies Curriculum Standards that received no federal support. Accountability, captured in the No Child Left Behind Act passed by Congress, has become a powerful, political imperative that has a substantial and disturbing influence on the curriculum, teaching and learning in the first decade of the 21st century.

This sourcebook contains more than twelve hundred easy-to-follow and implement classroom activities created and tested by veteran teachers from all over the country. The activities are arranged by grade level and are keyed to the revised National History Standards, so they can easily be matched to comparable state history standards. This volume offers teachers a treasury of ideas for bringing history alive in grades 5?12, carrying students far beyond their textbooks on active-learning voyages into the past while still meeting required learning content. It also incorporates the History Thinking Skills from the revised National History Standards as well as annotated lists of general and era-specific resources that will help teachers enrich their classes with CD-ROMs, audio-visual material, primary sources, art and music, and various print materials. Grades 5?12

The provocative title of this book plays on a too-familiar response from teachers and students alike. But now many teachers have begun to seek an approach to social studies that takes account of the ways children learn and that builds on their own knowledge and strengths. The authors in this book have found ways to do this. Wendy Hood writes in the Introduction that they have ". . . not only rediscovered social studies education in general, they have also found themselves exploring the many disciplines of the social sciences that combine to make social studies . . . The issues of the disciplines are visible, the content of the disciplines is visible, and the questions central to each discipline are central in these classrooms. While the studies described began in one discipline, they branched out or melted into one or more of the others." In this contributed collection, twenty-three teachers explain their successful strategies for teaching the social studies disciplines in a whole- language context. If This Is Social Studies covers contemporary subjects (the Gulf War), traditional topics (students as historians), well-known projects (Scottish Storyline), social studies in the community, and multicultural matters. Teachers at elementary through middle and high school levels will find this book's holistic approach to social studies a refreshing departure and a source of new, practical ideas. Indeed, the diversity of ideas and styles is as broad as the book's subject!

This text offers a teacher and student-friendly collection of lessons and activities that help educators use picture books to engage younger students in meaningful social studies activities and bring this critical subject back in elementary schools. In order for today's children to succeed as adults, they need a solid foundation of life skills inculcated at a young age. Social studies is key to building this critical knowledge, yet less attention is being paid to social studies in elementary schools as this subject becomes more essential. The authors of this text have a solution: use picture books as dual-purpose texts that fulfill more than just language arts needs, and take the time dedicated to those lessons to simultaneously teach social studies. Each chapter of this text is organized around one of the National Council for the Social Studies' Ten Thematic Strands, covering diverse and engaging topics ranging from community and individuality to science and technology. This book serves as a vital resource for classroom teachers, methods professors, staff developers, and curriculum writers who prioritize keeping social studies a part of the elementary school curriculum.

Designed for preservice teachers, this text consolidates social studies content into a framework for practical instruction and lesson planning. It places social studies in a thoroughly modern context and explores how such factors as language diversity and standards¿at the local, state, and national level¿affect teachers. The text retains its hallmark features, such as model unit lessons, teacher-tested activities, technology updates, and authentic children's work, and the Resource Handbook serves as a valuable tool for on-the-job use.The emphasis on current topics includes coverage of constructivist learning, cooperative learning, service learning, character education, and the teaching of children with limited English proficiency.Specific examples from the NCSS help students connect standards to the model lessons and activities presented in the text.

Social Studies at the Center presents a view of teaching and learning that connects what students learn in social studies with how they learn it and what they feel about it.