The authors provide the reader an opportunity to see how second-grade children can use a twelfth-century painting as historical evidence to identify transportation modes, economic activities, and cultural features of Bianjing, an ancient Chinese city. They compare Bianjing with their community using modern mapping technology. Through this…

Lauren Hennig is a relatively new third grade teacher in Charleston, Illinois. She knows that patiently listening to others and respectfully sharing one's own opinion is a learned skill that's essential for promoting and sustaining our democracy. This is the story of how Lauren works to help her students develop this skill through student-led…

In this article, the author describes how her first grade class embarked on a journey of learning through a unit of study about local food markets. The study was a rich exploration of the cultural diversity of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as an introduction to basic concepts about economics. Through their trips to a farm and…

Certainly, teaching about politics can be daunting, especially as the political climate in the United States becomes increasingly partisan as a result of heated political rhetoric amplified through a variety of media outlets. However, elementary teachers can help students develop the respectful dispositions they will need as young adults living in…

In an effort to gain greater insights into bilingual and bicultural children's understanding of their cultural and linguistic identities, the authors embarked on a Where I'm From (WIF) multi-media poetry project. The WIF project has great potential and value for developing students' language and communication skills, and for exploring the meaning…

The increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of American society demands that classroom teachers prepare students for national and global citizenship. Students of the twenty-first century need to cultivate transformative and reflective knowledge, intellectual skills, and democratic attitudes and values needed to successfully navigate diverse…

Focuses on the experiences of some New Jersey teachers and reviews John Goodland's five types of curriculum in an effort to describe the nature of Holocaust education in the United States. Provides suggestions of how Holocaust education can be taught in an age-appropriate manner for K-4 classrooms. (CMK)

Describes a lesson using magazine photographs to help students learn about cultural diversity. Cooperative learning and discovery learning techniques are utilized. A student observation sheet and culture picture map are included. (CFR)

Describes three kinds of artifact kits (the Archaeology Dig kit, Grandmother's Trunk, and the Cultural Mystery kit) that teachers can assemble for use in their classrooms that provide links to multiple literacy events for students. Gives a list of selected sources for artifacts that will enable teachers to create artifact kits. (CMK)

Outlines lesson plans for teaching about foreign countries. Argues that younger children are more accepting of diversity than older students and suggests that elementary school is the logical place to teach children about world diversity. Provides activities to integrate teaching about other nations into each segment of the class day. (NL)

Asserts that holidays offer excellent opportunities to teach about cultural diversity and enrich the social studies curriculum. Provides five activities for teaching about holidays in elementary schools. Includes three charts keyed to the activities. (CFR)

Describes three approaches (folk festivals, origin learning centers, and local/global inquiry) that help elementary students address issues of diversity, global studies, and social constructivism; these approaches grew out of a collaborative project between a local school district and a university called the Children's Center for Global…

Illustrates how the transformation approach can be used to enhance the social studies curriculum. Describes a project where elementary students analyze primary documents and firsthand accounts of a shared, class experience in order to help them understand the role that cultural perspective plays in the recording of history. (CMK)

Examines the use of the garden as a metaphor for cultural diversity and respect for individual differences in children's literature. Identifies and discusses major concepts concerning culture and community in such books as "The Secret Garden"; "Miss Rumphius"; and others. Includes suggested extension activities. (MJP)

Maintains that the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) curriculum standards provide an opportunity to integrate technology into a thematic curriculum approach. Includes an annotated bibliography of 19 recommended items of educational technology categorized by 10 of the NCSS curriculum themes. (CFR)