The request "show me" challenges students to unleash dormant creativity and confidence that can eventually led to increased understanding and competence. This lesson, described here, provides a good example of one teacher's commitment to personalizing complex social studies concepts for all learners through a Universal Design for…

Even the most commonplace object can be a powerful learning tool for a young child. In the case described in this article, shoes provided an opportunity for children of all abilities to leave their classroom and explore the places, spaces, and faces of their own community. The study of shoes also demonstrated how one teacher reached each and every…

School segregation and inequity are deep-rooted realities in U.S. society. Despite historical efforts at integration, too many schools are de facto segregated, and those serving mostly students of color are routinely under-resourced when compared to those servicing mostly white students. Teachers and students can struggle to talk about this…

The purpose of the study was to examine if and how elementary preservice teachers' perceptions about history were changed upon their completion of a class project that engaged them in a discipline-specific inquiry as a method of teaching history. Surveys were administered to assess any changes in their perception of the history before and after…

While the intergenerational bonds remain strong for children with elder relatives living close by, increasingly children in the U.S. lack meaningful connections with older adults. Divorce and family mobility are two major causes, and some youth are affected by negative stereotypes of older people. Bringing seniors into classrooms or taking…

Interviews of students working on a social studies project about New York City. (RL)

How to use elementary school children as curators of a classroom museum is described. The teacher decides the concept or unit to be showcased in the museum. As curators students are responsible for many tasks including writing descriptive paragraphs for the artifacts and arranging the artifact display. (RM)

With field trips curtailed by budget cuts, this elementary teacher provides outside learning experiences in science and social studies by encouraging her students to write letters. In this way, students have requested learning materials, invited guest speakers to visit the class, and learned about other countries through pen pals. (SJL)

What social studies project challenges students with interdisciplinary learning, engages their various abilities and learning styles, offers them the opportunity for collaborative work-and encourages them to speak in strange voices? The answer is an eighth grade radio drama project. For most of the month of March 2004, the entire eighth grade at…

Designed for a teacher of social studies at the secondary level (grades 7-12) this curriculum project introduces students to different aspects of Indian culture. Along with introductory elements, the project offers suggestions for assignments and projects for students to complete. The curriculum project begins with brief sections on…

Presents three activities suitable for junior/senior high school social studies. The first demonstrates the use of trivia as a springboard into a lesson, the second shows how a scavenger hunt can be used to teach social studies content, and the third describes a 1-3 day procedure for teaching a jigsaw lesson on modernization in Meiji Japan. (GEA)

Described is a newspaper project in which elementary students report life as it was in the Middle Ages. Students are involved in a variety of language-centered activities. For example, they gather and evaluate information about medieval times and write, edit, and proofread articles for the newspaper. (RM)

Describes the "American Families Project," in which students from two or more schools participate in a creative writing, historical research activity, each playing a role in a fictitious family living in 1838 and corresponding with each other. (RS)