This article describes a content analysis of 37 Inquiry Design Modules (https://c3teachers.org), conducted with the purpose of identifying the core teaching practices (CTP) necessary to successfully enact them. Although there has been research identifying CTP in other content areas, research on social studies inquiry at the elementary level is an…

This study aimed to produce a suitable module to improve the understanding of environmental care concepts and attitudes of fourth-grade elementary school students and determine the module's effectiveness. The data collection instruments consisted of a teacher interview guide, a student preliminary study questionnaire, a media expert validation…

There are many methods and techniques used in social studies education. Some of them are good guides for students in the subjects which they want to learn, but others cannot. Therefore, alternative methods should be used in order to understand the social studies lesson better for students. Poetry and music are some of these alternative forms. In…

The Region 12 Comprehensive Center conducted a national scan of formative assessment supports provided by state education agencies. The report presents common themes in formative assessment support, a series of supports by content and grade area as well as by modality of professional learning, and illustrative examples. It also examines…

Social studies teachers often find themselves in search of professional development that transforms lessons from facts, figures, and boldfaced vocabulary to lessons that develop the sophisticated thinking skills students need to make sense of the social issues of one's everyday world. Furthermore, teachers want their own learning to be similar to…

Loyola University Chicago's Teaching, Learning, and Leading With Schools and Communities (TLLSC) program is an ambitious break from traditional university-based teacher preparation models. This clinically based initial teacher preparation program, fully embedded in local schools and community organizations, takes an ecological perspective on the…

This group of commentaries on teaching human rights in Turkey includes: (1) Reflection on Turkish Human Rights Lesson from Turkey (Alper Kesten)--A lesson on human rights in Turkey is analyzed for its representativity and methodology within the Turkish teaching culture from the viewpoint of a Turkish researcher; (2) Commentary on a Turkish Lesson…

For the past 60 years, the Census Bureau has enlisted the support of educators to bring to the community the message of the importance of a complete and accurate count of the population. The U.S. Census Bureau will deliver 2010 census questionnaires to every household in the United States in March 2010. The census questionnaire is composed of only…

This article provides an example of a social studies lesson from Turkish educational context in order to facilitate comparison with examples of social studies lessons from other parts of the world. This lesson was recorded in a 7th grade class at a middle school in one of the metropolitan neighborhoods in Istanbul. According to the current…

This project plays upon technology and an innovative way to research history -- the use of online primary source data that highlight the history of women in volunteer and reform organizations, education, the arts, the workplace, and private lives. Using an archival database from the Lycoming County Women's History collection, this curriculum…

Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) have been advocated for some time as a promising means of taking professional development to teachers in widely distributed locations. However, geography, and indeed education literature as a whole, contains very few examples where this has been achieved. This paper reports on two VCoP professional…

This handbook was developed for high school teachers looking for new sources of timely information and ways to make courses more engaging and relevant to students. The American Community Survey (ACS) provides a wide online array of social, economic, and demographic information about the nation, states, and local communities. These data can be…

This module cluster is designed to facilitate successful, self-paced learning by familiarizing the student with social studies and its goals. The student is asked: (a) to gain skill in dealing with the elements that have become essential in planning an instructional sequence that speaks to the criticisms of the past and recognizes the problems and…

Language arts are at the forefront of education these days. Instructors at all levels are being encouraged to teach writing in their courses, even if those courses cover subjects other than English. Literature instructors have long used fiction to teach composition. But because the novel reflects a broad range of human experiences and historical…

Presents a detailed rationale for the development of learning activities that infuse quantitative concepts and skills into secondary-level social studies classes, outlines the phases of project development, and briefly discusses the content of the learning activities developed by the project staff. (Author/JEG)