The disappointing results of the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Civics and U.S. History have further fueled the call for consistent, high-quality social studies instruction. The response by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) highlighted the imperative for early grades, claiming "the lack of a solid…

Inquiry is the essence of social studies, and inquiry "looping" in social studies curricula means offering students opportunities to engage in inquiry in regular intervals and in a coherent fashion within and across grade levels. This can benefit the youngest students since they are filled with hope and want to make a difference in the…

In this article, the authors share how a third-grade teacher supported students in crafting and researching their own inquiry questions using a process known as the Question Formulation Technique to scaffold students' development of supporting questions. Hughes and Heckart provide the reader with suggestions and resources for supporting…

In this article, the authors look beyond focusing primarily on Martin Luther King Jr. to Bayard Rustin, his work in the civil rights movement, his friendship with MLK, and his legacy. Kindergarten curriculum withholds stories of LGBTQ+ individuals, often justified with statements like "it isn't developmentally appropriate" or…

In this article, the author examines how the New York State Social Studies Resource Toolkit supports argument discourse in social studies and then explores a primary teacher's curricular and instructional decisions regarding the development of children's argumentation skills. The study provides insights into how teachers can involve some of our…

Research in early childhood and elementary social studies education has illuminated how teachers can use children's literature to explore issues of injustice, elevate hidden histories, and affirm students' identities. Integrating children's literature into social studies instruction not only supports literacy education aims but also promotes…

Success in social studies is imperative, as civic literacy skills are used by students to become critical consumers of information and support making informed decisions. The problem is that teachers are making instructional shifts to support literacy performance and provide instruction for struggling readers in third and fourth grade to read,…

Students learned to perform first-person presentation to display information researched through an inquiry process. Teachers helped students learn inquiry during instructional time. Teachers, parents, and guardians worked together to support student learning in a high poverty and low educational attainment Appalachian community. The character the…

In this study, we investigate how a third-grade teacher enacted controversial issues discussion about the use of Indigenous people as sports mascots. We highlight how the teacher supported eight students' sensemaking about the issue during small-group instruction. We provide suggestions for controversial issues teaching in elementary social…

Early purposes of education in the United States concentrated on preparing young citizens to understand democratic principles in order to participate in their democratic communities. Today elementary instruction has contracted in response to years of high stakes accountability measures. Social studies has not been a focus of federal accountability…

This study investigates the potential of integrating social studies instruction with critical literacy practices to challenge and/or expand elementary students' perceptions of gender. Gender stereotypes develop early in childhood and are often reinforced throughout elementary education. Thus, this study examines the use of a framework for social…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of technology integration on third grade social studies students' academic performance and their engagement with the content of map skills at Peony Elementary. The study took place during the Fall of 2022 with 14 third grade social studies students. There is low academic performance and a lack…

Elementary social studies resources have faced criticism for well over 30 years. Text that is too complex (Beck et al., 1989; Beck & McKeown, 1991), contains questionable content (Chu, 2017; Wade, 2012), and is boring to students (Kelley, 2021; Schug, 1982) and teachers (Zhao & Hoge, 2010). More recent studies have found that teachers are…

Second-graders engaged in complex reading, writing, and thinking about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Close readings of secondary and primary sources situated students to discover incongruencies between what is reported within trade-books and what is revealed within historical documents. Scaffolding directed students' scrutiny of…

Black experiences and discourse concerning citizenship are unique. Moreover, Black access to full citizenship is often a matter of life and death. The civic purposes driving this pursuit are often negated in conventional curriculum and pedagogy, especially in early childhood settings. Still, it is essential for educators and policymakers to…