This article is a qualitative investigation of teachers' pedagogical approaches to the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. The ten participants are regionally diverse in-service teachers who attended workshops conducted by the 9/11 Memorial Museum and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York during June and July, 2019. Teachers…

In this article, the authors unveil the Trade Book Inquiry Design Model (IDM) blueprint. Anchored in a compelling question inspired by a trade book, the new blueprint is broken into two instructional blocks: "Reading and Comprehension" and "Living Social Studies." The inquiry template is designed to be instructionally efficient…

Despite limitations and challenges, teaching about difficult histories is an essential aspect of social studies courses and units across grade levels. This practical resource highlights stories of K-12 practitioners who have critically examined and reflected on their experiences with planning and teaching histories identified as difficult.…

"The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded", by Jim Burke, provides schools, districts, and departments with a common language or set of reference points for effective school-wide implementation of the Common Core State Standards. The book--available in middle and high school editions--clarifies what each standard says, what each…

Integrating the visual and performing arts is one clear and concrete strategy to engage students in learning social studies content and concepts while making them interactive and relevant to their daily lives. In this article, the authors offer a rationale for teaching integrated arts with social studies, provide a framework for planning, and…

This practical guide will help teachers to use the acclaimed "Literacy Through Photography" method developed by Wendy Ewald to promote critical thinking, self-expression, and respect in the classroom. The authors share their perspectives as an artist, a sociologist, and a teacher to show educators how to integrate four new "Literacy Through…

Instead of piling on one new reform fad after another, here at last is a book that boils down solutions for improved schools to the most powerful, simple actions and structures that ensure you prepare all students for college, careers, and citizenship. Best-selling ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) author and renowned…

How does teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) inform their instructional planning? How can this knowledge be enhanced? In an interpretivist study of experienced secondary social studies teachers' planning, we sought to discover clues to the nature and development of these teachers' TPACK-in-action as it was expressed in…

"Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators" is the first book to show the connection between accepted educational theories and chess. The relationship of chess to academic and humanistic educational goals is convincingly illustrated as curriculum and psychological theories from John D. McNeil, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Howard Gardner…

Cites selected resources on teaching economics in the social studies classroom. Documents listed concern economics projects, activities and courses, software to aid economic instruction, economic education materials, and global economics instruction. (AEM)

Describes a "Generic Model for Planning Expository Lessons" for improving the lecture--discussion method used by most history teachers. The model is based on a lesson format developed by John J. Patrick and Richard Remy and uses a five-step procedure employing a variety of approaches to expository teaching. (BSR)

Presents lesson plans highlighting cultural differences between the United States and the Soviet Union. Includes background for teachers on the geography, the political system, and the economy. Student materials and suggested activities are provided. (DH)

Three valuable approaches to utilize in improving the social studies curriculum may be to develop resource units, teaching units, and lesson plans. Resource units contain a collection of more objectives, learning activities, evaluation techniques, and bibliographical entries than can possibly be used by a given teacher for a particular classroom…

This model social studies lesson includes a simulated interview with a relief worker describing the famine conditions in Ethiopia. A map of Africa and pictures of famine victims are included. The objectives of the lesson are to have students describe the situation in Ethiopia, analyze the causes, and evaluate solutions to the famine. In the model…

Uses scenarios of student teachers' critical thinking lessons which failed to achieve their goal as a springboard for presenting a model of "critical teaching." Identifies institutional and professional obstacles to critical teaching and concludes that it requires instructional planning which encourages student examination of the social, moral,…