Social studies preservice teachers will start their career with the aim of raising "good person-good citizen" for the ideal society. Believing in this important purpose and being aware of the field will contribute to the realization of the ideal society objective. Yet, it is necessary to try to raise this awareness in the most enjoyable…

The visual arts and media historically employed by teachers as a corollary to "traditional" social education can play a more vital role in promoting critical inquiry among students. The use of short films like "The Flying Man" (2013), a 2013 motion picture which depicts an almost mythic vigilante in a realistic world, can help…

Upon entering the social studies hallway in any middle or high school in the United States, you are likely to hear the sounds of a film or video emanating from at least one classroom. Though often perceived as a medium for low-level intellectual work, recent research has documented an increasing array of authentic and rigorous pedagogy with films.…

Discover the ways teachers and researchers apply up-to-date TESOL research to meet both content and language acquisition criteria while also affirming students' cultural knowledge, life experiences, and language abilities. Like the high school grades themselves, the chapters in this volume are organized by academic content area including language…

Historical memories are often weak, and must be kept alive by media, schools, and government. The disaster of 9/11 is one of those unusual and unsettling events that call for recognition. But memories are already fading in people's minds after just ten years. Unpleasant, contested events require commemoration but we tend to honor more upbeat…

It is enchanting when over twenty students' quilt squares make a quilt. The common, yet diverse techniques for making a quilt transform the students' quilt squares into a shared quilting experience. A quilt made by students in one classroom can demonstrate a unique characteristic of each student by combining their squares into a quilt about a…

Each year, seventh graders at Woodlawn School in Davidson, North Carolina, learn about Japan through a compilation of literature, history, and art. They are introduced to a wide range of ideas and materials: they study the Heian and Tokugawa Periods as well as modern Japan, the code of the samurai warriors, haiku and its components, and Japanese…

In the author's article in the 1988 premiere issue of "Social Studies and the Young Learner," he suggested that chain songs and rounds, simple folk and summer camp standards, could be easily transformed with lyrics (written by the teacher or students) that contained useful, purposeful social studies content. He argued then, and still does, that…

This proceedings volume of InCoTEPD 2018 covers many ideas for handling a wide variety of challenging issues in the field of education. The outstanding ideas dealing with these issues result in innovation of the system. There are many innovation strategies resulting from recent research that are discussed in this book. These strategies will become…

There is nothing worse than hearing moans and groans when writing time is announced to students. Motivation for writing begins when students' interests are mixed with opportunities for creativity. This article presents an idea shared by a writing coach who found a way to spark students' interest in writing by developing recipes for more…

A unit of study on Ancient Greece is a part of the fourth grade social studies curriculum at Belmont Day School. The students spend 10 weeks exploring Greek history and mythology. This article discusses a new project that the authors conducted, wherein one of them was going to Greece on a study tour, while the other one stays in Belmont Day…

A social studies wax museum can teach elementary students facts as they celebrate Halloween. A primary activity has students determine historic scenes to include in the wax museum, practice their poses, and put on a Halloween show. An intermediate activity has students research historic events, interpret information, create backdrops and props,…

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Puppets provide simple, effective ways to connect social studies and language arts, promote cooperation, and teach about other cultures. The article describes how to make puppets and presents two elementary-level puppet activities. One teaches cultural values using puppets as storytellers; the other explains how to create a puppet play. (SM)