Although many adults perceive young "digital natives" as savvy about our new media landscape, youth are regularly fooled by inaccurate stories and online scams. Furthermore, beyond the threat of outright false information, young people encounter confusing half-truths, misleading arguments, and disguised efforts to collect their personal…

The "College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards" (NCSS, 2013) places inquiry at the center of good social studies teaching and learning. Instead of social studies courses that emphasize rote memorization through the use of textbooks and lecture-based instruction, the C3 Framework asks teachers to…

Critical theory is one of the predominant schools of thought in the social sciences. Like all theory, it is a framework used for explaining--and examining--something about the world. Critical theory pays special attention to the social world, focusing on the hierarchical nature of social relations and examining how these unequal power…

Millions of teachers regularly turn to Internet sharing sites such as Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers for curriculum resources and ideas. While this innovative technology poses a number of advantages for teachers who are almost never given an appropriate amount of time to engage in curriculum planning, and who can supplement their…

The very first presidential proclamation was issued by President George Washington in the fall of 1789, during his first year in office. It followed a request from a joint committee of Congress asking that Washington recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. On October 3, Washington did just that--he…

In this article, C. Frederick Risinger begins by describing insights from an article entitled, "Trapped in the Bubble." It reported on a doctoral student's study (along with other students and faculty in Indiana University's School of Informatics) which demonstrated that the more people rely on social media such as Facebook, Twitter,…

Technological innovations and inventions are changing society and world culture so fast that it's often difficult to keep up. This article provides many web sites that will provide classroom teachers or even full social studies departments with information and lesson plans to integrate the importance of inventions and technology into their…

Recent technological advances have enhanced the accessibility of rephotography, a visual research method and project-based approach valued by social studies educators for engaging students in historical inquiry and place-based exploration. Rephotography projects capture photos from the vantage point of an old image to explore change over time.…

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…

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. The system includes 12 Federal Reserve Banks (and their associated branches) located throughout the country, with oversight by the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The diverse structure is designed to ensure that the interests of Main Street are represented along with those…

Comic books and graphic novels are a profitable market for publishers; 2012 sales of comics and graphic novels totaled $680 million in the United States and Canada. Graphic novels can even be found on the pages of The New York Times Best Seller list. The popularity of comic books and graphic novels cannot be denied, the sales of both movies and…

March is Women's History Month. While the approach to the study of the role of women in U.S. history has changed dramatically since the author was a classroom teacher, there is still a need to do more to fully integrate women into history throughout the curriculum and throughout the school year. Finding good sites to help classroom teachers and…

The author started writing a "What I Learned..." column back in 2007. However, in the 2011 edition, he wants want to make a few comments about the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) annual meeting, a couple of the general sessions, and an NCSS initiative that he is proud to support. The author mentions that Secretary Arne Duncan…

Steve Sheinkin's "The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights" recounts the explosion at a U.S. Navy base in the summer of 1944 that claimed 320 lives. It is also a story of African American resistance against prejudice, segregation, and injustice in the armed forces during World War II. The book was a 2015…

Teachers can successfully integrate student-centered, disciplined inquiry, and technology into their classroom using the three-part approach to monitoring instruction described in this article.