The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) underscore the importance of reading both informational and narrative texts with elementary students. Reporting on the 2009 reading framework of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) CCSS authors proposed that elementary teachers should strive for a 50/50 balance of narrative and…

According to the authors, five years ago their school district embraced Understanding by Design as the organizing framework for curriculum. The emphasis on enduring understandings and essential questions led the sixth grade social studies teachers to reevaluate what they were teaching in their World History Curriculum. Together the authors worked…

Everybody knows how easy it is for students to react negatively to people who act or think differently from themselves. To counterbalance students' often egocentric and ethnocentric views (which are normal for this age), teaching team collaborates to integrate voices from the world across the curriculum. They want their students to be learning…

Describes a celebration developed by children, staff, and parents at Morris L. Eisenstein Learning Center (Brooklyn, New York) to share the customs of Diwali, Hannukah, Loi Krathong, Kwanzaa, Nacimiento, and Christmas with the diverse student population. Includes brief descriptions of each holiday and activities included in the center's…

Argues that the challenge of making history vibrant for students is one of placing their concerns at the center of the conversation. Describes a unit that uses a nonfiction book about plagues to help students to understand how historians think, and to use the past to better understand their present. (DSK)

Social studies, particularly in the elementary grades, has been pushed to the back burner in schools. Time is the biggest nemesis. Increased attention to math and language arts under the federal No Child Left Behind law is squeezing out social studies. Many states have standards in social studies so teachers are expected to cover the topic, but…

Argues for recognition that teaching about the voyages of Columbus is presented from a European perspective. Reminds teachers to take a multidimensional approach that recognizes the Native American and African-American points of view. Examines the long-range demographic, cultural, political, economic, dietary, and labor redividing consequences of…

This article describes a story of two fourth-grade teachers' journey to create lessons that would be developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and historically accurate in teaching children about Columbus's encounter with Native Americans. The aim of this four-week unit of study was to have fourth-grade students look at multiple…

Presents learning activities concerning Christopher Columbus and his voyages. Includes lessons requiring students to (1) write a pledge of allegiance to the world; (2) examine the Americas before Columbus; (3) prepare a newscast on Columbus' arrival in the Americas; (4) imagine being a Native American encountering Columbus; and (5) explore what…

Provides an annotated bibliography of materials that can be used to teach children about the Columbian quincentennial. Lists books, filmstrips, films, and videocassettes about the explorer and his impact on the Americas and world history. (SG)

Offers the National Council for the Social Studies' official position on Christopher Columbus' voyages to the Americas. Acknowledges the roles of Native Americans, Africans, and Asians in the Age of Discovery. Recognizes the effects of Columbus' contacts with the other cultures of the Americas. Explores the contemporary relevance of 1492. (SG)

Offers a list of books for teachers and children about Christopher Columbus and the consequences of 1492. Suggests that teachers need to relearn the Columbus story to avoid the myths and biased texts of the past. Includes the American Indian perspective of the discoveries, original materials, and biological and cultural consequences. (DK)

Discusses how teaching about quilts and quilting in elementary social studies provides a more complete view of social history and includes the voices of women and men of different races, cultures, and social classes. Provides suggestions on teaching about quilts and identifies seven children's books on the topic. (CFR)

Asserts that teachers should educate students to use historical research methods, even in the elementary and intermediate grades. Argues that, although history should be taught as a "story well-told," it should also be discovered, just as historians discover it in the course of their research. (CFR)

Provides suggestions for creating thematic units for teaching about the voyages of Columbus. Explains that, to promote critical thinking, the activities are organized into the levels of (1) comprehension and conceptualization; (2) causality; (3) validity; and (4) creative extension. Argues that goals should include understanding European and North…