The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that many US students are deficient in core knowledge in geography, civics and current events. In this paper, a professor of social studies methods describes an action research project developed to assess and improve teacher candidates' knowledge in these areas. The article explains how data…

This article highlights the use of Shaun Tan's "The Arrival" to teach literacy to English Language Learners in social studies classrooms. The featured text is a book that displays the complexity of migration within a text that does not feature a single written word. The author describes a variety of mini-lessons geared towards…

Framed in theories of social semiotics, this descriptive multiple case study examined six middle school teachers' use of gestures during one school year as they each taught two different subject areas: earth science, language arts, mathematics, and/or social studies. The data, which included field notes and photographs from 354 lessons and 151…

Almost eighty years ago, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, founder of Bank Street College of Education in New York City, wrote about social studies in ways that sound remarkably contemporary: "In the first place, we shall say that the curriculum should continue the laboratory methods, which means it should furnish the children with as many first-hand…

In the era of smartphones and 24-hour news networks, the State of the Union address is a major event. All national media outlets--in print, on television, on the Internet--report on the address, some almost exclusively in the days leading up to and after the speech. In this article, considering their experiences teaching about the address, and…

Historical documentary film usually offers content in a format that students find more engaging than traditional historical texts. In the classroom, documentary film can be positioned within a historical thinking framework to study a broad concept like civil rights while facilitating students' source work and skill development. While social…

Teaching with song lyrics has many popular variations. The Common Core State Standards discourage pre-teaching, leaving students somewhat adrift. Song lyrics possess the potential to scaffold students' schema in select social studies topics. Using reciprocal teaching (Palinscar & Brown 1984) within the reading workshop students ponder…

Library and Information Science (LIS) as a discipline is guided by core values that emphasize equal access to information, freedom of expression, democracy, and education. Importantly, diversity and social responsibility are specifically called out as foundations of the profession (American Library Association, 2004). Following from this, there…

Today's social studies teachers and students face an unprecedented time of standards and accountability. Students bring influences that may interact with the instructional context teachers provide for learning. Eighth- and 11th-grade U.S. history students (n = 512) from 11 schools (23 teachers), diverse in location, ethnicity, and socioeconomic…

This diachronic study describes an innovative university experience consisting of the development of multimedia concept maps (MCM) in relation to social educators and social workers main intervention areas and an active discussion in online forums about the results obtained. These MCMs were prepared by students who attended the Information…

What is active learning and what does it look like in the classroom? If students are participating in active learning, they are playing a more engaged role in the learning process and are not overly reliant on the teacher (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2003; Petress, 2008). The purpose of this article is to propose a framework to describe and…

Common sense thinking on international professional development suggests that the rewards for teachers are automatic. One of the most frequently advertised gains teachers are expected to see from participation includes the likelihood that they will have a transformative experience, whereby aspects of their personal or professional attributes are…

The course contents taught in social sciences, revolution history and Kemalism at different stages of primary schools in Turkey form in learners political, social and economical behavioural patterm towards their neighbouring countries. The students try to form friendly or hostile behaviour against other countries. The study aims to determine what…

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content knowledge and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade general education social studies teachers among students with disabilities included in the classes. Data on students with disabilities across 2 years of study were combined for the analysis presented here. Students in…

Gifted learners need opportunities for critical and creative thinking to stretch their minds and imaginations. Strategies for increasing complexity in the four core areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies were addressed using the Common Core and Iowa Core Standards through several methods. Descriptive adjective object…