Janet Alleman

Jere Brophy

Drawing on interview data, the authors describe K-3 students' knowledge and thinking about basic aspects of the social world that are addressed in the elementary social studies curriculum. The interviews focused on human activities relating to nine cultural universals that are commonly addressed in the elementary social studies curriculum: food, clothing, shelter, communication, transportation, family living, childhood, money, and government. This volume synthesizes findings from the research and discusses their implications for curriculum and instruction in early social studies. Children's Thinking About Cultural Universals significantly expands the knowledge base on developments in children's social knowledge and thinking and, in addition, provides a wealth of information to inform social studies educators' and curriculum developers' efforts to match instruction to students' prior knowledge, both by building on already developed valid knowledge and by addressing common misconceptions. It represents a quantum leap in the availability of information on the trajectories of children's knowledge about common topics in primary elementary social studies education.

Children's Thinking About Cultural Universals

Andrea S. Libresco

Sherry L. Field

Jeff Passe

In many elementary classrooms, social studies has taken a back seat to English Language Arts and Mathematics in the wake of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top This volume is not another hand-wringing lament. On the contrary, the elementary educators who have contributed to this volume have a positive set of stories to tell about how social studies can play a central role in the elementary classroom, how teachers can integrate social studies knowledge and skills throughout the school day, and how this learning can carry over into children’s homes and communities. The seven case studies in this book, one at each elementary grade level, highlight exemplary teachers in whose classrooms social studies is alive and well in this age of accountability. At the end of each case study, each teacher provides advice for elementary teachers of social studies. Our hope is that elementary teachers and prospective teachers, elementary principals, social studies supervisors, staff developers, and professors of elementary social studies methods who study the stories that we tell can be empowered to return social studies to its rightful place in the curriculum.

Case Studies in Practice

Exemplary Elementary Social Studies

Anne-Lise Halvorsen

POWERFUL SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS examines the nature and purpose of social studies as it outlines ways to select content and teach history, geography, and social sciences more meaningfully. These respected authors present principles and illustrative examples to help pre-service and in-service teachers plan well-organized social studies instruction that produces positive student outcomes. The Third Edition emphasizes the importance of using developmentally appropriate content and methods when helping students to develop social understanding and civic action, and includes a solid research base that is reflective of the current NCSS standards. Rather than advocating the elimination of the traditional content framework used to organize the social studies curriculum ('expanding communities framework'), the authors call for retaining the most important topics that have traditionally been emphasized and for teaching these topics in 'more coherent and powerful ways.' Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students

Lesson plans for social studies units focusing on cultural universals found in all human societies.

Social Studies Excursions, K-3: Powerful units on childhood, money, and government

Barbara Knighton

EDUCATION/ SOCIAL STUDIES "... a much-needed addition to elementary social studies that will move the field ahead." Keith C. Barton, University of Cincinnati "This text fills a valuable niche and should quickly become a leading reference for teachers and teacher educators." Linda S. Levstik, University of Kentucky This book, resulting from a collaboration among an educational psychologist, a social studies educator, and a primary teacher, describes in rich detail and illustrates with excerpts from recorded lessons how primary teachers can engage their students in social studies lessons and activities that are structured around powerful ideas and have applications to their lives outside of school. The teaching portrayed connects concepts and skills emphasized in national and state standards, taught in ways that build on students’ prior experiences in their local communities and connect with their family backgrounds and home cultures. The analyses include rich descriptions of the teacher-student interactions that occur during lessons, detailed information about how and why the teacher adapted lesson plans to meet her students’ background experiences and adjusted these plans to take advantage of teachable moments that emerged during lessons, and what all of this might imply concerning principles of practice. The principles are widely applicable in elementary schools across the country, as well as across the curriculum (not just in social studies) and across the elementary grades (not just the primary grades).

Inside the Social Studies Classroom

This richly detailed description and analysis of exemplary teaching in the primary grades looks at how a teacher establishes her classroom as a collaborative learning community, how she plans curriculum and instruction that features powerful ideas and applications to life outside of school, and how, working within this context, she motivates her students to learn with a sense of purpose and thoughtful self-regulation. The supporting analyses, which ground the teacher’s practice in principles from curriculum and instruction, educational psychology, and related sources of relevant theory and research, are designed to allow teacher-readers to develop coherent understanding and appreciation of the subtleties of her practice and how they can be applied to their own practice. Resulting from a lengthy collaboration among an educational psychologist, a social studies educator, and a classroom teacher, the aspects and principles of good teaching this book details are widely applicable across elementary schools, across the curriculum, and across the primary grade levels. To help readers understand the principles and adapt them to their particular teaching situations, an Appendix provides reflection questions and application activities.

Janet Alleman

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