Ways That Work: Putting Social Studies Standards Into Practice

Faced with recent state and national mandates, many veteran social studies teachers are now required to explore new content and achieve new goals-often without any guidance. New teachers are at an even greater disadvantage, wondering what exactly they are supposed to teach and how to go about it. In Ways That Work, Tarry Lindquist provides some answers.

Ways That Work is an idea book from start to finish, modeling several different ways social studies content can be organized in elementary and middle school classrooms. Each chapter:

• identifies a specific standard and a goal
• presents strategies to help you achieve the goal
• outlines how to put the strategies into place
• describes essential skills you can develop
• suggests ways you can incorporate other subject areas, especially language arts and literature
• presents proven assessment techniques
• concludes with a detailed bibliography of student books and references.

Together, the chapters illustrate that there is no one way to teach social studies-that the magic of teaching social studies lies in the richness of the available content, the variety of strategies to choose from, and the diversity of viewpoints to explore. The value of Ways That Work increases as you make the strategies your own. Both preservice and inservice teachers will find it a source of fresh ideas for their classrooms.

Faced with recent state and national mandates, many veteran social studies teachers are now required to explore new content and achieve new goalsoften without any guidance. New teachers are at an even greater disadvantage, wondering what exactly they are supposed to teach and how to go about it. In Ways That Work, Tarry Lindquist provides some answers.

Ways That Work is an idea book from start to finish, modeling several different ways social studies content can be organized in elementary and middle school classrooms. Each chapter:

• identifies a specific standard and a goal
• presents strategies to help you achieve the goal
• outlines how to put the strategies into place
• describes essential skills you can develop
• suggests ways you can incorporate other subject areas, especially language arts and literature
• presents proven assessment techniques
• concludes with a detailed bibliography of student books and references.

Together, the chapters illustrate that there is no one way to teach social studiesthat the magic of teaching social studies lies in the richness of the available content, the variety of strategies to choose from, and the diversity of viewpoints to explore. The value of Ways That Work increases as you make the strategies your own. Both preservice and inservice teachers will find it a source of fresh ideas for their classrooms.

Ways That Work is an idea book from start to finish, modeling several different ways social studies content can be organized in elementary and middle school classrooms.

Tarry Lindquist is an enthusiastic presenter and master classroom teacher who has worked extensively with both students and teachers in grades K-8. She has had more than thirty years of teaching experience both in the United States and overseas. A regular presenter with Heinemann Workshops and the Bureau of Education and Research, she is known for the innovative and practical content of her teaching. Tarry has been recognized as Elementary Teacher of the Year by the National Council for Social Studies, and as a national Good Neighbor award winner by State Farm. She has written three Heinemann books: Seeing the Whole Through Social Studies, 2nd edition; Ways That Work: Putting Social Studies Standards into Practice; and Social Studies at the Center: Integrating Kids, Content, and Literacy (with Doug Selwyn). Tarry's presentations are fast-moving, enjoyable and centered around a wealth of practical ideas and proven techniques that can be implemented immediately in most elementary classrooms.

By the Book : Learning History Beyond the Text

Standards : Time, continuity, and change

Strategies : Walking in Their Shoes interviews and video books, human opinion continuum, and cooperative units A Place at the Table : Investigating Global Issues in a Day

Standard : Global Connections

Strategies : Wondershape, opinion poll, accordion book Across the United States : Creating a Collegial Classroom Community

Standards : People, places, and environments

Strategies : Little books of alliteration, storyboards, pictorial maps, posters, research writing, mock governor's speeches, parade of states, states fair Trade Fair : Orchestrating a One-Period Peak Experience

Standards : Production, distribution, and consumption

Strategies : Simulation, quartiles Cooperative Biographies : Focusing on Reading, Research, Writing, and Responsibility

Standards : Individual development and identity

Strategies : Cooperative biographies, fact flip board Bridges to Other Cultures : Infusing Cultural Studies Across the Curriculum

Standard : Culture

Strategies : Chinese shadow puppets, Japanese story cards (kamishibai), Native American time ball Constitutional Visions : Connecting the Constitution, Kids, Science, Civics, and Social Studies

Standards : Power, authority, and governance

Strategies : Double data discs, space bubble, paper dolls, Delphi technique, hypotheticals, consequences chart