Synopses & Reviews
50 Social Studies Strategies for K-8 Classrooms, Third Edition, is a must-have resource for any teacher seeking to incorporate 21st Century Themes and Skills in the classroom. Connecting theory, research, and practice, it provides 50 practical strategies for creating meaningful social studies experiences for K-8 students, includingeight overarching and forty-two specific strategies organized alphabetically for easy reference. Each strategy is accompanied by assessment tools, grade level and National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) standards indicators, and references and websites providing numerous examples and tools for practical application in today’s classrooms.
This is the perfect sourcebook of ideas to guide teacher candidates through successful social studies student teaching and field experiences and then carry into their future classrooms. It also makes a handy resource for practicing teachers who seek fresh ideas and approaches for teaching social studies effectively.
New to This Edition
- NEW organization of text begins with eight (instead of three) overarching strategies, organized conceptually, followed by 42 Social Studies-specific strategies to prepare for and then implement meaningful social studies teaching and learning.
- New Primary Sources (Strategy 7) represents a combination of three related strategies (Artifacts, Public Records, and Primary Records) in the previous edition to improve organization and make room for new strategies.
- Revised Field Trips (Strategy 18) reflects a combination of Field Trips of Distinction and Virtual Field Trips strategies from the previous edition, done to more thoroughly explore the topic of field trips for students in one place and to allow for some new strategies.
- Five new strategies offer current and practical ideas to enhance the 21st Century classroom includingDeveloping Multiple Perspectives (Strategy 3), Questioning (Strategy 7), Digital Storytelling (Strategy 16), Music History (Strategy 37), and Webquests (Strategy 50).
- NEW! Each strategy now includes an Assessment section that provides an assessment tool or assessment discussion, demonstrating how assessment tasks vary with varied learning goals.
- Revised! The Applications and Ideas section within each strategy provides either a classroom example or additional applications for the strategy.
- Revised! A list of websites offering a quick reference to additional resources and examples appears with every strategy.
- NEW! Inside cover chart shows how content in the 50 strategies correlate to the 21st Century Themes and Skills
WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING:
“I appreciate students’ needs for hands-on activities and this [book] certainly provides them with many authentic and engaging strategies.”
- Alison Black, State University of New York at Oneonta
“[R]elevant and easy to use for novice teachers or experienced teachers.”
-Carol Klages, University of Houston-Victoria
“[A] welcome supplement and a much needed resource in the professional literature.”
-Denise M. Littleton, Norfolk State University
Review
“I appreciate students’ needs for hands-on activities and this [book] certainly provides them with many authentic and engaging strategies.”
- Alison Black, State University of New York at Oneonta
“[R]elevant and easy to use for novice teachers or experienced teachers.”
-Carol Klages, University of Houston-Victoria
“[A] welcome supplement and a much needed resource in the professional literature.”
-Denise M. Littleton, Norfolk State University
Synopsis
This popular book of 50 strategies for enhancing social studies learning in K-8 classrooms offers valuable ideas and applications for pre-service and practicing teachers alike. Always appreciated for its connections between theory, research, and practice, and the extensions provided through web sites and references, this new edition enhances those strengths by providing assessment ideas and website resources for every strategy. Eight conceptually-organized overarching strategies to facilitate organizing a social studies classroom precede forty-two social-studies specific strategies —organized alphabetically and introduced by grade level and National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) standards indicators.
This handy resource provides models, examples, and assessments from real teachers and students, so that pre-service teachers may be successful in their student teaching and field experiences and first years in the classroom and practicing teachers may freshen their social studies teaching with some new ideas.
About the Author
Kathryn M. Obenchain, Ph.D., teaches undergraduate elementary and secondary social studies methods, as well as graduate courses in social studies education and research methods. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked extensively with the northern Nevada Teaching American History Program and is co-founder and co-director of the "Research in Romania" study-abroad program.
Ronald V. Morris, Ph.D., teaches methods of elementary social studies to graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of History at Ball State University, and he offers teacher in-service. He is the (2009) author of: Bringing History to Life: First-Person Historical Presentations in Elementary and Middle Classrooms (Rowman & Littlefield Education).
Table of Contents
Introduction
Summary of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Curriculum Strands
PART 1 General Social Studies Instructional Strategies
1 Community Building
2 Establishing a Democratic Classroom
3 Developing Multiple Perspectives
4 Concept Development and Concept Attainment
5 Discovery
6 Inquiry
7 Questioning
8 Primary Sources
PART 2 Specific Social Studies Instructional Strategies to Advance Content Knowledge and Skills Development
9 Archeological Digs
10 Architecture and Landscape Design Significance
11 Case Studies
12 Cemetery Studies
13 Community Maps
14 Custom Boxes
15 Decision Trees and Decision Grids
16 Digital Storytelling
17 Discerning Qualifications
18 Field Trips of Distinction
19 Flannel Boards
20 Folk Culture
21 Games
22 Genealogies
23 Globes
24 Graphic Organizers
25 Guest Speakers
26 Historical Characters
27 Historical Reenactments
28 Home Living Centers
29 Interactive Bulletin Boards
30 Learning Centers
31 Literature Book Clubs
32 Media Literacy
33 Mini-Society
34 Mock Trials
35 Model Factory
36 Museum Exhibits
37 Music History
38 Newspaper Making
39 Oral Histories
40 Pen Pals
41 Readers’ Theater
42 Role Playing
43 Sand Table Maps
44 Service-Learning
45 Story Boards
46 Time Lines
47 Trash Trail
48 Traveling Ambassador
49 Video Productions
50 WebQuests