Social Studies Research and Practice: Volume 2 Issue 2

Critical Literacy and the Social Studies Methods Course: How Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers Learn and Teach for Critical Literacy

Edric C. Johnson

This study looks at the development of critical literacy for three pre-service teacher participants, relevant support systems, and pedagogies. It considers how pre-service teacher…

The Impact of Using Digital Timelines in the Social Studies Classroom

Elizabeth K. Wilson, Vivian H. Wright, Ann-Marie Peirano

In this study, the process and effects of integrating an innovative technology were examined in one U.S. history teacher’s classroom. Specifically, the impact on the teacher and…

Civic Education Post 9/11: Efficacy, Cosmopolitanism, and Pedagogical Implications

Azadeh Farrah Osanloo

The many discourses surrounding 9/11 place existing civic education in a tenuous space within the current political climate. The challenges of producing a universally acceptable…

Understanding What Children Know About History: Exploring the Representation and Testing Dilemmas

S. G. Grant

Understanding what children know about history or social studies has proven illusive. In this think piece, I explore two dilemmas—the representation dilemma and the testing…

Geographic Perspectives with Elementary Students: The Silk Road

Beverly Milner (Lee) Bisland

The Silk Road is a source of fact and myth. Stretching from Western China to the Middle East, it crossed forbidding deserts and rugged mountains. In this study, students consider…

Prejudice Reduction through Multicultural Education: Connecting Multiple Literatures

Steven P. Camicia

Banks (1994) names prejudice reduction as one of five dimensions of multicultural education. Although children develop prejudicial beliefs, attitudes, and values at young ages…

Balancing Liberty and Security: From the Early Republic to the War on Terror

Veronica Cruz Burchard

The eternal question posed by students, “Why do I have to learn this?” is being answered for them every day in the newspapers and on television with respect to the balance of…

Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: The City of Ember and The People of Sparks

Lynne Farrell Stover, Barbara F. Haynes

Using children’s literature to teach economics is a good method of making unclear concepts seem logical and authentic and has been used effectively by primary school educators for…

Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance

Lois McFadyen Christensen

This lesson plan is an introduction to the Harlem Renaissance through the award winning, thorough, resource text for youth, Harlem Stomp! A Cultural History of the Harlem…

NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: Old Turtle and the BrokenTruth

Timothy D. Slekar

The following lesson plan addresses the NCSS culture standard by using Old Turtle and the Broken Truth as an introductory lesson to the study of different cultures by highlighting…

The Voice of Reason: Social Studies Pre-service Teachers Debrief Their Initial Experiences with Technology Integration

Kathleen Swan, Joan Mazur, Lina Trullinger, David Brock, Amanda Ross, April Holman, Josh Yost

In this article, we feature five students’ initial efforts at developing technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). Five new teachers—four from social studies and one…

Why the Attraction to Social Studies?

Lois McFadyen Christensen

This column is a reminiscent piece about how the origin of my work in the social studies and social justice was launched by a thoughtful and dedicated renaissance teacher.

Energy Efficiency in the 21st Century

Glenda Ogletree, Dennis W. Sunal, Cynthia Szymanski Sunal, Keith Woodbury

In today’s world, citizens must use scientific information to make choices and knowledgeable decisions in many aspects of civic affairs involving their everyday lives. Issues…

NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: The Bully Blockers Club

Blythe Hinitz

This lesson plan can be used for compliance with the laws in twenty-nine states (and eleven in preparation) [New York Times, January 28, 2007] requiring that K-12 schools and…