bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Digital Simulations for Teaching the Constitutional Convention in Undergraduate History
Authors: Perrotta Katherine Assante , Feinberg Joseph R.
Published: February 2022

College instructors are entering a new frontier of teaching in the 21st century. Millennial students are bringing to university classrooms different experiences regarding the ways they learn and engage in critical thinking. As online universities gain more popularity across the country, higher education institutions are offering more hybrid and distance-learning courses on the Internet match the demand for using technology for teaching and learning. This action research study evaluates how the Annenberg Media digital simulation The Constitutional Convention of 1787 effected student engagement in an undergraduate history course at a community college in a metropolitan region of the Southeast. Practical suggestions are provided for college level history instructors to adapt digital simulations for teaching curricular and content skills that foster critical thinking, digital literacy, and engaged learning.
The Marginalization of Elementary Social Studies in Teacher Education
Authors: Bolick Cheryl Mason , Adams Reid , Willox Lara
Published: February 2022

This article examines the literature related to the marginalization of social studies through the lens of elementary social studies teacher education. This study presents the case of two different states wherein one state, Virginia, tests social studies in elementary schools and another state, North Carolina, where social studies is not tested until middle school. The data gathered from both states were originally analyzed to shed light on the question of testing's effect on teacher preparation and subsequent curriculum enactment. Data collected from the study suggest that factors such as field experiences, programs of study, and methods instruction impact teacher education in elementary social studies in more important ways than student testing.
Hmong Adolescent Conceptions of Citizenship
Authors: Simmons Annette M. M.
Published: February 2022

The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive, study is to help us better understand how a small group of Hmong immigrant adolescents conceptualize their political and civic citizenship in the United States. Three focus groups including a total of 18 Hmong middle/junior high school adolescents were carried out in order to garner data. Upon data analysis and interpretation, it was determined that study participants consider rights and responsibilities important to citizenship in a democracy and participate in various social, political, academic, and environmental activities. Study participants emphasize the community good over personal self-interests. As Hmong culture tends to be more collectivist in nature, this value orientation may be incompatible with the curriculum, instruction, and philosophy that students experience in public schools: Hmong youth may experience educational disadvantage. Adolescents in this study are developing their conceptions of citizenship within a racialized, hierarchical society and they explained their experiences with racialization and how they understand white privilege.
He’s Too Young to Learn About That Stuff: Anti-Racist Pedagogy and Early Childhood Social Studies
Authors: Husband Terry
Published: February 2022

Few early childhood teachers engage in critical and anti-racist forms of pedagogical practice, primarily on the basis of developmental and political concerns. With the exception of a few studies, little has been documented relative to early childhood teachers’ experiences while enacting this form of pedagogical practice. The purpose of this article is to examine my teaching experiences engaging in critical, anti-racist pedagogy through the development and implementation of a critical action research study/unit on African American history. Data from this study reveal four levels of challenges that emerged throughout the development and implementation phases of this study/unit. Finally, I discuss several implications of this study for early child-hood multicultural practice
Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella Written by Paul Fleischman and Illustrated by J. Paschkis
Authors: Baylen Danilo M.
Published: February 2022

Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella

draws from a variety of folk traditions, including images and texts, to put together a version of a Cinderella story. The writing blends various elements from Cinderella stories from twenty countries and places to create a tale full of culture-specific images and perspectives. The book illustrates the diversity in people’s lives, which is continuously connected through our similarities and differences. The book is appropriate to use as a hook supporting delivery of a social studies curriculum, and to introduce social studies concepts in third and fourth grade classrooms.
Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation Written By Andrea Davis Pinkney and Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Authors: Morowski Deborah
Published: February 2022

This Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation lesson introduces students to the story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The lesson includes an introductory activity that orients students to concepts of unfairness and discrimination, followed by a reading of the story. Students engage with primary sources (photographs) to compare and contrast life during segregation and life today. The lesson may be expanded to include a study of notable individuals involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Students utilize higher order thinking skills to determine ways to deal with issues of unfair situations they encounter. Throughout the lesson, students exhibit their learning through discussion, writing, and artistic expression.
Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan The Colors of Us Written by Karen Katz and Illustrated by Henry Holt
Authors: Ross Sharon
Published: February 2022

This lesson should be used with students in grades pre-K-2 as they develop an understanding of cultural diversity. This lesson involves students making comparisons between their skin tones and comparisons of skin tones to those of different foods found in their everyday environment. The book is a starting point for these comparisons as it displays bright images through an artist’s perspective. The book includes fictional characters from several nations that have different colors of skin as Lena and her mother notice on their walk around the neighborhood. Students also will make comparisons between their skin color and the skin color of the characters from the book. The lesson further includes students identifying their own skin tone through the mixing of paints and digital photo use.
Experiencing History: Integrating Cultural Artifacts into a Study of the Dust Bowl
Authors: Swafford Jeanne , McNulty Carol P.
Published: February 2022

History involves the study of people and the times and places in which they lived. Traditional instruction often is dominated by an emphasis on decontextualized facts, dates, and events. Too often, the study of history becomes lifeless and monotonous because it artificially separates people from the larger context of times and places in which they lived. Teachers can build meaningful contexts in which students experience history by using cultural artifacts as springboards into the study of people who lived in the past. Integrating the use of cultural artifacts, such as photographs, films, and music, allows teachers to create new entry points, new ways for students to connect to, and take ownership of, their learning. This article presents a rationale for including cultural artifacts in the study of history, which can promote a better understanding of the nature of history, personalize history, encourage student inquiry, and endorse the notion that history represents multiple perspectives. Cultural artifacts can be used to enrich instruction of any historical period, at any grade level. In this article, we provide examples of artifacts that can be used in a study of the Dust Bowl for the upper elementary and middle grades.
No Child Left in Museum?
Authors: Johnson Chrystal S. , McGrew Chris
Published: February 2022

This article presents an ecologically informed approach for comprehending the nature of and perceived changes to the relationship between Indiana’s kindergarten-5 classrooms and public history institutions. This perspective offers a lens for understanding the degree to which public history institutions actualize social studies learning and how public policy currently influences their associations with kindergarten-5 classrooms. Consideration was given to how respondents reported exchanges with kindergarten-5 learners, elementary educators, and the extent to which state public history organizations encouraged schools to utilize their resources for extending social studies instruction outside of the classroom. Baseline data gathered in 2007 indicated that: (1) state public history organizations adapted their mission statements to better reflect federal and state educational policy and (2) federal and state educational policy were contributing to both children and teachers being left out of the museum experience. Based on the results, the authors call for sustained inquiry to ascertain the impact such changes are having on the status and quality of kindergarten-5 social studies instruction across the United States.
Street Theatre: Critical Pedagogy for Social Studies Education
Authors: Datoo Al Karim , Chagani Zainab M. A.
Published: February 2022

This paper aims at exploring the usefulness of street theatre as critical pedagogy in teaching of social studies education. It gives a brief background of street-theatre and its linkages with critical pedagogy. In the light of theoretical underpinnings of this arts-based pedagogy, the paper deliberates upon the relevance and efficacy of street theatre in a social studies classroom. This paper uses a street theatre performance case to look at the techniques such as: body motion, body work, props, use of visual and audio aids, etc.; processes such as: conscientization and catharsis; and dialogical approach employed by street theatre to bring awareness about socio-political and cultural issues prevalent in a society. The analysis of this performance act shows that street theatre successfully encourages spectators or the oppressed masses to reflect, and triggers action in them to come out of socio-political oppression. When looked at from educational perspective, street theatre encourages the employment of multiple-intelligences of both students and teachers; and therefore, it can be one innovative strategy to make students aware of the issues infecting their society and also to empower students for action
Trying to Revalue Elementary Social Studies: Dilemmas and Insights
Authors: Boyle-Baise Marilynne , Hsu Ming-Chu , Johnson Shaun , Serriere Stephanie C. , Stewart Dorshell
Published: February 2022

In 2007, the authors conducted a case study of 13 teachers across seven elementary schools. We learned that, due to pressures of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) and state mandated testing, these schools were akin to reading academies—focused chiefly on the teaching of reading skills. They promised to share their results with local administrators and teachers, initiating the reconsideration of elementary social studies. To this end, they revisited school sites, revealed their findings, and offered to “fit into” ongoing discussions of curricular change. They attempted to engage teachers in courageous conversations, or honest, frank appraisal of current conditions. Eventually, they talked with approximately 100 K-6 teachers, principals, and district administrators. Framing their inquiry in Giddens (1984) theory of structuration, they present their efforts to build collaborative relationships in three cases of narrative inquiry. They follow it with dilemmas and insights for the field organized into five considerations: courageous conversation, curricular control, integration, social studies advocacy, and courting schools.
Students’ Original Political Cartoons as Teaching and Learning Tools
Authors: Bickford III John H.
Published: February 2022

A meta-analysis of educators’ uses of political cartoons suggests they are mostly used for teaching interpretation skills and then usually only with gifted and older students. This demonstrates creative stagnation, limited elicitation of higher order thinking skills, and age bias. The researcher previously examined young adolescents’ use of effective and efficient technologies to express historical understandings through original political cartoon construction. This methodology elicited students’ higher order thinking as they expressed learning within their creations, which were then used as a teaching tool to facilitate constructive whole class interpretative discussions. The following questions extend previous research and guide this article: “How can one categorize students’ original political cartoons?” “Which categories illustrate most clearly student-creators’ learning?” “Which categories are the best teaching tools, as judged by elicitation of lengthy and healthy discussions?” To address the first question, the researcher categorized students’ original political cartoons and presented representative examples. To address the second question, the researcher triangulated students’ reflective descriptions of intended meanings, uses of historical content, and encoded symbolism and meanings. To address the third question, the researcher detailed how the original political cartoons impacted students’ thinking during class discussions in two dissimilar contexts.
In Defense of the Social Studies: Social Studies Programs in STEM Education
Authors: Maguth Brad M.
Published: February 2022

Understanding social studies programs at science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) schools is becoming increasingly important as the number of STEM schools grows. This study undertook a qualitative investigation into social studies programs at two STEM high schools. Interviews from social studies teachers, principals, and students were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. Additional data was collected through observation and document analysis. Findings highlighted social studies teachers’ perceptions that a strong social studies curriculum is essential to STEM education; the opportunities of interdisciplinary and technology integration afforded to social studies STEM teachers; and some of the challenges of teaching social studies in a STEM school. The researcher discusses the implications of these findings for stakeholders in the social studies to ensure citizens are equipped with the needed skill, knowledge, and dispositions to compete in a global and multicultural age.
Original Political Cartoon Methodology and Adaptations
Authors: Bickford III J. H.
Published: February 2022

This paper is grounded on the premise that effective educators base lessons on rich and intriguing content which is relevant to students’ lives, implement the content using engaging and age-appropriate methodology, and measure students’ learning through authentic assessments. In order to support practicing teachers’ effective implementation of best practice methodology and assessment, educational researchers investigate the interconnections between content, methodology, and assessment. As technology facilitates teaching methodologies and learning assessments, meaningful activities such as students’ original political cartooning should be examined, detailed, and adapted. In this article, the methodological suggestions for, and adaptations of, students’ original political cartoons guide educators who seek to enable students’ creative and critical expressions of understandings about complex historical content.
“If We Were Truly Brave…” Dueling in Digital Spaces
Authors: Pearcy Mark , Dotson Michael
Published: February 2022

“Affairs of honor,” which were contests between gentlemen of the 18th and 19th centuries, often ended with physical violence in the form of dueling. Such was the case in the notable showdown between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1801. These affairs were products of the code di duello, an intricate series of social rules and expectations through which adversaries negotiated their dispute. In this article, we examine the similarities between such “affairs” and the modern issue of “cyberbullying.” We compare disputes conducted under the code di duello to those which regularly occur in modern adolescents’ on-line lives while also considering the relevance of studying this topic in social studies classrooms.
NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan Our Grandparents: A Global Album written by Maya Ajmera, Sheila Kindade, and Cynthia Pon With a forward by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Authors: Sunal Cynthia Szymanski , Sunal Dennis W.
Published: February 2022

This multi-day lesson involves pre-kindergarten - grade 3 students in exploring the similarities found in grandchild-grandparent relationships across the world’s cultures. It stresses key concepts associated with these relationships: love; listen; explore; tell stories; play; teach; learn; celebrate; share; care; and happy, safe, and loved.
Examining Historical (Mis)Representations of Christopher Columbus within Children’s Literature
Authors: Bickford III J. H.
Published: February 2022

Effective teaching, while supplemented by best practice methods and assessments, is rooted in accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content. As a foundation for history content, elementary educators rely strongly on textbooks and children’s literature, both fiction and non-fiction. While many researchers have examined the historical accuracy of textbook content, few have rigorously scrutinized the historical accuracy of children’s literature. Those projects that carried out such examination were more descriptive than comprehensive due to significantly smaller data pools. I investigate how children’s non-fiction and fiction books depict and historicize a meaningful and frequently taught history topic: Christopher Columbus’s accomplishments and misdeeds. Results from a comprehensive content analysis indicate that children’s books are engaging curricular supplements with age-appropriate readability yet frequently misrepresent history in eight consequential ways. Demonstrating a substantive disconnect between experts’ understandings of Columbus, these discouraging findings are due to the ways in which authors of children’s books recurrently omit relevant and contentious historical content in order to construct interesting, personalized narratives.
GPS and Geography: Using Technology to Apply Geography with Middle Grade Students
Authors: Gómez Miguel
Published: February 2022

Despite the emphasis on 21st century learning in our schools, the use of technology and the opportunity to think creatively is often lacking in our social studies curriculum. Specifically, opportunities for students to apply the five themes of geography to the world around them is hard to undertake when teaching is primarily conducted via a traditional textbook or supplemented with only audio and visual materials. In order to give students an authentic opportunity to apply the five themes of geography and to build their 21st century learning skills through the use of creative thinking tasks, handheld global positioning system (GPS) devices were introduced to a middle grades classroom. This manuscript documents the steps taken with these handheld GPS devices over the course of a two-week unit on the five themes of geography. Following a detailed explanation of each day’s activity, a discussion highlights how the infusion of technology and the opportunity to think creatively created a culture of learning within the classroom.
Follow That Map! A First Look at Mapping Skills
Authors: Kelley Lynn , Winship Jodie , Turner Tina
Published: February 2022

In Follow That Map! A First Look at Mapping Skills, a group of five diverse children search for their pets and take an exciting trip through the neighborhood, city and country, around the world and into space in an attempt to locate their missing dog and cat. This book presents key mapping concepts and serves as an introduction to maps. The lesson challenges students to explore different types of maps and early map concepts as they create their own book of maps. This lesson is recommended for grades one through three and should be completed in a week.
Teacher Researchers: Utilizing Archival Primary Sources
Authors: Morowski Deborah L. , McCormick Theresa M.
Published: February 2022

This study analyzed the experiences of elementary teachers who engaged in archival research with primary sources, then used their new knowledge and materials to create elementary curriculum. The teachers located and identified primary source material then determined its reliability. They placed the source and its author in the correct historical context and evaluated perspectives and biases. By engaging in this process, teachers developed a greater understanding of primary sources, a key component of historical thinking, advancing their subject content and pedagogical knowledge. The teachers developed lessons centered on primary sources rather than using them in a more superficial manner. They came to view primary sources as tools to: develop historical empathy, advance the teaching of multiple perspectives, and construct meaning. Further, they developed meaningful lessons that not only motivate their students, but also enhance their students’ higher order thinking skills and ability to conduct historical research.
Simulations and Games in the Civics Classroom
Authors: Moore Christopher D. , Beshke Cheryl Anne , Bohan Chara Haeussler
Published: February 2022

In this study, the authors evaluate the use of an election simulation game in the middle and high school social studies classroom. They consider how the game implementation reflected the practical use of constructivist and constructionist pedagogical principles. A brief explanation of the literature on the use of technology in social studies classrooms is provided and a practical explanation of how teachers implemented the game is offered. The ability to connect practice to theory afforded teachers important grounding and support for the use of technology in the social studies classroom. Students benefitted from the process of engagement in a form of media that is natural to digital natives. Challenges, with respect to the practical use of gaming in the social studies classroom, also are explored.
Job Market Signaling: An Active Learning Approach for Teaching Education and Employment
Authors: Wolla Scott
Published: February 2022

Economics classrooms are typically teacher-centered, textbook-driven, and often dominated by chalk-and-talk methodology. This paper advocates for an active learning approach and offers a lesson plan for key concepts. More specifically this lesson uses the economic concept of job market signaling to teach important economic content. Job market signaling is a process that matches workers and employers within labor markets. It occurs when potential employees convey information about their productivity to employers through academic credentials. An academic credential—for example, a college degree—conveys information valuable to both parties. It benefits the employer by indicating job skills and productivity; it benefits the employee because it increases the likelihood of gaining employment at higher wages. Earning academic credentials, thus, is important for success in the labor market. For this reason, it is a useful concept to teach students. By participating in a simulated competitive labor market as employers and potential employees, students learn about the links between education, productivity, income, and employment. As potential employees in this exercise have varying levels of education, this lesson also conveys important information for students concerning their own decisions about pursuing post-secondary education.
Turning Culture Upside Down: The Role of Transcultural Education
Authors: Aldridge Jerry , Kilgo Jennifer L. , Christensen Lois M.
Published: February 2022

This article explores the adoption of a transcultural education approach, rather than multicultural or intercultural education, and the implications this would have for educational practice. With the multiple issues associated with multicultural and intercultural education, the authors emphasize the need for a definitive definition of the term “transcultural” in the educational literature, as well as a new model of transcultural education. Addressed in the article are: (a) the contribution of transdisciplinary teaming to the definition and practice of transcultural education; (b) the meaning of “trans” in the term, transcultural; (c) a discussion of culture and individuality related to education; and (d) possible conclusions to facilitate dialogue regarding the future of transcultural education. Twelve vignettes are included to provide real world examples of the need for a paradigm of transcultural education.
Examining Race from Within: Black Intraracial Discrimination in Social Studies Curriculum
Authors: Busey Christopher L.
Published: February 2022

Teaching about matters of ethnicity, race, and culture in the social studies is controversial in nature, but necessary to ensuring students are leaving the classroom with some multicultural competence. In social studies , discussion of race and racism is typically confined to the master narrative, which is limited to content pertaining to slavery, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement. What is missed in the discussion about racism in the social studies is the conversation about intraracial racism or discrimination, which may not be a mainstream topic, but a persistent and ever-present issue within Black communities. The purpose of this article is to provide teachers with activities that can elicit discussion about Black intraracial discrimination, a harmful legacy of slavery and colonization. By using various pedagogical tools for discussion of intraracial discrimination, teachers will be incorporating a controversial, but culturally relevant, topic into the curriculum as well as ensuring that students become aware of matters of culture and race that exist beyond the textbook.
NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan Brothers at Bat Written by Audrey Vernick
Authors: Morrison Karen M. , Sunal Cynthia Szymanski , Sunal Dennis W.
Published: February 2022

Brothers at Bat describes the Acerra family and their love for baseball, providing students with insights into 1930’s family culture and community life. Students examine the characteristics of the Acerras that enabled them to develop and demonstrate their team spirit. Creating a Power Point slide show displaying their own diverse characteristics and team spirit from a classroom perspective will engage students’ creativity and knowledge. A trading card created by each student uniquely representing the student and will be used in a Trading Card Collection displaying the different cultures and interests that come together to make one classroom community team.
NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan Megan’s Year: An Irish Traveler’s Story Written by Gloria Whelan
Authors: Brantley Diane K.
Published: February 2022

Megan’s Year: An Irish Traveler’s Story provides the reader with an in-depth look inside the life of a young girl growing up in Ireland. The author provides a realistic and a touching peek into lives of travelers through Megan’s eyes, showing both the joys as well as the personal and familial challenges of a mobile lifestyle. Through the insights of Megan intermediate students will be able to develop an understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. Students will be able to make connections to others in their global community by getting to know Megan and seeing the different ways in which she views the world. In this short unit, students will participate in the use of readers’ theater, Venn diagrams, the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) and the Know-Want to Know-Learned- Questions (KWLQ) strategy. As a culminating activity, the students will prepare a story comparing their lives to the life Megan experiences as an Irish Traveller.
How Should We Remember the Alamo? Critical Analyses of Four Graphic Histories
Authors: Snow Marianne , Robbins Margaret
Published: February 2022

This article examines, elementary leveled graphic history, a genre of literature relatively untouched by research. Due to graphic nonfiction’s growing popularity in the realm of children’s literature and its potential benefits for young readers, teachers may want to incorporate this genre of literature into their social studies curriculum. Despite the genre’s appeal, educators should be careful when introducing graphic histories to their students, as nonfiction texts of any kind can possibly contain inaccuracies and biases that might foster misconceptions. In this study, we used a critical content analysis approach to investigate both images and text in four graphic histories on the Battle of the Alamo. We found these books contain several instances of factual errors and biased perspectives. After our analyses, we discussed implications for using these types of books in the classroom to help students enhance critical literacy skills. We connected recommended critical literacy activities to Common Core State Standards for informational texts and writing.
Strategically Organic: One U.S. History Teacher’s Experience With Class Discussion
Authors: Sullivan Caroline C. , Schewe Audrey , Juckett Emily , Stevens Heather
Published: February 2022

Effective discussion is inextricably linked to democracy. Social studies curriculum and instruction should engage students in practicing democratic skills and habits of mind. This case study provides a microanalysis of one U.S. History teacher’s commitment to fostering discussion in her classroom as a theorized pedagogical practice. A better understanding of what motivates teachers to engage students in classroom discussions paralleled with rich descriptions of how this teacher plans and implements discussion could encourage others to try this approach to teaching and learning.
Using the Power of Music to Support Students’ Understanding of Fascism
Authors: Pellegrino Anthony , Adragna Joseph L. , Zenkov Kristien
Published: February 2022

Music has been an integral part of humanity’s culture for millennia. Like many other artifacts of culture, songs have: expressed a range of feelings, informed listeners of historical and political issues, and provoked social awareness and change at every level of sophistication. In nearly all corners of the globe, music is woven deeply into the fabric of life and significantly affects and reflects the contexts in which it is written and shared. Our almost universal passion for music, bolstered by its importance as an artifact of culture and history, has not resulted in the integration of musical forms and texts in our classrooms in any systematic or conspicuous way. In that context, we propose a framework for integrating music in the social studies classroom. Our example comes from two individuals who lived very different lives, yet experienced some tragic parallels confronting fascism at various points in history. The music and writing these individuals left behind enable us to explore best practices in social studies and literacy in particularly engaging ways.
Social Studies Investigations for Young Citizens: Passports to Inquiry, Community, and Partnerships
Authors: Harris Kathleen I.
Published: February 2022

The world beyond the classroom may be introduced to young children through the social studies curriculum. This curriculum serves as a dynamic component of early childhood education by building young children’s understanding of their particular roles in the community. A critical child outcome promoting overall growth and school readiness is the development of citizenship and social skills. For a young child, social studies promotes citizenship opportunities to apply learning cognitively, socially, and emotionally by teaching concepts about society and partnerships with family, school, and community. The importance of social studies is to promote citizenship and democratic thinking. This paper addresses social studies investigations that emphasize holistic education and provide opportunities to learn through partnership education. Social studies investigations offer teachers authentic classroom explorations. Young children are invited to investigate, predict, document, and reflect on discoveries with peers to cultivate a sense of citizenship and community. Accompanying social studies investigations, the citizenship rubric is a formative way of assessing a child’s progress toward social studies standards, promoting partnership and holistic education in the classroom community, and documenting citizenship responsibilities.
Including Young Learners with Special Needs in Social Studies Classrooms
Authors: Johnson Joe , Busby Ruth
Published: February 2022

Before No Child Left Behind (2001), young learners (Kindergarten-3) with special needs were often pulled out of social studies and science classrooms for instruction from their special education teacher. Due to scheduling logistics and lower expectations, special needs students did not always receive the benefits of a full education. Inclusion of special needs students in general education classroom is implemented in schools today to rectify such inequalities. The focus of this paper is to offer research-based practices for differentiating instruction in the social studies that could benefit young learners with diverse needs. Some of these include: adapting instruction, adapting assignments, teaching learning skills, varying instructional grouping, and facilitating progress monitoring.
Notable Trade Book Lesson The Champion of Children: The Story of Janusz Korczak Written by Tomek Bogacki
Authors: Haas Mary E.
Published: February 2022

Early in his life, Janusz Korczak wanted to improve the lives and futures of children living in poverty. His world-renowned educational practices with orphans have been adopted as standards for educating youth for positive civic participation. Using a trade book about Korczak’s life begins a study of additional champions of youth. This notable trade book lesson provides opportunities to examine the positive ethical values and actions that improve the lives and futures of youth. Such a study has the potential to inspire youth to act for a better future, to investigate the many careers people have who work to improve the lives of youth, and to learn about inspiring people often neglected in the traditional curriculum. Educators, additionally, can learn about the history of progressive education through this lesson.
NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan The Cupcake Thief Written by Ellen Jackson
Authors: Staubs Melinda Odom
Published: February 2022

The Cupcake Thief explains the workings of the U.S. court system in an easy and meaningful way. When a cupcake disappears and a student is blamed, the teacher turns the classroom into a courtroom in order to determine the student’s guilt or innocence. Comparisons are made between Student Court and the United States’ court system as the reader goes through the text. Helpful information boxes, placed throughout the text, explain relevant terminology and facts related to the court system. Students explore the U.S. judicial system and relevant terminology through active participation in Reader’s Theater and a simulated classroom court system. They identify aspects of the judicial system by constructing a juror’s experience through journal writing.
Representation of the Holocaust: Alternative Views
Authors: Schneider Stephanie
Published: February 2022

This article examines the use of alternative texts to represent the Holocaust and to teach secondary students about this event. An alternative text is anything other than a traditional textbook. Alternate texts may include poetry, novels, graphic novels, films, or plays. By using alternative texts, teachers can engage students in multiple perspectives to stimulate critical thinking in their classrooms. Alternative texts, furthermore, can shift the paradigm of how teachers and students think about morally and ethically complex subjects. In order to facilitate such a shift, teachers, scholars, and students should view different ways of representing difficult subjects in the classroom. The Holocaust is a difficult subject to teach due to the scale of moral issues and scope of this crime against humanity. Traditional means of teaching the Holocaust, using maps, textbooks, and primary source documents are important but fail to create changes in students perspectives because there is little space for students to become more empathetic and apply history to current world events. Providing students with texts including narratives, poetry, and first-person accounts can add humanity into what some view as one of the most inhumane events in history and thus shift the paradigm for high school students.
Making Sense of Public Issues with Songs
Authors: Howell James B. , Callahan Cory
Published: February 2022

Arguments surrounding public issues are not always expressed in writing; they often take visual and auditory forms. In recent years, scholarship encouraging teachers and students to think deeply about songs—music and lyrics—has increased. Historical analysis of songs from the past can help students develop critical listening habits useful for interpreting contemporary songs. We share an inquiry-based, research-into-practice lesson centered around the following question: Was the US justified in pursuing nuclear weapons following the conclusion of World War II? We highlight a public issues approach where students use historical content and analysis as evidence to defend a chosen public policy.
Informing the Bent Golden Rule or Reforming It – The Platinum Rule
Authors: Christensen Lois M. , Medina Anaiza
Published: February 2022

Title IX and The Lilly Ledbetter (Fair Pay Act, 2009), an extension of the Civil Rights Act, have not changed the fact that women in academia are paid 78% less than males in the professoriate while sometimes experiencing subjugation and oppression. This context is juxtaposed with the Golden Rule and Platinum Rule as nudged by a mentor and mentee relationship between a professor and undergraduate, young female honor student. How does this constant social convention toward women academics effect matriculated university students?
A Wordle to the Wise: Using “Word Clouds” Meaningfully in the Classroom
Authors: Pearcy Mark
Published: February 2022

Word clouds, created by a variety of web applications, are enticing new tools for some social studies educators. Teachers should be prepared, though, for the possibility that our zeal for a new resource may prevent us from adequately examining its value. This article recounts a class activity involving the creation of a word cloud, the Wordles of major documents from the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, analyzes the lesson’s strengths and weaknesses, and offers guidance for the meaningful use of word cloud applications in the classroom.
Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan Lost Childhood: My Life In A Japanese Prison Camp During World War II Written by Annelex Hofstra Layson with Herman J. Viola
Authors: Haas Mary E.
Published: February 2022

Lost Childhood: My Life In A Japanese Prison Camp During World War II

is a memoir. The events of World War II (WWII) took place around the world disrupting the daily lives of children. In school students often examine WWII only from the perspective of their own nation and thereby fail to learn and understand how their lives today were impacted by a war that began 70 years ago and continues to impact the world today. This lesson examines a detailed memoir of Annelex, a child in the Dutch East Indies during WWII and in its immediate aftermath. Annelex describes her fears and how her mother and grandmother helped her overcome uncertainties in living to survive and grow.
Marginalized Students’ Uneasy Learning: Korean Immigrant Students’ Experiences of Learning Social Studies
Authors: Choi Yoonjung , Lim Jae Hoon , An Sohyun
Published: February 2022

This study explores how recent Korean immigrant students experience learning social studies and how their unique social, cultural, and educational backgrounds as new immigrants shape their experiences in American schools. Based on survey and in-depth interviews with 43 Korean immigrant students in two urban and three suburban/rural areas, this mixed methods study examines Korean immigrant youths’ perceptions about the nature of history and social studies as well as their experiences of learning social studies in their everyday classroom contexts. Our data analysis demonstrates that Korean immigrant students face varying difficulties in constructing meaning in US history and engaging themselves in social studies learning, which results in a negative learning experience and subsequent disinterest in social studies. Researchers identified three major challenges that Korean immigrant youths experience in their social studies classrooms: (1) Lack of English proficiency, background knowledge, and American patriotism, (2) White, American-centered perspectives and marginalization of their country of origin, and (3) Teachers’ lack of care and disengaging pedagogies. The findings of this study provide implications for creating more meaningful and culturally relevant social studies learning for immigrant students.
Negotiating Visions of Teaching: Teaching Social Studies for Social Justice
Authors: Agarwal Ruchi
Published: February 2022

Pre-service teachers may leave their graduate programs with strong social justice leanings, yet most begin teaching struggling to integrate their visions into a context constrained by accountability demands. Pressures and constraints, such as high-stakes testing and mandated curriculum, may require teachers committed to social justice to negotiate what they want to teach and what they are able to teach. This piece highlights the daunting journey of one beginning teacher and her struggle to uphold her commitment to teach for social justice while still meeting administrative expectations. The study’s findings point to the myriad complexities surrounding teaching social studies for social justice, especially regarding integrating social justice content into the general curriculum. As a result of these findings, several questions have been formulated for further research surrounding the education of teachers for social justice.
Examining Original Political Cartoon Methodology: Concept Maps and Substitution Lists
Authors: Bickford III J. H.
Published: February 2022

Previous research on classroom uses for political cartoons identified two negative trends: creative stagnation (as teachers utilized them solely for interpretation) and age limitation (as researchers suggested they fit best with gifted and older students). Recent scholarship has addressed both trends by enabling young adolescent students to creatively express newly generated understandings through construction of original political cartoons. During such authentic assessment activities, students demonstrated high levels of criticality by using effective and efficient technologies to create original political cartoons, which then elicited constructive whole class interpretative discussions. This prior research did not detail specific methodological steps that positively influenced students’ original political cartoons. This paper compares students’ original political cartoons generated from two methodological approaches that differ in two small, yet consequential steps. One teacher required students to utilize concept maps and substitution lists prior to original political cartoon construction while the other did not. Based on the collected data, these two steps enabled the former teacher’s students to more effectively incorporate intricate and complex encoded messages through the use of abstract symbolism and complementary textual statements. The findings prove meaningful for teachers and researchers interested in enabling students’ creative and critical expressions of historical thinking.
Questions, Quests, and Quizzical Thinking: Scaffolding student Inquiry through the Internet
Authors: Clabough Jeremiah , Turner Thomas
Published: February 2022

Inquiry-based instruction in social studies began as a transformative movement whose proponents included Shirley Engle, Donald Oliver, and James Shaver in the middle of the twentieth-century. Inquiry-based instruction is relevant to twenty-first century social studies and is gaining even more importance in the age of the Internet. Six specific websites are presented that can be used for student inquiry and research primarily at the middle school level. We describe ways of utilizing these sites to drive student involvement and self-assessment while also presenting criteria for selecting additional websites to use in the classroom.
In Another American Skin: Development of Empathy through Desktop Documentary Making
Authors: Schul James E.
Published: February 2022

This article analyzes a classroom project that integrated desktop documentary making with an educational foundations course in order to foster empathetic development in pre-service teachers toward unfamiliar cultural groups. The project required each tertiary student in the course to create a desktop documentary about the school experience of a cultural group with which they did not immediately identify with. The findings indicate that half of the students in this project displayed empathetic development with regard to their chosen topics, using their encounters with imagery and stories to link their world with that which was unfamiliar. Additionally, as a result of the compositional process, several students became advocates for their assigned cultural group, carrying this sentiment with them as they progressed to become teachers. Implications of this study, including possible approaches toward improving this project’s effectiveness in achieving its aims, are discussed.
Practicing Creative Thinking Skills by Making Creative Products Related to Economic Issues
Authors: Rule Audrey C. , Alkouri Zaid A. , Criswell Shelly J. , Evans Judith L. , Hileman Angela N. , Parpucu Harun , Ruan Bin , Meeteren Beth Dykstra Van , Uhlenberg Jill , Vasileva Olga S. , Zhbanova Ksenia S.
Published: February 2022

Students need to learn and practice creative thinking skills to ensure success in solving everyday, national, and global problems that include those affecting economic issues. The global economy requires workers to have research and innovation skills that depend upon creativity. However, many current educational programs focus mostly on factual content, doing little to inspire or apply the creative process. The project presented here shows an engaging activity that combines creative thinking skills with economic content. Although the activity occurred in a college course on creativity theory and practice, this challenging game can be easily adapted and embedded in the Kindergarten-12 social studies curriculum. This article discusses the set-up of the activity and its connection to creativity theory and curriculum standards. It showcases the work of eleven participants who each made a unique object or scene from a given set of craft and recycled materials, subsequently relating the resulting product to a current economic issue. Photographs of the resulting products are provided along with descriptions of the theme of each item, its connection to economics, and creative aspects of the work. Suggestions for adaptation to the Kindergarten-12 classroom are given.