Although there is a lack of research on instruction that aims at facilitating students’ use of questioning with peers, many early childhood social studies textbooks and resources, include activities and lessons recommending students conduct interviews with an explicit assumption that young...

Increased integration of the social studies into language arts instructional time in elementary schools, has led to a common practice of covering social studies content through use of children’s literature. Though the two content areas are covered in tandem, the primary foci are the language...

The preparation of future teachers of young children should incorporate attention to the developmental markers at the heart of developmentally appropriate practice and ground early childhood subject matter learning in disciplinary perspectives, engagement, and thinking essential for later...

The era of high stakes testing often puts pressure on teachers and administrators to deemphasize creative activities, especially those involving the social studies, art, and music. Teaching strategies not perceived as directly related to improving test scores are often marginalized....

All too often tragedy and disaster strike the world around us, and when they do, people often are left speechless and powerless. In schools, there is no subject as uniquely situated to helping children develop an understanding of social events as the social studies; as history is filled with...

One Green Apple , by Eve Bunting, challenges students to compare and contrast their feelings about fitting in and peer pressure, against those of Farah’s, the book’s main character. This lesson involves students in working in small groups to reflect on a time when they didn’t fit in or...

As author and illustrator, Caldecott Medalist Mordicai Gerstein takes readers on a journey to the age of the woolly mammoth in The First Drawing . In this lesson, students explore the book, tracing the footsteps of a young boy who lived so many years ago and realize they are not so different...

Durga Bernhard’s While You are Sleeping takes students on a cultural journey through nine different countries: United States of America, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, India, Thailand, Haiti, England, and Brazil all at the same moment in time. The book was written especially for young children. The...

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...

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...