In many elementary classrooms, social studies has taken a back seat to English Language Arts and Mathematics in the wake of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top This volume is not another hand-wringing lament. On the contrary, the elementary educators who have contributed to this volume have a positive set of stories to tell about how social studies can play a central role in the elementary classroom, how teachers can integrate social studies knowledge and skills throughout the school day, and how this learning can carry over into children’s homes and communities. The seven case studies in this book, one at each elementary grade level, highlight exemplary teachers in whose classrooms social studies is alive and well in this age of accountability. At the end of each case study, each teacher provides advice for elementary teachers of social studies. Our hope is that elementary teachers and prospective teachers, elementary principals, social studies supervisors, staff developers, and professors of elementary social studies methods who study the stories that we tell can be empowered to return social studies to its rightful place in the curriculum.

Based on the principle that the fundamental purpose of the social studies should be the development of reflective, competent, and concerned global citizens, "Social Studies for Elementary School Classrooms" matches solid social studies teaching aids with examples of applications in real K-6 classrooms. Chapter topics include selecting a social studies scope and sequence; planning for social studies instruction; engaging students in learning through small groups, questions, role-playing, and simulations; aiding children in developing and applying concepts, generalizations, and hypotheses; aiding students in developing effective citizenship competencies; aiding students in developing and acting on social concern; preparing students to live in a global and culturally diverse world; comprehending, communicating, and remembering subject matter; harnessing technology to the social studies curriculum; adapting social studies instruction to individual needs; and evaluating and assessing student learning. For elementary school teachers of social studies.

"Randi Stone transports readers into the lively classrooms of award-winning teachers in this collection of outstanding methods for teaching social studies to diverse elementary, middle, and high school learners. Like its companion volumes for teaching writing, mathematics, and science, Best Practices for Teaching Social Studies presents firsthand accounts from educators offering fresh ideas and inquiry-based techniques to build student confidence, increase academic achievement, and develop critical thinking skills. Highlights include master teachers' tips on how to: organize and produce oral history projects, use technology to explore diversity, teach the art of geography and the geography of art, put the "social" back into social studies, and more. Beginning and experienced teachers alike will discover an abundance of creative teaching practices to strengthen the social studies curriculum."--PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE.

According to Piaget, all higher-order thinking skills have their bases in activities involving concrete manipulation and observation. The third edition of this highly regarded collection of social studies activities continues to be based on the premise that children learn best through experiences and activities—learning by doing. It features new activities for each social studies category (geography, history, anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, and interdisciplinary). Three important new additions to the key elements of the easy-to-follow activity format make it easier for instructors to meet standards-based curriculum requirements: A detailed treatment of National Council of Social Studies standards addressed; specific multiple intelligences addressed (also reinforced by a multiple intelligences section in the back of the book); and useful Web site(s) for group/individual research (URLs for sites that will expand or enrich the learning experience for the activity). By engaging pupils in meaningful, worthwhile social studies activities, instructors can emphasize the processes of learning rather than the products, resulting in a richly rewarding experience for pupils and teacher alike.

The field of elementary social studies is a specific space that has historically been granted unequal value in the larger arena of social studies education and research. This reader stands out as a collection of approaches aimed specifically at teaching controversial issues in elementary social studies. This reader challenges social studies education (i.e., classrooms, teacher education programs, and research) to engage controversial issues--those topics that are politically, religiously, or are otherwise ideologically charged and make people, especially teachers, uncomfortable--in profound ways at the elementary level. This reader, meant for elementary educators, preservice teachers, and social studies teacher educators, offers an innovative vision from a new generation of social studies teacher educators and researchers fighting against the forces of neoliberalism and the marginalization of our field. The reader is organized into three sections: 1) pushing the boundaries of how the field talks about elementary social studies, 2) elementary social studies teacher education, and 3) elementary social studies teaching and learning. Individual chapters either A) conceptually unpack a specific controversial issue (e.g. Islamophobia, Indian Boarding Schools, LGBT issues in schools) and how that issue should be/is incorporated in an elementary social studies methods courses and classrooms or B) present research on elementary preservice teachers or how elementary teachers and students engage controversial issues. This reader unpacks specific controversial issues for elementary social studies for readers to gain critical content knowledge, teaching tips, lesson ideas, and recommended resources. Endorsement: (Re)Imagining Elementary Social Studies is a timely and powerful collection that offers the best of what social studies education could and should be. Grounded in a politics of social justice, this book should be used in all elementary social studies methods courses and schools in order to develop the kinds of teachers the world needs today. -- Wayne Au, Professor, University of Washington Bothell, Editor, Rethinking Schools