This second edition of Teaching Social Studies Today has been updated to reflect the latest research and today's best practices in social studies instruction. This invaluable resource focuses on implementing social studies instruction with a language arts instructional lens. It addresses effective research-supported ways to differentiate instruction, as well as how curriculum can be extended, accelerated, and enriched for the C3 framework. Packed with various teaching methods and techniques, up-to-date research-based theory and practical applications, and easy-to-implement strategies and techniques, this book is essential reading for both novice and seasoned teachers.

Featuring sound educational strategies based on solid research and proven methodology, this exceptional resource provides teachers with best practices in social studies instruction that can be immediately implemented in the classroom. Authored by two social studies experts with more than 60 years combined classroom experience, this resource is designed for anyone who is interested in current educational theory and best practice. Packed with various teaching methods and techniques, up-to-date research-based theory and practical applications, this book is great for new and experienced teachers. This resource is aligned to the interdisciplinary themes from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. 200 pp.

Teaching Social Studies: A Methods Book for Methods Teachers, features tasks designed to take preservice teachers deep into schools in general and into social studies education in particular. Organized around Joseph Schwab's commonplaces of education and recognizing the role of inquiry as a preferred pedagogy in social studies, the book offers a series of short chapters that highlight learners and learning, subject matter, teachers and teaching, and school context. The 42 chapters describe tasks that the authors assign to their methods students as either in?class or as outside?of?class assignments. The components of each chapter are: > Summary of the task > Description of the exercise (i.e., what students are to do, the necessary resources, the timeframe for completion, grading criteria) > Description of how students respond to the activity > Description of how the task fits into the overall course > List of readings and references > Appendix that supplements the task description

A team of researchers from 35 states across the country developed a survey designed to create a snapshot of social studies teaching and learning in the United States. With over 12,000 responses, it is the largest survey of social studies teachers in over three decades. We asked teachers about their curricular goals, their methods of instruction, their use of technology, and the way they address the needs of English language learners and students with disabilities. We gathered demographic data too, along with inquiries about the teachers' training, their professional development experiences, and even whether they serve as coaches. The enormous data set from this project was analyzed by multiple research teams, each with its own chapter. This volume would be a valuable resource for any professor, doctoral student, or Master’s student examining the field of social studies education. It is hard to imagine a research study, topical article, or professional development session concerning social studies that would not quote findings from this book about the current status of social studies. With chapters on such key issues as the teaching of history, how teachers address religion, social studies teachers’ use of technology, and how teachers adapt their instruction for students with disabilities or for English language learners, the book’s content will immediately be relevant and useful.

No plan to increase achievement and enact reform in the social studies classroom will succeed without recognizing the central importance of the teacher as the gatekeeperof instruction. In this book, Thornton details why teachers must develop strong skills in curriculum planning and teaching methods in order for effective instruction to occur. Thornton helps teachers to develop a vision of their practice that will build strong social studies programs and inspire students to learn. This book features replicable examples of the kinds of reflective practice that will enable teachers to animate classroom instruction and create a dynamic social studies curriculum and an analysis of how teachers adapt and shape state and district level curricula and classroom materials to fit the specific needs of their students, and a model of how to develop an instructional program with suggestions for lesson planning.

Designed for use in elementary and secondary social studies education courses, this book supports the teaching of social studies methods in a range of educational settings. By highlighting long-standing content and principles of social studies education in a concise and direct way, this volume offers the building blocks of a comprehensive course, for use as springboards to the effective presentation of professors' desired course emphases. With sections on foundations, subject areas, and best practices, this text explains the intersection between the "modelling" role of social studies teachers as democratic citizens, social studies fields of study, and strategies implemented in the classroom to encourage students' critical thinking and values formation.

Featuring sound educational strategies based on solid research and proven methodology, this exceptional resource provides teachers with best practices in social studies instruction that can be immediately implemented in the classroom. Authored by two social studies experts with more than 60 years combined classroom experience, this resource is designed for anyone who is interested in current educational theory and best practice. Packed with various teaching methods and techniques, up-to-date research-based theory and practical applications, this book is great for new and experienced teachers. This resource is aligned to the interdisciplinary themes from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.