to develop good citizens for the democratic society in which we live in

enable students to understand, participate in, and make informed decisions about their world

society has changed as well as schools, therefore students lives change and continue to change

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

engaging and interactive lessons that are appropriate to the content

"Elementary content is constantly changing because of the variety of influences and pressures for change"

the social sciences offer a unique perspective about the world- sociology, anthropology, political science, etc.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

goals and objectives come first and foremost

focus on shifting toward more independence toward upper elementary

focus on the problem approach in lower elementary grades, having students make decisions while arousing curiosity. Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

Topics dealing with the decision making process and value formation is controversial, but will always be necessary

"Teachers want students to develop high

moral character and grow to exemplify civic virtue, which is the central element of civic engagement."

The essential purpose of teaching and learning social studies is to develop as good citizens.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

"Elementary teachers can help students develop their values by giving them experiences in which they can become more reflective and analytical about what they do and what they see."

Teachers can set up classroom governments, look at questions of equality, justice, and human rights, as well as playing games and sports can be an opportunity to talk about decision making importance.

Steps that should be used when planning to creatively use textbooks:

• try to get the "big picture"

• create a scope and sequence/curriculum map

• use teacher edition to plan activities for each unit

• maintain high levels of sensitivity

• remember textbooks and resources are only variety of available materials

• examine evaluation materials provided with the textbook carefully

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

"Teachers can help students develop

values through a variety of approaches, including direct teaching, modeling, moral stories and lessons, and examination of personal actions and the actions of others."

Teachers should make it essential to have students analyze occurrences in every day life and to understand their decisions and reflect on them

Make students more aware of distinguishing differences and similarities that unify different cultures and ethnic groups of the world.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

It can be a lot of work for teachers especially when it becomes assessment time, making sure their prepared and confident in themselves.

help students read social studies material

• pre-teach difficult vocabulary before reading

• shorten length of independent tasks

• explain clear purpose for reading

• ensure comprehension of text and practice them using their predictive skills

using classifying charts consisting of

• definition in own words

• characteristics

• examples (personal)

• non-examples

using student-centered experiences including the word experts, picture definitions, sound pictures, word look-outs, contextual locating, and creating context.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

recognize organization of reading materials, bring meaning to reading, read for a purpose, read critically

controlling the amount of material the students should read as most social studies books are written above elementary grade-level reading ability by:

• using student or teacher written summaries

• use textbook cut-ups

• textbook highlighting

• question write-ins

• class divide ups

"All students should have equal chances of achieving their full potential." Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

Multicultural education requires teachers being culturally responsive and become more aware of prejudice/bias.

It is important to relate information that you are teaching to students every day lives and help make connections to course content.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

Discussion based components of social studies are very helpful to English Language Learners rather than having a teacher lecture. Providing students with peers can help vocabulary, etc.

Display books, photographs, flags of students culture throughout the classroom and have students share artifacts about their culture

using visual aids to guide instruction as it supports contextualized instruction such as charts, graphs, maps, pictures, etc.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

Service learning and volunteer opportunities helps students demonstrate character civic mindedness

working with administration to plan and organize service learning projects that are on-going and can be long-term projects that get the whole class involved

"All service learning projects require that students selflessly serve others in some capacity. The action students take to complete a service learning experience is often either social or political."

Making the learning environment so powerful that students remember what goes on there as well as the information and skills

making the students be able to experience the social studies so that the learning is more impactful by including:

• the ability and interest of the learning

• previous background knowledge and experience

• how understood learning experiences are understood

• amount of practice/repetition

• students perceptions of importance of learning

• degree to students feel/do not feel safe and accepted

• senses and intelligences involved in the learning experience

making engaged activities such as dramatized skits, plays, field trips, role plays, story telling, art and story-related dramatics etc.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

enhancing instruction with the internet by:

• evaluating websites

• mobile technologies and apps

• interactive white boards

• media literacy

• web-quests

finding virtual field trips for students (activities that allow students to visit historic sites, monuments, museums, or other locations that teachers can guide)

gain an understanding of the student population and the community to address any potential issues that may occur from incorporating technology

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

"Technologies innovations continually change the way people communicate, socialize, interact, and learn. This means that teachers will also need to constantly evaluate and develop new teaching strategies to incorporate instructional technology into curriculum."

technology becomes more connected to daily life, so teaching them skills in understanding technological devices and their implications, it becomes a critical aspect in becoming an effective citizens

If teachers ignore consistently online etiquitte, because they are controversial students are more likely to fall victim to the dangers of cyberbullying.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

teachers help students gain logical thinking and analyzing skills in at least three ways: modeling, through discussion, and through guided practice with feedback

helping students learn to think logically to lead them to critical and creative thought processes to be able to make informed decisions based on the information available

"Help students realize that the true secret of problem solving is perseverance and that the process is often as valuable as the outcome.

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)

promoting critical thinking with modules: consisting of several activities centered on one or a series of closely related ideas

case studies: help the students see the personal and human aspects of a culture or of a time

"Thinking skills can be taught through modeling the teacher, through carefully planned discussions, and through guided practice."

Russell, W. B. & Waters, S. (2022)