Activities to help the classroom teacher involve students in the process of raising, defining, investigating, and resolving problems and questions are suggested. Selected references are included. (Author/RM)

Four popular inquiry models using the theme pollution, developed by Bernice Goldmark, Charlotte Crabtree, Barry Beyer, and Maurice Hunt and Laurence Metcalf are described and analyzed according to the following guidelines: 1) Identification of the components of the model, 2) Statement of the author's rationale for the model, 3) Interpretation of…

Sequential plans that focus on a topic for grades three, five, and eight are presented. (Author/RM)

Five objections to inquiry teaching in the social studies classroom are discussed. (Author/RM)

The slow curriculum change in minority social studies is attributed to the fact that the state, through local school districts, is not functioning as expected. (Author/RM)

Offers reasons for the recent increased attention to social studies skills on all grade levels and outlines major skills in three areas--traditional (reading, listening, speaking, discussion, map skills, and written language); inquiry (developing hypotheses, collecting and analyzing data); and values (rational analysis, reading, and citizenship…

Outlines 10 types of skills which are essential to social studies teaching, suggests strategies for teaching these skills, and illustrates principles which can aid social studies classroom teachers as they plan learning activities for skill development. (DB)

Presents a rationale for combining content mastery with skill development in social studies. Also provides tips to social studies classroom teachers on planning more systematically, selecting materials for skill development using specific content, stimulating a sense of intellectual achievement, and planning pupil activities which allow students…

Evaluates the amount of instructional time which is devoted to map reading and other geographic skills during social studies classes in elementary school. Identifies stages which pupils pass through as they learn to draw maps. Suggests that map experiences be integrated into the curriculum so that children can better accomplish map-related tasks.…

Maintains that: (1) mapping skills in elementary school social studies classes should not be separated from life situations; (2) maps are tools that can be used to collect, store, and share information; and (3) the best way for pupils to learn about mapping skills is to combine map and globe activities with content, observation, and real life…

Suggests several ways in which students in junior high school social studies classes can be made aware of how the political system works. Topics discussed include the research approach, political participation, decision making, and effecting change. (DB)

Proposes that social studies teachers make newspaper reading a daily assignment for all students. Also suggests that, whenever possible, social studies content should be related to contemporary events to encourage daily newspaper use and to show the relevance of content. (Author/DB)

In 1920 Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd published the results of their exhaustive study of everyday life in Muncie, Indiana, dubbing the city "Middletown" as a symbol of the typical American community. Salient conclusions of the study are summarized, and significant recent literature on Middletown is assessed. (RM)

A replication of the 1920 Lynd study of everday life in Middletown, a typical America community, is presented. Data reveal that while Middletown did experience rapid change between 1890 and 1920 as the Industrial Revolution swept through middle America, there has been a significantly slower rate of change since then. (Author/RM)

Known as Middletown since Robert and Helen Lynd studied it in 1924, Muncie, like every other U.S. community studied during that period, turned out to be obsessed with the idea of social class. Recently researchers have found in Muncie some tendency toward the disappearance of a preoccupation with social class. (RM)