Provides a crossword puzzle for social studies students. Offers clues based upon early Canadian history. Invites teachers to submit their own puzzles. (SG)

Discusses the poor performance of U.S. students in tests of geographic knowledge. Describes the Memphis (Tennessee) City Schools' World Regional Geography Concepts Project. Explains that the program instructs teachers in geographic content, concepts, and skills. Reports increased geographic expertise among teachers who participated. Indicates that…

Explores the modern history of homework, beginning with its origins in eighteenth-century England. Discusses early educational reformers' resistance to homework. Reports that former Soviet space advances spurred a U.S. reexamination of homework through the 1960s and 1970s. Examines the contemporary view of homework as an inexpensive means of…

Suggests that in social studies class, instructional methodology becomes the link between the subject matter and what is learned. Offers "All Roads Lead to Rome," a unit plan in which students have opportunities to become self-directed in their work. Provides lessons involving study skills, chronology, and culture and daily life. (SG)

Discusses the use of feature films in promoting student critical thinking. Proposes using the technique on the elementary, secondary, or college level. Lists possible films and associated questions for discussion. Suggests that role playing could help students develop new perspectives on the films' characters. (SG)

Suggests methods for teaching about Yugoslavia. Recommends assigning students to maintain journals of news clippings about developments in Yugoslavia. Proposes forming cooperative-learning groups for researching the country's various regions. Offers activities for teaching about language arts, fine arts, reading and literature, religion,…

Provides an annotated list of items from the ERIC database concerning the teaching of history. Includes documents dealing with social history, citizenship education, and the teaching of history through literature. Offers instructions for obtaining ERIC documents. (SG)

Gives a brief history of the U.S. census. Outlines attempts to make the 1990 census the most accurate in history by using a computerized mapping system, and describes special efforts to count the homeless and the transient populations. Suggests how educators may adapt materials offered by the government to their classrooms. (LS)

Looks at criticism of the Expanding Environments Model in the elementary school social studies curriculum. Cites recent reports that recommend a history-centered elementary curriculum. States that teaching methods may be the cause of historical, civic, and geographic illiteracy rather than the Expanding Environments Model. (LS)

Relates how a blunder about the Arctic Ocean and the polar ice cap made by the author in his first year of teaching led to a successful learning experience. Lists five important discussion topics that social studies teachers should use to teach about this remote, but strategic, part of the world. (LS)

Proposes an interdisciplinary approach to teaching elementary social studies. Provides examples that show how linking all areas of a culture can make it come alive for students. Includes a list of resource materials for using this technique. (LS)

Examines how U.S. junior high school and high school students view success. Includes classroom activities that help set realistic models for success and how people achieve it. Suggests several books that provide examples of success attributions. (LS)

Examines the Arab-Israeli issue using a humanistic approach. Uses case studies of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and a 17-year-old Israeli boy in a role-playing activity intended to help secondary students better understand concepts underlying the long-standing controversy in the Middle East. (LS)

Argues that within the context of teacher training, critical thinking takes on a more dynamic role than simple skill acquisition. States that critical thinking about urgent issues facing schools is a prelude to reflective teaching. Raises two questions that may be used in methods courses to encourage critical thought. (LS)

Provides an annotated bibliography from the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Social Studies Social Science Clearinghouse on the Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations given to high school students. Resources focus on the relationship between success on the AP Examinations and subsequent success in college courses and on other…