Forecasts what the social studies will be like in the year 2050 A.D. Discusses issues such as the nature of school, the teaching of religion and morality, the type of knowledge taught, and characteristics and preparation of social studies teachers. (CMK)

Describes "Storypath," a lesson plan framework that integrates social studies curriculum with the basic elements of a story. Outlines a three-week history unit, "The Coming of the American Revolution," created with "Storypath." Discusses the correlation between Storypath and the Michigan content standards and considers the assessments used. (CMK)

Addresses challenges that face social studies education, including the argument over the United States as a "melting pot' or a "salad bowl"; how to increase multicultural understanding; and the growing gap between the rich and the poor in the United States and the world. (CMK)

Criticizes the Grade 11 Social Studies Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), stating that it lacks incentives for all students; is not truly an exit examination; drives changes in local curriculum; and is too heavily grounded in structuralist assumptions. Appeals for a progressive redirection of the Social Studies MEAP. (CMK)

Discusses some current types and uses of technology in the social studies classroom, citing the Inspiration tool program, PowerPoint, and hypermedia in general. Considers whether these approaches are simply the old "lecture and quiz" dressed in a new media. (CMK)

Describes molding students into positive change agents. Includes a model that links change agent skills to civic engagement. Presents two projects that include positive change agent skills in the context of civic engagement. States that positive change agent skills prepare students for career success. (CMK)

Describes Lawton (Michigan) Elementary School's "Road to Success" program, which emerged from concern for students' knowledge of civics and ability to participate as effective citizens. Explains that an important aspect of the program is its focus on Core Democratic Values. (CMK)

Focuses on the importance of building four capacities in students: disciplinary knowledge, thinking skills, commitment to democratic values, and citizen participation. Examines the use of learning communities to develop these capacities. Discusses the application of brain based learning research to the classroom, such as immersion within the…

Discusses the history and reasons for community-based mural art in North America. Describes the steps involved in a community-based mural project for students in which they work in groups to develop a mural theme and a sketch of the mural, paint the mural, document the process, and then present the mural to the class. (CMK)

Explains that in a study of the Holocaust teachers must connect the stories of the Holocaust to the lives of their students. Provides five activities about the Holocaust that focus upon teaching tolerance. Addresses the children of the Holocaust, difference versus deviance, social identity, and The Night of Broken Glass. (CMK)

Addresses the reasons for exploring semiconductor technology and organic semiconductors in schools for either middle school or secondary students in an interdisciplinary social studies and science environment. Provides background information on transistors and semiconductors. Offers three social studies lessons and related science lessons if an…

Presents a lesson for an United States Government class where the students work in groups in order to explore the tradeoffs among energy usage, transportation, environmental issues, and policy choices that must be made when solving urban transportation problems. Includes six handouts. (CMK)

Describes the Matrix Plan that is a planning grid with operational verbs related to Bloom's taxonomy and acts as a means for assisting teachers in differentiating instruction in the regular classroom. Explores a case where pre-service teachers utilized the Matrix Plan in order to help them learn about differential instruction. (CMK)

Contends that teachers must help students overcome their dislike of history by utilizing strategies that focus on children's interest in stories as a means for encouraging their students to connect with history. Discusses dramatization, children's literature, and storytelling, and provides a bibliography of children's literature. (CMK)

Explores the complex interaction between a group of University of California 'farm advisors' and the farm community that they are meant to advise. Focuses on the advisors' use of field-based experiments conducted on growers' land to convince their agricultural clientele to farm in a new way. (Author/YDS)