Almost eighty years ago, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, founder of Bank Street College of Education in New York City, wrote about social studies in ways that sound remarkably contemporary: "In the first place, we shall say that the curriculum should continue the laboratory methods, which means it should furnish the children with as many first-hand…

In this article, the authors describe how integrating interactive mobile tools into elementary pedagogy can generate enthusiasm and critical thinking among students as they learn about the world. The activities described took place over the course of six one-hour periods spanning six days. These activities address three major social studies…

In this article, the authors describe a recent project undertaken at the University of South Florida's (USF) Preschool for Creative Learning. To align with the inquiry approach of their laboratory school, the environment at the Preschool is designed so that children can learn through exploration and individual initiative. The administration…

This lesson was inspired by the book, "10 Little Rubber Ducks" by Eric Carle, which discusses ocean pollution. The book was inspired by an incident in 1992: A shipping container tumbled into the North Pacific Ocean, broke open, and 28,800 little rubber ducks (and other plastic bath toys) were lost at sea. The ducks were manufactured in China, and…

According to the authors, five years ago their school district embraced Understanding by Design as the organizing framework for curriculum. The emphasis on enduring understandings and essential questions led the sixth grade social studies teachers to reevaluate what they were teaching in their World History Curriculum. Together the authors worked…

Geography Action Week 2000 was fast approaching and the author was trying to decide on a way for her fourth grade class to actively participate in the theme for the year. The theme "Here Today--Here Tomorrow: A Geographic Focus on Conservation" centered on sustainable use, preservation, and restoration of our natural and cultural environment. As…

Instructional time for social studies has been reduced nationwide, particularly in the elementary grades. Yet states continue to promote content standards in history, economics, civics, and geography for young learners. Purposeful integrative content that is appropriate for grades K-6, while sometimes difficult to find, seems to many elementary…

At a very young age children become curious about themselves and their place in the world around them. As children mature, questions of origin signal the desire for a broader explanation of the world, a desire for a deeper understanding of something bigger than themselves to explain events that happen around them. There is a great variety of…

Originally called Earth Viewer in 2004, Google Earth was the first virtual globe easily available to the ordinary user of the Internet. Google Earth, at earth.google.com, is a free, 3-dimensional computer model of Earth, but that means more than just a large collection of pretty pictures. It allows the viewer to "fly" anywhere on Earth "to view…

A unit of study on Ancient Greece is a part of the fourth grade social studies curriculum at Belmont Day School. The students spend 10 weeks exploring Greek history and mythology. This article discusses a new project that the authors conducted, wherein one of them was going to Greece on a study tour, while the other one stays in Belmont Day…

Maps and mapping activities are essential in the primary grades. Maps are truly ubiquitous today, as evidenced by the popularity of websites such as Google Earth and Mapquest, and by devices such as Global Positioning System (GPS) units in cars, planes, and boats. Maps can give visual settings to travel stories and historical narratives and can…

The popular reality television show "Amazing Race" involves participants searching for clues and completing tasks as they progress on a journey all over the world. Inspired by the show, the author incorporated some of the tasks from "Amazing Race" with geocaching, a game in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to seek…

Children begin to learn at an early age their "place in the world." Through their natural curiosity and in using their five senses to explore nature, children begin to understand human-environment relationships: sensing how to get from point A to point B on their own, experiencing the movement of products and people, and observing how places…

In this article, the author talks about two elementary classroom activities used as teaching tools, namely "Show and Tell" and "Sharing Time." As a teaching tool, Sharing Time has several advantages over Show and Tell. It avoids children bringing valuable items to school, reduces emphasis on materialism, allows opportunities for extended oral…

It is no secret that language arts and math are the dominant features of the elementary curriculum. This is especially the case in Kindergarten through third grades. In many states, the thrust of the curriculum in the primary grades is on learning to read. After that, it is thought that students will then be able to read to learn. With that…