Inquiry is the process by which teachers give students an open-ended question, and then students investigate the evidence and draw conclusions based upon their findings. This method promotes critical thinking, as students cite evidence to support their opinions. Inquiry is most effective when it builds upon students' prior knowledge. To promote…

Many people hold two common misconceptions about the Pennsylvania Dutch: first, that these people live exclusively in the state of Pennsylvania; second, that their ancestors came from Holland. However, neither assumption is correct. One can find large Pennsylvania Dutch communities in Mary land, West Virginia, Virginia, the Carolinas, Ohio,…

Photography can be an exciting way to integrate art and creativity into social studies. Photography allows students to use creative self-expression in revealing the symbolism in historic places, people, or scenes with a richness that words alone often cannot accomplish. In this article, the authors provide several ideas for creating photo essays.…

Should elementary school students be introduced to disturbing current events topics? A common response would be to protect the innocence of young children, allowing them to live their lives relatively free of the troubles that beset the world. But closer examination reveals that the study of current events actually helps to reduce fear and worry.…

This article describes the ways in which the author guided her third- and fourth-grade students in the use of historical fiction and primary and secondary sources (letters, historical newspapers, census data, photos) to think and write critically about provocative historical events. In creating their own newspaper, students learned to summarize…

The author's school is located in Caldwell, New Jersey, which has the honor of being the birthplace of President Grover Cleveland. She wanted her students to connect that legacy to their study of the presidency. She knew that first graders are kinesthetic learners who love stories. She decided to combine excellent children's literature with…

The daily challenge of providing comprehensible instruction to English language learners (ELLs) can be daunting. This article discusses how teachers of ELL students may address this challenge and enrich the social studies curriculum for all. The authors begin with an account of a classroom activity that illustrates what can be done by a classroom…

Newspapers provide an engaging, visual, hands-on resource to introduce young children to a world beyond the one they know and to help them become literate, well-informed citizens. Using newspapers in the classroom is certainly not a new idea, but it is more often seen as a strategy in middle school and high school classrooms than in elementary…

Many elementary school teachers with a passion for teaching social studies are finding that the administratively defined time for direct instruction in social studies is becoming increasingly restricted. Fortunately for the teacher who is convinced that social and civic education should be at the center of the elementary school curriculum, where…

It is vital for young students to see how the lives of the veterans connect to their own lives. In this article, the author describes a project of making history come alive. The project started with a visit to the Otterbein Cemetery mausoleum to learn about the U.S. military veterans interred there. These veterans represented a century of U.S.…

Teaching social studies for understanding is complicated and challenging, but is rewarding when done effectively because students often exceed expectations. They construct understandings of the content, acquire a language to talk about it, and find a host of examples for applying it to their lives. Barbara Knighton, one of the authors of this…

In the elementary school, poverty, hunger, and homelessness are most often discussed in terms of a canned food drive conducted during a holiday season, but there are other options for activities in which children can learn about poverty, and to do something about it. This article describes ways to develop students awareness of poverty. Some print…

This past spring, a panel of 17 adults at Hofstra University was invited to speak on the topic of "The Teacher Who Shaped My Life." The panelists (professors, teachers, administrators, and undergraduate and graduate students) spoke of teachers who had stretched their students' minds, spoken to their hearts, appreciated them as creative…

In the author's article in the 1988 premiere issue of "Social Studies and the Young Learner," he suggested that chain songs and rounds, simple folk and summer camp standards, could be easily transformed with lyrics (written by the teacher or students) that contained useful, purposeful social studies content. He argued then, and still does, that…

During a recent trip to South Africa, the author had an array of opportunities to experience the cultural, historical, political, and geographic landscape of the country. He was privileged to visit classrooms and to teach and interact with students and teachers. Through teaching some lessons on democracy and citizenship, the author learned that…