Social studies currently has greater significance as teachers and students interact with content in a meaningful way. The second edition of this book describes a child-centered classroom where students can expose and explore critical content and connect their learning to the real world. This edition includes new features: "Teacher's Notebook" identifies how to develop reading and writing skills using social studies resources and content; "Tarry's Teaching Tips" provides organizational decisions for building a democratic classroom; "How It Worked for Me" offers brief accounts from teachers across the country who have used Tarry's ideas; kinesthetic organizers imagery as well as linguistic supports that help students recall knowledge better; standards and assessment, a new look at today's classroom; best practices and the latest brain research applied throughout the book; and expanded and updated references. Following the "Foreword" (Margit McGuire), there are eight chapters: (1) "Making Connections"; (2) "Setting Up for Success"; (3) "Implementing Integration"; (4) "Making It Meaningful"; (5) "Exploring Values and Points of View"; (6) "Activating Learning"; (7) "Making Teaching and Learning Challenging"; and (8) "Assessing Student Achievement." The "Teacher's Notebook" is appended. (Contains 101 references.) (BT)