Designed for use in preservice and inservice teacher education courses, this document focuses on the development of social studies curriculum. Chapter 1 provides information about recent trends in elementary level social studies. The value and development of resource and teaching units and lesson plans are emphasized in chapter 2, while chapter 3 considers the use of selected social studies learning activities. Chapter 4 addresses reading problems in relation to social studies classes, and chapter 5 describes the classroom use of maps and globes. Methods of grouping students for instructional purposes are described in chapter 6, while chapter 7 investigates the teaching of current events. Chapters 8-10 describe student committees, classroom creativity, and social studies curriculum issues. Chapter 11 discusses selected educational philosophies and learning psychology in relation to social studies education, and chapter 12 explores various methods of student achievement evaluation. Each chapter contains a list of discussion questions and selected resources. (JHP)