In this article, Kimi Waite and Jennifer Burgin describe a three-step interdisciplinary framework for learning partnerships between TK-2 students and scientists that covers the NCSS themes SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY and PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS. The authors showcase standards-aligned learning activities and resources to help practicing…

This article bridges scholarship in global education with elementary classroom teaching by presenting a series of lessons that challenge the idea of national culture as fixed and stable. When teaching about another country other than the United States, teachers tend to rely on misappropriated generalizations around food, holidays, and folktales…

At the intersection of social studies and world language curricula are opportunities to explore students' prior learning with vocabulary-rich content designed to support language acquisition goals. "Funds of knowledge" is defined as socio-cultural, economic, and historical knowledge from home and community settings. The instructional…

This article features highlights from an integrated curricular unit designed to challenge how the gender gap influences young learners' gender stereotypes of STEM professions by allowing students to question their own biases about these occupations while learning herstory. It was implemented in a third-grade classroom in a suburban elementary…

Service learning is an instructional approach that connects and combines community service activities with academic learning. It is a method that facilitates student learning through active participation in organized community service. It can be used with students across all grade levels and it can be integrated across all subjects. Service…

Two early childhood researchers from a local public university, have been visiting Mrs. Ball's kindergarten classroom in a small, rural elementary school in the Midwest to read books and discuss characters' identities. In this article, the authors share stories of how they laid the foundation for these conversations and others like it through…

This article draws on my reflections from a year-long study in a first-grade classroom in a Midwestern public elementary school during which the author read and discussed a total of fourteen Asian American picture books with the class. In this article, she discusses the children's interactions with Asian American stories and provides suggestions…

Lauren Hennig is a relatively new third grade teacher in Charleston, Illinois. She knows that patiently listening to others and respectfully sharing one's own opinion is a learned skill that's essential for promoting and sustaining our democracy. This is the story of how Lauren works to help her students develop this skill through student-led…

In this article, the author describes how an "I do, we do, you do" scaffolded approach for explicit instruction can be utilized to teach map skills to students in kindergarten through grade 2. She argues that classroom teachers who are familiar with explicit instruction may frequently use the model for reading and math instruction while…

This article describes how one social studies class used chants to express themselves. One student's chant communicated her understandings of citizenship; it included three specific ways that she can be a good responsible citizen. This student's communication of ideas reflects the fourth dimension of the Inquiry Arc in the College, Career, and…

The authors challenged their second grade students to design and build a small house for a Skylander toy character that would be economical, yet able to withstand "the elements of wind and rain." While this social studies (economics)/science/math integrated project was completed with second grade students, the lessons presented in this…

The first grade unit described here, Inspiring Americans, is a collaborative project between the authors, a first-grade classroom teacher and a librarian. The unit supports the four dimensions of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, which guides the way students explore, interact, and learn about their world. The C3 Framework…

Who decides when children are ready to talk about hard issues? At what point are our students willing and able to become critical consumers of society? To develop as critical thinkers and instrumental players in the transformation of our future society, young citizens need to participate in authentic activities that will foster critical thinking…

People often think that ideas about mapping and culture are too difficult and abstract for kindergarten students, let alone English Language Learners (ELLs). This article however describes how a preservice teacher taught a three day unit in geography to her students based upon places they or their family members had visited. Many of the students…

This article describes the month-long social studies unit on mindfulness that the kindergarten teacher co-taught in her classroom with Sarah, an elementary social studies professor, and Maya, then a teacher candidate. After exploring the intersections between mindfulness and social studies education, examples of activities and resources from the…