This practical book addresses the consistent questions that were posed by secondary social studies teachers during professional learning sessions. In particular, it examines ways to break through the inclination and perception expressed by many teachers that "my kids cannot do that." Drawing on 22 years as a high school history teacher,…

Innovations in content delivery abound in the world today, providing very effective tools for engaging students in meaningful learning. Social studies teachers have long known that having students memorize names and dates is a fairly useless exercise. Good teachers present material so that students can understand its application in their lives.…

This article presents a guided inquiry into Thomas Jefferson's place in American memory. It centers on Jefferson's liberty-based articulations and his involvement in slavery, which are paradoxical when juxtaposed. Evocative primary sources and competing secondary sources ground the inquiry. Discipline-specific strategies direct students through…

There have been multiple calls to support more systematic approaches to addressing the needs of multilingual students in social studies. In this action research study, the authors point to the Maryland Humanities Inquiry Kits, which provide an example of how to leverage digital history resources in the multilingual classroom for a culturally and…

Meaningful source work is at the heart of social studies learning, but often a tall order for elementary-aged students. In this article, the authors describe the construction and implementation of a fifth grade inquiry on the Suffrage Movement using a focused version of the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint. Using source analysis scaffolds…

NCSS's framework for social studies education, "The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards," is centered on the concept of inquiry. As social studies teachers have worked to incorporate historical inquiry, many have understandably emphasized the teaching of historical thinking and democratic…

In this article, the authors discuss how to explore the agency of ordinary citizens using local institutions to combat Jim Crow segregation laws during Freedom Summer. Primary sources from Miami (OH) University website about Freedom Summer and Susan Goldman Rubin's trade book ground the inquiry. Through the series of activities discussed, middle…

Most prekindergarten (preK) teachers are probably unfamiliar with the "College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards." John McDonnell, who teaches a class of eleven four-year-old children, also had not heard of it until he attended the author's workshop on early childhood social studies practices,…

This research explores my social studies teacher educator practice and my attempts to teach about environmental sustainability. The research questions were: How can I get involved in the environmental sustainability movement on my campus as a teacher educator? What obstacles do I face? What actions do I take? Two differing cultural paradigms, with…

This transcendental phenomenological qualitative study examined two middle school social studies teachers that worked with an instructional coach to use their classroom textbook to transform the curriculum by using the College, Career, and Civic (C3) Life framework. Both teachers implemented several attributes and characteristics from the…

As the COVID-19 pandemic invaded our lives in March of 2020, schools were forced to close their doors and urgently transition to remote learning. This action research study is about pre-service elementary teachers (PSTs) in a social justice-focused social studies methods course who used this unprecedented time as valid curricular material. While…

The research aimed to 1) study the needs in developing indigenous history for diversity students in Northern Thailand, 2) develop indigenous history learning resources for diversity students in Northern Thailand through area-based participatory action learning of social studies pre-service teachers, and 3) distill learned lessons obtained from…

21st Century skills such as critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are very important when it comes to Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics or STEM. But those same skills should be integrated in social studies. The impact of students' learning in social studies as a result of implementing inquiry-based instructional strategies was…

Deep social studies-based engagement is critical in early childhood to provide a foundation for later learning and increasingly mature understandings. Skills and attitudes necessary for active citizenship should be fostered in prekindergarten "in a way which is appealing and pleasurable (Casey, DiCarlo, & Sheldon, 2019, p. 1)". The…

Descriptive and qualitative research was used to explore teacher training, teachers' perceptions, and instructional practice for writing in inclusive middle school science (n = 22) and social studies (n = 27) classrooms. Data sources for the two parallel studies included questionnaires and interviews with 49 participating teachers as well as four…