This six-day research project examined the potential for how trade books and primary sources can be used in concert with each other to develop middle school students' disciplinary thinking skills in the manners advocated for in the C3 Framework. The project was focused on the trade book "Thurgood," a picture book biography about Supreme…

This article explores how middle school students envision their communities through an in-depth community mapping project. The research explores the extent of students' sense of their community while prompting them to define what community means and whether it is valued by students. The project also seeks to understand students' sense of belonging…

This study present findings related to students' community and political engagement and activism after participation in an action civics institute. The institute, iEngage, is a weeklong summer experience for rising fifth through rising ninth graders that utilizes the action civics inquiry cycle to foster civic skills and cultivate participation…

This article calls for greater attention to the role of emotion and affect in classroom discussions where theoretical models of discussion and deliberation tend to emphasize the rationalistic elements called for in such pedagogical strategies. Using two examples drawn from secondary classrooms, the authors highlight the role of emotion and affect…

Authors discuss the relationship between social studies education and patriotism. The authors share two lesson plans (one elementary and one secondary) that examine the racialized and politicized experiences of three professional athletes, Gabby Douglas, Colin Kaepernick, and Megan Rapinoe. Drawing on tenets of critical race media literacy and…

Second grade students learn about philanthropy by creating projects where they work through an inquiry process. Each student works with a group to create community-based projects that support existing local non-profits to enrich the quality of life in an area. Student action is visible through an authentic assessment event that allows students to…

Due to the changing landscape of K-12 education in the United States, particularly issues arising from funding, safety, accessibility, and standardization, the frequency at which teachers utilize traditional field trips has diminished over the last few decades. Thanks to continued advances in communicative technology, however, teachers are able to…

This article reports on a study that asks how might an elections simulation influence students with strong polarizing political beliefs? The elections simulation asks students to take on roles as candidate teams, political party leaders, interest groups, and media outlets in a mock presidential election. Students not only learn about elections but…

Civic education for our youngest citizens faces two challenges if we want to imagine new possibilities. First, the field of social studies uses frames of analyzing citizenship education based on studies of older students. Second, predetermined adult ideas (and ideals) of what it means to act civically dominate our conceptions of civic education…

In the last few years, xenophobic rhetoric and policies have sharply increased across the world and is especially apparent in the rise of far right political parties in Europe, the Brexit vote in Great Britain, and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. In these times, teachers have a responsibility to stand for values of inclusion and…

Dominant approaches to teaching social studies often marginalize bilingual and bicultural students. This is particularly troubling because the explicit goal of the social studies is to cultivate civic participation. Educational inequalities are thus tied to political inequalities. In light of this, this article shares a narrative case study of the…

In this study we report the findings of a two-year professional development study using scaffolded lesson-study to encourage and support four teachers' desire to use discussion with increased frequency and quality. We joined a collaborative community of practice made up of one university researcher, two classroom teachers, and a political science…

The purpose of this article is to empower those interested in teaching students powerful and engaging social studies. Through the lens of Supreme Court simulations, this article provides educators with a viable, classroom-tested lesson plan to bring Problem-Based Learning into their classrooms. The specific aim of the lesson is to provide students…

Project-based learning is an example of powerful social studies learning in which student engage in active inquiry. Action civics is a relatively new educational practice in which students "act as citizens" through a cycle of research, action, and reflection about problems they care about in their community. "Building Civic…

This content analysis explored how Civics and Government textbooks and the Virginia Standards of Learning for Civics and Government courses reflect citizenship outcomes, specifically deconstructing the unique needs of marginalized students. The coding frame was constructed by using themes and categories from previous literature, specifically…