Education Commons^™

Closing The Knowledge Gap With Literacy-Infused And Rich Social Studies Content, Jeffrey Leffler, Ksenia Zhbanova

Journal of Research Initiatives

Social studies have been marginalized in early childhood education amid the prevalence of standardized testing and political issues. However, a comprehensive approach to early education, including social studies, is gaining attention. This article emphasizes the significance of incorporating social studies into early childhood curriculum, illuminating its potential to enhance children's cognitive and social-emotional development. The second important aspect of this article focuses on the role of social studies in literacy skill development through building background knowledge, critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills of young children.

Teaching The New Deal: 1932-1941 – Review And Analysis, Susan M. Foster, Brian Walker Johnson

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Teaching the New Deal: 1932-1941 is a text of crucial and timely importance for students and teachers of middle and high school social studies. Through the lenses of four major themes, authors demonstrate inquiry-based pedagogy to intentionally provoke students to consider non-binary conclusions that closely examine the purported heroes, villains, and martyrs of traditional historical narratives. Rather than presenting a factual or ideological approach to teaching disciplinary standards, this text depicts the New Deal Era as a period in history that can be used to critically and creatively discuss the politics of personal identity and to explore the legacies of …

Hearing Race In The Social Studies: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis Of Culturally Responsive, Relevant, And Sustaining Pedagogies, Karen H. Washburn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

With the growing population of linguistically, racially, and culturally diverse students in U.S. public schools, there is increasing disjuncture between current standardized policies and practices and the varied ways of knowing, being, and languaging of heterogeneous youth. Social studies researchers and educators have implemented culturally responsive, relevant, and sustaining pedagogies as tools to combat inequities within schooling for linguistically minoritized youth. To explore how the field of social studies has operationalized these pedagogies in research and practice, I conducted a critical interpretive synthesis of literature from 1995-present. In so doing, I used a raciolinguistic theoretical perspective to explore how social …

Digital Library Of Georgia News (April 2024), Mandy L. Mastrovita, Sheila Mcalister

Georgia Library Quarterly

News from the Digital Library of Georgia covering January 1-March 31, 2024

Representations Of State-Recognized Tribes: A Content Analysis Of Social Studies Standards, August Joseph Darbonne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation

This qualitative study analyzes social studies standards across the 11 states that recognize Native American tribes on the state level. The researcher seeks to determine the explicit and implicit representations of state-recognized tribes in the social studies standards required by 11 states. Research on educational issues that impact state-recognized tribes is limited and creates a gap in the literature for these communities. This study is significant because it promotes awareness of the lack of representation of state-recognized tribes in the social studies standards and sub-standards of the 11 states that recognize tribes on the state level. Tribal Critical Race Theory …

Building Connections: The Power Of Embedding Literacy And Math Content Into Science And Social Studies Contexts, Rachel Hallett-Njuguna Edd

Constellations: Online STEM Teacher Education Journal

Nationally, the lack of improvement in literacy scores continues to baffle experts. Instructional leaders from math, science, and social studies in one district knew the value of leveraging their subject areas to support literacy achievement in secondary students. Starting with an engaging STEM-related novel, the group of curriculum experts developed meaningful literacy connected tasks for their teacher and teacher leader participants. Working through the activities as their students would, the group found a new appreciation for the importance of leveraging the relevance of science and social studies content and the usefulness of math content when creating literacy lessons. The group’s …

Integrating Democracy Learning And Prophetic Social Studies At Baitusalam Islamic School Yogyakarta, Nasiwan Nasiwan, Taat Wulandari, Agustina Tri Wijayanti

Jurnal Civics: Media Kajian Kewarganegaraan

This paper describes an attempt to integrate Islamic and scientific values into social studies education with the aim of developing prophetic social science theory to explain social problems from this perspective. The study focuses on the implementation of this theory at Baitusalam Islamic School in Yogyakarta, using qualitative research methods such as observation, interviews, and documentation. The findings suggest that social studies learning Islamic values that develop boarding power, with the learning process incorporating these values into planning, implementation, and assessment. However, the study also identifies challenges in the integration process, such as the lack of student textbook references that …

Making Quality Children’S Literature An Essential Ingredient: How Middle And High School Teachers Can Spice Up Their Lessons, Joy Hatcher, Joann Wood

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

Using the language of cooking, the authors argue convincingly for the inclusion of quality children and young adult literature as an ingredient in social studies lessons at the middle and high school levels. They provide steps for using literature as a source, blending literature with inquiry, selecting the best titles, keeping up with new works, and point to a few especially helpful titles to illustrate their message.

Self-Study Portfolio Cassandra Garvey, Cassandra Garvey

Master of Education in Teacher Leadership Portfolios

No abstract provided.

Using Graphic Novels To Teach Economics Content To High School Students With Extensive Support Needs., Caroline Mae Fitchett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of social studies instruction in school is to facilitate the growth of competent citizens (National Council for the Social Studies [NCSS], 2013). Despite the recognized benefit of social studies instruction, emphasis on this subject has decreased over time, and has ultimately been termed a “dispensable subject” (Fitchett & Haefner, 2010). Social studies is an even more marginalized subject area for students with disabilities (Zakas et al., 2013). Expanding the research in this area is not only necessary to improving social studies academic content acquisition but is also likely to facilitate greater independence for students post-school – and by …

Developing Horizontal Expertise With Professional Learning Communities In Social Studies Teacher Preparation, Charles Tocci, Ann Marie Ryan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

As teacher education programs become increasingly organized around accreditation and licensure standards, finding opportunities to be responsive to teacher candidates' needs and interests has become more difficult. This paper traces the evolution of a professional learning community for secondary social studies teacher candidates as a key feature of one teacher education program and analyzes the collaborative projects designed for the purpose of developing horizontal expertise. We find that professional learning communities can serve as dynamic spaces to co-construct learning experiences with candidates in ways that prepare them for future professional learning as practicing social studies teachers.

Interdisciplinary Read Alouds: Building Background Knowledge To Support Learning Across Science And Social Studies, Lyndsey Bensel

Michigan Reading Journal

Science and social studies instruction at the elementary level has diminished in quantity and quality as a result of increasing pressure to maximize English language arts achievement. Research establishes a strong connection between background knowledge gained through content area learning and the ability to comprehend expository texts. Deprioritizing science and social studies instruction limits opportunities to explore disciplinary literacy practices which serve as the foundation for acquiring knowledge in different disciplines. This paper explores interdisciplinary read aloud lessons as an introduction of disciplinary literacy skills to elementary students. Interdisciplinary read aloud lessons can also support students in acquiring background knowledge …

Obstacles To Employing Virtual Reality Technology In History For The Second Secondary Grade In Jerash Governorate From The Point View Of Social Studies Teachers, Maen Hamdan S. Alzboun

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education (مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية (للبحوث في التعليم العالي

The article aimed to identify the obstacles to employing virtual reality technology in the history subject for the second secondary grade in Jerash Governorate from the viewpoint of social study، in addition to developing procedures to overcome the obstacles to employing virtual reality technology in the history subject for the second secondary grade in Jerash Governorate from the social study teachers’ point of view. The researcher used the descriptive approach of the comprehensive survey، and the study tool was the questionnaire، and the study population consisted of all social studies teachers in Jerash Governorate. The sample of study consisted of …

Critical Democratic Education: A Case Study On Controversy Deliberation And Its Effects Among Pre-Service Elementary Teachers, Shouqing Si

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The state of democracy facing expanding political division and pervasive racial and social inequalities. Discussing and deliberating controversial social and political issues functions help foster students' civic contribution. I conducted a qualitative case study and recruited 14 participants, with whom I conducted interviews, self-reflection, observation, and autoethnography. I targeted the primary research question: How do pre-service elementary teachers experience and get influenced by discussing social and public issues? I broke it down to six operational questions:

1. What issues are considered controversial by pre-service teachers in their future social studies classrooms?
2. What challenges do pre-service teachers perceive in controversial issues teaching? …

Literacy Instruction And Student Writing In Middle School Social Studies, Nicole Hedman

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research was to determine whether using daily literacy strategies focusing on writing would make an impact on the scores of a high-level question (HLQ) among middle school social studies students. The research took place over seven weeks in a public suburban midwestern middle school. The population of students in the study included 104 sixth-grade students. The intervention included using various literacy strategies focusing on writing and incorporating reading, speaking, and listening. Data was collected from writing samples, HLQ scores, observations, and a student survey. Some positive effects of the study were an increase in the …

"The Blackbird Girls": Designing A Four Week Novel Unit For Upper Elementary And Middle Grades, While Navigating Teaching In An Ever-Changing Digital World, Ashley Kallhoff

Honors Theses

As a future teacher in an increasing digital world, I wanted to create an online curriculum I could use in my future classroom, students all over the world could use, and other teachers could implement in their own classroom. Taking all of this into consideration, I have designed a digital four-week, 20-day, novel unit for upper elementary and middle grades with social studies and language arts dual focus. The novel I chose was a historical fiction young adult text titled The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman. This novel follows the story of two young girls, one that is Jewish and …

The Reconstruction Era: As Taught In United States History, Tahj Frazier

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………………………..8

II. Primary Documents and Headnotes………..39

III. Textbook Critique……………………………..50

IV. New Textbook Entry………………………….57

V. Bibliography………………………………….....77

Doing The Work: Using Questions, Tasks, And Sources To Navigate Teaching Contentious Social Studies In Secondary Classrooms, Bonnie Patrice Lewis

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This explanatory case study examines how two secondary social studies teachers use inquiry-based learning to mitigate the risks of teaching contentious social studies in a charged classroom. Research questions included: 1. How do two in-service secondary teachers use inquiry-based instruction to navigate teaching contentious social studies during charged times? 2. What curricular and pedagogical choices were made by the in-service teachers to navigate risk when designing inquiry-based instruction that features contentious social studies during charged times? 3. What curricular and pedagogical choices were made by the in-service teachers to navigate risk when delivering inquiry-based instruction that features contentious social studies …

Examining Elementary Teacher Perceptions And Experiences Of Transitioning From Knowledge-Based To Inquiry-Based Social Studies Standards, Benjamin Stephen Pinnick

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Elementary educators are responsible for the earliest years of student learning in a public setting. The amount of content students are expected to master continues to grow in scope, and the methods that are utilized shift to align with educational research and social momentum. After a decade of Common Core policies, social studies education in elementary schools has become a deemphasized subject. Reading and math, as well as science, have taken a greater precedence in today’s classrooms.

Yet, expectations for the creation of knowledgeable and participatory citizens continue to serve as a goal in elementary schools. Conceptualization of citizenship form …

The Othering Of An Empire: A Historiographical And Pedagogical Assessment Of Orientalism, Genghis Khan, And The Mongol Empire, Edward Stehr

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………………………....3

II. Primary Documents and Headnotes………....28

III. Textbook Critique……………………………...40

IV. New Textbook Entry…………………………..44

V. Bibliography…………………………………....50

Disruption, Dissent, And Dialogue: Ypar As A Pedagogical And Institutional Tool, Charlene E. Holkenbrink-Monk

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Education reform has been at the forefront of educational research for decades, depicted by government initiatives and policy, research, and pedagogical changes and recommendations. When considering elements of educational change, policy, best practices, and individual merit and retention have also been heavily in the spotlight, such as A Nation at Risk, No Child Left Behind , and other policies that have been put forward. What is often left out is student voice, both within policy as well as ideas around what should be changed. Based on my pilot study, I found that students also did not feel adequately represented in …

Securing Global Health: Global Citizenship And Covid-19 Awareness, Birol Bulut, Muhammed Kursat Oksuzoglu

Georgia Educational Researcher

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between prospective social studies teachers' global citizenship levels and their COVID-19 awareness levels. To do that, Relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The sample consisted of 409 prospective social studies teachers selected by simple random sampling method from six universities in Turkey. Global Citizenship Scale (GCS), The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Awareness Scale (CAS), and the Personal Information Form developed by the researchers were used in data collection. The t-test, Pearson Correlation Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis were per-formed to analyze data. A positive and significant relationship …

Using The Annotating Strategy To Improve Students' Academic Achievement In Social Studies, Zena T. Lloyd, Daesang Kim, J. T. Cox, Gina M. Doepker, Steven E. Downey

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: This experimental study aimed to examine the effects of annotating a historical text as a reading comprehension strategy on student academic achievement in an eighth-grade social studies class. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-method design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data sequentially. First, the authors collected quantitative data with a series of pre- and post-tests from all student participants during a six-week instructional time frame. Next, the authors collected quantitative and qualitative data with a survey from teacher and intervention group student participants. Quantitative data were analyzed to evaluate the mean differences in participants' test scores and survey responses. Finally, …

Improving Leader In Me Implementation: A School Improvement Project, Joseph Hendershott

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This school improvement plan intends to counter the growing trend of negative student behaviors by moving from a partial to full implementation of the social-emotional leadership program called Leader in Me in a suburban Midwest middle school. Studies show that effective social-emotional programs can improve positive behaviors and improve academics in school. The Leader in Me program is explained within the plan. Studies suggest that the Leader in Me program improves the overall culture and climate of a school when executed with high fidelity and full implementation. This school improvement plan looks to integrate social-emotional learning lessons of Leader in …

A Framework For Interdisciplinary Read Aloud Lessons, Lyndsey M. Bensel

Culminating Experience Projects

Science and social studies instruction at the elementary level has diminished in quantity and quality as a result of increasing pressure to maximize English language arts achievement. This approach exchanges short term gains in reading proficiency for long term deficits across many disciplines. Research establishes a strong connection between background knowledge gained through content area learning and the ability to comprehend expository texts. Moreover, deprioritizing science and social studies instruction limits opportunities to explore disciplinary literacy practices which serve as the foundation for acquiring knowledge in different disciplines. The framework for interdisciplinary read aloud lessons developed through this project, will …

Graphic Models And Instructional Tools For Students With Special Needs (Revised), Edward A. Polloway, Jacqueline Lubin

LC Journal of Special Education

This document is intended for educators with interest in students with special needs. It provides various graphical models and instructional tools that relate to teaching reading, writing, math, and social studies and science to students with disabilities. The paper is divided into four sections: reading, writing, math, social studies and science. In each section, multiple examples of models are provided. The information provided can be used for general knowledge, as part of course content in special education classes and/or as reference material. The authors acknowledge the work of Allison Meade and Wendy Bailey-Joseph in developing an earlier edition of this …

Investigating Student Science Identity In A Middle School Social Studies Classroom, Hazel Cashman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many science identity researchers theorize identity as a process of authoring and re-authoring oneself while being recognized by others, and therefore theorize science identity as negotiated (for example, see Avraamidou, 2019 and Calabrese-Barton et al., 2013). It is widely accepted that recognition by others shapes students’ negotiations of science identity (Carlone and Johnson, 2007). Few studies, however, have focused heavily on the role that students’ self-recognition plays in the science identity negotiation process. A large body of research also exists on students’ ideas about science (see Lederman, 1992), yet that research has not frequently intersected with research on student science …

A Comprehensive Look Of Social Studies Instruction Seeking Effective Strategies, Lihua Yang

LC Journal of Special Education

First, this paper explains the possible barriers of instruction efficiency in social studies. Effective approaches, including application of universal design for learning, mnemonics, learning strategies, graphic organizers, and controversial discussion, are then reviewed to address learning problems in social studies. Thirdly, informal assessments such as portfolio, critical tools of preparing students in taking state wide assessment and tools of learning executive skills such as self-management, are discussed. Finally, this paper acknowledges the importance of effective instructional strategies in social studies and encourages educators to embrace student with different learning needs in social studies. Assessments are also emphasized to be incorporated …

Providing Voice And Choice In The Classroom: The Effect Of Choice Boards On Student Motivation And Attitudes, Deborah B. Malinoski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to explore how incorporating choice boards as a tool for personalized learning in social studies influenced sixth-grade students to engage in the classroom. Engagement in the classroom is necessary for students to meet educational goals. To engage in learning, students need intrinsic motivation to encourage them to strive to meet their potential. Research in personalized learning shows students who are provided opportunities for “voice and choice” show higher signs of achievement in meeting their goals (Pane et al., 2017). This action research study was guided by two research questions that explored the effect …

Enacting Disciplinary Literacy Instruction: Essential Practices In Action, Darin B. Stockdill, Stacie B. Woodward

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this paper, we will explore elements of the Essential Instructional Practices for Disciplinary Literacy: Grades 6-12 , a statewide initiative in Michigan designed to support exactly this kind of teaching. In particular, we will discuss key instructional implications of the Essential Practices for both social studies and ELA instruction and highlight important commonalities and distinctions across these two content areas. We provide concrete examples of these practices in action as we share activities and reflections from a curricular project we undertook with US History and ELA teachers called Equitable Futures. In this initiative, teachers engaged their students in inquiry-driven …