Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons^™

Review Of "A War For The Soul Of America: A History Of The Culture Wars", Tim Lacy

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Assisting Novice Teachers With Promoting Democratic Education In The Social Studies Classroom, Rory Tannebaum, Margaret Peterson, Molly Tierney

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The purpose of this essay is to provide new social studies teachers with an array of effective and plausible strategies for infusing a democratic education into their classrooms. The presented lessons are grounded in the theories and ideals taught at the university level, but they have been constructed in a practical and realistic manner as such that the often-overwhelmed teacher who is removed from their academic backgrounds can achieve the oft-referenced aims of the field of education. In this sense, the article seeks to bridge the gap between the theories and practices of social studies education and, in doing so, …

Social Studies And English Unite: Teachers Collaborate To Promote Literacy, Kayla Davenport Logan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Collaboration among teachers of social studies and English can yield positive effects for students and professionals alike. Back-to-basics reading strategies such as oral reading and think-alouds are beneficial to the development of critical thinking and writing confidence in both subjects.

Using Sources To Examine The American Constitution And Events Leading To Its Construction, Daniel Cowgill Ii, Scott Waring

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

In this article, the authors present an approach for how history educators can teach students about the United States Constitution through the use of the SOURCES framework. With the SOURCES framework, students are asked to critically examine the past in a structured way that replicates the methods conducted by historians and other social scientists. Students were given the opportunity to analyze conflicting information from a variety of sources, identify multiple perspectives about how the Constitution should be constructed, explore multiple avenues of causality, and draw conclusions about how and why the Constitution was actually written.

History Literacy And Visual Informational Texts: Scrutinizing Photographs Beyond Their Borders, John H. Bickford Iii, Molly Sigler Bickford, Cynthia Waldman Rich

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

State and national initiatives prescribe, among other things, increases in students’ reading of informational texts and uses of diverse literacies. History educators must purposefully integrate informational texts with literacy strategies that facilitate historical thinking. Students are to analyze and scrutinize, not simply read or view. This paper refines previously suggested photograph analysis methods to consider a photographer’s influence both within and beyond the photograph’s borders. Our modification centers on the diverse, and hitherto unexplored, ways in which the photographer influences the viewer’s understanding of the photograph and the historical event that is captured. We offer informational texts and discipline-appropriate methods …

Review Of "A Lakota War Book From The Little Bighorn: The Pictographic "Autobiography Of Half Moon"", Rowena Mcclinton

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Clashing Cultures In Conversations: Engaging Students In The Study Of The Convergence Of Three Civilizations, Kristy Brugar

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This paper describes fifth-graders engagement associated with a curriculum intervention focused on the interdisciplinary (history, literacy, and the visual arts) teaching about issues 15th and 16th century migration. I address the question: In what ways do students demonstrate engagement about larger historical themes (e.g. interaction, treatment of others)? In order to answer this question, I observed a fifth-grade classroom over an eight-week period and documented student interactions in field notes. Students demonstrated procedural and substantive engagement during this instructional unit.

Culturally Responsive Teaching With Visual Art In The Social Studies, Julie Anne Taylor, Okezie Iroha, Vito Valdez

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article explores high school students’ perceptions of visual arts integration in the social studies. In an all-boys, public school in a major metropolis in the Midwest, lessons on art by African American and Mexican artists were introduced in a social studies classroom. To assess the impact of the program, the students’ anonymous responses to two surveys and their work on a collaborative, digital portfolio were analyzed. The findings of this study suggest that arts integration in the social studies increases students’ interest in learning, appreciation of culture, and understanding of history.

Historical Writing, Speaking, And Listening Using Informational Texts In Elementary Curricula, John H. Bickford Iii, Dylan Dilley, Valerie Metz

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

State and national initiatives have accentuated the significance of distinct instructional procedures and content. The (re)emphasis includes a strong focus on informational texts and diverse literacies, including writing, speaking, and listening. In short, history and social studies content will likely have a more prominent position within English/reading curricula. Beginning in the elementary grades, the required cognitive tasks foster historical thinking in age-appropriate ways. Students are to evaluate multiple texts representing diverse perspectives of the same event or era. Teachers, however, are not provided with practical curricular guides. To guide elementary educators, this research scrutinizes potential curricular supplements and proffers content …

Feature Films In History, Bryan Jack

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This essay discusses the use of feature films as historical sources and introduces readers to the ongoing debate among professional historians about films as history, highlighting the strengths and weakness of films as teaching tools. The essay also includes the author's experience with developing a class using historical films.

Excavating The Past: An Archaeology Simulation For The Elementary Classroom, William Russell Iii, Ph.D.

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Archaeology is a branch of anthropology that studies the material remains of past societies. Through the study of material remains archaeologists 1) obtain a chronology of the past, 2) reconstruct the many ways of life that no longer exist, and 3) give some understanding of why human culture has changed through time. The purpose of this article is to help educators explore and encourage the use of simulations and the teaching of archaeology related content and skills in the elementary classroom. More specifically, this article provides educators with a classroom tested, practical, cost effective and hands-on archaeology dig simulation lesson …

The Florida Joint Center For Citizenship, A Joint Project Of The University Of Central Florida And The University Of Florida, Stephen Stewart Masyada

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, recently released through the National Council for the Social Studies, offers social studies teachers and leaders a way forward for the development of standards and curriculum as well as serving as a guide for quality social studies instruction. This article discusses connections between the C3 Framework and NCSS's vision of powerful social studies teaching and learning, as well as how the framework and the vision serve together to guide students towards active inquiry and civic engagement.

Elementary Students’ Attitudes Toward Social Studies, Math, And Science: An Analysis With The Emphasis On Social Studies, Sahin Dundar, Anatoli Rapoport

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The purpose of the study was to compare upper elementary students' attitudes towards social studies, science, math, and to find out whether there si a significant difference between 4th and 5th grade students' attitudes towards social studies. The participants of the study were 4th and 5th grades students (n=348) from three elementary schools in a Midwestern state. Results showed that students held less positive attitudes towards social studies than science and mathematics, and fourth graders hold more positive attitues toward social studies than fifth graders.

Effectively Meeting The Needs Of Military-Connected Children Through Literature In The Elementary Social Studies Classroom, Hillary Anderson, Stacey Cutter, Bethany Hill-Anderson

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

There are two million military-connected children, and every school district in the United States has at least one military-connected student (Operation Educate the Educator, n.d.). The stresses on military children have increased in the post-9/11 era, and many educators are not prepared to provide an appropriate school environment to effectively meet these children’s needs. This paper examines some of the challenges military children face in schools and offers suggestions to enable educators to provide a safe and nurturing environment. An annotated bibliography of children's literature that is aligned with the NCSS Ten Primary Themes is provided.

Teaching Justice As A Personal Virtue And Civic Value: What’S An Elementary School Teacher To Do In A Highly Politicized Environment?, James Duplass Ph.D.

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The article provides guidance to elementary school teachers about teaching values and virtues in the current highly politicized enviornment. It provides an analysis of key concepts such as justice, social justice, liberty and ideology and introduces teachers to the concepts of authenticity and autonomy taken from the philosophical counseling movement.

Dear Senator: Young Citizens Explore Civics Through Literacy, Daryl Saunders, Ilene Berson, Michael Berson

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article reviews the components of an integration model for infusing literacy and social studies and provides an example of a civics lesson implemented with first grade students. The gradual release model and research-informed literacy practices are embedded in the delivery of instruction. Throughout the learning experience students use informational texts to develop social studies vocabulary, explore civics concepts, and engage in discussion focused on the content in the text. Students acquire skills in supporting their conclusions with information drawn from a variety books and represent the knowledge they have gained through writing activities. This developmental approach harnesses evidence-based strategies …

Common Core, Informational Texts, And The Historical (Mis)Representations Of Native Americans Within Trade Books, John H. Bickford Iii, Lauren Hunt

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

State and national initiatives have repositioned elementary teachers’ emphases. These mandates increase the frequency with which teachers utilize informational texts and students’ exposure to diverse perspectives of the same event or era. In short, history and social studies content will likely have a more prominent position within the incorporated literature in English/reading class. Teachers will intentionally supplement age-appropriate, engaging tradebooks with relevant, interrelated informational texts, like primary source material. To guide interested elementary teachers, we focused on tradebooks that centered on Native Americans, an oft-included topic in elementary curricula. We evaluated the tradebooks for their historical representation (and misrepresentation), located …

Review Of "The Federal Reserve And The Financial Crisis", Scott Wolla

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Read The Past: Write Now! Responding To Historical Fiction Through Writing, Rebecca Giles Ph.D., Karyn Tunks Ph.D.

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

From the American Revolution through the Civil War and beyond, fictional characters enrich social studies by bringing the past to life for young readers. Historical fiction offers a great variety of topics in various formats, including novels, short stories, picture books, poems, and plays that provides useful background knowledge through a glimpse into the details of daily life during a particular time. This articles offers specific examples of how teachers can encourage writing using quality historical fiction picture books.

Review Of "Where The Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, And Naturalism", Matthew Schunke

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Review Of "Beat Box: A Drum Machine Obsession", Lincoln Lounsbury

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Arts Integration In The Social Studies: Research And Perspectives From The Field, Julie Anne Taylor, Timothy Monck, Sanaa Ayoub

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Teaching with primary sources has long been recognized as a vital practice, yet only recently have the educational merits of arts integration come under examination in the social studies. The objective of this study was to examine the use of art by practicing social studies teachers. The findings show that educators are teaching with a variety of art forms with some frequency in instruction, and they view the study of art as having positive effects on students’ motivation and learning. The social studies teachers, who participated in the study by completing surveys, reported that studying images of art improves students’ …

World Views: Creating Significance Of Learning In The Classroom, James Zucker

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This paper asks why so many students today seem to rely upon memorization of facts and details over critical thinking in the classroom. The paper argues that the current environment is one that privileges a scientific definition of education. This has led to a testing environment based narrowly upon methods of quantitative assessment. The paper connects this problem back to the definitions of education and knowledge of the Cartesian method of Rene Descartes. The paper further argues that recent philosophers of knowledge like Nietszche have challenged this notion of knowledge arguing for a broader qualitative form of knowledge. The author …

Review Of "River Of Dark Dreams: Slavery And Empire In The Cotton Kingdom", Bryan Jack

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Gaming In The Gilded Age, Brian Mullgardt

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This article presents both a lesson on and research about using a video game to teach history, specifically the game Railroad Tycoon 3 and its use in teaching about the Gilded Age.

Historical Thinking And Common Core: Facilitating Adolescents’ Scrutiny Of The Credibility Of Slave Narratives, John H. Bickford Iii, Cynthia Rich

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

History education researchers encourage teachers to intentionally integrate content, methods, and assessment in discipline-specific and age-appropriate ways. State and national initiatives prescribe such integration across curricula and within all areas of the social studies from early elementary through high school. The stipulation, however, does not provide a map for interested yet overwhelmed educators. This is especially true for elementary and middle level teachers as the majority of historical thinking research and methodological guides targets older students. To address this concern, we propose teachers fuse the content, methods, and assessment with specific historical thinking skills, or heuristics. We model our theoretical …

On Teaching, Without Disciplines, Thomas Wolfe

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Processes of becoming know no disciplines. And yet professors cannot teach without first absorbing the priorities and protocols of a discipline. This means that we have to be attuned to the ways in which our teaching of persons gets usurped by the teaching of a body of knowledge or a method of knowing that is only tangentially connected to where students are. K-12 teachers understand this better than university and college professors. This article suggests professors experiment with the idea of a "defense of teaching," which would be a moment to articulate one's teaching aims apart from one's disciplinary and …

Review Of "Excellence For All: How A New Breed Of Reformers Is Transforming America’S Public Schools", Michelle Stacy

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

No abstract provided.

Illinois Democracy Schools: Preparing Students For College, Career, And Civic Life, Shawn Healy

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The current focus of school reform centers on college and career readiness, casting aside the original purpose of schools in this country-- preparing America’s youngest citizens to be informed and active participants in our democracy. Since 2006, seventeen Illinois high schools countered this trend and achieved recognition through the Illinois Civic Mission Coalition (ICMC) as Democracy Schools.

The Democracy Schools Initiative of the ICMC invites high schools to demonstrate commitment to their civic mission by completing a school-wide civic assessment and charting future plans for developing and sustaining high quality civic learning. Successful applicants are recognized through the ICMC and …

Service Learning In The Social Studies, Shaun Conway

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Education reform of the future starts with public service. Over the last two and a half years, I have built a public service program at Lake Park High School in Roselle, IL. The class allows students to pursue topical areas of self-interest in a classroom setting, while supplementing those subject topics with in-depth public service opportunities and experiential learning methodology outside the school building. Students can opt to take the semester elective during their junior or senior year (although the course was recently approved to be offered in full year format).

Reform of the future must start with public service …