Make Your Social Studies Lessons Place-Based with Primary Sources

“These kids! They never do well on my social studies tests!”

International Women’s Day is March 8 and presents an opportunity to celebrate women from throughout history.

Take a moment and reflect on professional development events you have attended, and ask yourself, how many of them were “really” good,  meaningful, effective, and relevant to your chosen profession? As educators, we attend several types of training, many of which are mandatory, or are recommended from our superiors.

Thinking is hard.

Do you remember your favorite teacher? Who could ever forget that teacher?  Who could ever forget the special way that teacher inspired you and made you a better student and person at the same time?

There can be no doubt that the level of teaching and learning in your classroom would vastly improve if every single student possessed a high literacy level and a consistent reading habit, both at home and school.

The history of ordinary people and everyday life appeals to students.

My last post was about quality novels to teach in the American history classroom.

When I implement a novel study in social studies, there are a few activities that really work for me in terms of aiding student comprehension.