Social Studies Research and Practice: Volume 3 Issue 3

The State of K-12 Social Studies Instruction in Ohio

Frans Doppen, Thomas Misco, Nancy Patterson

This study describes the complex state of social studies instruction in Ohio. It explores teacher conceptualizations of the purpose of social studies and the impact of state…

Transformative Multiculturalism and the Supervision of Social Studies Student Teachers: A Critical Look at One University Supervisor’s Approach

James M. M. Hartwick, Edric C. Johnson

This collaborative study, conducted by two social studies teacher educators, examines how one university supervisor translates his theoretical commitment to transformative…

Teaching Constructive Disagreement for a Loyal Opposition, Somatically

Jonathan Miller-Lane, Greg Selove

The importance of learning how to disagree constructively has long been valued as a fundamental aspect of democratic life. Yet, while well-known discussion methodologies such as…

Did the Bombs Just Fall from the Sky? Examining Agency in a Text Set of World War II Children’s Literature

James S. Damico, Mark Baildon, Karen L. Lowenstein

This article examines the ways in which the authors of a text set of children’s literature constructed the United States government’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima…

Energizing the History Classroom: Historical Narrative Inquiry and Historical Empathy

Sherri Rae Colby

The article presents a historical narrative model designed to encourage analytical thinking. My historical narrative inquiry model (a) teaches procedural knowledge (the process of…

Get Up, Get Out with Geocaching: Engaging Technology for the Social Studies Classroom

Lisa Matherson, Vivian H. Wright, Christopher T. Inman, Elizabeth K. Wilson

This article gives an overview of using global positioning systems (GPS) in a popular activity, geocaching, as a teaching and learning activity. The authors provide background…

Inquiring about One’s Community: Conducting Community Histories with K-12 Students

Scott M. Waring

History teachers are continually seeking new ways in which they can actively involve their students and allow them to think more creatively. Creating local history projects allows…

NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan On the Town: A Community Adventure by Judith Caseley

Kristy Brugar

This lesson uses On the Town: A Community Adventure, a book that follows a young boy and his mother through their community one afternoon as they take care of errands…

Lucy Sprague Mitchell’s Perspectives on Social Education Meet Social Justice

Lois McFadyen Christensen

Lucy Sprague Mitchell's belief was that active, experiential learning, in particular human geography, was the core to which all content areas were tied. Given that life is lived…

Integrating Social Studies and Science: A Natural or Unnatural Fit?

Elizabeth K. Wilson, Tammy Cook

Two elementary teacher educators redesigned a methods course to integrate social studies and science. Using the framework of science-technology-society (STS) literature and the…

“Zoom, Pan, and Think”: The Interactivity of Digital Maps

Mark Hofer, Kathy Swan

With the proliferation of digital maps, teachers and students have an array of new tools for developing civic and global perspectives in the social studies classroom. This article…