Social Studies 23

Teaching comprehension with informational texts is a critical component of any reading program and one that many children struggle with as they progress through their schooling. Nonfiction can be overwhelming to young readers, presenting them with complex vocabulary and a new density of information that may combine text, diagrams, pictures, captions, and other devices.Reality Checks: Teaching Reading Comprehension with Non-Fiction K-5 offers insights into why children struggle when faced with informational reading, and practical concepts, skills, and strategies that help them navigate nonfiction successfully.In this book, Tony Stead provides wonderful ways to enhance children's understanding and engagement when reading for information. He outlines practical approaches to ensure all children can become confident and competent readers of nonfiction. Part one examines effective ways to teach children how to extract the information that is explicitly stated in a text. Covered are strategies such as using prior knowledge, retelling, locating specific information, and the role of nonfiction read-alouds. Part two explores interpreting information, including making connections between the text, the reader, and the outside world, making inferences and making revisions to inferences based on reflection. Part three looks at evaluating information, assisting children in developing critical reading skills, differentiating fact from opinion, locating author bias, and identifying techniques writers use to persuade readers' thinking. Part four offers an array of practical ways to reinforce and extend children's nonfiction reading skills, including working with visual information such as maps and diagrams. It also provides pre-and -post-assessment strategies, procedures for monitoring progress, curriculum planning ideas, and instruction on guided reading.

Essentials of Elementary Social Studies is a teacher friendly text that provides comprehensive treatment of classroom planning, instruction, and strategies. Praised for its dynamic approaches and a writing style that is conversational, personal, and professional, this text enables and encourages teachers to effectively teach elementary social studies using creative and active learning strategies. This sixth edition has been refined with new and relevant topics and strategies needed for effectively teaching elementary social studies. A few of new features include: An expanded chapter on the decision-making process in elementary social studies. This chapter provides additional discussion about the importance of helping young learners better understand the decision-making process and offers strategies for helping teachers make connections between choices, values, character development, and social justice. An updated chapter on technology designed to better prepare elementary teachers to effectively incorporate technology into social studies instruction. Attention is given to virtual teaching and learning, media literacy, teaching with film, and numerous other ways to improve teaching and learning in the digital age. Updated further readings and helpful resources for all chapters to include supplemental digital and video sources related to various topics throughout the chapter. New "Checking for Understanding" section at the end of each chapter that focuses on comprehension, application, and reflection on key concepts throughout the chapters. An updated chapter on lesson plans, in keeping with the book’s emphasis on planning and teaching. This chapter is designed to provide elementary social studies teachers with new classroom-tested lesson plans and includes two classroom-tested lessons for each grade level (K–6).

This one-of-a-kind resource features ideas from over one hundred of our nation’s most thoughtful teacher educators reflecting on their best practices and offering specific strategies through which future teachers learn to teach.

This teacher resource offers a detailed introduction to the program, which includes its guiding principles, implementation guidelines, an overview of the social studies skills that grade two students use and develop, and a classroom assessment plan complete with record-keeping templates and connections to the Achievement Levels outlined in the Ontario Social Studies Curriculum. This resource has two instructional units: Unit 1: Traditions and Celebrations Unit 2: Features of Communities Around the World Each unit is divided into lessons that focus on specific curricular expectations. Each lesson has materials lists activity descriptions questioning techniques activity centre and extension ideas assessment suggestions activity sheets and visuals

Now in its 4th edition, this popular text offers practical, interesting, exciting ways to teach social studies and a multitude of instructional and professional resources for teachers. Theory, curriculum, methods, and assessment are woven into a comprehensive model for setting objectives; planning lessons, units, and courses; choosing classroom strategies; and constructing tests for some of the field's most popular and enduring programs. The reflective and integrative framework emphasizes building imagination, insight, and critical thinking into everyday classrooms; encourages problem-solving attitudes and behavior; and provokes analysis, reflection, and debate. The text includes separate chapters on teaching each of the major areas of the social studies curriculum. Throughout the text, all aspects of curriculum and instruction are viewed from a tripartite perspective that divides social studies instruction into didactic (factual), reflective (analytical), and affective (judgmental) components. These three components are seen as supporting one another, building the groundwork for taking stands on issues, past and present. At the center is the author's belief that the heart and soul of social studies instruction, perhaps all teaching, lies in stimulating the production of ideas; looking at knowledge from others' viewpoints; and formulating for oneself a set of goals, values, and beliefs that can be explained and justified in open discussion. New in the Fourth Edition: Clear links to the The National Council for the Social Studies College, Career and Civic Life C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards Attention to impact of high-stakes testing, Common Core State Standards, and related ongoing developments Expanded and critical review of the use of internet, web, and PowerPoint technologies Coverage of how to incorporate the many social science, humanities, and STEM fields to enrich the social studies Updates and revisions throughout, including new research reports reflecting current findings, new examples, more media and materials resources, particularly digital resources, new and updated pedagogical features Companion Website - new for this edition