Social Studies and the Young Learner
Volumne 24, Number 4, March/April 2012

Editors’ Notes

Co-editors, Andrea S. Libresco and Jennette Balantic

Our Conversation with You about “Teaching Kids to Think”

When putting together this issue on thinking, we couldn’t help remembering a cartoon in which a teacher at the front of the class tells his students, “I expect you all to be independent, innovative, critical thinkers … who will do exactly as I say!”

In an age of “Race to the Top,” it can often feel as though there is little time to provide opportunities for children to think and, even if one is inclined to make time, the current emphasis on testing does not tend to reward teachers who prioritize student thinking. Even before the last decade’s emphasis on testing, there have been those who believe that primary students are too young to engage in critical thinking. In fact, at a local school board meeting that one of us attended, one of the board members rebelled against posing essential questions¹ to fourth graders, because “you’re asking them to think, and they can’t really do that yet.”

As the articles in this issue reveal, young children are capable of thinking when teachers create the conditions for such thinking—at a variety of grade levels and with a range of subject matter.

In “How Service-Learning Can Ignite Thinking,” Stephanie Serriere, Lori McGarry, David Fuentes, and Dana Mitra demonstrate that first and second graders can think locally, globally, and empathetically, while connecting with their local homeless population.

Mark Baildon and Rindi Baildon’s piece, “Evaluating Online Sources: Helping Students Determine Trustworthiness, Readability, and Usefulness,” highlights the thinking of fourth graders in Singapore as they and their teacher identify specific strategies they can use to determine the value of a variety of sources of information.

Bronwyn Cole and Margit McGuire’s article, “Real-World Problems: Engaging Young Learners in Critical Thinking,” illustrates that first graders can grapple with issues that could develop in their neighborhood if they come together, consider evidence, deliberate, and contribute thoughtfully to the discussion.

The Pullout “Handouts for Engaging Young Learners in Critical Thinking “ provides teaching materials to accompany the article by Bronwyn Cole and Margit McGuire.

In “Occupy Wall Street: Examining a Current Event as It Happens” by Elizabeth Bellows, Michele Bauml, Sherry Field, and Mary Ledbetter, fifth grade students think about current events, analyzing reports about the “Occupy” movement at the local and national levels, as well as discussing the movement’s connections to our constitutional rights.

Barbara Torre Veltri’s piece, “Educator Abroad: Teaching (Insegnare) and Learning (Imparare) with Italian Children,” shows that the thinking of pre-school children in Italy can be quite sophisticated. She observed how youngsters can think like economists, lawyers, strategists, pragmatists, and global citizens—as well as think and act like kids.

All of these articles provide examples of upper-level thinking by students; equally important, they provide example of elementary teachers who scaffold students’ thinking. Marilynne Boyle-Baise’s “Teachers-as-Researchers: Following Your Puzzlements,” reminds us that it’s not only student thinking that must be nurtured in elementary schools. Boyle-Baise, recipient of the 2011 Jean Dresden Grambs Distinguished Career Research in Social Studies Award from NCSS, promotes the importance of thinking by teachers as we conduct research in our own classrooms to resolve questions we have about teaching and learning.

Alan Singer and Cecilia Goodman’s book review, “Let’s Tell It Right: Historical Inaccuracies in a Story of Lincoln and Douglass,” reminds us, elementary teachers and students alike, to examine critically the history portrayed in the literature that we read, so that we can get a more accurate representation of our world, past and present.

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In the book How We Think, John Dewey reminds us, “The native and unspoiled attitude of childhood, marked by ardent curiosity, fertile imagination, and love of experimental inquiry, is near, very near, to the attitude of the scientific mind.”² Clearly, one of the major challenges for teachers of elementary social studies is to create the conditions that allow children to explore their world, investigate a variety of positions, experiment with different perspectives, and try on ideas. Creating these conditions is no easy feat when the pressure to cover mandated material in other disciplines may be fierce, and assessments that rely on multiple-choice questions may trump those that require deep thinking. Nevertheless, as educational philosopher Nel Noddings asks, “How can we claim to educate our students if they do not acquire the intellectual habits of mind associated with thinking?”³

We think that Noddings’ question and the ones below are worthy of discussion:

• Can very young learners engage in critical thinking? If so, how?
• How important is it to engage students in analyzing the reliability of sources?
• To what extent do you promote critical thinking in your students through studying current events? Through service learning?
• What gets in the way of providing students with opportunities to think critically? How do you work around those obstacles?
• To what extent does the Common Core support student thinking in social studies?
• Do you get opportunities to observe your own students’ thinking? How do you arrange this? What new perspectives do these observations provide?
• Do you ever research your own teaching? If so, to what extent do you plan activities that support your students’ thinking?

We look forward to a thoughtful conversation around the topic of “supporting students’ thinking” at the social network site Connected.socialstudies.org. Please join us! —Andrea and Jeannette

Notes

1. Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998).
2. John Dewey, How We Think (Boston: D. C. Heath & Co., 1910), iii.
3. Nel Noddings, “All Our Students Thinking,” Educational Leadership 65, no. 5 (2008): 8-13.

An Invitation to Authors!

Call for Manuscripts for Social Studies and the Young Learner

If you are an enthusiastic elementary teacher or teacher educator with great ideas that you have implemented in the classroom, we invite you to share your work.

Below are descriptions of themes for some of the upcoming issues, but we also welcome pieces that do not fit these particular themes.

Theme: It’s a Small World
How do you connect children with global issues in ways that they can understand?  How do help students shatter stereotypes and arrive at more thoughtful and accurate understandings of our diverse world?  We are seeking articles, lessons, activities and reviews that bring out the global citizen in our students.

Issue: November/December 2012

Submission Deadline: June 15, 2012

Theme: Reaching All Kids
How do you plan social studies curriculum and instruction that address the needs and interests of the variety of learners in your classroom? How do you plan curriculum and instruction that address the whole child? We are seeking articles, lessons, activities and reviews that attend to the diverse learning styles and demographics in your classroom.

Issue: January/February 2013

Submission Deadline: August 15, 2012

Re-Examining Symbols of American Freedom
Who are Uncle Sam and Yankee Doodle? Why is the Liberty Bell cracked? Who is Lady Liberty and how did she get in the middle of New York Harbor? What are the stories behind symbols of American freedom, independence, and ambition? How do you help students analyze the varied meanings of liberty expressed in the symbols? To what extent does America live up to the ideals communicated by its symbols? We are seeking articles, lessons, activities, and book reviews that address the issues associated with American symbols in the K-6 social studies classroom. (These articles would appear in the issue of March/April 2013. Please submit all articles for this issue to the guest editor at groceec@appstate.edu.)

Submission Deadline: November 15, 2012

Guest Editor: Eric Groce

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For each issue, we would like to include a book review that may or may not be related to the theme. Have you recently read a piece of children’s literature or a book written for teachers that you would like to review? Have you implemented any of the NCSS Notable Books into your curriculum? Tell us about it!

Please contact the co-editors at ssyl@ncss.org if you have any questions or ideas you would like to share.

Andrea S. Libresco, Ed.D.
Graduate Director of Elementary Education
Department of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership
Hofstra University
(516) 463-6543

Jeannette Balantic
Social Studies Coordinator
Garden City School District
(516) 478-2850

Guidelines for Contributors to SSYL

The goal of Social Studies and the Young Learner is to a) capture and enthuse elementary teachers across the country; and b) provide relevant and useful information about the teaching of social studies to elementary students. The editor especially encourages submission of manuscripts authored by K-5 classroom teachers themselves, or co-authored by professors and classroom teachers.

E-Mailing
E-mail your manuscript directly to the co-editors: Andrea S. Libresco, Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY), and Jeannette Balantic, Gardin City Public Schools (Garden City, NY), at ssyl@ncss.org. Expect an acknowledgement of receipt within a week. Manuscripts submitted for a particular theme issue are due four months prior to publication. Final decisions are usually made within one year.

Formatting
The first page should contain the title, word count, and contact information for all authors: name, title, position, complete mailing address, e-mail, phone, and fax. Identify the lead and/or corresponding author. The authors' names should appear only on this page for purposes of blind peer review.
Include a statement that the manuscript has not been submitted or published elsewhere. The second page should begin with the title and start the main text. With regard to citation notes, follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993) as closely as possible (not APA style). See examples of notes in the journal.
Margins: 1 inch top and bottom and 1.25 inch sides
Font: 12-point, Times New Roman
Length: Double Space, 1000 - 3000 words

Images and Examples
Follow up your e-mailed submission by mailing photocopies of examples of student work and learning, if possible—writing, photos of projects, art, or other media. Submit tables, graphics, photos, etc. as separate files by e-mail, not embedded in the text. If the manuscript is accepted, we will request high-resolution image files or glossy prints. Please set your digital camera at high resolution. Authors must obtain parental permission allowing publication of photos of students, as well as permission for the reprint of copyrighted materials used in a lesson.

Peer Review
SSYL is peer reviewed. If a manuscript is considered for publication, the author must be willing to work with the editor on revisions. SSYL is published by the National Council for the Social Studies.

Reprints
Authors of published manuscripts receive up to 50 complimentary copies of the journal in which the article appears, courtesy of NCSS. Authors are not paid for contributions.

Please feel free to contact the editor by e-mail if you have a question at any time.

SSYL co-editor Andrea S. Libresco, Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY) and SSYL co-editor Jeannette Balantic, Gardin City Public Schools (Garden City, NY), at ssyl@ncss.org.

Tips for Authors

Who May Submit an Article?
Anybody may submit an article to Social Studies and the Young Learner. The editors especially look for manuscripts co-authored by classroom teachers and professors, or authored by K-5 classroom teachers alone.

 

What are Good Topics?
Articles in Social Studies and the Young Learner show how social studies (history, geography, civics, economics, anthropology, etc.) is taught in the pre-K-6 classroom. The lead article often provides background on the theme for that issue. A children's literature piece describes how to use quality books in the classroom. A pullout usually includes a lesson with handouts.

See the “Invite” tab to see themes of upcoming issues of SSYL (but you may also write on a topic that does not fit a theme).

 

How Will My Paper Be Judged?

This checklist shows the features that editors and reviewers will be watching for. Read your own paper against this checklist.

1. I have described the basic setting (grade level, time required to teach each activity, materials and resources needed)
2. The social studies content is strong (students learn history, civics, geography, economics, or anthropology, etc.) See the themes I-X in Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies
3. I have included examples of classroom experience (what students said, how they responded, and pedagogical pitfalls that arose and how to avoid them)
4. I have included examples of young students' work (writing, art, quotes, photos of students in action)
5. Other teachers could use these ideas and methods (Can this lesson or activity be applied to other classrooms, in other states, with a low budget, and with a reasonable commitment of time and materials?)
6. There is a clear assessment of student learning. (How is student learning measured at end of the lesson? Are discussion questions or test questions included?)
7. I have linked the subject matter in my paper to state and national content standards and to the required curriculum of my school for this grade level.
8. I have avoided using the passive voice.
   Right: The teacher corrects and grades the papers. Wrong: Papers are corrected and graded by the teacher.
9. I follow the the Chicago style handbook for notes, and do not use Endnote or Reference Manager programs.
10. My notes follow this style-
    BOOKS: Alfie Kohn, What to Look For in a Classroom (San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass, 1998), 45.
    ARTICLES: Bruce E. Larson, "The Makah: Exploring Public Issues During a Structured Classroom Discussion,"
    Social Studies and the Young Learner 10, no. 1 (September/October 1997): 10-13.
    WEBSITES: "Creating the United States," (Library of Congress), myloc.gov/exhibitions/creatingtheus.
11. When citing online resources, I recommend specific, student-friendly websites, avoiding Wikipedia and Google.
12. I kept my reading audience in mind. (Will classroom teachers, who are the primary audience of SSYL, eagerly read this from start to finish? Will they find it useful to their actual practice?)

 

Proofreading?
Ask a colleague to read your paper and check it for grammar, organization, and writing style.

Who, When, and How?
Be sure to follow the basic advice found at the “Guide” tab to Social Studies and the Young Learner when you format text, type references, shoot photographs, write a cover letter, and submit your manuscript.

Other Questions?
Feel free to contact the co-editors:

SSYL co-editor Andrea S. Libresco, Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY) and SSYL co-editor Jeannette Balantic, Gardin City Public Schools (Garden City, NY), at ssyl@ncss.org.

Conference Archives provide handouts and other materials given out at recent sessions on "best practices in the elementary grades" at NCSS Annual Conferences. (For journal back issues, click the Publications Archive link at www.socialstudies.org/publications.)

2010 NCSS Annual Conference Best Practices

How Elementary Teachers Teach for Transformative Citizenship [Powerpoint, pptx]
Sherry L. Field, University of Texas at Austin, Antonio J. Castro, University of Missouri-Columbia

CHILDREN AS ADVOCATES AROUND THE WORLD: Service Learning with “Third Culture Kids” [Powerpoint, pptx]
Janie Hubbard

Living in the Global Village: Strategies for Teaching Mental Flexibility [Powerpoint, pptx]
Dr. Carol McNulty, Dr. MaryAnn Davies, Ms. Mary Maddoux, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Structuring the Curriculum Around Big Ideas [Powerpoint, pptx]
Janet Alleman, Barbara Knighton, and Jere Brophy

We Are The Future: We Are Agents of Change! [Powerpoint, pptx]
Jill Stepanian, Shady Brook Elementary
Tracy Rock, UNC Charlotte

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2009 NCSS Annual Conference Best Practices

Count Me IN! Census and Economic Sustainability
Linda Bennett, University of Missouri

Classroom Practices and Applications
Paul Nagel, Northwestern State University

It's about Us: 2010 Census in Schools [powerpoint]
Patricia Dillon Watson, Census in Schools, U.S. Census Bureau

Federal Resources for the Classroom [powerpoint]
Mary C. Suiter, Ph.D.
St. Louis Federal Reserve

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2008 NCSS Annual Conference Best Practices

Welcome to the Digital Classroom [URL]
Linda Bennett, Barbara Jamison & Michelle Nebel

Google Earth: A Virtual Globe for Elementary Geography [pdf]
Google Earth [powerpoint]
Judy Gritt and Gus La Fontaine

PBS Presentation [powerpoint]
Marnie Lewis

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2007 NCSS Annual Conference Best Practices in Elementary Geography

The World in Spatial Terms: Mapmaking and Map Reading
Gale Ekiss & Judy Philips

Using “The Great Mail Race” to Learn About Communities (PowerPoint)
Shelli Jukel, Jill Strong, & Janna Hannon

Developmentally Appropriate Geography (PowerPoint)
Kay Gandy

Le Vieux Carre: A Marketplace Approach to the Standards (PowerPoint)
Craig Howat

A is for Aerial Maps and Art (PowerPoint)
Larry Littrell & Reese H. Todd

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2006 NCSS Annual Conference Best Practices in Elementary Social Studies

Best Practice in Elementary Social Studies from the SSYL Editorial Board
(PowerPoint includes Groce & Knighton’s presentations)

Authenticating Historical Fiction: Rationale & Process—Eric Groce

Supporting Struggling Learners in Social Studies—Barb Knighton
Mrs. Knighton’s Classroom Goals (Word Document)
Community Building (Word Document)
Co-Constructing (Word Document)
Traditional Social Studies Programs—Expanding Communities Sequence (Word Document)

Project Hometown—Ginger Smit
Project Hometown (PowerPoint)
Project Hometown Flyer (PDF)

What Makes an Effective S.S. Program Tick?—Kimberly Pearre (PowerPoint)

The co-editors of SSYL are Andrea S. Libresco, Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY) and Jeannette Balantic, Garden City Public Schools (Garden City, NY). Contact them at ssyl@ncss.org.

THE BOARD

Janet Alleman, Michigan State University (MI)

Mary Fortney, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (IN)

Jesus Garcia, University of Nevada--Las Vegas (NV)

Eric Groce, Appalachian State University (NC)

Lynda A. Herrera, Marymount University (VA)

Elizabeth R. Hinde, Arizona State University (AZ)

Tim Keiper, Western Washington University (WA)

Barbara Knighton, Winans Elementary School (MI)

Paul Nagel, Northwestern State University (LA)

Kim D. O'Neil, Liverpool Elementary School (NY)

Ellen Santora, University of Rochester (NY)

Alan Singer, Hofstra University (NY)

Cynthia Tyson, The Ohio State University (OH)

Patricia D. Watson, Educational Consultant (DC)