Social Studies and the Young Learner
Volume 25, Number 3, January/February 2013

Editors’ Notes

Co-editors, Andrea S. Libresco and Jeannette Balantic

Our conversation with you about “Reaching All Kids”…

We had particular expectations when we developed the theme for this issue. We thought we would receive articles that highlighted teaching strategies that appeal to a variety of learning styles and address the particular demographics of the students whom we teach. In turns out that many of our authors interpreted “Reaching All Kids” a bit differently…which was just fine with us.

Actually, it was sort of a delightful illustration of the idea behind the issue—that people have a variety of ways to approach any given topic, properly resulting in the use of a variety of texts, disciplines, and methodologies. Thus, teachers who provide different kinds of sources, perspectives, and modalities for learning social studies have a better chance of engaging all kids in their own learning.

Shari Dorfman and Ruth Rosenberg’ article, “Building a Community That Includes All Learners,” highlights strategies for insuring that every fourth and fifth grade learner feels valued, included, and safe so that he or she will take risks that will allow them to embrace new ideas and perspectives.

In the article “Decidedly Dramatic: The Power of Creative Drama in Social Studies,” Michelle Pieczura demonstrates that teaching with creative dramatics is a time-efficient strategy that can bring curriculum to life for a variety of students in her fourth grade class, as well as nurture their creative and critical thinking and aid in their conceptual understandings.

In “‘Tomb It May Concern’: Visit Your Local Cemetery for A Multidisciplinary (and Economical) Field Trip,” Eric Groce, Rachel E. Wilson, and Lisa Poling bring together history, science, art, and population studies to engage fourth grade students in an investigation of an important site of historical evidence in their community: the cemetery.

The first two pages of the PULLOUT include instructions and a data sheet for a “Field Trip to a Cemetery,” as described in the preceding article. On pages P3 and P4, Pamela Wasserman defines “Life Span and Life Expectancy” and provides a graph showing that staying alive has gotten a little easier over the decades, 1850–2000.

Bruce Fehn and Kimberly Heckart emphasize the benefits, especially the acquisition of historical thinking skills, for all students when they create short films about slavery and segregation. Their article is “Producing a Documentary in the Third Grade: Reaching All Students through Movie Making.”

In “Who Writes History? Developing a Social Imagination with Third Graders,” Joan Zaleski and Vera Zinnel present a unit of study on Columbus that reinforces the notion that examining a variety of perspectives is a necessary ingredient for global analysis.

Beth Dykstra Van Meeteren’s piece, “Looking for Social Studies and Finding a Democratic Community in the Classroom,” describes how giving first grade students voice and power motivates them to participate in the civic and community life as active, informed citizens of their classroom community.

These articles provide examples of classrooms where each child is valued, and teachers include materials and activities from a variety of disciplines to engage and challenge all kids. So….how do YOU try to reach all kids?

• To what extent do you look for connections among disciplines that can draw different kinds of learners? Where are specific places in your curriculum that the Big Ideas in one discipline complement those in social studies (or vice versa) and enhance students’ learning and understanding of each?

• Does your classroom have engaging books with social studies themes that address the needs of struggling readers? Highly proficient readers?

• In what parts of your social studies curriculum do you use drama activities as a means of cognitively engaging your students?

• What kind of success have you had making students agents in their own learning and in their classroom community? To what extent are you a facilitator (as opposed to a director) of classroom activity?

• What field trips have you found to be engaging for a variety of students?

• On what topics have you had your students create historical documentaries? How effective and engaging was the assignment for the varied learners in your class?

• What do you do to create classroom community?

• What do you do to honor diversity in your classroom?

• How well do you know each individual student? How does this knowledge help you to reach each child?

We look forward to the thoughtful conversation at NCSS Connected about how to reach ALL kids. Of course, we welcome ALL comers. Even kids!

Please join us!—Andrea and Jeannette

UPDATE: The classroom website for the “Script Superstars” has been updated to sites.google.com/site/missstaudtsclass/graffiti-project. A nonworking URL appears on page 10 of the November/December 2012 issue of SSYL, in the article by E. M. Christie, S. E. Montgomery, and J. Staudt.

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: Effectively Integrating Literature and Social Studies
With the decreasing amount of time devoted to elementary social studies instruction, and with the introduction of the Common Core in many states, many teachers are integrating English/Language Arts and social studies. How have you employed fiction and nonfiction works to provide students with new insights into historical time periods and events? How have you used literature to present a variety of perspectives? How do you help students develop strong critical thinking skills? How do you ensure that key social studies concepts are taught?

Issue: September/October 2013

Submission Deadline: March 15, 2013

Theme: He Had a Dream
Fifty years ago on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Two years later, he spoke of the triple evils of racism, poverty, and militarism. Where are we now, 50 years later? In your elementary classroom, how do you address King’s legacy? How do you get beyond the perennial “What’s your dream?” lessons for King’s birthday? How do you handle issues of race, ethnic diversity, and injustice in your classroom? How do you teach and practice conflict resolution?

Issue: November/December 2013

Submission Deadline: June 15, 2013

Theme: Remember the Ladies
The year 2014 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination based on race, but also based on sex. It set the stage for Title IX, which became law in 1972. So this seems like a good time to examine how you attend to issues of gender in your elementary curriculum and instruction. How do you approach women’s history during the school year? How do you tackle women’s rights issues—past and present? How do you teach about women who made and are making a difference? How do you address issues of gender equity in families, schools, the media, the marketplace, and the workplace?

Issue: January/February 2014

Submission Deadline: August 15, 2013

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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)