The authors argue that with the continued marginalization of social stud- ies in the elementary classroom, integration has become a popular and effective method for the inclusion of social studies content in the daily curriculum. Using controversial issues, they highlight a model for this integration with a focus on children’s literature.

Upper elementary students used a variety of research skills to identify and explore current events and issues within their own community. Using an action civics approach, students also developed and enacted a plan to address the issues that their exploration of local current events highlighted.

The author explains how she scaffolded students’ learning regarding the analysis of political advertisements, thereby enhancing their ability to be informed, engaged citizens in an election year and beyond.

The authors provide the reader an opportunity to see how second-grade children can use a twelfth-century painting as historical evidence to identify transportation modes, economic activities, and cultural features of Bianjing, an ancient Chinese city. They compare Bianjing with their community using modern mapping technology. Through this approach, art, history, geography, economics, technology, and civics are integrated into an engaging inquiry lesson.

In this article, the author describes how an “I do, we do, you do” scaffolded approach for explicit instruction can be utilized to teach map skills to students in kindergarten through grade 2. She argues that classroom teachers who are familiar with explicit instruction may frequently use the model for reading and math instruction while overlooking its potential for teaching geography skills. Benefits of using explicit instruction to teach map skills include setting students up for success with ample opportunities to practice and supporting growth in spatial thinking.

The one-page blueprint known as the Inquiry Design Model helps teachers outline essential elements of inquiry-based instruction and enables them to plan inquiry experiences for students.

Launched with only 15 teachers to support implementation of the C3 Framework, today C3 Teachers is a network of thousands dedicated to moving social studies in new directions. 

By merging disciplinary inquiry and critical inquiry, the C3 Framework has helped teachers engage students in developing deep content knowledge about issues relevant to their lives.

An increasing number of U.S. states use the inquiry-based C3 Framework when developing new social studies standards, ensuring that more students have the opportunity to engage in ambitious social studies learning. 

In this article, the authors present three alternatives to the traditional instructional approaches to Black history education at the elementary level: family stories/oral histories, counter-storytelling, and chronological overlaying. They provide a description of the Black Historical Consciousness framework, connect theories that fit within this framework to explain our pedagogical recommendations, and share instructional approaches.