While guest teaching in a third-grade classroom as part of her doctoral studies, the author became interested in how students think about female pioneers and what it means to be first in a historical sense. This article explores the potential of interactive read-aloud books to teach women’s history with young students.

From maps, graphs, and tables to photographs and political cartoons, social studies is replete with potentially rich visual images for students to analyze. Yet, elementary students often struggle to understand the information within such graphics. In this article, we first provide an overview of some commonly used graphics, and then suggest a way to approach an upper elementary lesson that incorporates the use of a graphical analysis strategy aligned with the C3 Framework to help prepare students to be effective, critical consumers and producers of such visuals.

The incorporation of elements of computational thinking such as decomposition, abstraction, and pattern recognition can provide a toolset for analyzing discipline-specific data.

Creating photoblogs in the social studies classroom builds on students’ interest in using images to convey messages while teaching important media literacy skills.

When students participate in classifying, transcribing, and organizing primary sources for digital history archives, they engage in historical analysis and generate data that can accelerate historical discoveries.

Project-based learning not only engages and fosters development in young learners, it enables them to see themselves as change agents in their communities.

In a classroom that promotes deliberation, students practice the kinds of speaking, listening, and critical thinking skills that advance active citizenship.

The authors recommend important steps and strategies to help schools and educators reduce or prevent bullying.

Having a meaningful plan for professional development on inquiry-based learning will translate into richer instruction for students.

The authors describe five types of inquiry that keep students engaged, promote student agency, and meet the need of teachers for curriculum flexibility.