An annotated list of children's books that are high quality, unbiased, and non-stereotypical portrayals of Arabs. It is also a collection that brings the native voices of the MENA region to elementary readers

Students can learn a great deal about the economic, social, or strategic importance of a place when they examine maps, such as the featured 1910 Sanborn map of South San Francisco.

Patrick Keegan

As a fifth grade teacher, I get to teach many subjects such as math, language arts, and science, but my true love is social studies. Because Virginia has not established social studies standards specifically for the fifth grade, my school division developed a local course called, My Place in Time and Space.1 One compelling (conceptual, divergent) question in the course is How am I connected to other spaces and places? Two supporting questions (answerable with facts or opinions) are Where have I been? and Where do I want to go in the world? To help my students engage with these inquiries, I…

The featured classroom-based project enables students to examine historical maps to consider the intentions and effects behind map production and design.

In this piece, the author outlines ways in which elementary educators can integrate local history across the curriculum and engage elementary students. She argues that this approach is a powerful opportunity to engage students’ interests and excitement. Exploration into local history is an instructional experience that demands a variety of content, skills, and strategies while focusing on the learning of people, places, and events.

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.

In this engaging activity, AP Psychology students used ArcGIS Online and Survey123 to make connections between geographic locations and students’ emotional responses to those places.