International children’s picture books provide windows and mirrors for children and allow them to consider issues of fairness, justice, equity, diversity, and the common good as they build their nascent citizenship skills.

Three Lines in a Circle: The Exciting Life of the Peace Symbol by Michael G. Long; illustrated by Carlos Vélez (Louisville, KY: Flyaway Books, 2021) This picture book history of the peace symbol can help expand elementary students’ understanding of peace and introduce them to historical peace movements.  

For nearly 50 years, the National Council for the Social Studies has presented the Carter G. Woodson Book Award to texts that accurately and sensitively depict the experience of one or more historically marginalized racial/ethnic groups in the United States. The award originated in 1974, named to honor distinguished scholar Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, the Harvard-trained historian whose scholarship and dedication to making Black History known and visible led to the eventual creation of Black History Month. Texts must be non-fiction, published and set in the United States, written for…

This year’s Carter G. Woodson book picks include stories about Black heroes of the Old West, groundbreaking journalist Ethel Payne, and William Still, the “Father of the Underground Railroad.” 

The latest Septima Clark Book Award recipients shine a light on the stories of Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet; Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman in Congress; and numerous female athletes who shattered stereotypes.

Recent research shows that growing students’ knowledge of the world through social studies has a greater impact on literacy than increasing English language arts instruction time. 

Reading A Song for the Unsung with elementary students can provide an excellent entry point into an engaging lesson on the civil rights movement.

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.

An inquiry approach to studying the 1940s Mendez racial segregation case can counter a narrative that centers the triumph of heroes and instead prompt students to explore larger issues related to colorism, racism, and language segregation.

When teachers create lessons that include historical sources, it’s important to pay attention to source choice and source attribution.