Teaching high school history with picture books can enliven social studies content, advance students’ higher-order thinking skills, and help facilitate differentiated instruction.

This article draws on my reflections from a year-long study in a first-grade classroom in a Midwestern public elementary school during which the author read and discussed a total of fourteen Asian American picture books with the class. In this article, she discusses the children’s interactions with Asian American stories and provides suggestions for using children’s literature to teach about Asian American history and culture.

This article models how to teach civic dispositions using popular trade books that do not have an obvious connection to critical themes (e.g., power, privilege, identity). In doing so, the authors show how to create opportunities to teach civic dispositions within a school environment that may forbid some books as “too controversial” or that might accept lessons that gradually introduce students (and their parents) to a topic that may be controversial.  While focusing on the read aloud as an opportunity for civic learning, the authors describe how the pedagogical frameworks of critical…

Teaching a civil rights unit in the upper elementary grades can be difficult. Educators must sort through multiple resources, determine the quality and developmental appropriateness of the materials, synthesize and organize the resources into meaningful lessons, and teach the unit in the midst of pressures to minimize or eliminate social studies in deference to tested subjects. Many elementary teachers find this a daunting task, which they avoid. The authors suggest a ‚Äúdepth over breadth‚Äù model focused around children‚Äôs literature texts and primary sources. This article reviews selected…

This article offers examples of classroom texts as vehicles for teaching each BHC principle as encouragement for teaching Black histories long beyond Black History Month. For summaries of the texts suggested in this article, see the Pullout in this issue, which pairs each Black Historical Consciousness principle with children’s books and ideas for further investigation.

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

Enabling students to pose and answer their own questions helps them evolve from passive learners to students who are actively engaged in their coursework.

Implementing 25-minute instructional blocks when teaching online can help learners develop stronger inquiry skills and prevent the zombie-like effects of staring nonstop at a screen.

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

Incorporating poetry into the social studies curriculum can help students develop reading and writing skills while building their content knowledge.