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

“Why are people marching?” Given today’s level of activism, this is a plausible question many students may have. Although only some students voice the questions, it is very likely that many more have pondered why people are protesting after seeing reports of events such as the Women’s March (equality for women), March for Our Lives (about gun control), Black Lives Matter (for racial justice), Janitors March (for fair pay), and Keep Families Together (demanding the Trump administration reunite immigrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border). As elementary teachers, our subsequent…

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…

Two noteworthy books can help young learners grapple with significant societal issues such as poverty and homelessness and can help teachers introduce students to the vocabulary of civic action.

This ninth-grade inquiry invites students to analyze arguments about banning certain books while also asking them to consider what makes a book worth reading.  

Elementary teachers can help nurture the next generation of citizen-activists with two books that explore examples of young people engaging in civic action.

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.