One way to facilitate productive classroom discussions about racism and unequal power structures is to engage students in developing the discussion guidelines. This demonstrates respect for students’ needs and a willingness to share power.  

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.

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.

Some important concepts and strategies can help social studies educators teach civics in an inclusive manner when not all students in the classroom are formal citizens.

The featured lesson plan explores the history of scapegoating during epidemics and examines how politicians and media can exacerbate xenophobia.

Since the mainstream U.S. history curriculum often excludes Asian Americans’ struggles and resilience, many educators in the United States struggle to teach this subject. In particular, few studies explore how elementary social studies teachers use culturally relevant pedagogy to help Asian American students analyze and critique anti-Asian violence. This article addresses the gap.

The reopening of schools in the wake of Covid-19 offers a rare opportunity to reimagine content, pedagogy, and student-teacher relationships to enhance the educational experiences of Black males and, in turn, of all students.

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…

Three key discussion options offer social studies teachers a choice of approaches for navigating controversial issues in the classroom.

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.