Social Studies and the Young Learner September/October 2020
Social Studies and the Young Learner September/October 2020
Volume:33
Num:1
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Editor's Notes September/October 2020
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Is the “Right to Clean Water” Fake News? An Inquiry in Media Literacy and Human Rights
This article explores how to teach source evaluation to upper elementary students with a focus on the right to clean water that is recognized in a United Nations resolution of 2010, and based on the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights.
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Pullout
Worksheet: Is This a Reliable Source?
Handout to accompany Is the “Right to Clean Water” Fake News? An Inquiry in Media Literacy and Human Rights. Please see the article for information on how to use this handout and full citations with titles, absent here for the students to discover as they go online.
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Teaching About Religion with Conversations and Multicultural Literature in K-6 Classrooms
Learning about world religions (as opposed to teaching religious beliefs) as part of social studies can provide a space for students and teachers to have conversations about religious diversity in a respectful, balanced manner. In this article, the authors discuss reading stories and discussing religious diversity as a vehicle to open conversations about religion and diversity, and use the book Lailah’s Lunchbox to provide an example of content and questions teachers can use in their classroom.
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Teaching Strategy to Strengthen Habits of Deliberation: The “Evidence on the U” Graphic
In this article, the authors explain how to use the "evidence on the U" strategy support deep and complex thinking i elementary students, and give examples of scaffolding activities that gradually place much of the responsibility for learning on the students themselves over the course of a year. They also describe how this teaching strategy supports the goals of social studies education in the elementary grades and beyond.
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Considering Different Perspectives in Children’s Literature: An Inquiry Approach that Promotes Civic Learning
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 literacy and social studies can align. We offer an example Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint using a book series as an entry point for critical literacy practices and rich civic learning. We use the David book series by David Shannon, published by ThriftBooks, which includes No, David!, David Goes to School, and several other titles.
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“Making” Civics and Designing Inquiry: Integrative, Project-Based Learning in Pre-Kindergarten
For a pre-kindergarten (preK) class, designing a 3-D map of a newly constructed playground offered authentic opportunities to participate, deliberate, and solve an authentic problem. Responding to the compelling question—“How do we build community spaces that are welcoming to, representative of, and sustaining for all community members?”—the class was able to reimagine the purpose of a neighborhood park with the help of scaffolded inquiry. Through active deliberation (e.g., voting what items to include in the park) and participation (e.g., surveying classmates and families about what they would like in the neighborhood park), the class took action to become responsible community members.
The article describes "the community park project", a 22-session inquiry, conducted over five weeks, that used a “project-based approach” to foster early civics learning.
