Dynamic Social Studies for Constructivist Classrooms: Inspiring Tomorrow's Social Scientists » (9th Edition)

George W. Maxim is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Childhood Studies and Reading at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.  He is also the author of The Very Young: Guiding Children from Infancy Through the Early Years, (Prentice Hall, © 1997) and The Sourcebook: Activities to Enrich Programs for Infants and Young Children, (Wadsworth Publishing Co. © 1981.)

By modeling creative teaching in today’s classroom climate and by providing engaging and meaningful tools to use in the classroom, this engaging, constructivist-oriented text will help new teachers breathe life into social studies teaching. George Maxim writes the book with the premise that bringing the social studies curriculum to life for elementary students encourages them to become informed, caring citizens who will make a difference in our world. From his text, teachers gain a clear vision of the most effective and creative way to teach social studies and to motivate their elementary students to become social scientists.

How will this text help teachers create a dynamic social studies classroom?

• NEW!  Takes a Developmental Inquiry Approach- Helps readers understand how to introduce and refine inquiry skills through developmentally suitable instructional strategies.
• NEW!  Integrated Learning: Connecting Learning to the Real World (Ch.3)– this new chapter helps teachers fulfill the goals and standards for social studies instruction by incorporating content and skills from other subject areas.
• NEW!   “Backward Design” for Unit Planning, presented inChapter 10, helps readers apply this popular approach to planning and teaching social studies units.
• NEW!  Includes even more examples of exciting classroom activities to help highlight and illustrate important professional concepts and skills.
• NEW!   Proposes the establishment of Democratic Learning Communities-Helps students experience democracy in their classrooms as a basis for developing the dispositions for democratic living as adults.
• Inside an Active Classroom features, threaded throughout chapters, bring you right into lively, successful social studies classrooms.
• NEW!  Integrated online MyEducationLab resources help support new teachers’ application of chapter content by viewing authentic in-class video footage, rich case studies, examples of authentic teacher and student work, and more.
• Full chapter on diversity helps teachers to understand and address the needs of the students they will be teaching.

Part I Foundations of Instruction

Chapter 1 Dynamic Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach 1

What Do You Remember about Social Studies? 4

What Is Social Studies? 7

The Six Major Social Sciences 8

The Social Science/Social Studies Connection 11

Defining the Term Social Studies 12

Why Is Social Studies Important? 15

Participatory Citizenship 15

What Are the Major Goals of Social Studies Instruction in Elementary School? 17

What Is Dynamic Social Studies? 18

Functional Content 19

Cross-Cultural Integration 29

Constructivist Teaching Practices 32

Intrinsic Motivation 35

Respect for Diversity 39

A Final Thought 41

References 42

Chapter 2 Diversity in the Classroom: The Children You Will Teach 45

What Is Multicultural Education? 48

What Is Culture and Ethnicity? 51

How Are Multicultural Perspectives Incorporated into the Social Studies Curriculum? 53

The Contributions Approach 54

The Additive Approach 56

The Transformative Approach 58

The Social Action Approach 60

What Are the Goals of Multicultural Education? 61

Teaching in Culturally Diverse Settings 62

Characteristics of Culturally Responsive Teaching 64

What Other Inequities Must Be Addressed by Our Schools? 76

Educating Children with Special Needs 76

Gender and Classroom Instruction 83

A Final Thought 87

References 88

Chapter 3 Integrated Teaching: Connecting Learning to the Real World 91

What Is Integrated Learning? 95

Drawing from Other Subjects 96

The Arts 96

Reading 103

Mathematics 107

Science 113

Integrative Learning Materials and Activities 116

Hands-On Learning 117

Field Trips 119

Classroom Visitors 122

Computer-Based Multimedia124

Hypermedia (Presentation Software) 126

Projects 129

Key Events of a Project 129

Thematic Units 132

A Final Thought 134

References 135

Part II Classrooms for Young Social Scientists

Chapter 4 Young Historians: Learning to Unlock the Past 137

What Is History? 139

Why Is History Important? 141

What Should Students Know or Be Able to Do? 142

In General, How Should History Be Taught? 143

Investigating with Historical Artifacts 144

Communicating through Historical Narratives 170

How Should Chronology Be Taught? 181

Timelines 182

A Final Thought 184

References 185

Chapter 5 Young Geographers: Exploring the People-Place Connection 187

What Is Geography? 189

Why Is Geography Important? 193

What Should Young Geographers Know or Be Able to Do? 194

The Five Themes of Geography 194

National Geography Standards 197

In General, How Should Geography Be Taught? 201

Teacher-Guided Discovery 201

Maps: The Tools of Geographers 208

What Is a Map? 208

Maps as Models of Our World 209

Representing the World through Block Play 211

Children's First Maps 213

Maps Representing the Classroom 214

Model Neighborhoods and Communities 220

Story Maps 221

The Globe 221

Map Instruction in the Middle and Upper Grades 223

Advanced Map Reading Strategies 227

A Final Thought 240

References 241

Chapter 6 Young Political Scientists: Citizens in Action 243

What Is Civics? 244

Why Is Civics Important? 245

What Should Young Political Scientists Know or Be Able to Do? 246

In General, How Should Civics Be Taught? 249

Engaging Children in Citizenship Processes: The Democratic Learning Community 251

The First Day of School 254

Establishing Rules (Standards) for Classroom Behavior 256

Class Meetings 260

Classroom Symbols 261

Civic Knowledge: Comprehending Fundamental Information and Ideas 262

The United States Constitution 263

National Symbols 268

National Holidays 274

Electing and Voting 277

The Actions and Attitudes of Civic Responsibility 280

Learning about the Civic Responsibility of Model Citizens 283

Civic Dispositions and Virtues 287

Critical Thinking 288

A Final Thought 305

References 307

Part III Constructivist Approaches to Classroom Instruction

Chapter 7 The Learning Cycle: Teacher Scaffolded Social Constructivism 309

What Is Constructivism? 312

What Is Social Constructivism? 315

Zones of Development 316

Scaffolding 316

The Learning Cycle: What Is the Teacher's Role in a Social Constructivist Classroom? 318

The Exploration Phase 318

The Concept/Skill Development Phase 327

The Concept/Skill Application Phase 350

A Final Thought 354

References 355

Chapter 8 Collaborative and Cooperative Learning: Student-Assisted Social Constructivism 357

What Are Collaborative and Cooperative Groups? 360

How Does Group Learning Work? 361

Getting Started 361

Collaborative and Cooperative Learning Groups 365

Collaborative Learning 365

Cooperative Learning 372

A Final Thought 382

References 383

Chapter 9 Inquiry and Problem Solving: Cognitive Constructivism in Action 385

What Is Cognitive Constructivism? 387

How Do Teachers Facilitate Inquiry and Problem Solving? 388

The Inquiry Process 388

The Essence of Inquiry-Based Learning 389

Content-Focused Constructivist Inquiry 400

Creative Problem Solving (CPS) 412

A Final Thought 418

References 419

Part IV Key Organizational Decisions

Chapter 10 Managing Instruction: Planning Lessons and Units 421

Why Is Planning Important? 424

How Are Unit Plans Constructed? 425

Stage 1 Identify Desired Results 427

Stage 2 Determine Acceptable Evidence 434

Stage 3 Planning for Learning 443

A Final Thought 454

References 454

Appendix A: Cited Children's Literature 455

Author Index 457

Subject Index 459