Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students » (2nd Edition)

Jere Brophy is a leading researcher and scholar in education. He is presently a University Distinguished Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. A clinical and developmental psychologist by training, he has conducted research on teacher and student relationships, classroom management, teaching strategies and most recently he has focused on curricular content and instructional method issues involved in teaching social studies for understanding, appreciation, and life application.

Janet Alleman is a professor of teacher education and school administration at Michigan State. She focuses on curricular content and instructional methods as well as issues in teaching social studies at both the pre- and in-service levels. She serves on the NCSS Research Committee and on the Task Force for Scope and Sequence.

Ideal for pre-service and in-service teachers, POWERFUL SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS outlines ways to select content and teach history, geography, and social sciences more meaningfully. Hone skills in planning well-organized social studies instruction that produces positive student outcomes using developmentally appropriate content and methods to help your students develop social understanding and civic action. Rather than advocating the elimination of the traditional content framework used to organize the social studies curriculum ('expanding communities framework'), the authors call for retaining the most important topics that have traditionally been emphasized and for teaching these topics in 'more coherent and powerful ways.'

Preface. Prologue.
1.Elementary Social Studies: What Is It? What Might It Become?
2.How Can I Build A Learning Community in My Classroom?
3.What Does Goal-Oriented Instruction Entail?
4.What Do Selecting and Representing Content Entail?
5.How Can I Teach History Content More Meaningfully?
6.How Can I Teach Geography and Anthropology Content More Meaningfully?
7.How Can I Teach the Other Social Science Content More Meaningfully?
8.How Can I Structure Classroom Discourse to Help Students Develop Social Studies Understanding?
9.How Can I Design, Implement, And Evaluate Instructional Activities?
10.What Are Some Other Strategies For Teaching Social Studies?
11.What Is The Role Of Curricular Integration?
12.How Can I Assess Student Learning?
13.How Can the Curriculum Be Expanded and Made More Meaningful Through Home-School Connections?
14.What Social Studies Planning Tools Are Available?
15.What is the Research Base That Informs Ideas About Powerful Social Studies Teaching? Epilogue.