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Dynamic Social Studies for Constructivist Classrooms is a brief, manageable, practical, and widely-popular guide to the most effective ways to teach social studies to elementary school students—and to motivate them to become social scientists. Using a constructivist framework, key instructional approaches, literacy-based pedagogy, text sets, activities, and illustrative classroom scenarios, the book focuses on motivation, creativity, and the good examples of excellent teachers to help educators breathe life into theory social studies teaching.
- Now easier than ever to navigate, the text includes a new design and presentation throughout.
- In keeping with current interest in learning about the economy, a new, comprehensive treatment of economics is included in Chapter 11.
- Providing a complete look at the six social sciences is possible through the book’s added content on anthropology and sociology in Chapter 10.
- How to include social studies in a crowded instructional program is covered in a new Chapter 6 on interdisciplinary curriculum.
- Determining what to teach in the social studies curriculum is aided in the marginal notes that match illustrative activities to professional standards throughout the text.
- Teachers get invaluable help for dealing with individual and group characteristics and differences in the book’s increased emphasis and new material on such contemporary concerns as bullying and gender specific behavior.
- Valuable suggestions for short- and long-term planning is provided in Chapter 3’s look at the Wiggins/McTighe Understanding by Design (UbD) approach.
- Teachers are able to integrate the use of the latest technology and social media into the classroom—whiteboards, webquests, mobile devices, and more—through the increased emphasis presented throughout the text.
- Ways to improve group and individual learning experiences are presented in the new section on learning centers in Chapter 6.
- Also included are expected learning outcomes at the beginning of each chapter and “Teaching Tips” boxes highlighting successful teaching strategies throughout.
