This article presents detailed instructional plans for a two-day, high school-level lesson on wealth distribution in society. The terms "income" and "wealth" are defined and compared, and the significance of studying wealth is discussed. Resources for the lesson are identified, and a pedagogical mode is outlined in relation to…

This article presents an overview of major factors contributing to the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Descriptions of teaching resources and ideas for lesson plans are provided.

As part of a geography-based minority recruiting program (MRP), teachers were asked to serve as mentors for teams of high school students interested in both postsecondary education and geography as a major discipline or career path. The goal was to determine whether teacher participation in MRP programs was an effective tool to mentor…

Concerned with combining theory with practice, the author, a teacher educator, wrote a grant to combine teaching university social studies methods and teaching sixth-grade social studies in an urban professional development site (PDS). By combining both roles, she created a recursive process of theory, observation, analysis, coteaching, and…

Provides an overview to the "Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning," a project sponsored by the National Council for the Social Studies. Identifies the handbook's organization and major topics. Argues this comprehensive review and analysis of social studies educational research promotes improved research, assists…

Describes the beginnings and development of the New Social Studies as an attempt to foster citizen ability to make decisions on major issues. Suggests that the movement ended because of commercialization of materials, lack of a research base, failure to consider the personalities of teacher and student, and failure to consider the hidden…

Reviews the "Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning's" section on students. Examines currentness of research comprehensiveness, clarity, and evaluative analysis. Specifically analyzes chapters on student development, educationally disadvantaged, culturally diverse, and gifted students. Finds the section reveals the…

Evaluates the "Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning's" section on interrelations between social studies and other curriculum areas (art, music, literature, science, technology, reading, and writing). Commends the section for advocating integration of curriculum and for showing how limited research is for teaching…

Analyzes chapters on epistemology and methodology in the "Handbook of Research on Social Studies Teaching and Learning." Laments the imprecise definition concerning the epistemological nature of the social studies. Concludes the handbook does not clarify this definition and that social studies research reflects this missing broader…

Children find learning about history meaningful when teachers find ways to interest them in the subject. A social studies wax museum is one way to bring state or national historical characters to life. It opens up a new world for children and makes history more than a chapter in a textbook. In this article, the authors present the rationale for a…

Describes the origins, development, and products of the slow- learner social studies curriculum development project at Carnegie-Mellon University (Pennsylvania) in the late 1960s. Maintains that this project represented the last wave of curriculum projects to emerge from the national reform efforts following Sputnik. (CFR)

Reviews the New Social Studies reform movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Discusses the learning theories that provided the foundation for the movement. Contends that, although the movement faded in the mid-1980s, the impact can still be found in some instructional methods and materials. (CFR)

Reviews the origin, implementation, and principles of the Amherst Project, a teacher education workshop that was one of the leading examples of the "new social studies" in the 1960s. Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the project and briefly notes similar programs still in existence. (MJP)

Asserts that economics education is a desirable goal for the elementary curriculum because elementary students can learn and understand economic concepts. Reviews four "Teaching-Learning Principles" based on empirical research about learning effectiveness. Applies these principles to economic concepts such as scarcity, cost-benefit analysis, and…

Defines the Scaffolding Reading Experience as a reading improvement technique that incorporates prereading, reading, and postreading activities. Discusses how this can be used in social studies classes and provides specific examples from an 11th-grade U.S. history class. Includes a list of optional activities and teaching suggestions. (MJP)