In this article, the authors discuss a month-long research study where sixth grade students researched three women for the half-century after the U.S. Civil War War that worked to change their respective communities to address public issues: Jane Addams, Clara Lemlich, and Ida B. Wells. The sixth graders read a picture book for each of the three…

Research in historical cognition and learning suggests that study and practice of the reading and thinking habits of professional historians--such as the attribution, assessment, and contextualization of primary sources--are necessary for children and adolescents to understand historical events and ideas (Stearns, Seixas, and Wineburg 2000;…

In this article, the authors show how oceanography can enlighten and energize the teaching of middle- and high-school social studies on a grade-by-grade basis, and they describe "hooks" from oceanography that will heighten students' interest in various social studies topics. They base the article on their own experiences--as a…