ERIC Number: EJ1290282
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1056-0300
EISSN: N/A
Jane Goodall and Social Studies: Children's Literature and Questions to Explore Her Inspiring Life's Work
Campos, David
Social Studies and the Young Learner, v33 n3 p9-16 Jan-Feb 2021
When the author became a public-school teacher and decided to teach second-grade students about Jane Goodall, he could not find literature appropriate for seven-year-olds. Children's books about her lifework simply did not exist. So, the author used an encyclopedic entry and the knowledge he had from the documentary to form his own text, which was read together as a lesson. As an ensuing poster project, the author assigned the students to choose animals they would study, identify where they would travel to study them, and generate a short list of questions to explore. Jane Goodall's lifework can be a welcoming theme for elementary social studies students. It can help them develop a deeper and broader knowledge base about social and environmental causes and advance their ability to make further inquiries about other topics. In this article, the author presents children's literature by and about Jane Goodall that can be used to teach about her breakthroughs, the decisions she made that resulted in new ideas and ways of thinking, and her inherent character traits of personal responsibility, concern for justice, and respect for others and for the natural world. The author then focuses on critical thinking questions designed to provoke careful consideration of Jane Goodall's life and work, and ends with a discussion on compelling and supporting questions that can be used for further investigation.
Descriptors: Social Studies, Childrens Literature, Animals, Elementary School Students, Social Influences, Environmental Influences, Individual Characteristics, Social Responsibility, Justice, Biographies, Picture Books, Books, Social Problems, Citizenship Responsibility, Ecology, Critical Thinking, Learning Activities
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A