The disappointing results of the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Civics and U.S. History have further fueled the call for consistent, high-quality social studies instruction. The response by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) highlighted the imperative for early grades, claiming "the lack of a solid…

The power of democracy is its adaptability to a changing world. We can envision and work toward a society that is more just than the present. History education is more relevant now than ever. We offer ideas and strategies that can transform the history classroom into a space for understanding the past with the explicit purpose of learning from the…

Primary sources are tricky documents. They can be excellent texts to use in the classroom to improve content knowledge and build skills, but care must be taken so they promote rather than thwart learning (Eicher, 2007; Newman, 2014). A couple of preliminary steps can eliminate pitfalls and help a primary source fulfill its promise. Traditionally,…

Until the beginning of the 21st century, the Tulsa Race Massacre was omitted mainly from the social studies curriculum and state-mandated standards in the United States. However, the featured lesson provides a valuable springboard to explore the historical perspectives and injustices against the Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 31, 1921.…

There is a renewed interest for the use of inquiry in social studies classrooms; though, research has long shown numerous benefits. This lesson seeks to utilize the inquiry method to invigorate the social studies curriculum as well as explore a controversial topic of gender equality in historic representation. Women are often underrepresented in…

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…

When teaching the Civil Rights Movement in elementary classrooms, heroic figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. tend to dominate the curricular landscape. While it is essential for students to learn about their contributions and struggles, it is equally important to frame the broader injustices they were combating. In this article,…

There are notable historical figures commonly taught in social studies curriculums across the country, often without much controversy. Because they are seen as "elemental" to many World and U.S. histories, they mostly remain in standardized curriculum while recent censorship of content concerning race, gender, and sexuality has…

The role of literacy in social studies education has been greatly elevated over the last decade. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) models through the indicators of its C3 Framework how to strengthen K-12 students' disciplinary thinking, literacy, and argumentation skills in the four core social studies disciplines: civics,…

Voter participation in elections is the cornerstone of U.S. democracy, yet there is a history of voter suppression and intimidation tactics that specifically target Black Americans which did not cease in the twenty-first century, it merely transformed. Teachers can help students get ahead of voter suppression efforts by making sure students…

Political history lends itself to traditional patterns of teaching and learning in social studies such as students memorizing facts presented in lectures or textbooks. This article presents a recurring activity structure for teaching U.S. political history--Consensus Circle Presidential Rating (CCPR)--which requires students to read across…

The protests of 2020 cast a national spotlight once again on police brutality and ongoing racial injustice in America. Within this context, many activists and even mainstream commentators have given more attention to a critical analysis of how American history has been taught, especially regarding race relations. The publication of the "1619…

Shifting to an inquiry-based practice can be challenging. How should teachers get started? How many times should teachers plan for inquiry? What do teachers do when students struggle with inquiry? How long does it take for students to buy in to the inquiry process? These kinds of questions, and the concerns that underlie them, can create an…

Human dignity is a complex, though essential, concept for students to master. Inserting human dignity into existing curricula provides students with more opportunities to consider the problems of vulnerable classmates and the status of human dignity and rights in the United States and around the world. Using parts of the US modern Civil Rights…

In this article, I consider the use of Asian American digital archives as sources of critical inquiry for the elementary social studies classroom. First, I provide a brief overview of early South Asian American history, focusing on Punjabi and Bengali migrations. Then, I orient educators to two noteworthy community archives, the South Asian…