This book revolves around the idea that making personal connections with the material to be learned is what creates powerful learning experiences, demonstrating how personal connections can be incorporated into social studies education while meeting the National Council for the Social Studies' (NCSS) thematic, pedagogical, and disciplinary standards. The book examines a variety of methods both novice and experienced teachers alike can use to make social studies more interesting and to help students make their own personal connections. The book: (1) Enhances learning in each chapter with classroom strategies, pedagogical techniques, activities, and lesson plan ideas; (2) Prompts readers to link their own experiences with the chapter context with "Thinking Ahead" questions and thinking points; (3) Provides students with explicit step-by-step instructions in the application of a strategy in the "How Do I?" section; (4) Offers "Teachers in Action" boxes to describe words of classroom teachers in response to issues or concerns relative to teaching and learning (many of these are postings reprinted with permission from the ProTeacher Community); and (5) Includes an Instructor's Resources CD with sample syllabi, PowerPoint[R] slides, ready-made lesson plans, test bank, project ideas, and Web and teaching resources, including full-text journal articles. The book is designed for undergraduate and graduate students studying Social Studies Methods, Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Education, and Middle School Education. It is also a reference for practicing teachers who want ideas for how to update their teaching methods or wish to update their knowledge of the field. Contents include: (1) Introduction; (2) Defining Social Studies; (3) Celebrating Diversity in Social Studies Education; (4) Teaching Geography and History; (5) Teaching Civics, Government and Economics; (6) Planning; (7) Assessing Student Growth; (8) Special Needs Students in a General Education Setting; (9) Textbooks and Social Studies; (10) Learning through Human Interaction; (11) Problem Solving in Social Studies; (12) Inquiry learning in Social Studies; (13) Creative and Critical Thinking in Social Studies; (14) Current Events and Classroom Discussion; (15) Using the Internet to Teach Social Studies; (16) Learning through Literature and Language Arts: (17) Character Education; and (18) Epilogue. Three appendices are included: (1) Disciplinary Standards for History, Geography, Civics and Government, and Economics; (2) Performance Expectations for NCSS Thematic Subject Matter Standards; and (3) NCSS Essential Skills for Social Studies. References, index and author information are included.