Page 45 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 1 Elementary Social Studies: What Is It? What Might It Become? 17
approach, and by materials provided. We strongly encourage you to individualize the curriculum in ways that meet the needs of your students and that fit your own educational philosophy. While standards and content expectations provide a framework for what con- tent you are expected to address, you have the ability to influence the curriculum and instructional approaches you implement. To assist you in the process, we offer some guid- ing questions. We encourage you to develop others as you work with your colleagues in creating the optimal social studies program for your students.
1) Does the approach have the capacity to help students become active, committed young citizens who are equipped with the tools and desire to make change for the common good?
2) Does the approach have the capacity to teach the history and core social science dis- ciplines using powerful ideas that deepen students’ knowledge, skills, and values?
3) Does the approach have the capacity to engage all learners intellectually by making
content relevant, meaningful, and active?
4) Does the approach have the capacity to integrate social studies content with other
subject areas?
5) Does the approach parallel the standards, curriculum guidelines, curriculum strands,
or framework that the school system has adopted?
If the approach and materials you use do not follow these guidelines, how can you change them so they do?
Whatever curricular and instructional approaches you follow, and whatever guidelines you develop for yourself, it is critical that they focus on powerful ideas rather than the triv- ial or insignificant. We define powerful ideas and give examples of them in Chapter 3.
Technology Tips
There are countless lesson plan ideas and resources on the Internet, and we recom- mend particular websites in subsequent chapters. While we recommend surfing for ideas and resources, we urge you to borrow from these websites selectively. Many of the lesson plans and resources do not promote powerful social studies teaching because they fail to match your goals. We recommend you develop and use a critical eye for all resources, especially those found on the Internet.
Summary
Social studies is a pan-disciplinary subject that focuses on the social aspects of the human condition. It is informed primarily by history, geography, and the social sciences, but it also draws content from the humanities, physical sciences, local connections, cur- rent events, and other sources. In addition to academic learning goals, social studies bears special responsibility for citizen education—promoting civic competence by helping young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.
Most social studies educators (including the NCSS, the leading national organization devoted to social stud- ies education) share the commitment to improving the human condition and promoting civic competence, but they may differ in their views about what should be the primary purposes, goals, and content of the social studies curriculum. We offer descriptions of several curricular and instructional approaches that show the range of ways social studies educators teach the subject, all of which have the capacity to meet this commitment.
We also describe the traditional sequence used for elementary social studies: the expanding communities.
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