Well, there is good news and bad news if you are a die-hard SS lover and teacher.
Bad News: SS is NOT a prevalent concern when it comes to Common Core implementation and the new pushes coming with educational technology. In that being said, it is NOT being eliminated by any means, it is just being combined with other subjects (reading in particular) so that it is woven into all areas instead of taking up time and prevalence as its own individual subject area. Now, this was not the take everywhere, but it was the overall general vibe that was given off in sessions and lectures around the conference. The emphasis is definitely on Math, Reading/LA, and Science. Many districts are switching to large blocks for Science/Math (thus furthering the STEM curriculum ties), and for Reading/LA (and infusing the instruction here with SS content and information texts). The push is not to eliminate the SS curriculum, but to tie it to other areas of importance so that students have a background for their learning in other areas, and so that the other areas can be tied to historical content of interest to the students. This gives them the non-fiction reading and curriculum that is cohesive with the other main areas of content.
Good News: No one has to be sad and think that it is going away all together! It will be present as much as teachers are willing to work to tie it in, and as much as teachers can find creative ways to introduce the content within the other subjects. Extra good news: Because of this push to put SS as its own subject on the back-burner, there are a lot of new resources coming out that helps teachers to tie SS content into other subject areas. Here are a few resources that I gathered at the conference:
Teaching History:
The website www.teachinghistory.org is a great resource for all things history K-12. It offers virtual field trips, lesson ideas, and many many resources on tieing SS into your reading curriculum.
ICivics:
ICivics is a new game based platform that can be used to teach various lessons within the SS content. There are specific ties to Science, Math, and Reading in some of the lessons, and it provides a great and engaging way to get students to make real-world associations. Basically, ICivics is the bombDOTcom! 🙂 Try it out here: http://www.icivics.org/
Common Core History Units:
This site is geared K-12, but a lot of the activities may be better for older grades. None the less, it is still worth checking out, if nothing else for the resources that are provided within. The purpose of this site is to discuss the implementation of Common Core and using SS as a means to provide information text, primary resources, etc. to students in reading/LA. Check it out here: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/literature-and-language-arts/resources/teaching-common-core
Speaking with History Teachers:
This site offers a forum of interviews with other teachers and the many views of teaching Common Core with SS integration. Check it out here: http://teachinghistory.org/issues-and-research/roundtable/25348.
Advocate for Instruction
This site offers a blog from a teacher who has been teaching Common Core for some time now. He discusses his hesitation at giving up the individual SS idea for the infused approach and how over time he has come to love the new teaching style. It is a good read for insight into the future for us and the switch to CC. Check it out here: http://historytech.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/common-core-standards-and-the-problem-for-social-studies/.
Mixed Bag of Information:
This blog offers a lot of helpful reads! The specific blog that the link goes to discuss a sample lesson that draws in Science, SS, Math, and Reading/LA. Check it out here: http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com/search/label/history%20data. The site also offers a lot of other great blogs relevant to teaching SS.
IWitness
IWitness is geared toward middle school age and older, but it is an interesting site none the less. It offers first hand accounts from the Holocaust, and it offers a variety of other first hand history interviews. Check it out here: iwitness.usc.edu
Mission-US
Mission-US is a great resource for all ages of SS teachers! It provides a lot of detailed information and lesson examples for K-12. Check it out at www.mission-us.org
PastPresent
PastPresent is a great website for comparing past events and times with present events and times. It helps students to see the full spectrum of history. Check it out at www.pastpresent.org
Shoah Foundation
The Shoah Foundation is a collection of articles and interviews on many different events in history. Check it our here: www.college.usc.edu/vhi
These are all I have for right now. I know there will probably be more that I find as I go through my notes, so I will update as I find them. Happy SS teaching!
-J
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