As a middle and high school Social Studies teacher, I have long begged for Social Studies lessons to be taught more in the Elementary classroom. I’ve been given a litany of excuses from lack of time to lack of teacher knowledge to lack of resources. None of those fly with me, and actually, they make me angry!
Teaching Social Studies to young learners is vital for setting the foundation for later learning. If students are never introduced to the basic skills and content, they never have the background they need to understand the more challenging concepts and skills they will face in the secondary classroom.
So, what can you do to encourage the teaching of Elementary Social Studies?
- If you are a secondary Social Studies teacher, reach out to the elementary teachers. Give them the confidence to teach the introductory Social Studies topics. Help guide them to resources that will work for their young learners.
- If you are an elementary teacher, beg, plead, or manipulate to get more time for teaching Social Studies in your classroom. And if that doesn’t work, sneak!
Need some help? Okay, here goes!
- First, start with simple skills. I’d recommend teaching inquiry first. Because they can’t find a connection to their own, modern lives, students have trouble connecting to History. However, if you teach them that Social Studies is simply learning to ask questions about the past to help us all better understand and navigate the future, it might reel them in! And teaching students to inquire about topics from the past can be an easy lesson. Take a look at this post for great ideas and suggestions.
- One of the most important skills in the Social Studies classroom is analysis. Analysis is simple if you have the right tools. And when I say tools, I mean questions that you and your students can use to guide them in the analysis process. Once students find a guide, or set of questions, they can easily follow, they can analyze any resource provided to them. If you need to find those questions, jump over to read Effective Questioning 101 for a number of great options that may work well for you.
- Once your students know what they need to find, they can practice putting the data into their own words. Annotation is simple, and can be fun! Take a look at how you can use family photos to teach the skill.
- Finally, find resources that will help do the teaching for you! Primary sources are the best, and can help your students really look back in time. Revolutionary Reading Resources has just introduced an entire line of primary source analysis activities that are ready to go! NO PREP! What could be better?!
Want Ready to Go Resources for your Elementary Social Studies Classroom?
- Primary Sources from American History Analysis Bundle
- This Day in History Full Year Bundle
- GRAPES Social Studies Organizer and Poster Set
- SPRITE Social Studies Poster Set
- FREE SPRITE Social Studies Organizer
Elementary Social Studies does not have to be a challenge or a chore! By using ready-made resources, you can set your students up for success as they continue on their academic career.
Happy Teaching!
