Social+Studies

Articles/Blogs on Literacy in your content:
​ This article has quite a few arguments about the shortcomings of textbooks. It seems to me that most traditional textbooks are about breadth of knowledge (in regards to a particular content area), and not about depth. However, a subject can best be understood by exploring it and studying it in depth. -Jordan

Abe Lincoln Blog- This is a great blog by a history Professor on Honest Abe.- Landon

Textbooks play a major role in the Social Studies classroom. In Texas, History could be changed forever, and not for the greater good of history. Read the following articles about the proposed changes to textbooks in Texas. You'll be surprised by the views shared and what is to be left to history. ~Laura

[|Texas Conservatives Seek Deeper Stamp on Texts] [|U.S. history textbooks could soon be flavored heavily with Texas conservatism]

This article is about teaching across content areas, specifically integrating Social Studies and Language Arts to solve problems within the classroom and help students who do not speak English as their first language. ~Laura [|The Integration of Social Studies and Language Arts is Long Overdue]

This is a great site with tons of content to help social studies teachers. It has tech stuff, lesson plans, and online resources!- Landon [|Social Studies Blog]

Instructional Activities:
This is a great website for teaching with primary sources. It gets them thinking about how there can be different views of historical events.-Landon [|Historical Thinking]

Using technology in your classroom resources:
[|Library of Congress] There are multiple lesson plans, teacher and student resources, as well as exhibitions that are relatable to the Social Studies curriculum. ~Laura Without Sanctuary website This is a website that uses collected photos to illustrate the effects of lynchings from the end of the Civil War through the 1920s. Be warned, some of the images are very graphic and disturbing.

[|Youtube.com] is a great resource for watching music videos, movie trailers, and reruns of televisions shows. It is also a great resource for teachers. There are many speeches, film clips, picture montages, etc. that are great uses of technology in the classroom. For example, a teacher could use the speeches by Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Adolf Hitler to teach a social studies unit about WWII. This provides students with a first hand account of the power of speech. ~Laura

[|Google Videos]This is also a great site to find videos to show your students.-Landon

Tradebooks and other resources:
​While resources on The Civil War are extensive, and continue to grow with each passing day, here are some good ones we've found:

//**This Terrible War: The Civil War and its Aftermath**//, by Michael Fellman, et al. A well-researched, easy to read textbook that takes a chronological approach to the causes of the War, the events of the War, and the repercussions of the War. //**Killer Angels**//, by Michael Shaara. A riveting fictional account of the three days of Gettysburg as told from the points of view of Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Buford, and Hancock.


 * __Women in the American Civil War, Volume 1__** by Lisa Tendrich Frank. This book is a great resource for the Civil War and presents an alternative perspective to history in the form of gender. Many times the efforts of women are overlooked when wars are discussed and taught in the social studies classroom. The book includes key dates surronding women and their involvement in the Civil War era and presents information in essay form. ~Laura


 * __Traditions and Encounters: A Brief Global History, Vol I: to 1500, Vol 2: 1500 to present__**, edited by Jerry Bentley, Herbert Ziegler, and Heather Streets. These books are a collection of primary documents and resources with introductory literature and secondary interpreation for World History. ~Laura

__**Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School Textbook Got** **Wrong**__ and **__Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History__** by James W. Loewen. These are two great resources for teachers. They include ideas about how to teach history to students without droning on and on about dates and facts, while forging real connections with history. ~Laura

[|Teachers Content Literacy] This website offers information about literacy and the social studies content area. There are many links to instructional activities and websites that aid teachers in teaching how to use various types of resources in the classroom. ~Laura


 * //Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader //**, By Kevin Reilly. This book has a great selection of primary sources. Many points of views are used and is a great way for students to get a better understanding of events from a firsthand perspective.- Landon  