You must have a plan...

A well -planned Social Studies is imperative to effectively integrate with subjects as Math and Science. It is important for students to have engaging activities that they can relate to and apply to their personal lives. Imagine, the opportunity to learn about the First Thanksgiving or Kwanzaa by role playing, drama, music, or art. Providing multiple ways for students to understand Social Studies is important since most teachers will not have the time to re-teach the topic area. In the textbook, Social Studies for the Constructivist Classroom, Maxim introduces Social Studies as a subject that should be integrated with other important subjects, such as Science and Math. An attribute of a well planned Social Studies lesson is the effectiveness of integration. In order to integrate lessons, the teacher must have a very well planned out lesson that meets Social Studies objectives and the objectives for the subject being integrated. Carefully thought out and well planned lessons will allow students to step into the world of Social Studies with excitement and with motivation to learn topics that may seem boring.

A well planned Social Studies lesson is differentiated for all learners. An attribute of planning a Social Studies lesson that is differentiated grabs the attention of visual learners, kinesthetic learners, auditory learners, learners with disabilities, and ESL students. The idea of planning a Social Studies lesson with skits, costumes, music, and hands on activities is exciting for me. As an elementary school student if I had experience differentiated lessons as described in the book, I would have retained more information and been excited about the prospect of learning Social Studies.

A well planned Social Studies lesson intertwines different cultures into American culture to make every student feel important and valued. Including different cultural perspectives should be a part of every Social Studies classroom. As a child growing up in a predominately Caucasian area in rural Virginia, the introduction of different culture views, just usually did not happen. It made me sometimes wonder why the people we always discussed never looked anything like me. I look forward to teaching my students about everyone, including some that look like them. We usually learned about people and topics that were only associated with “American Culture.” What is American Culture? Well that is probably a topic that is solely worth its own blog! Social Studies is a powerful topic, it seems to be the topic of ‘People.’ Giving students the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of the influential people in their own culture and that of others, will propel everyone into a new level of respect and understanding one another. As a Social Studies teacher I look forward to teaching and learning about different cultures and perspectives on important issues and people in our world’s history.


Oh the possibilities associated with teaching Social Studies are endless. I have the task of shaping our next president, community leader, or civic leader into a caring person that takes into account different cultures and beliefs. I am excited for the challenge.