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Teaching Social Studies in

Elementary Grades
(Culture and Geography)
Class code: TEACH ELEM 213E
Schedule: 9.00-12.00
Instructor: Ms. Sarah S. Figueroa
ONLINE CLASSROOM RULES
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GRADING SYSTEM FOR ACADEMIC/ LECTURE
COURSES/ SUBJECTS

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 THE DIFFERENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
You study both social
science and humanities
in order to promote
effective citizenry
VS.
Divided into two main
categories:
 humanities and social
sciences.  sociology, psychology, and
SOCIAL SCIENCES
You study the society
and social life of human
groups
Divided into many branches:
 history, geography, civics
and government (political
science), economics,
anthropology.

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MAIN IDEA

The purpose of social studies education is to

help students develop social understanding
(i.e., knowledge of people and places near and
far [geography] and now and then [history])
and civic efficacy (i.e., the ability to think and
act as a democratic citizen in a diverse nation
and an interdependent world).
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 The Goals of
Social Studies
The primary goals of social studies

SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING
 (i.e., knowledge of human societies)

CIVIC COMPETENCE
 (i.e., democratic citizenship).

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Three Subgoals

KNOWLEDGE

 ATTITUDES AND VALUES

SKILLS

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 Knowledge
• Which social knowledge is most important?
• DISCIPLINES
• Fields of study
• knowledge is systematically created, interpreted, critiqued, and revised
continually in a never-ending process of disciplined
• THEMES
• help curriculum planners and teachers narrow the scope somewhat and
give them a better idea of which social knowledge deserves the most
attention.
• TOPICS
• elementary school children should learn in order to give them a common
knowledge base

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Attitudes and Values

• Directed less at cognitive knowledge and more

at emotion, feeling, and beliefs about right and
wrong
• Essential to democratic citizenship
• Being committed to the public values
• Being able to deal fairly and effectively
• Developing a reasoned loyalty
• Developing a feeling of kinship
• Taking responsibility
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Skills

• identifies what students should know how to

do
• doing involves knowing

• know-how or procedural knowledge

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Skills are often subdivided as follows:

I. Democratic Participation Skills

II.Study and Inquiry Skills

III.Intellectual Skills (critical thinking and problem

solving)

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I. Democratic Participation Skills
A.Listening to and expressing opinions and reasons
B.Participating in classroom, school, and community
decision making, especially participating in group
discussions of public issues (classroom, community,
international) with persons with whom one may
disagree; leading such discussions; mediating,
negotiating, and compromising
C.Working cooperatively to clarify a task and plan group
work
D.Accessing, using, and creating community resources
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Study and Inquiry Skills
A.Using and making time lines, maps, globes, charts,
and graphs
B.Locating, reading, and analyzing information from a
variety of resources, such as books, encyclopedias,
the Internet, newspapers, and libraries
C.Writing reports and giving oral presentations
D.Distinguishing between primary and secondary
sources
E.Forming and testing hypotheses

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Intellectual Skills (critical thinking and problem solving)

A.Comparing and contrasting

B.Making and evaluating conclusions based on
evidence
C.Identifying and clarifying problems and issues
D.Distinguishing fact from opinion
E.Inferring cause-effect relationships

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REFLECTION

Many school subjects comprise

knowledge and skills, but social
studies emphasizes attitudes and
values, too. How are they different,
and why are both important?
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