Maintains that teaching is, among other things, the art of connecting students with course content in personal, relevant, and exciting ways. Presents three classroom lessons that incorporate journals, plays, and essays into social studies teaching. Includes discussion questions and follow-up assignments. (CFR)

Presents sample writing assignments that enable students to practice social studies skills. Suggests that the use of creative writing assignments allows students to make a jump in time or place to the era and area being studied. Argues that using the imagination is a better approach to learning than memorizing facts. (DK)

Discusses the use of writing assignments for teaching social studies. Suggests that alternatives to the standard research paper may be more advantageous to students by providing increased opportunity for creativity. Describes oral history projects, diaries, letters, advertisements, monologues, brief investigations, and position papers as suitable…

Presents results of a project examining the effects of writing to learn in elementary social studies. Explains that the research explored journal writing activities as a means of improving social studies achievement, writing fluency, and communication. Concludes that journal writing does increase writing fluency and learning retention. (DK)

Describes pre-and post-writing activities designed to aid students in submitting a polished social studies paper rather than merely a first draft. Data analysis, questioning strategies, games, simulations, and values education strategies provide sources for focusing on the topic. Rewriting involves evaluation, revision, and editing.

Suggests that using historical novels in a unified studies approach to social studies and reading instruction may enhance students' learning in both content areas. Describes a historical fiction project utilizing three novels pertaining to United States history. Concludes that the whole class instruction unified each class through participation in…

Contends that geography teachers are always looking for ways to excite their students while engaging them in geographic skills development. Describes using "Wanted Posters" as a springboard to geographic learning in middle schools. Includes sources for obtaining wanted posters from government and social service agencies. (CFR)

Presents instructional materials and suggestions for using primary source documents regarding Admiral Peary's search for the North Pole. Cache notes were brief dispatches left for the press in ice hutches along with provisions and maps. Includes a photocopy of a cache note from Peary's expedition with suggested research topics and activities. (MJP)

Asserts that, for generations of immigrants, the federal immigration station at Ellis Island, New York, left an indelible first impression of life in the United States. Presents a lesson plan based on photographs of immigrants at Ellis Island and two poems about immigration. (CFR)

Describes exercises in which students create a fictional character from history and write a journal entry in a cooperative group activity. Discusses further assignments in which individual students create additional characters descended from the original for study of later historical periods. Suggests that the project demonstrates how historical…

Argues that the illuminating, conceptual, and contextual qualities of literature make it an excellent resource for teaching social studies concepts, especially those concerning multiculturalism. Advocates reading the books as complete works rather than piecemeal assignments. Includes suggestions for selected books and related topics. (MJP)

Describes an easy project that uses postcards to engage elementary and middle school students in reading, writing, and social studies. Students write letters to the editors of different newspapers asking their readers to send postcards to the class. Follow up activities include response letters, maps, and writing assignments. (MJP)

Notes that teachers can make writing assignments more acceptable by using innovative techniques. Suggests that using letter writing for research projects is a good motivational technique. Asks students to assume roles of persons of a specific historical period and write from the first-person perspective. Includes sample letter. (NL)

Asserts that oral history and children's literature are effective strategies for making history relevant to elementary students. Includes a figure illustrating the webbing approach and 37 recommended children's books. (CFR)

Maintains that writing is one of the most important skills students can acquire. Asserts that social studies teachers can help students learn the writing process through a variety of written formats, such as essays, diary writing, and letter writing. Describes a classroom activity using letters and editorials. (CFR)