Children's literature provides elementary teachers and students the opportunity to critically engage in the world around them. However, too often teachers choose not to engage students in discussions of complex social issues out of a sense of fear or discomfort. In this paper, we explore the reflections of 11 teachers who chose to engage their…

As the development of active, democratic citizens has become, arguably, the primary purpose of social studies education, the model of instruction in citizenship education varies significantly. Although current models of citizenship education typically foster a sense of societal conformity and law-obeyance to the exclusion of social change, this…

This document, the fourth in a series of resource guides emphasizing economic-political analysis of contemporary public policies and issues, focuses on crime control. Designed as a three-week unit for secondary school students, the guide is presented in three sections. The introduction presents an economic and a political science framework for…

The role of history in a modern social studies program is unclear. The reason for the weakening of history's place in the curriculum is also unclear since educators generally agree that history and literature should be the core subjects in any humanities or cultural studies program. The problems posed by history instruction in a modern educational…

This is the guide to a series of ten units that are available for use in the two year course of study required in New Jersey. The major goal of this curriculum is to provide an educational program to increase student involvement and therefore provide more vital learning experiences. The ten topics present a broad spectrum of American civilization:…

This booklet contains resources and suggestions to help secondary social studies teachers use popular music in the classroom. The ideas presented in popular songs should be examined in social studies classes because of the impact that contemporary songwriters have had on the shaping of American culture. The attitudes and values portrayed in modern…

Ten lesson plans present ways of using the periodical, "The National Observer," in social science classrooms. By providing stimulating reading, raising questions, and provoking discussion, the periodical articles are designed to expand the student's perspective on social issues. Revolving around five disciplines--political science,…

This is one unit of the series described in SO 000 378. Agriculture is the broad term applied to such widely divergent topics as America's settlement, the West in American History, rural culture and philosophy, and government planning as it affects the American Farmer. The specific objectives of this unit are to help students to understand these…

This catalogue lists resource materials available to secondary social studies teachers using an inductive approach and multi-media techniques to create a variety of learning experiences. Seven supplemental classroom instructional programs were developed by the Center: 1) Dimensions of Citizenship; 2) Politics and Policy Making; 3) Urban Problems…

This is one unit of the series described in SO 000 378. The essential ingredients are not the problems of American society themselves but the ability to recognize them, to view these problems in historical perspective, to mitigate or bring out effective change, to assign priorities, to investigate satisfactory problem-solving methods, and above…

The urban studies guide has been developed to give young people insights into the problems of city living in support of the concept that a healthy environment is necessary for healthy human beings. The objectives and role of social studies and the demands of an interdisciplinary, open-ended, urban studies course, requiring a problem-solving and…

This twelfth grade curriculum guide explores the five behavioral sciences: sociology, social psychology, anthropology, economics, and political science. The overall objectives of the units are: 1) to survey these sciences within a complex society; 2) to realize the importance of individual to the total group; 3) to be aware of the major social…

This is one unit of the series described in SO 000 378. The teacher's major concern must be the establishment and development of criteria by which the student can interpret the present. The intellectual history should develop a picture of that which is unique in our society, and offer the student a basis for understanding himself and his…

This is one unit of the series described in SO 000 378. In the nineteen thirties and forties, government began to act as the fulcrum in a balance of power between labor and industry. It is necessary for the students to understand the importance of the role of all three in American Society today. The specific objectives of this unit are enumerated:…

A teacher's resource manual for a three to five week unit in a social studies course, which may also serve as a resource for a biology or an environment course, intends to provide secondary school students with an integrated approach to population growth and the environment in the context of other dimensions of human society, incorporating a…