Southern United States folk music is rich in not only sound, but in voices of the past. Folk songs were created by working class individuals who described aspects of their life in connection with societal issues and events. Folk songs, now digitally archived, can serve as primary historical sources that can be used to enhance the secondary social…

Providing opportunities for elementary students to engage with enduring social issues, such as houselessness, is essential in preparing informed, engaged, and social justice-oriented citizens. This article draws from the following standards: (1) C3 Framework for Social Studies Standards that center inquiry; (2) Learning for Justice's Social…

In the effort to create a multiculturally sensitive citizenry, addressing issues of immigration is critical in today's schools and society. Mathematics and social studies are subjects sensitive to the cultural and population shifts of society. Since STEM subjects and skills are what drive the 21st century classroom today, it is important that…

This article addresses the need for researchers to move beyond discipline-specific approaches to research and practice and offers an example of how interdisciplinary understandings can increase knowledge in respective disciplines. The specific focus of the article is the shared challenges of broaching controversy in science and social studies…

Insurance is an interesting interdisciplinary topic that can offer generative meaning and relevance for students. By adapting real life examples and authentic simulations, mathematical concepts can be applied to insurance-related social studies issues and content. This article explores ways to teach insurance and related mathematical concepts to…

Intended to help teachers make the move from traditional textbooks to a more issue-centered, interdisciplinary social studies curriculum, this collection of essays comes from teachers who describe how to focus on teaching for and toward justice, with critical pedagogy as an underlying theme. The teachers' stories in this collection show the…

Science is a social issue. The examination of scientific issues offers an excellent opportunity for helping students develop a synthesized perspective on science related issues--a synthesis of the technical data coupled with social, political, economic, ethical, and philosophical information. (RM)

A social studies educator responds to a paper by Glen Aikenhead titled "Science in Social Studies." To remind science people that social issues are ultimately human as opposed to ultimately scientific, the author begins the paper with a discussion about the ways humans come to gain knowledge through science, religion, philosophy, and art. If…

The role of social studies and social studies supervisors is examined in light of current social problems. The author suggests 11 major areas in which educational improvement is needed. Social studies supervisors must help establish cooperative relationships among the various disciplines and within the area of social studies, set goals, and…

The purpose of this paper is to refocus and expand the notion of the integration of reading, particularly literature, and social studies. The premise is that reading as a tool of inquiry can be used in the social studies classroom to develop students' abilities to inquire about social issues in the social studies. Inquiry is interpreted to include…

An authority on career education proposes a relation between this area and the social studies' thrusts of inquiry training and values education. He defines a new role for social studies in building a multidisciplinary approach to understanding an individual's economic role and social problems in general. (KM)

Two science classroom techniques that can be used in the social studies classroom to motivate students involve puzzling phenomena and relating science to social issues such as over-population, energy, and pollution. (JR)

Focuses on using drama in social studies by describing the use of the flippy play, a narrative illustrating social problems and written and drawn on flippable panels. Discusses the process for creating a flippy play, beginning with researching, developing, and constructing the play, building the flippy frame, and then producing and pacing the…

Integration of the social studies disciplines for more complete understanding of man's problems is promoted as reform to "real" social studies curriculum. (Author/ND)