In this case study, two teacher educators at Minority Serving Institutions explore how artifacts can foster deep, original thinking in a classroom. We share how we modeled the use of artifacts to design an interdisciplinary social studies lesson with teacher candidates (TCs). Making connections to "realia," such as maps, brochures, and…

Data visualization enables users to transform data into visually compelling graphics that tell a rich story for effective communication (Vora, 2019). Data visualization's visual and artistic nature has also attracted artists and educators, leading them to explore its application in artistic creation and education (e.g., Bertling et al., 2021; Dean…

Micro-inquiries are a streamlined adaptation of the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) and C3 Framework that break down rich, meaningful content and skill explorations into short lessons that teachers can include in "less" than a single lesson. Recognizing that full IDM implementations can be time-consuming and challenging for elementary…

Data literacy, an important goal for social studies education, involves teaching students how to comprehend, analyze, interpret, evaluate, create, and argue with data and data visualizations such as timelines, maps, and graphs. Digital data visualizations support rapid inquiry and explorations that would be difficult on paper - such as adding data…

Bansho (Japanese board writing) is becoming an area of interest among researchers and educators as it serves as an asset to make a searching inquiry into teaching. This study aimed to identify the principles of teacher's decision-making in bansho process. Data of the study were drawn from a sixth-grade Social Studies lesson in a school in Japan.…

To prepare their students to navigate online information about current issues, teachers must be able to critically read a range of diverse and complex data visualizations. This study presents findings from task-based interviews with 25 social studies teachers on their instructional beliefs about the use of diverse data visualization types. In the…

In response to the limitations associated with teaching through film, we sought to develop practical lesson ideas that might bridge gaps between theory and practice and assist teachers endeavoring to make effective use of film in their classrooms. One of the more interesting sources of visual media many authors in the previous volumes elected to…

While visual literacy pedagogy in teacher preparation programs has been a recognized body of knowledge the past few decades, limited research centers upon secondary teachers who are responsible for integrating visual literacy into content instruction. This study explored how 32 secondary English language arts and social studies pre-service…

Graphical representations are frequently used but normally not explicitly taught in social studies. The authors explore how to utilize the often unused potential of disciplinary graphical representations in student writing by offering insight into a Norwegian ninth-grade classroom where students were scaffolded to use such representations. The…

This article shares a critical content analysis of 36 highly rated curricular units found on the website TeachersPayTeachers.com (TpT) focused on the teaching of American symbols. Lessons and curricular resources focused on American symbols, such as the United States Flag, Statue of Liberty, and Liberty Bell, remain prominent in the elementary…

From maps, graphs, and tables to photographs and political cartoons, social studies is replete with potentially rich visual images for students to analyze. Yet, elementary students often struggle to understand the information within such graphics. Many do not demonstrate data literacy, the "ability to comprehend, analyze, and interpret data…

The purpose of this study is to determine the opinions of primary school teachers regarding the history subjects found in the primary school 4th grade coursework in scope of the year 2018 Social Studies Course Curriculum. The study utilized survey technique in a qualitative research paradigm. Data were gathered through interviews and document…

The study investigates the views of social studies teachers (SSTs) about the advantages and challenges of interactive whiteboard application in social studies lessons. Data was gathered using a questionnaire consisting of 58 items. The sample comprised 483 male and female SSTs from different governorates of Oman who were provided with three…

The reading and writing challenges that students with learning disabilities (LD) face in academic classroom settings, such as social studies classrooms, are ever present because students are expected to read, understand, and use text-based language that they cannot access due to text-reading difficulties. Visual, performing or drama, music, and…

The rising prevalence of data visualizations in the political and economic spheres requires an increasingly data literate population. Data are used to persuade people how to vote, support policies, adopt arguments or agendas, and buy products. Furthermore, data literacy is a specialized literacy skill that students need to employ to make meaning…