At least since John Dewey published his classic works (Dewey [1916] 1938; 1933; [1938] 1963), teachers have been urged to engage students by using thinking and inquiry tasks that reflect real-world concerns and interests. Subsequent to the appearance of Dewey's discussions of that pedagogical stance, the National Council for the Social Studies published The Problems Approach and the Social Studies in 1955 and issued a revised version, Problem-Centered Social Studies Instruction: Approaches to Reflective Teaching, in 1971 (Gross and Muessig 1971). More recently, social science education specialists published research-based theoretical articles providing scholarly justifications for the use of inquiry activities in social studies classes, especially activities that have students using the methods of social scientists (Mayer 1998; VanSickle and Hoge 1991). Since 1990, authors of numerous articles have recommended the use of problem-centered instruction in secondary social studies classes (e.g., Benoit 1998; Gallagher 2000; Maxwell, Bellisimo, and Mergendoller 2001; Savoie and Hughes 1994), including classes for students with learning disabilities (O'Brien 2000). During that period, other authors have recommended that for secondary social studies classes, teachers should consider a relative of problem-centered instruction--the case method (Guyer, Dillon, Anderson, and Szobota 2000; Wasserman 1992). Other social science education experts writing on the promotion of thinking and inquiry about real-world concerns and interests in secondary social studies classes have referred to "authentic instruction" (Foster and Padgett 1999; Newmann 1990). Still others have built their preferred methods around social issues (Evans 1998; Rossi 1996; Shaver 1992). At present, an entire book is in print on the use of cooperative problem-solving methods in secondary social studies classes (Hickman and Wigginton 1999). Another available book features the use of problem-based learning in social studies classes from the elementary grades through college (Moye 1998), and one is in print on the social issues approach (Evans and Saxe 1996). In short, guidance and resources are available for helping secondary social studies teachers respond to John Dewey's recommendation that teachers engage students by using thinking and inquiry tasks reflecting real-world concerns and interests. Sample tasks using sentence structure and vocabulary that the author's assumed readers of The Social Studies would understand are described in this article. For some secondary social studies classes, modifications in the sentence structure and vocabulary are needed.