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Social Studies Statement
Social studies are an important but often overlooked aspect of a person’s education
because it explores the reasons humans have made historical decisions, and the consequences of
those choices. “In our country: citizenship knowledge, skills, behaviors and habits necessary for
life are instilled into primary school students through social studies,” (Saglam & Malbelegi,
2012). For intermediate students, “attempts should be made to enable students to regard social
studies as a lesson in which they can observe the reasons for social events and problems in
different ways and they can propose solutions, suitable for their level, for such problems through
certain fundamental concepts of social studies,” (2016). I think, with the proper approach, the
studying of human nature as it relates to social studies can be stimulating, engaging, and fun for
the students, as it is in this geography lesson I taught to 4th grade students in Southern Alaska.
In order to effectively teach the social studies state standards, it must be taught as a
combination of sociology, anthropology, history and geography. It is the study of how people
interact with each other through sociology, but also the study of how past cultures effected each
other and present cultures through anthropology. Social studies should also encompass the
learning of the world’s geography and the knowledge acquired from discovering the intricacies
of the government and its effect on society both currently and historically. In this study by Kelly
Hunter (2010) “An analysis of the data found that the affordances of multiple genres included
students' appreciation for the different genres as they met their reading expectations,
opportunities for students to learn facts not just randomly but in deeper more meaningful ways,
and provocative texts that inspired critical literacy responses.” Further, “The multiple modalities
facilitated students' learning, engaged them in the history, and served as springboard activities
for their critical thinking.” Heafner, Lipscomb and Fitchett concluded in 2014 that teachers who
integrate social studies into other subjects spend significantly more time teaching it. The above
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geography lesson that I taught was part of a larger unit that integrated these many facets of social
studies. By introducing and representing social studies as the dynamic area of study that it is we
can become excited about it ourselves and be better able to inspire that excitement from our
students.
My experience with learning social studies topics is that the best way to get engaged and
engage students is to make history exciting in any way possible. I will do this by relating what
the students are learning to real life as often as possible, in order to scaffold this information that
is often looked at as obsolete. “At every grade level, teachers should capitalize on the diversity
and natural interests of their students in the world around them. By building on students’ skills
and experiences, teachers can design learning events that challenge students to make meaningful
connections and expand their knowledge and viewpoints,” (National Council for Social Studies,
2017). These activities will be inquiry-based in order to achieve active participation from all
students. I will encourage students to ask questions and make predictions about what happened
in the past before they learn about it, just as I had them take an active role in this geography
lesson. I do this because in social studies classrooms “Questioning can help the teacher develop
critical thinking concepts, scaffold discussions, and prod students towards an elevated level of
cognition,” (Lennon, 2017). I want them to tell me what they would do in situations we are
learning about and why. All of these things are to help them better remember and find more
meaning in what they are learning.
References
Heafner, T.L., Lipscomb, G.B., & Fitchett, P.G. (2014). Instructional practices of elementary
social studies teachers in North and South Carolina. The Journal of Social Studies
Research, 38:1, 15-31. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
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Hunter, K. A. (2010). Fifth grade students' response to a multicultural study of the middle ages:
An exploration of the use of multiple genres and multiple modalities (Order No.
3438370). Available from Education Database. (839308615). Retrieved from
https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/docview/839308615?accountid=44766
Lennon, Sean. (2017). Questioning for controversial and critical thinking dialogues in the social
studies classroom. Issues in Teacher Education, 26:1, 3-16. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
National Council for the Social Studies. (2017). Powerful, purposeful pedagogy in elementary
school social studies: A position statement of the National Council for the Social Studies.
Retrieved fromhttps://www.socialstudies.org/positions/powerfulandpurposeful.
Saglam, H.I., & Malbelegi, F. (2012). A study of primary school students’ opinions about the
content of social studies through certain variables. International Online Journal of
Educational Sciences, 4:3, 738-751. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
