I love teaching Social Studies. I really love it. It's exciting to present historical concepts to students and find ways to make it interesting and engaging for them. I love hearing comments like, "Social Studies is my favorite class" and "Social Studies is really fun" because they often come from students who were wary of the subject at the start of the school year. Through our activities and the creation of a positive classroom environment, they find an appreciation for my favorite school subject and sometimes it even becomes their favorite subject of the year. How cool is that?! I also love sharing my passion for teaching Social Studies and connecting with teachers like you who share that same love of learning and bringing history to life in their classrooms! But where to begin? Hint: it involves lots of freebies which are included in a FREE Introduction to Social Studies Mini Unit - 5 complete days of lessons - all activities are included - just for you! Here are some lesson ideas for introducing the subject of social studies in your classroom: Hook Ideas A good hook activity is a great way to start a new lesson. It grabs students' attention and sets the scene for the unit or daily lesson. Here are some easy ideas: 1. True or False? Write a brief series of questions about the study of history and some key terms you plan to cover. Ask students to raise their thumbs in the air (up for yes, down for no) in response to the questions. It's an easy and fun way to assess prior knowledge. You can also use mini white boards and have students collaborate in groups of 2-3 to answer true or false. After each question, you can review the right answer. 2. YouTube Videos I love finding a great (and brief!) YouTube video to use during a lesson. Here are some of my favorites to introduce the subject of social studies: An Animated Introduction to Social Science (Soomo Publishing) Why Study History? (The Pursuit of History) Why Study History? (PragerU) recommended for older students 3. Draw It This hook is perfect for mini whiteboards. Ask students to draw or write images, words, doodles, etc. when they think of the words "social studies" or "history". These images can spark discussions about concepts that relate to social studies! A Word Wall Hold up! Do you have a word wall in your classroom? If not, it's time to start. A word wall is a place to collect the important vocabulary terms you are teaching in your unit. You can even collect and keep them up all year! Word walls give students a chance to review and interact with vocabulary daily. The more students interact with vocabulary terms, the more connections they can make between ideas and build upon those concepts to better understand and make deeper connections to curriculum content. You can make your own word wall for an Introduction to Social Studies unit or download this free resource from my TpT store! :) Introduction to Social Studies Activities Now that your students are hooked, it's time to dive into the unit. I've created some free resources in my TpT store - The Teacher's Prep - to help you in this endeavor! 1. Vocabulary Activities We've already discussed the importance of vocabulary posted in a word wall - now let's talk about some activities students can complete to interact with the vocabulary in a variety of ways! The Introduction to Social Studies Vocabulary Activities resource (it's free, too!) has three activities to use with your students. I like spreading out these activities over the course of the unit to give kids extra practice. The first activity I typically start with is the Introduction to Social Studies Vocabulary activity in which students write the definitions for each vocabulary term. As we use the terms in class during the unit, I give them time to write a sentence using each word in the chart. On subsequent days, there are two more activities to use - a matching activity and a crossword puzzle. Again, the more students interact with the words, the more opportunities they will have to understand the important concepts you are teaching in class! If that sounds like activities you'd find useful in your classroom, download it here! 2. Informational Text Ok, now it's time to dive into the heart of the unit - reading informational text! If you don't already have access to informational text or would like to supplement the resources you currently have, I've created an Introduction to Social Studies Interactive PowerPoint that is filled with informational text students can read. It also directly corresponds to a set of interactive notebook graphic organizers for student note taking. Oh! And not only is it available in PowerPoint in an interactive format, there's also TpT Easel and Google Drive versions included, too. I've got you covered! Check it out here! And yes, it's also free. (It's a theme!) :) 3. Interactive Notebooks How do students organize their notes for this unit? In an interactive notebook! I love these graphic organizers because they consolidate student notes in one place. The graphic organizers directly correlate to all the activities I've mentioned above so far and give students the opportunity to summarize the main ideas and details they learn as they are introduced to the study of history. I love interactive notebooks so much, I made complete sets for Ancient History, American History and Civics / American Government ... in both paper and digital formats. You can check them out by clicking on the links in the last sentence! And of course, this section wouldn't be complete without a paper and digital copy of the Introduction to Social Studies interactive notebooks to take with you! Click here for the digital interactive notebook and here for the paper interactive notebook. 4. Task Cards Last (for now!) but certainly not least are task cards. Task cards can be used as bell ringers, entrance tickets, exit tickets, station work and more! I alternate their use based on my class needs of the day, but they include brief writing prompts to encourage students to think critically about the content they are learning in class. If task cards seem like something you'd like to add to your Introduction to Social Studies unit, click here to download a free resource of them from my TpT store! And Finally... Thank you for all you do for your students to bring history to life in your classroom and engage students in topics that will foster a love of learning. I hope these resources make your life a bit easier and save you valuable time in the school year. I absolutely love hearing from teachers like you. If you find the resources useful in your classroom, I invite you to leave me a note in the feedback sections and let me know how you used the activities in your classroom. I read every word and your notes mean so much to me! Happy Teaching! Oh, and here's a link (click here!) directly to a page in my TpT store that lists all of these free resources in case you don't want to scroll back through the post. :)
Social Studies vocabulary can be a major focus throughout the year rather than busy work. This blog explores how to incorporate activities with social studies vocabulary.
Culture Poster Project----Great Project for students to learn about their own culture!! Students use a poster template to draw their facial features and add information about their own culture such as their family, language, ethnicity/heritage, foods, religious beliefs, traditions, arts/music, knowledge around their face. Great way to teach about the elements of culture and students get to include their own. Posters can be displayed in the classroom or hallway!! Great activity to use at the beginning of the year to get to know your students or when studying about culture! I do this activity every year in my classroom and my students LOVE to create it! This download includes: a lesson plan with learning target a warm up question a poster template that teachers can print off and have students draw on an example of the poster a rubric for teachers to use You may also be interested in Geography Writing Activity, World Mapping Activities, World Religions Packet, Social Studies Vocabulary Word Cards, Government, Econonmy & Religion Foldable and/or Photo Analysis Worksheet
Hey thanks for stopping by! It’s so great to meet you! I'm Mister Harms and I teach junior high and high school social studies in a small-town school. During the summer months, when I'm not teaching, I enjoy helping lead a youth camp that focuses on life transformation. My family
Social Studies Interactive Notebooks are a great tool to reinforce learning in any classroom. Give your students a forever resource this year by ...
Pennsylvania geography is too often ignored by teachers because it isn’t included in textbooks. This doesn’t have to be the case for you. Here are three of my TPT resources that focus e…
Guide to using Social Studies Simulations to step away from the lecture podium and engage your students with hands-on history activities.
Integrating language arts skills into social studies can be tricky. There is already a lot of subject matter to cover without having to teach reading and writing skills as well! If a social studies teacher did not receive much language arts training within his or her certification program, integrating these skills can be even more […]
170 best 4th Grade Social Stu s images on Pinterest from fifth grade social studies worksheets free , image source: pinterest.com
Over the past few years, I have been incorporating inquiry circles into my classroom through Social Studies and Science. Inquiry circles are a lot like most research projects. I would say the main difference is how they start. NOW AVAILABLE… One Stop Teacher Memberships Our grade-level memberships provide the BIGGEST savings on ALL One […]
Teaching Geography is one of the best Social Studies gigs to get! There are so many amazing resources for teaching the course, and fun strategies for teaching Geography are also unlimited. Follow this Quick Tips for Teaching Geography Series to learn those strategies for your classroom! Quick Tips #1: Quick Start Ideas Starting class in […]
Are you looking for a new way to get your students out of their seats and engaged with your social studies content? Gallery Walks are a great inquiry-based activity that is easy to set up and implement. Check out some of my tips for holding an effective Gallery Walk in your social studies class. What is a Gallery Walk? A gallery walk is a classroom-based activity where students silently walk around the classroom to view images that are placed on the wall, just like an art gallery or museum. Typi
In this Social Studies and history icebreakers resource, you receive two icebreaker activities for the first or last days of school. These are ideal in any Social Studies, History, or Geography classroom. You can choose to use both, or choose the game that you feel best fits your kids!In the first...
Don't you love it when other teachers do the research for us?
Teaching Current Events is so important for the secondary classroom, but finding content-strong, student-appropriate sites can be such a challenge. To make it easier on you, I’ve compiled these Top 15 Websites for Teaching Current Events! I hope they will help you take your students out of the classroom so they can be more knowledgeable […]
Learn how to use social studies political cartoons to increase student engagement. Includes link to a free political cartoon analysis activity!
I love using functional, easy-to-make anchor charts! These reusable social studies anchor charts work for any history lesson in the elementary grades!
Social Studies Interactive Notebooks are a great tool to reinforce learning in any classroom. Give your students a forever resource this year by ...
This product can be used to display social studies topics and vocabulary on a focus wall or on a ring to be used in discussions and lessons. There are 250 words included. About the Social Studies Cards These cards provide a visual and definition for each word. The cards cover topics for K-2 Good citizenship Community Land and Water Map Skills Historic People Conservation Community Workers America Needs and Wants Government Historic Places Time in History Texas History Words/Definitions Included for: Abigail Adams Abraham Lincoln activities Aesop's Fables air Alamo Alexander Graham Bell allegiance Amelia Earhart America the Beautiful anthem appointment Art Teacher artifact authority figure ballot barbecue bathroom bay belief Benjamin Franklin biography body of water bus driver cafeteria cafeteria workers calendar canyon capitol building cardinal directions cave celebration choose Christopher Columbus chronology classroom clothing coach coal compas compass rose communication community conserve constitution Constitution Day consumer continent conversation crop day east Eleanor Roosevelt election electronic media equality exchange family far fireworks folktale food Francis Scott Key freedom future Garrett Morgan George Washington globe glossary good citizen goods government governor gulf George Washington Carver gym heritage hill historical figure holiday home human characteristics of a place human modification income index In God We Trust Independence Day interview Irma Rangel irrigation island janitor job John Hancock Jose Antonio Navarro journal justice key lake landform landmark law legend liberty bell library librarian Lincoln Memorial literature location map market mayor Memorial Day month monument motto mountain Mount Rushmore music music teacher nation natural resources Navajo Code Talkers near needs Nina north North America North Pole nurse oasis ocean oil oral sources orientation origin over parade park past patriot Paul Revere peninsula Pinta plain plant plateau pledge Pledge of Allegiance Pledge to the Texas Flag pond present President's Day principal producer public official purchase rain recreation region religion respect responsibility Richard Allen river Robert Fulton rule rural Sam Houston San Jacinto sand dune Santa Maria secretary security service shelter Sojourner Truth south South Pole Star Spangled Banner Statue of Liberty Stephen F. Austin suburb sun symbol table of contents tax teacher technology temperature Texas Texas flag Texas, Our Texas Theodore Roosevelt Thomas Edison Thurgood Marshall time timeline title on map today tomorrow trade tradition transportation truthfulness Uncle Sam under United States of America United States flag urban valley Veteran's Day veteran visual sources volcano vote wants water waterfall Washington Monument weather W.E.B. Dubois week west The White House wind work World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots year yesterday bald eagle recycle reuse reduce city state country self-control fairness community helper neighborhood Thomas Jefferson Martin Luther King, Jr. environment ecosystem interaction republic indivisible liberty Labor Day supply demand North America South America Europe Asia Africa Australia Antarctica Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Arctic Ocean Southern Ocean **This list contains some words related to Texas since I am a Texas girl, but you can let me know if there are other words you need. Not a guarantee that I will be able to add them fast, but I will try my best! Display cards on the board or on a focus wall to introduce and reinforce a unit of study. Related Products • Science Word Wall Cards K-2nd • Science Vocabulary Word Wall Cards 3rd-5th • Math Word Wall Cards Third Grade • Math Word Wall Cards K-2nd • Math Word Wall Cards Fourth Grade • Literacy Vocabulary Word Wall Cards K-2 Be sure to check the preview! Reagan Tunstall Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits
Are your students loving their social studies classroom or are they feeling that it is an extension of their ELA class? Are you wondering how to increase student engagement in the classroom so that your student cannot wait to come into your classroom and learn? Keep reading for ideas to incorporate all learning styles into ... Read more
The idea of using Google Drive in the classroom is an exciting and daunting adventure. One minute you’re printing worksheets and activiti...
Engage your students with an Era Word Wall for US History. This resource is designed for you to create an interactive era wall in your classroom. Research shows the benefit of word walls for our students. Use this all year long to help teach the concept of an era and the events that define it. In addition to images for your classroom, print the images 4 to a page and turn your images into a sort for a STAAR review! I have created two different versions for you – one with titles and one without. The dates for the eras are defined by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. You have two ways to use these images – you can post them all at the beginning of the year, or, post them as you teach each unit. This purchase includes images and dates representing the American History Eras: Exploration and Colonization, American Revolution, Creation and Ratification of the Constitution, Early Republic, the Age of Jackson, Westward Expansion, Industrial Revolution, Reform Movements, Sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction. Related Products • AMERICAN HISTORY 1877 TO THE MODERN ERA WORD WALL *************************************************************************** Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches: • Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺ © Social Studies Success, LLC. This purchase is for you and your classroom. Duplication for an entire school, an entire school system, or for commercial purposes is strictly forbidden. Please have other teachers purchase their own copy. If you are a school or district interested in purchasing several licenses, please contact me for a district-wide quote. Do not share this document with Amazon Inspire. Please review all product descriptions and previews. If you have a question, contact me before you purchase at [email protected]. As this is a digital product, all sales are final.
Here are our 20 favorite Social Studies youtube channels for kids! Some are funny, some are put to song, some are outrageous- but all are entertaining.
Learn About the 7 Continents! Exploring the 7 Continents has never been more exciting! It’s a Small World Continent Study is filled with over 35 activities to help your students gain a greater understanding of the seven continents. This 130+ page unit is filled with great resources, posters, printables, activities, and projects that will open […]
One of my favorite (and quick) ways to get students to do some higher level thinking without realizing it is a game I call, “What Doesn’t Belong and Why?” I typically use this as a thematic or uni…
Are you trying to integrate more writing into your social studies classroom? There are many simple ways teachers can integrate writing activities into their social studies lessons. Many teachers are already using a few of these, but this post may give you some new ideas! One way teachers can find the time to include more […]
Over the past few years, I have been incorporating inquiry circles into my classroom through Social Studies and Science. Inquiry circles are a lot like most research projects. I would say the main difference is how they start. NOW AVAILABLE… One Stop Teacher Memberships Our grade-level memberships provide the BIGGEST savings on ALL One […]
Increase your ability to teach social studies in an informative, and entertaining way through the use of Laura Candler webinars.
Looking for a great way to review or assess the grade 2 Ontario social studies unit People and Environments: Global Communities? Check out these task cards! These 20 task cards cover a range of curriculum expectations and content information (basic mapping skills, human needs and how these are met around the world, comparing communities and basic definitions). A great review activity or could be used for assessing this unit. This activity can be done by having students move around the room or work independently in their seats. Great flexibility and easy to differentiate. Student response pages included, as well as possible answers, making it easy to assess. Black and white design make it printer friendly, and task cards are easy to cut - minimal prep required. *This product also includes whole page worksheets as an alternative to task cards, if your class is not yet ready to try task cards independently. The worksheets contain the SAME questions as the task cards, but may be a more suitable format for your class.* You may also be interested in Movement (Simple Machines) Task Cards Growth and Changes in Animals Task Cards Properties of Liquids and Solids Task Cards Air and Water in the Environment Task Cards Changing Family and Community Traditions Task Cards *************************************************************************** INCLUDED: teacher instructions, 20 task cards (5 pages with 4 per page), 18 worksheets (same questions as task cards), student response pages (2 options) and answer key *************************************************************************** TIPS: 1. Be sure to leave feedback to earn your TpT credits 2. If you like what you see - follow me for new products and updates (click the star by my store name HappyRock Creations).
Teaching Geography is one of my favorite subjects. There is so much to learn, but more importantly, there is so much in our world that is just fascinating to see and hear more about! The best part about teaching in our Internet world is that it’s all now available for your students just a click […]
Social Studies Interactive Notebooks are a great tool to reinforce learning in any classroom. Give your students a forever resource this year by ...
Social studies for kids does not have to be boring and dry. Break away from the textbook with these ideas for engaging students with your social studies curriculum.
Are your looking for an affordable social studies curriculum? Check out my new social studies collection for grades 1 to 2, featuring a variety of activities and reading passages to deepen your students understanding of various social studies concepts. This product includes Social Studies Unit 7 - Economics and is included in my Social Studies Units 1 to 7 Bundle. The following lessons are included in this unit: Lesson 1 - Goods and Services Lesson 2 - Making Money Lesson 3 - Spending Our Money Lesson 4 - Supply and Demand All lessons include the following: Reading Passages Worksheets (2 styles - one with primary handwriting lines and one with traditional lines) Interactive Notebook Foldables Word Wall Cards (see below) Task Cards (24) Task Card Recording Sheets Crossword Puzzles (2 styles - one with word bank and one without a word bank) Word Search Goods and Services Sort (24 Cards) Producers and Consumers Sort (24 Cards) When I Grow Up Writing Activity Career Choice Coloring Pages Needs and Wants Sort (24 Cards) Needs and Wants Mini Book Goods and Service Cut & Paste Consumers and Producers Cut & Paste Graphic Organizers Answer Keys The following word wall cards are included with Unit 7 - Economics Goods Service Product Producer Consumer Income Business Free Enterprise Job Need Want Scarce Demand Supply Don't Forget to Leave Me Feedback - Earns You TPT Credits Towards Your Next Purchase Please give me feedback on this product, I love to hear from my Teacher Friends :) https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mca-Designs Want to stay up to date on my latest products? Follow me on... Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mca-Designs Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/supermomof3ladi/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MCADesigns4Education/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mca3designs/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mca_designs
Digital activities for Social Studies: 5 EASY to use technology tools for Social Studies Projects
Providing students with a high-quality social studies education is non-negotiable. You may have just a textbook or maybe without a curriculum in general. If you are looking for ways to go beyond lecturing or reading from a textbook, you're in luck! Here's a great way to include primary sources in your unit of study. Keep reading for your free photo analysis template.
History Bell Ringers - Today in History Daily Warm Up Slides for Social Studies: Help your students gain knowledge of important world events and influential people with these history bell-ringers to last you the entire year! Each slide shared information about an interesting historical or cultural event or person related to every single date in the year. Also included is a weekly activity where students can record the information they learn and do further research on the topic! Although this would be ideal in a history or social studies class as a warm up, it also makes for great discussion in almost any subject and gets the students working as soon as they enter the class. Included in The Today in History Bell-Ringers: ➡️ Today in History Presentation Slides (365 Days): Start your history of social studies class with these bell-ringers that share an important historical or cultural event or person related to every single day of the year. The topics cover sports, politics, inventions, science, music, movies and much more and are highly engaging! Also included on some of the slides are links to over 100 related videos (YouTube required). Please note that some of the topics covered may be too mature for middle school. ➡️ Today in History Student Response Page: Have students write the fact they learned each day of the week on this history bell ringers response page. Also included on the page is a space where students can do some external research on what they learned to write an extension fact from outside research. What Teachers Are Saying About These Today in History Bell-Ringers: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is such a fun way to start my class each day! The students are enjoying sharing out their facts each day, I have made it a little competition and the "In addition I learned" aspect of this assignment has exploded with all of us learning together! Thanks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I teach a LA/SS 7th grade block, and I bought these to mark the transition to social studies. They have been a huge hit with my students, inspiring some very thoughtful conversations. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is an amazing product that gets us all ready to learn for the day. Be prepared...it spawns many questions from the students which is AWESOME! We have even ran with those teachable moments and used the slides as mini research projects. Thank you! Like This Resource? You'll Love Our History Posters >>> History Hashtag Poster Set © Presto Plans ➡️ Want 10 free ELA resources sent to your inbox? Click here! ⭐️ Follow Presto Plans on TpT to see what's new and on sale.
Here is an opportunity to purchase my grade 2 social studies unit that will give you access to 221 pages of worksheets and teacher pages to help guide you through this package that is based on Ontario curriculum expectations. All of STRAND B for grade 2 social studies is covered - specific expectati...
Social Studies Interactive Notebooks are a great tool to reinforce learning in any classroom. Give your students a forever resource this year by ...
