Handbook for Teaching Secondary School Studies [Paperback]

Globalization, technological advances, and demographic shifts have changed our economy. It is imperative that we understand the fundamental shifts in an economic situation so new that we can barely comprehend it, and yet we must devise new ways of educating our high school students to succeed in this new economy. In the twenty-first century, our high schools are increasingly challenged to provide young people with new skills that are different from those around which we have organized our educational system in the past.

Handbook for Teaching Secondary School Social Studies is a guide, a tool, and a reference for pre-service and in-service teachers, clarifying the most effective ways to teach social studies in secondary school classrooms. Its intention is to help teachers become creative practitioners who can motivate students, create stimulating learning environments, and bring the core disciplines of social studies to life. Its goal, in effect, is to help teachers make social scientists of their students. The information contained in this book will enable teachers to become the catalyst for students’ transformation into cognizant, confident citizens capable of making a difference in our world.

The handbook is brief and manageable, yet it provides pre-service and in-service teachers with comprehensive and in-depth coverage of research-based pedagogy, planning skills, standards-based instructional delivery approaches, and grade-level expectations for the core disciplines of the social studies.

I. Philosophical and Historical Background

Philosophy of Education / History of American Education

II. Components of Secondary Social Studies

The Core Disciplines / Scope and Sequence / Content Standards / The Ten Thematic Strands of the Standards for Social Studies / Foundational Skills / Information Literacy

III. Planning for Secondary Social Studies

Lesson Planning / Planning Lessons for Multiple Intelligences / Constructivism / Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs / Questions in the Classroom / Group Work, Collaboration, and Cooperative Learning / Graphic Organizers and Concept Mapping

IV. INTASC Standards: An Umbrella for Evaluation

INTASC Standards / Checklists for Teacher Assessment/Evaluation

V. The Comprehensive Curriculum and Content Standards

Advantages of the Comprehensive Curriculum / Principles of Social Studies Teaching and Learning / Components of a Comprehensive Curriculum / Standards and Benchmarks for Teaching World History / Standards and Benchmarks for Teaching American History / Standards and Benchmarks for Teaching World Geography / Standards and Benchmarks for Teaching Civic Education and Political Science / Standards and Benchmarks for Teaching Economics

VI. Basic Instructional Considerations

Management and Discipline / Dale's Cone of Experience / Using Discussion in Teaching / Teaching Critical Thinking / Having High Expectations / Teaching Reading Skills / Teaching Current Events / Student Assessment

VII. Vital Topics and Critical Issues in Social Studies

Vital Topics in Social Studies / Energy and Environmental Education / Law-Related Education / Media Influence and Ownership / HIV/AIDS Education / Population / Global Perspectives / Sex Equity Education / Career Education/The World of Work / Critical Issues in Social Studies