This document summarizes a teach back session presented to 3rd-6th grade teachers on integrating social studies into the classroom. It discusses how the presenter's ACE training emphasized lesson integration and technology usage. Several hands-on activities are described from the book Ways That Work that teachers can use, such as a trade fair, cultural data disks, and shadow puppets. The presentation concludes that social studies should not be isolated but rather integrated with other subjects like language arts, and provides evaluation questions for the teachers.

1. Rationale
• This teach back has helped me put into practice what I have learned at
ACE. ACE taught me the importance of lesson integrations and the use of
technology in the classroom. As a Social Studies teacher, I believe that I
should not isolate the subject. It works well with Language Arts/Reading. I
read the book Ways That Work: Putting Social Studies Standards into
Practice by Tarry Lindquist. I then created this teach back to present to the
3rd
-6th
grade teachers at my school. I think it benefited them because many
times Social Studies is the forgotten. Since it is not currently tested here in
Florida, the teachers tend to focus on Reading and Math. Social Studies can
easily be integrated with Language Arts. I also included some fun Social
Studies activities. Many times, teachers feel the need to teach from the
textbook. I believe that it should only be used as a
resource
Angela Gulin
6th
Grade World History Teacher
American College of Education

2. Ways That
Work
Putting Social
Studies
Standards into
Practice

4. What is Social Studies?
• Integrated study of the social sciences and
humanities to promote civic competence.
• The purpose of social studies is to help young
people develop the ability to make informed and
reason decisions for the public good as citizens
of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an
interdependent world.

5. Integrated Skills
• Have students apply language arts skills through social
studies
-Compare/Contrast historical events
-Write personal letters to historical figures
-Persuasive speeches
• Organizational strategies, grammar, and writing skills are
all approached, applied, and extended through social
studies content

6. Authentic Assessment
(peak experience)
• Instead of giving a test, have students apply
their newly acquired knowledge and skills in a
way they will remember it.
-play
-presentation
-reenactment
-performance
-exhibit
-demonstration
-game

7. Here are some
activities mentioned in
the book
-Trade Fair
-Cultural Data Disks
-Shadow Puppets

8. Trade Fair
• To give students a better understanding of trading and
bartering they should bring some handcrafter or homemade
wares to school (cookies, bookmarks, clay beads).
• Students then simulate a marketplace with their desks and
trade with their classmates
• After trading, ask students “what just happened?”
• The discussion that follows is a good time to introduce
vocabulary words like supply, demand, and scarcity

9. Cultural Data Disks
• Designed to emphasize the relationships between environment and
culture
• Students create a civilization
• In the outer part of the disk should have the labels climate, natural
resources, form of government, population, and chief products
• The inner part of the disk should be labeled shelter, clothing,
traditions, education, food, and economic system.
• After creating their civilization and filling in the labels the students
will analyze how the outer labels affect the inner labels.

10. Shadow Puppets
• Students develop short plays to demonstrate
their understanding of the Bill of Rights.
• In groups of three, they create characters who
demonstrate what might have happened if we
had lost this right in the past or what might
happen if we lost the right today.

11. • Studying people, places, and environments helps students move
their locus of comprehension from the personal to a broader, more
elastic plane. It is more of a journey than a destination. We need to
permit our students to end a unit of study with questions, perhaps
with more questions than when we began. Social Studies should not
be forgotten in the classroom. It can be integrated with other
subjects easily.
Social Studies
Matters

12. Activities Created By Me
• Jeopardy Game (Chapter Review).ppt
• Harriet Tubman Vocabulary Lesson
(Social Studies & Language Arts).pptx
• Five Regions of the USA 3rd grade
Webquest.pptx

13. Evaluation
• What do you see as your greatest
gift/ability when teaching Social Studies?
• What do you see as your greatest
challenge when teaching Social Studies?
• Would you recommend this session to
colleagues?
• What did you like the most about
the lessons?