Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting Social Studies Back in the K-8 Curriculum

(Paperback)

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Description

This book provides teachers, librarians, and education methods professors with strategies, lesson plans, and activities that enable them to use literature as a springboard to social studies thematic instruction. With the amount of time and resources allocated to teaching social studies being significantly reduced, social studies lessons need to be incorporated into other subjects. Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting Social Studies Back in the K8 Curriculum offers the tools to teach students social studies concepts that are increasingly relevant and essential in today's diverse, globalized worldlessons that are vital in order to prepare students to think critically and participate in our multicultural democracy. Providing information that elementary and middle school teachers and librarians, district-level curriculum directors and principals, staff developers, and social studies and literacy methods professors will find extremely useful, this book uses the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)/Children's Book Council (CBC)'s current and past lists of Notable Books at the elementary and middle school levels to offer easy-to-follow lesson plans that integrate social studies instruction with reading and language arts. The lesson plans pose compelling questions to facilitate discussion and critical thinking and suggest engaging activities that are connected to the social studies concepts. The book also includes sample student handouts for the selected pieces of literature.

Reviews

The lesson on families is very strong, and the concept of students as change agents is heartening. This book can help the classroom teacher and school librarian to transcend banal readers and prescriptive reading programs to introduce good, engaging social-studies books. Although the tight lesson structure may seem limiting, especially the worksheets, they are an easy reach for the busy educator. * Booklist Online *
Book suggestions are offered at three levels: Primary (picture books that would be adequate for grades K-2), Intermediate (grades 3-6), and Middle (grades 7 & 8). However, high school teachers might find lessons that would supplement their curriculum as well. Recommended. * School Library Connection *

Author Bio

Andrea S. Libresco is professor of social studies education as well as codirector of elementary education and of the minor in civic education at Hofstra University. Jeannette Balantic is social studies curriculum coordinator in the Garden City School District in Garden City, NY. Mary Battenfeld is associate professor of humanities at Wheelock College in Boston, MA.