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Making Time for Social Studies
A Four-Step Process for Unit Planning in the Elementary Classroom
Classroom educator Rachel Swearengin guides educators in creating effective social studies units. Learn to unpack standards, craft compelling questions, select grade-appropriate primary and secondary sources, and design assessments using claim-evidence-reasoning (CER). Practical templates and examples are provided for each K–5 grade level.
Implement engaging social studies units
Elementary social studies teachers often struggle to make time to teach social studies. In her book, Rachel Swearengin shows how this can be done in all elementary classrooms with the right tools. Her unit planning process supports teachers as they unpack social studies standards, providing them with strategies and practices specific to social studies that promote students’ participation and lasting interest.
Grades K–5 teachers can use this book to:
- Apply the claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) approach to their assessments
- Employ key practices to ensure an enduring understanding of social studies standards
- Learn primary source analysis strategies to use with students
- Receive completed sample and planning templates for the K–2 and 3–5 grades
- Create their own social studies units and daily lesson plans using their completed planning templates
- Select grade-appropriate primary and secondary sources and understand the use of each
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Additional Information
"Too often, social studies is put on the back burner in elementary education. Fortunately, Rachel Swearengin knows better. Making Time for Social Studies amplifies the urgency of providing a high-quality social studies education to the next generation of Americans. In this powerful, actionable, and deeply researched book, Swearergin provides an invaluable service to elementary school teachers, not only in helping them to impart because I knowledge, but in forging the next generation of Americans as custodians of the American Experiment itself."
"Making Time for Social Studies empowers elementary teachers to teach powerful and purposeful social studies by centering discipline-specific literacy skills in meaningful and relevant instructional practices. Swearengin encourages teachers to create dynamic lessons by starting with intentional unit planning and building out integrative strategies using the tools of the disciplines in the social studies. She provides practical examples of teaching with primary sources for teachers in primary and intermediate grades and shows just how engaging social studies can be. In a world where social studies is marginalized, this text is the planning guide that elementary social studies teachers need."
"Rachel’s current and past experiences of teaching social studies in an engaging, integrative, and standard-based manner come through on every page of this book. If you teach social studies, this is a must read book. The 4-step planning process will ensure that your instruction aligns with your standards across the content areas since she provides so many examples of integrating ELA and science. Rachel’s simple explanations and templates that teach you how to create enduring understandings, compelling questions, and a host of high-impact, engaging formative assessments will ensure your students reach the standards. This book is by far the best resource I have ever seen to drastically improve any social studies lesson. Your students will thank you for using this 4-step planning process."
