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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
