1

ED3601B
Spring 2016
Lauren Connellan

Social Studies Toolkit

Table of Contents
Teaching for conceptual understanding ............................................................................. 2
See-I .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Four corners ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Hot seat .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Think-pair-share ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Engaging with informational text .......................................................................................... 5
3-2-1 Reading ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Alphaboxes............................................................................................................................................... 6
Asking questions while reading............................................................................................................... 7
Text Talk ................................................................................................................................................... 8
Teaching with and about current events............................................................................ 9
Argument mapping .................................................................................................................................. 9
Listening for details ............................................................................................................................... 10
The 5 Ws ................................................................................................................................................ 11
Debate .................................................................................................................................................... 12
Formative assessment ................................................................................................................ 13
Back to back boards ............................................................................................................................... 13
RAFT writing ........................................................................................................................................... 14
Mock interviews .................................................................................................................................... 15
KWL Charts ............................................................................................................................................. 16

General .............................................................................................................................................. 17
Grab bag ................................................................................................................................................. 17
Webs....................................................................................................................................................... 18
PowerPoint Slides .................................................................................................................................. 19
Jeapordy...20

Social Studies Teaching Strategies
Strategy Name Explanation
What is it called? How does it work?
Teaching for conceptual See-Is are used to teach
understanding students about a specific term
or concept. Instead of merely
providing students with a
definition, students are
expected to engage and work
with a term or concept.
Students start off by stating
what the term or concept is,
which is giving a simple
sentence of what it is. Next,
students elaborate on the term
or concept, which enables
them to write as much as they
See-I can. Next, students exemplify,
which means that they provide
an example. This enables
students to relate the term or
concept to real life. Lastly,
students illustrate the term or
concept by drawing a picture
or providing a
metaphor/simile. This allows
students to associate the
term/concept to something
silly and/or fun that will help
them remember it.
2
Considerations
When would I use it? Why
would I use it? Are there
challenges of using it I should
think about?
I would use this strategy at the
beginning of a new unit and/or
chapter. Many times, there is an
overarching term or concept
that encompasses a unit of
social studies. I would use it as
an introduction to a new unit. I
would use it because it allows
students to get a good grasp of
what they will be learning
about. I would also use it
because it stimulates a deeper
level of thinking. Students will
often know a definition but they
are never expected to work with
that definition. This strategy
allows for better understanding.
However, there are some
challenges to the SEE-I.
Students who are not strong
writers may find it extremely
frustrating to try and write a
large amount of words for a
single term/concept. This
strategy would be hard for ELL
students especially if their
word comprehension and
writing skills are low. My grade
three class would struggle with
this strategy this would have
to be a class activity rather than
an individual activity.

Four corners is a great way to
get students thinking about
terms, concepts and overall
ideas. During a four corners
activity, students in each
corner are given a different
term/concept. Each corner is
expected to research their
designated topic, write about it
and present their findings to
the other three corners. One
possibility is that at the end,
each person can decide which
corners term/concept is most
similar to their own point of
view or students can choose
which corner they most agree
with.
Four corners
3
I would use this strategy
whenever the opportunity
presented itself. It would have
to be done during a unit or
chapter where there were at
least four terms and concept
that relate to one another. For
example, if I was teaching a
high school social studies class
on Canadian government, I
would assign each corner a
different government party. I
would then expect each corner
to research that party and what
they stand for and present their
findings to the class. Once
every corner had done that, I
would get the students to move
to the corner that most relates to
their own political beliefs. I
would use it because it allows
students to engage with the
term/concept. It allows them to
learn more about it in order to
peer-teach to the rest of the
class. It is also useful because it
gets students out of their desks
and moving around the
classroom. It also allows
students to relate that term to
their own personal beliefs and
values, which makes social
studies more meaningful. One
challenge is that group work
sometimes allows the non-
motivated students to merely
coast through the activity
instead of actively engaging
with it. Teachers would have to
develop a plan to ensure that
everyone participated equally.

Hot seat is a strategy that
allows students to work with
the definition of a
term/concept. In this activity,
one student sits in the front of
the class, facing the other
students. They sit with their
back to the whiteboard so that
they cannot see the board
behind them. Once they are
sitting, a social studies term or
Hot seat concept, such as quality of life
or globalization is written
above their head. The rest of
the class is expected to give
them hints and clues so that
they can guess the word.
Students can say the definition
or they can use it in a sentence
in order to get the student to
guess the word.
Think-pair-share is a
collaborative learning strategy
that allows students to work
together. Students work
together to brainstorm the
either the definition of a
term/concept or the
significance of a term/concept.
Students start off with
Think-pair-share thinking individually about a
term/concept. Next, students
pair up with a partner or a
small group. Finally, students
share their ideas with their
partner or group. As an add-
on, each group can share a
summarized version of their
ideas with the entire class.
4
I would use this strategy at the
end of a unit in order to review
the terms/concepts before a unit
test. It is a good review because
students are hearing the
definition and hearing it being
used in a sentence. For younger
kids, it also seems like a game
so they tend to be excited and
engaged in the activity. One
challenge that I can think of is
class size. This strategy is great
for a small class as almost
everyone can give a definition
and/or share a sentence before
the guesser guesses correctly.
However, in classes of 20 or 30,
this strategy would only allow a
small portion of the class to be
engaged for each term. Perhaps,
students could pair up to create
a clue and each pair could read
their hint aloud.
I would be most likely to use
this strategy as a form of pre-
assessment. Without giving any
information, I would assign a
term or concept and have
students brainstorm what they
already know about the topic.
Pairing up, students would be
able to share what they know
about the topic, which is a form
of peer-teaching. I would use
this because having each group
share with the class enables me
to formatively assess what
students already know about the
term/concept and shows me
which areas I need to focus on
more than others. Some
challenges with this strategy is

3-2-1 reading is where
Engaging with informational students read a piece of text
text and then engage in a writing
activity. This strategy involves
writing about three things that
students discovered, two
things they found interesting
and one question they still
have. After the teacher has
modeled this activity, students
can read a short piece of
writing and use this strategy
independently. This activity is
3-2-1 Reading good for helping students
comprehend what they have
read.
5
that some students might know
absolutely nothing about the
assigned term/concept. In this
instance, they could perhaps
make a guess as to what they
think it means so that they are
still involved in the activity.
I would use this more in an
elementary setting, when
introducing a new topic or
concept. I would find a book or
article that has information
about the social studies topic at
hand and I would read it orally
to the class. After reading it, I
would give students a template
that includes space for the
things they discovered, the
things they found interesting
and the question they have. I
would do this a few times as a
class before asking elementary
students to do it individually. I
think this is useful because it
ensures that students actively
listen to what is being read. It
also makes sure that students
pay close attention to what they
are reading when read
individually. It forces students
to think about what they have
read in a deeper and more
critical manner. This strategy
might be especially difficult for
ELL students who have trouble
reading and writing on their
own. It has the potential to be a
huge time constraint.

Alphaboxes is a strategy that
encourages students to
collaboratively engage with
text. It can be either a pre-
reading or post-reading
activity that helps students
think critically about the key
ideas in the reading. Students
are given a sheet of paper that
has a chart with 24 boxes on it
24 boxes for 24 letters of the
alphabet (the last box has x, y
and z together). In each box,
students are expected to create
questions, write a concept,
make a connection, give an
example or write something
that begins with that letter in
the chart. For example, while
Alphaboxes reading about Quality of Life
in Ukraine, students could
write Pierogis under the p merely sit and have the
box. While reading about the
leaders and decision making in
Peru, students could write
Mesas protect the
environment in the m box.
6
I would definitely use this
strategy when I had a book that
I was going to be incorporating
in the lesson. I would use it as a
formative assessment of
knowledge after reading a book
in an elementary social studies
class. I would read a book such
as Peru: A Question & Answer
Book out loud to the class. I
would then bring the chart up
on the SmartBoard and have the
students fill out the chart as a
class. I dont think that each
student would individually be
capable of filling out the entire
chart but I think it would be
possible on a collaborative
level. I would use this because
it engages students in reading.
It means that students cannot
information go in one ear and
out the other. Students have to
actively listen in order to be
able to successfully complete
the activity afterward. I would
also use it because its not too
much writing. Yes, there are
lots of letters but there only
needs to be a few words or a
short sentence for each letter.
This would help with students
who struggle with writing. The
challenges I can see with this
strategy is that not all students
care enough to listen to the
story or book being read. I
would have to find an engaging
and interesting book that keeps
the students attention so that
they can finish the Alphaboxes.

Asking question while reading
is a simple, yet very effective
way to for students to engage
with informational text. While
reading a book, article or
textbook together as a class,
teachers can engage their
students by constantly asking
verbal questions. They can be
simple questions such as fact
retrieval questions, or they can
be critical thinking questions
that stimulates a deeper level
of thinking. This engages
students in the reading and
reinforces the idea of active
listening or active reading.
Asking questions
while reading
7
I would use this strategy in
either an elementary or high
school setting. In elementary, it
is easy to ask little questions
that engage the students. For
example, when reading India:
A Question & Answer Book, I
would read the transportation
page, close the book and then
ask What are five different
forms of transportation that
they use in India? (Fact
retrieval). For a more critical
thinking question, I would ask
Which form of transportation
is the most environmentally
friendly? or Which form of
transportation in India is most
similar to transportation in
Canada? In a high school
setting, I would ask questions
while reading the textbook to
make sure that students are
following along and paying
attention. I would ask questions
that require students to make
connections between the
reading and prior knowledge or
questions that require students
to relate the reading to current
events. I would use this strategy
because its a quick and easy
way to make sure that students
are engaged with the
informational text. The
challenge with this is that as the
students get older, their
participation might dwindle and
it could get harder and harder to
make sure that students are
actively participating and
listening.

Text talk is a way of engaging
with information after you
have read the text. For this
strategy to work, teachers
must read the text beforehand
in order to identify key
concepts or ideas. Once the
key concepts have been
identified, teachers will write
them down on cue cards
(especially for elementary
classes). After the text has
been read, show the students
the cue cards one by one. For
each cue card, students will
use the word in a sentence or
share something that they
know about the term. They
will share their sentence out
Text Talk
loud with the rest of the class.
One variation is that students
can write the sentence down
on paper and then either share
it with a partner or with the
rest of the class.
8
I would use this strategy in an
elementary classroom, in order
to stimulate thinking about a
specific word or concept. For
social studies, I would read a
book about a certain topic and I
would pick out the terms and
concepts that relate to the
program of studies. Examples
of words could be globalization,
NAFTA, citizenship,
independence, etc. I would use
this strategy at the beginning of
a unit, in order to introduce the
terms and concepts that are
going to be touched on. I would
also use it as a form of pre-
assessment to see which
words/phrases/concepts
students are comfortable with
and which are more unfamiliar.
I would use this strategy
because it is cross-curricular
not only does it allow students
to work with social studies
concepts, but it helps with their
overall vocabulary and word
comprehension. It allows
students to become more
comfortable with using certain
terms and concepts in sentences
while at the same time
informing students of what the
term means. The challenge with
this strategy is that it might not
be overly successful in a large
class. It works well with small
groups because each student
can share a sentence without
repetition, however, students
might run out of things to say in
a group of 20 or 30 kids.

Teaching with and about Argument mapping is a way
current events for students to learn about
current events while at the
same time developing their
own opinion on the matter.
This is a strategy that allows
students to lay their ideas and
arguments out on a paper,
which is very beneficial for
visual students. It structures
students reasoning and
argument. Students are given a
current event story/article and
a question that goes with the
story. The question is one that
students have to form an
Argument mapping opinion about (usually an
agree or disagree question).
Once students have decided
their opinion on the matter,
they are expected to fill out
the template which includes
solid arguments that are
backed up with facts from the
current event article.
9
I would use this strategy in any
grade, however I would do it
differently based on the age of
the students. In an elementary
setting, I would obviously
choose a current event that they
could handle. I would also do
the activity as a class instead of
individually. For a high school
class, I would give them a
current event that relates to the
unit. For an older age, students
would do the activity
individually or with a partner. I
would do this activity
throughout the year or
throughout a semester, in order
to build students argument
skills on a long term basis. I
would use this strategy because
it allows students to keep up
with current events while at the
same time working on their
reasoning skills. Forcing
students to form an opinion on
things helps to form or
reinforce their beliefs and
values and helps them discover
who they are and what they
stand for. The challenge with
this strategy is that some
students either do not have
enough information or do not
have the drive to form their
own opinion. Students will
often form their opinion based
on their friends opinion, which
is not the intent of the activity.

In this activity, students
carefully listen as the teacher
reads a news story out loud.
The teacher then hands out a
worksheet with questions
about details from the story.
The higher the grade level, the
more complex the questions
will be. After the students
have completed the worksheet,
the teacher goes through the
questions together with the
class to see who remembered
the most detail.
Listening for details
10
I would use this strategy in
social studies during a time
where reading comprehension
was being done in English
Language Arts. Being able to
pick details out of a piece of
writing is beneficial skill for
both social studies and ELA. I
would use this strategy for a
news article that has lots of
information in order to ask a
good amount of questions
regarding the details. This
strategy ensures that students
are actively listening to the
article as it is being read. In a
higher level class, I would go
even further to ask critical
thinking questions that build off
of the basic fact retrieval
questions. Once students are at
a reading level where they can
read and comprehend
successfully, I would hand a
copy of the article out to each
student and have them fill it out
as they read. A challenge that I
would have to be aware of is
that some students do not have
a great memory so they might
not be able to retain the details
throughout the entire article. I
might have to read it a couple
of times in order for students to
remember the content of what is
being read.

The 5 Ws is a strategy that
allows students to talk about
the who, what, when, where
and why of a story. For an
older audience, students will
be given a printed copy of a
news article and a template
with the 5 Ws. Students will
read through the article and
write notes (in the template) of
the 5 Ws of the article. Once
students are finished, it will be
gone over together as a class
to see what each student
found. For a younger grade,
the article can be up on the
SmartBoard and read through
together as a class,
highlighting any details or
sentences that pertain to the 5
The 5 Ws Ws. Each student should have
a highlighter and should
follow along with what is
being highlighted on the
board. Once finished, the
template will be filled out
together as a class, ensuring
that students write the answers
down on their own paper. A
class discussion will follow,
which can act as a closer to
wrap everything up.
11
I would use this strategy in any
grade. I think that the 5 Ws are
relatively basic for elementary
students and its good to
introduce them at a young age. I
would use this because I think
that elementary school kids
should be familiarised with
current events and news articles
so that they are comfortable
with them in junior high and
high school. I think that reading
and interpreting news articles is
an important skill that should be
introduced in elementary
school. I would also use this
strategy in junior high and high
school because I think there is a
huge disconnect between
primary aged students and the
outside world, beyond social
media. Students typically do not
read the news and so I think
that starting with the 5 Ws can
be a good starting point for kids
that arent naturally interested
in current events. This would
definitely be one of the
challenges with this strategy;
younger generations are not
usually interested in the world
outside of social media. It
would be very important to
incorporate news articles that
relate to students and their
interests in order to peak their
attention and draw them into
the activity.

This strategy is one that
engages students in working
with current events and news
articles. Students will be given
a controversial news article
such as seal hunting or gun
control and they will be
expected to form an opinion
on the matter. Students will be
given two options; to agree
with or disagree with what the
article is arguing. If the article
is not arguing a point, teachers
will create a question, such as
Should hunters be able to kill
baby seals in mass numbers?
Debate Once students have chosen a
side, the groups will be
expected to formulate an
arguments based on multiple
different news articles on that
topic. Students will
incorporate facts in order to
strengthen their argument.
Students will then have a
debate, ensuring that they tie
in information and details
from the news articles that
they read.
12
I would use this strategy in a
primary grade, simply because
it relies on research and
information retrieval. This
strategy would be ideal during a
time where a new or recent
news article could be
incorporated for students to
debate. I would use it for a
couple of different reasons.
First, it gets students working
with news article and delving
into current events. Secondly,
having a debate allows students
to develop their own identity
through the shaping of their
values and beliefs pertaining to
certain controversial topics.
Thirdly, having students
debate current events reflects a
good citizen as most would
agree that good citizens are
ones who are up to date with
current events and ones who
care enough to voice their
opinions in hopes of making a
change. One challenge that I
foresee with this strategy is that
not everyone can speak during a
class debate. There usually
arent enough roles or
arguments for everyone to have
a chance to talk. However, if
two or three people
collaborated together for each
argument (3-5 arguments for
each side), it would allow for
more students overall ideas to
be heard.

Formative assessment Back to back boards is a great
formative strategy that is both
exciting and engaging for
students. During this activity,
students each grab an
individual whiteboard and a
whiteboard marker. Students
will pair up and stand back to
back with their partner. For
each question asked, students
will write the answer on their
whiteboard. Once everyone
has an answer, start a
countdown from 3. On go,
students turn around and show
their partner the answer. For
older grades, have the students
discuss their answers together.
Back to back boards Once everyone is done,
discuss the answer together as
a class before moving on to
the next question. To make it
more competitive, keep score
and have the losers
(everyone who didnt win) do
10 push-ups or something that
gets them up and moving.
This strategy relies on a
mental checklist teachers
have to mentally keep track of
which students are getting the
questions right and which ones
are struggling.
13
I would use this strategy as a
review activity before a quiz,
unit test or any other form of
summative assessment. I would
use it with any grade capable of
writing words and/or sentences.
As an adaption for ELL
students, students can draw
pictures instead of words and
then verbally explain it to their
partners. I would use this
because it is something
different students get to hold
a whiteboard and use a
whiteboard marker instead of
merely writing on paper. It also
allows students to get up out of
their desks. The competitive
version of this activity is good
because it motivates students to
do the best that they can. One
challenge that would have to be
considered is whether or not a
classroom has individual
whiteboards. If a classroom
doesnt have mini whiteboards
available then this strategy will
not work.

RAFT writing is a strategy
that can be used as either a
formative or summative
assessment. For the purpose of
this toolkit, I will discuss it as
a formative assessment
strategy. RAFT writing is
great because it gets students
thinking about social studies
through a different
perspective. This form of
writing assigns a role,
audience, format and topic
for students. The role tells
students who they will be
writing as it gives them a
specific perspective to
embody. The audience tells
the students who they are
writing to. The format tells
students the format of writing
RAFT writing whether it will be a letter,
story, pamphlet, speech, etc.
The topic lets students know
what they are writing about. It
engages students in writing
through a lens other than their
own.
14
I would use this strategy in a
wide range of situations. I
would use this activity in any
grade, during any unit. I really
like this activity because it is so
versatile and it is cross-
curricular. I have and would use
this in a grade three classroom
when learning about the quality
of the life in either Peru,
Tunisia, Ukraine or India. For
example: Role- a student living
in Tunisia, Audience- Pen Pal
in Canada, Format- letter and
Topic: everyday life in Tunisia.
In a high school class, I might
do something along these lines:
Role Louis Riel, Audience
Jury, Format plea letter and
Topic why you are innocent. I
would use this because it allows
students to use their
imagination and encourages
them to look at things from a
different perspective. It also
enhances their writing ability
which helps them with their
ELA skills. It encourages
students to open their minds
and think outside the box. I
think students might initially
struggle with the concept of
writing from a different
perspective but they will get
better and more confident as
they practice RAFT writing.

Mock interviews are an
interactive and exciting way to
formatively assess students.
There are a number of
different ways to integrate
mock interviews into the
classroom. For a younger
grade, or if you need an
assessment that doesnt take
up much time, students can
use iPads and simply record a
video. For an older grade, or
for a class that has plenty of
time to work on it, students
can film themselves with
proper cameras and take time
to edit the videos. Interviews
can be integrated into social
studies in a wide variety of
ways. Students can be given a
Mock interviews
set of interview questions
regarding a specific topic in
social studies. Students are
expected to use what they
have been learning in order to
answer the questions together
as a group. Once the questions
have been answers, students
must create a script in order to
film the interview. Groups of
three or four are ideal one or
two to do the interviewing,
one or two being interviewed
and one to film. If time
permits, one class could be
devoted to watching the
videos that the students have
made. Having students
incorporate everything they
know about the topic allows
teachers to see what it is that
they know and what they still
need to learn.
15
I would use this at any age. I
would use it in an elementary
classroom as long as the
students were technologically
advanced enough to use an iPad
or camera. In elementary,
students could do a mock
interview regarding quality of
life, what it means to be
Canadian, what life is like in
another country, what a good
citizen is, etc. For elementary, I
would give the students a pre-
made set of questions for them
to use in the interview. In a
primary setting, students could
create a mock interview about
any current event or historic
event. For example, students
could pretend to interview
government officials, specific
First Nations tribes or even
Acadians. I would use this
because strategy because it
forces students to think about
the questions through the
perspective of the person they
are interviewing. It allows
students to think about how the
historic figure was feeling and
what they were thinking about
during a specific time in
history. For example, I would
have students interview an
Acadian citizen and have
them ask questions about the
Great Deportation (how it made
them feel and what they went
through). It also allows students
to make inferences based on the
information they already have.

KWL Charts are a graphic
organizer that allow students
to keep track of what they
have learned throughout a
specific period of time. KWL
charts keeps track of what
students already know, what
they want to know, and what
they have learned.
KWL Charts
16
I would use KWL charts as a
formative assessment piece
during a research assignment.
For a younger grade, I would
assign them a simple research
question that pertains to the
social studies unit they are
learning about. I would then
have them fill out the KWL
chart as they went, so that I
could keep track of their
progress and ensure that they
are learning new things. For an
older grade, I would have
students come up with their
own research question, in order
to prepare them for the
possibility of going to
university. I think that often
times, students do not learn
proper research techniques in
high school, and therefore
KWL charts can help
formatively assess the process. I
would use KWL charts because
once they are complete,
students can look back and see
how much they have learned.
They can compare what they
knew, to what they have
learned (which is hopefully a
lot). One challenge with this
strategy is that students would
have to pick a topic that they
honestly did not know a lot
about. In order to gain from the
assignment, students would
have to pick a topic that
interests them while at the same
time being unfamiliar to them.

General Grab bags allow students to
interact with cultures and
traditions through the use of
tangible items. Items related to
the social studies topic are put
into a bag. The bag is passed
around and groups of students
will pick one item out of the
bag. Once they have chosen,
students will discuss the
importance and significance of
the item that they chose. After
a few minutes, each group can
designate a student to share
Grab bag what they discussed as a
group. Repeat this process
until all items have been
discussed by at least one
group.
17
I would use a grab bag because
they are useful for looking at
the historical or current
significance of items and
artifacts. It engages students in
thinking outside of the box and
thinking critically about
artifacts. It is both exciting and
engaging as students get to
work hands-on with items and
artifacts. I would definitely use
this in an elementary setting as
young students often get really
excited about things that come
from different countries or
cultures. It would broaden their
worldly knowledge while at the
same time covering the
necessary SLOs of social
studies. I would also use this in
a junior high or high school
setting because tangibles
engage students who are not
typically thrilled to engage in
classroom activities in the first
place. It is good for the visual
and kinesthetic students who
learn better from physically
seeing and touching what it is
that they are learning about.
The challenges with this
strategy is that
collecting/buying the required
items can be time consuming
and expensive for teachers.
Teachers would have to try and
gather the items well in
advance.

Webs are a good strategy for
getting students to brainstorm
about a specific topic or unit
in social studies. Webs can be
in the format of a template,
which gives students a
designated number of ideas
that need to be on the paper.
Webs can also be easily
created by students on a piece
of loose leaf. The central
question/theme/topic is written
in the middle of the page. For
each idea that students want to
write down, a line is drawn
from the title to the sentence.
Students can write as much as
Webs they can so that the title has
tons of lines leading to a wide
variety of different ideas. It
can serve as a formative
assessment piece in the form
of a review, or it can be used
as a pre-assessment to see how
much students know about a
specific topic.
18
I would use webs in both
elementary and primary
settings, however I would
execute them very differently
depending on the age of the
students. In a lower grade, I
would do the webs together as a
group, having students
brainstorm ideas while at the
same time writing their answers
on the board. This allows the
rest of the students in the class
to fill their paper up as well. In
a higher level grade, I would
have students make a web
individually or in partners. I
think these are useful because it
allows students to see what they
know. It is laid out in front of
them so students are aware that
they are either grasping what is
being taught to them or they
arent and they need additional
help. One challenge for this
strategy is that is can involve a
lot of writing so it might take
younger students a long time to
complete them. The required
time has to be allotted in order
for this strategy to work
properly in the classroom.

PowerPoint slides are a lecture
style teaching strategy that I
believe continue to have merit
in the classroom. Sometimes,
lecturing is unavoidable and
the best way to go about
lecturing is through the use of
PowerPoint slide. PowerPoint
slides incorporate text and
pictures in order to aid
students understanding of the
material.
PowerPoint Slides
19
I would use PowerPoint slides
because they are more engaging
and exciting that just merely
talking at the class. They can
very easily interest students if
pictures are incorporated into
them. I would use them in both
lower and higher grades,
depending on what is being
taught. PowerPoint slides are
great for English Language
Learner Students who cannot
picture what it is that you are
lecturing about. If you are
teaching about the quality of
life in Peru, ELL students
would benefit from seeing
where Peruvians live, what they
drive, what sports they play,
what clothing they wear, etc. It
helps those who thrive off of
visual learning. One challenge
could be a lack of technology
within the classroom. Schools
need either a SmartBoard or a
projector in order to display the
slideshow for the class to see.

Jeopardy is a review game that
is based off of the television
show. It is a game where
students are given five
categories and five questions
for each category. It is a
points-based game where
questions range from 100-500
points. The questions are put
into a jeopardy template and
put onto the SmartBoard.
Students are grouped into two
or three teams (depending on
Jeopardy
class size). Each group takes
turns choosing a category and
question (based on the point
value) and they have 30
seconds-1 minute to answer
the question. If they cannot
answer it or if they answer it
wrong, the other team has a
chance to steal the points.
There are two ways that
groups can answer the
questions: verbally or on a
small whiteboard. At the end
of the game, the winners are
the team that has accumulated
the most points. It is best to
take some time to discuss each
question so that students fully
understand the content.
20
I would use this game as a
review before a unit test or final
exam. It is a fun and engaging
way for students to go through
what they have learned through
a certain period of time. The
questions can be short answer,
long answer or multiple choice,
which means that a wide variety
of questions can be asked. I
would use this because students
tend to get excited about games.
The students have fun while at
the same time reviewing their
knowledge. It helps students
practice their teamwork skills
and forces students to use their
brains to come up with a single
answer. It shows students that
sometimes you need to be able
to compromise what you think
in order to cater to the wider
group. The challenge of this
game is that sometimes its hard
to keep students focused during
a review game. Students can
become loud and wild because
it no longer feels like class.
Teachers must be aware of this
and find the boundary that
allows students to have fun
while reinforcing a calm and
positive learning environment.
 21

List of Resources

1. Learn 360 (http://learn360.infobase.com/p_Home.aspx).

This website has a wide variety of clips and full videos that relate to the social studies
curriculum. It has videos that relates to decision making, ancient civilizations, global economics,
quality of life around the world, resources and so much more. There are videos for any grade I
have used this website to find videos for my grade three class but I also know that there are
videos that would be useful in a high school class as well. This is valuable because there is such
a wide range of content within the videos a video could be found for almost any unit or topic in
social studies. It is valuable for my teaching because I believe that technology can help reiterate
content in a way that is engaging for students. Having such a vast database makes it easy to find
videos that relate to the topic that you are teaching. This website has saved me both time and
energy because I rarely have to look for videos on a different website.

2. Culturegrams
The kids version of Culturegrams that is found on the learn Alberta website has been a
huge help to me throughout my practicum. This website has tons of information about every
country in the world and it is all broken down and simplified for children. For each country, the
website has a tab for land & climate, population, language, religion, history, games & sports,
holidays, food, schools, government, money & economy and other cool facts. It is a great tool to
use for introducing the idea of researching information. With the different topic headings,
younger students can easily find their way around the website in order to locate the necessary
information. Information retrieval is highly important in social studies and this website allows
teachers to introduce it to a younger range of students. This website is highly valuable because of
how in depth it goes with each country there is a ton of information and it is written in a way
that is easy for students to understand. It relates to the social studies curriculum because students
are expected to learn the quality of life in different countries. For example, in grade three
students are expected to learn about the quality of life in Tunisia, Peru, India and Ukraine. This
website has all of the information that would be required for students to know. Even if the
students dont work with this website, it is highly valuable for teachers who are trying to learn
about life in the countries that they need to teach.
 22

3. Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is an audience response system that incorporates various forms of
technology. Depending on school resources and policies, students could use their cell phones,
twitter and the internet to add their responses to a set of questions. These questions are created by
the teacher and can be made in the form of open ended or closed ended questions. This resource
is great because it can be used in any social studies lesson. It can be incorporated as a form of
pre-assessment or formative assessment in order to see what students know/have learned. Instead
of having a class discussion, students can write their answers online and see them pop up on the
SmartBoard. There are key issues and key questions for every grade of social studies, and instead
of having these questions being asked verbally, teachers can shake it up by having students show
their knowledge through the use of technology. I find it extremely valuable because kids
immediately become engaged and excited about the lesson. At a younger age, students are
immediately drawn to the technology and do not view it as being work but instead as a fun
activity that involves them typing on a laptop or iPad.

4. Learn Alberta Literature Connections

Learn Alberta provides Social Studies literature connections for all grades
kindergarten to grade 12. This website provides PDF files to teachers so that they can incorporate
books into their social studies lessons. This website is great because it supplies the connections
between literature and social studies concepts and themes. On the PDF file, Learn Alberta has
linked each book to a specific social studies SLO, which helps teachers to be intentional when
incorporating books into their lessons. The PDF also includes a short excerpt about the
book/novel so that teachers have a rundown of the content. This resource also provides teachers
with the themes and overarching ideas of each book, such as physical geography, transportation,
communication, economics, etc., so that teachers can connect them to their lessons that way as
well. This resource is highly valuable because it 100% ties into the social studies curriculum.
Incorporating books into social studies classes is a great way to practice cross-curricular
teaching. Too often, students associate books with strictly Language Arts classes, but with this
resource, teachers can show students that reading is something we should be doing in all classes.
This resource is quick and easy to use and makes it easy for teachers to find literature that they
can successfully tie into a lesson.
 23

5. Walking together: First Nations, Metis and Inuit Perspectives in the Curriculum
This resource makes connections between FNMI content and the social studies
curriculum. It is a resource for older students but Im sure that teachers could modify the content
in order to teach it in an elementary setting as well. This website has taken many different
aspects of Aboriginal life and have turned them into interactive activities so that students can
work with the information hands on. This resource provides copious amounts of information that
allows students and teachers to look at things from a First Nations perspective. It also provides
its own connections to other web links, documents and videos and help to incorporate FNMI
content into social studies classes. A couple examples of how this website connects to social
studies is grade two when they learn about Aboriginal peoples that have been a part of the
development of the students community and grade four where they learn about First Nations
beliefs regarding the relationship between people and the land. There are many other grades
where First Nations concepts are tied into the curriculum and this resource can help to attain the
required learning outcomes. This resource is highly valuable because it allows students to look at
the world through a different perspective a First Nations perspective. Social Studies is all about
looking at life through multiple perspectives in order to gain an even further understanding of
things, and this website helps to do that. Older grades can go on this website and do the
interactive activities which would help to peak their interest and engage them with the content.