I'm a huge fan of using literature to teach social studies. Picture books in particular are a powerful way to show students what life was like during certain time periods and events. I love that they spark great class discussions and that I can also use them to review strategies like predicting, ... [ Read More ]
6 Easy Social Studies Anchor Charts for Any Unit
Teacher truth: I have all the heart eyes for the beautiful anchor charts I've seen on social media, but in my own classroom, they were never as pretty. But guess what? It doesn't matter! It doesn't need to be fancy so long as it works for you and for your students. A functional and easy-to-make ... [ Read More ]
Great Books for Your Jamestown Unit
Here in Virginia, fourth graders learn all about the founding of the Jamestown settlement. In today's post, I thought I'd share some of my favorite trade books, picture books, and chapter books to use to teach a Jamestown unit. This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these ... [ Read More ]
How to Make Social Studies Interesting
I've been inboxed a few times by social studies teachers asking how to make their instruction more engaging for students. I thought I'd share a list of ideas you can try to make your social studies lessons more fun for students (and you, too). While I'm writing this list with the upper elementary ... [ Read More ]