Now that's one well-planned Social Studies lesson!

It always seems impossible until its done. Nelson Mandela

What are the attributes of a meaningful, well-planned Social Studies lesson?

This question intrigues me, and I have sat down to answer it several times over the past two days; each time, I find that I am not quite ready to commit to my answer. However, the time has come to address these elusive attributes, so I will do my best to narrow the field.

Painting by Keith Rocco
The first attribute that is absolutely necessary is that of personal connection. The students must feel a connection to the material, or they will tune out and continue to feel that social studies is boring and has nothing to do with their lives. This sounds really simple, but can be difficult. After all, how can you really expect a student who has never been out of his or her home neighborhood to see the importance of Jamestown or Pompeii? A well-planned lesson, however, will find that connection, and help the student find meaning in these seemingly far-off events.



A well-planned Social Studies lesson should also include hands-on activities that are meaningful and directly connected to the objectives of the lesson and the curriculum. Lecturing to fifth-graders about the Mexican economy is a sure-fire way to lose them. Providing them with the opportunity to recreate that economy in the classroom allows the students to experience it in a way that can never be explained with mere words. My only memories of elementary school social studies are of the projects that we did, not of the lectures, notes, and reading.


Painting by John Trumbull
Another element that is critical, though not always possible, is that of primary sources. Providing students with access to all sorts of first-person accounts of events is one way to encourage connections to the past. It might take some extra research to discover primary sources for different aspects of a lesson, but the pay-off can be huge. Having the class recreate the signing of the Declaration of Independence (hands-on activity!) with several students reading parts of the actual document (primary source!) would be an interesting way to begin a discussion of what the Declaration of Independence actually means to this classroom today (personal connection!). Primary sources help the students begin to see the past in real, tangible events.

What about integration? I obviously believe that arts integration is important to social studies (see my previous post), but what about integrating math, science, and/or language arts? The simple answer is ABSOLUTELY!!!! Of course these subjects can and should be integrated with social studies. After all, social studies is the study of history, sociology, economics, anthropology, civic responsibility, and geography. Each of these elements involves math, language arts, and/or science, so the integration is a natural step when developing a lesson (or unit). In some ways, it is almost impossible to avoid integrating a social studies lesson! Seriously, though, integration allows students to learn in many different ways, and they can begin to see the connections between all subjects.

Finally, I think that an important aspect of preparing a social studies lesson is that of student reflection. By building opportunities for students to reflect on what they have discovered within a lesson, they can make connections to their own lives, and can hopefully begin to see how events in the past and in other places intertwine with our own experiences to form our society today. This type of reflection does not have to be formal, as in a journal, but could be within small groups or partnerships. Part of a reflection might be asking the students to make one connection with the Cherokee who were led away on the Trail of Tears, for example. If the lesson has provided opportunities for the students to explore the stories of people who were on this journey, and if they were engaged in meaningful activities when studying it, they will be able to make at least one connection to this seemingly far-off event. Painting by John Guthrie

In conclusion, there are probably attributes that I should add to my list, and as I learn more about teaching social studies, I will. But for now, my goal will be ensuring that personal connections, hands-on activities, primary sources, integration of other subjects, and student reflection are inherent in each and every lesson. Now that will be a well-planned lesson!