Real World Investigations for Social Studies Inquiries for Middle and High School Students Based on the Ten Ncss Standards

Real-World Investigations for Social Studiesgrew out of a U.S. Department of Education grant that engaged the four author-editors in an exploration of the use of contextual teaching and learning (CTL) to teach social studies. Working with colleagues, doctoral students, teachers, and people in the community, we constructed 10 case studies that were designed to engage middle and high school students in issues-oriented inquiries that met the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) curriculum standards (NCSS, 1994). WritingReal-World Investigations for Social Studieswas both enjoyable and challenging. Essentially, the editors and authors of this text wanted to achieve a constructive combination of ready-to-implement middle and high school lessons and complementary guidelines for using major social studies instructional methods in support of these classroom lessons. The goal was to offer highly engaging case-based, issues-oriented instructional materials along with supporting methods to demonstrate how the principles of CTL could be used to achieve the 10 NCSS curriculum standards for social studies. Above all, we wanted to offer ready-to-implement instructional materials that were true to the principles of CTL. In order to help bring CTL into the social studies classroom, each investigation, first and foremost, aims to provide a practical sequence of lessons for teachers to use in middle or high school classrooms. Second, the lessons are designed to take into consideration the teaching and learning styles that many educators and researchers regard as most suited to middle and high school classrooms. Third, the lessons were developed with the intention of making the issues engaging, colorful, provocative, and relevant to the lives and interests of young people. Finally, the cases were designed to develop in middle school children key attributes necessary for undertaking their civic roles and responsibilities. As a result, every investigation requires students, individually and cooperatively, to wrestle with problematic issues, to research and analyze new data, to construct new meanings and understandings, to evaluate different and competing points of view, to reach (albeit tentatively) thoughtful conclusions, and, finally, to explain and defend positions taken. Arguably, no better preparation exists "to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world" (NCSS,1994). However, we also realized that the provision of these exemplary instructional materials offered a powerful platform--and an important opportunity--for teaching essential methods of social studies instruction. Thus, we added an introduction to the methods of CTL and an additional social studies teaching methods focus to teach each chapter's investigation. These materials are designed to offer teachers-in-training a contextually meaningful exposure to important social studies teaching methods. Practicing teachers, curriculum coordinators, and department chairs or curriculum leaders may also find that these methods materials refresh and reinforce their own classroom teaching practices. Organization of the Text The 10 chapters ofReal-World Investigations for Social Studiesare structured to match the NCSS curriculum standards. Each chapter begins with an introduction, followed by a discussion of how the case helps students to meet the relevant NCSS curriculum standard. Next, each chapter includes a teaching methods focus that is tailored to its content and NCSS standard. This methods focus is often supported by explicit guidelines for instruction and key links to the lesson content. Ready-to-implement instructional materials follow, 'Kith each chapter offering an overview of its instruction, explicit lesson plans, all necessary handouts, and supporting materials.Hoge, John D. is the author of 'Real World Investigations for Social Studies Inquiries for Middle and High School Students Based on the Ten Ncss Standards', published 2003 under ISBN 9780130950031 and ISBN 0130950033.