Integrating science and social studies with reading is a must. We all know that time is always a problem for teachers. There are simply not enough hours in the day to teach all that we're expected to teach. It's just not possible. Due to testing and/or district and state
Teaching American Government
The
Teaching American government doesn't have to be boring or overly complicated. Government is an abstract concept, and many students have a difficult time making connections to the concepts. The vocabulary is also difficult for upper elementary students. Fortunately, there are
Economics Activities
There are SO MANY fun ways to make economics activities engaging and hands-on for students, and it's a great way to incorporate a little math into instruction. This post shares some of my favorite ways to teach economics to upper elementary students.
I begin my economics unit
The Best Government Game
Have you ever had a moment when every single students' eyes were completely glazed over, and you were pretty sure no one actually heard what you were saying? That was me on Thursday. I was seven days into my government unit, and I thought we were doing pretty good. Students had
Social Studies and Science Vocabulary
It's no secret that vocabulary is a major predictor for student success. Unfortunately, academic vocabulary has always been one of my students' greatest challenges. Academic vocabulary words are the words that are traditionally used in academic text, which are words that are not
Teaching Elementary Science and Social Studies
State and federal mandates and high stakes testing have made teaching elementary science and social studies a battle for time in the classroom. This battle has resulted in minimizing social studies and science instruction to focus on tested areas. While I agree that the content
Geography Worksheets And More
Geography worksheets aren't always fun, but turn them into stations to make learning geography terms fun! Geography stations can make an often challenging concept or skill fun and meaningful for students. These nine geography stations can be used for a whole group lesson or for
Social Studies Interactive Notebook
A Social Studies Interactive Notebook is a great way to engage students and to help students focus as they organize social studies content and/or take guided notes. One of the great things about this social studies interactive notebook is that you can adapt it to meet the needs
Differentiated Research Project
Research projects have a bad wrap these days. I certainly remember completing my fair share of boring research projects, but it doesn't have to be that way...not even close! In fact, my students have been begging me to assign a state or country research project. That may sound a
