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Teaching Strategies for Social Studies Content

Album Description

This is a collaborative album.  It is a place to put strategies and activities to use with primary sources; history and social studies content areas.



Social Studies/History Teaching Strategies Little Bighorn Battle

Poems2Voices.pdf

Teaching Notes

Tell students: You are going to create a Poem for Two Voices. These poems place two distinct perspectives or opposing points of view in dialogue with one another. Within the poem each voice speaks individually and then the two voices speak together. When speaking together, the voices comment on something over which they agree or disagree. In the end the two sides do not have to agree.

You will be split into pairs, and within your pair, one of you will voice Sitting Bull’s perspective while the other will voice Plenty Coups’ perspective.

This strategy can be adapted and used with other poetry teaching strategy pairs of people.

English/Language Arts Social Studies/History

Connect 4 Assessment Game

Teaching Notes

This game makes a great assessment tool.  It works great as an end of chapter or unit review.  

Teacher Note:  This game is very flexible and you can devise rules to reflect your class.

English/Language Arts Social Studies/History Connect 4 Teaching Strategy

Wendy Red Star.pdf

Teaching Notes

Copy a photo of a person.  Then write on the photo biographical information and commentary.

Historic Photos Social Studies/History English/Language Arts

Snapshot Analysis - Example.pdf

Teaching Notes

This is a strategy for using the Analysis Snapshot Strategy.

S - See the picture

N - Note the Title, caption and summary

A - Address the concept and unit

P - Pull together general information.

SH - Share what you already know

O - Observe details

T - Total it up      (Then Review) teaching strategy Snapshot Analysis

Snapshot Analysis - Example (1).pdf

Teaching Notes

This is a strategy for using the Analysis Snapshot Strategy.

S - See the picture

N - Note the Title, caption and summary

A - Address the concept and unit

P - Pull together general information.

SH - Share what you already know

O - Observe details

T - Total it up      (Then Review) Social Studies/History teaching strategy

Photographs, Dice & Questions - Teaching Strategy

Teaching Notes

This strategy uses a photograph, dice and question stems.  The photos show the use of both "Thick and Thin Questions".

Teaching Strategy Social Studies/History Critical Thinking Qustioning

Strategy - Pairing Paintings & Primary Source.pdf

Teaching Notes

Teaching Notes:

This lesson is an adaptation of a framework created by Martha Kohl at the Montana Historical Society. It provides students the opportunity to examine a visual source and compare it to a piece of text, (primary or secondary source). Students are asked to look at the visual image and the text for a geographical perspective.

Then write a reflection Comparing and contrasting the two pieces to go to a deeper understanding. An optional assignment is to have the students answer a writing prompt using the paired texts. This truly becomes a higher-level reading, thinking, and writing activity when you use a paired passage.

There are two separate segments to this lesson. One with art questions to look at the visual piece. The second segment looks at the text and visual portion together. This combination creates a complex text.

Article about Daniel Long Soldier https://rapidcityjournal.com/thechadronnews/community/long-soldier-s-paintings-tell-native-american-stories/arti cle_1933fcb8-acab-11e0-9215-001cc4c03286.html

Little Bighorn Battle Social Studies/History Teaching Strategy