Learn how to create simple models and maps with early years students with this free geography printable!

ALL ABOUT EARTH Get ready for a month filled with so many fun activities to teach your kiddos all about our planet Earth . I teach this unit in April so it coincides with Earth Day. I’ve loaded up this blog post post with read aloud book ideas, free videos you can share with your students,

Do your students have to create timelines to meet academic standards? I'm sharing 10 engaging types of timelines that make this activity FUN for students!

Guide to using Social Studies Simulations to step away from the lecture podium and engage your students with hands-on history activities.

Do you need warm up ideas? I want to share 3 warm up ideas for social studies classes with you. These are engaging and easy to implement!

In this post, I will share with you my monthly themes for science and social studies for Kindergarten! I recently received an email in whi...

Ok so…I know I haven’t posted much of anything lately. That’s because I’ve been working on a Pacing Guide to use this school year. I wanted to make it editable…

Want a free pacing guide for content in third grade? This freebie will help you plan your entire year of science and social studies!

BOOM! is an easy and active review game that works well for any subject. This review game for middle or high school students is SO MUCH FUN! I play this in my classroom before test day. It could be used for math, science, social studies or any other subject!

Make sure you cover all subjects in the special ed classroom with the help of the Science and Social Studies Adapted Work Binders!

If you are getting started with Interactive Notebooks, then this blog post is just for you. With information on choosing the right book, page numbering, envelopes, bookmarks, and tables of contents, this post has it all to help you get started on the right foot. Help your upper elementary and middle school students shine with interactive notebooks that scream organization, structure, knowledge, & fun. Ideal for social studies, history, math, science, and ela, interactive notebooks are the best.

I love teaching Social Studies. I really love it. It's exciting to present historical concepts to students and find ways to make it interesting and engaging for them. I love hearing comments like, "Social Studies is my favorite class" and "Social Studies is really fun" because they often come from students who were wary of the subject at the start of the school year. Through our activities and the creation of a positive classroom environment, they find an appreciation for my favorite school subject and sometimes it even becomes their favorite subject of the year. How cool is that?! I also love sharing my passion for teaching Social Studies and connecting with teachers like you who share that same love of learning and bringing history to life in their classrooms! But where to begin? Hint: it involves lots of freebies which are included in a FREE Introduction to Social Studies Mini Unit - 5 complete days of lessons - all activities are included - just for you! Here are some lesson ideas for introducing the subject of social studies in your classroom: Hook Ideas A good hook activity is a great way to start a new lesson. It grabs students' attention and sets the scene for the unit or daily lesson. Here are some easy ideas: 1. True or False? Write a brief series of questions about the study of history and some key terms you plan to cover. Ask students to raise their thumbs in the air (up for yes, down for no) in response to the questions. It's an easy and fun way to assess prior knowledge. You can also use mini white boards and have students collaborate in groups of 2-3 to answer true or false. After each question, you can review the right answer. 2. YouTube Videos I love finding a great (and brief!) YouTube video to use during a lesson. Here are some of my favorites to introduce the subject of social studies: An Animated Introduction to Social Science (Soomo Publishing) Why Study History? (The Pursuit of History) Why Study History? (PragerU) recommended for older students 3. Draw It This hook is perfect for mini whiteboards. Ask students to draw or write images, words, doodles, etc. when they think of the words "social studies" or "history". These images can spark discussions about concepts that relate to social studies! A Word Wall Hold up! Do you have a word wall in your classroom? If not, it's time to start. A word wall is a place to collect the important vocabulary terms you are teaching in your unit. You can even collect and keep them up all year! Word walls give students a chance to review and interact with vocabulary daily. The more students interact with vocabulary terms, the more connections they can make between ideas and build upon those concepts to better understand and make deeper connections to curriculum content. You can make your own word wall for an Introduction to Social Studies unit or download this free resource from my TpT store! :) Introduction to Social Studies Activities Now that your students are hooked, it's time to dive into the unit. I've created some free resources in my TpT store - The Teacher's Prep - to help you in this endeavor! 1. Vocabulary Activities We've already discussed the importance of vocabulary posted in a word wall - now let's talk about some activities students can complete to interact with the vocabulary in a variety of ways! The Introduction to Social Studies Vocabulary Activities resource (it's free, too!) has three activities to use with your students. I like spreading out these activities over the course of the unit to give kids extra practice. The first activity I typically start with is the Introduction to Social Studies Vocabulary activity in which students write the definitions for each vocabulary term. As we use the terms in class during the unit, I give them time to write a sentence using each word in the chart. On subsequent days, there are two more activities to use - a matching activity and a crossword puzzle. Again, the more students interact with the words, the more opportunities they will have to understand the important concepts you are teaching in class! If that sounds like activities you'd find useful in your classroom, download it here! 2. Informational Text Ok, now it's time to dive into the heart of the unit - reading informational text! If you don't already have access to informational text or would like to supplement the resources you currently have, I've created an Introduction to Social Studies Interactive PowerPoint that is filled with informational text students can read. It also directly corresponds to a set of interactive notebook graphic organizers for student note taking. Oh! And not only is it available in PowerPoint in an interactive format, there's also TpT Easel and Google Drive versions included, too. I've got you covered! Check it out here! And yes, it's also free. (It's a theme!) :) 3. Interactive Notebooks How do students organize their notes for this unit? In an interactive notebook! I love these graphic organizers because they consolidate student notes in one place. The graphic organizers directly correlate to all the activities I've mentioned above so far and give students the opportunity to summarize the main ideas and details they learn as they are introduced to the study of history. I love interactive notebooks so much, I made complete sets for Ancient History, American History and Civics / American Government ... in both paper and digital formats. You can check them out by clicking on the links in the last sentence! And of course, this section wouldn't be complete without a paper and digital copy of the Introduction to Social Studies interactive notebooks to take with you! Click here for the digital interactive notebook and here for the paper interactive notebook. 4. Task Cards Last (for now!) but certainly not least are task cards. Task cards can be used as bell ringers, entrance tickets, exit tickets, station work and more! I alternate their use based on my class needs of the day, but they include brief writing prompts to encourage students to think critically about the content they are learning in class. If task cards seem like something you'd like to add to your Introduction to Social Studies unit, click here to download a free resource of them from my TpT store! And Finally... Thank you for all you do for your students to bring history to life in your classroom and engage students in topics that will foster a love of learning. I hope these resources make your life a bit easier and save you valuable time in the school year. I absolutely love hearing from teachers like you. If you find the resources useful in your classroom, I invite you to leave me a note in the feedback sections and let me know how you used the activities in your classroom. I read every word and your notes mean so much to me! Happy Teaching! Oh, and here's a link (click here!) directly to a page in my TpT store that lists all of these free resources in case you don't want to scroll back through the post. :)

Over the past few years, I have been incorporating inquiry circles into my classroom through Social Studies and Science. Inquiry circles are a lot like most research projects. I would say the main difference is how they start. NOW AVAILABLE… One Stop Teacher Memberships Our grade-level memberships provide the BIGGEST savings on ALL One […]

A Kindergarten blog about effective teaching and making learning fun.

Well it took almost a full school year, but thanks to a professional development I went to, I found a review technique ALL of my 7th graders were on board with. I call it “True, False, Fix.…

Teaching kids about our world, geography, maps, and more. Kindergarten Social Studies Lessons made easy #kindergarten #socialstudies

Kids will have fun while learning where do I Live with this printable activity perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.

3rd Grade Social Studies Worksheet. Your students will use this useful resource to analyze their vocabulary words and relate them to different concepts and ideas. This selection of worksheets explores how the American Government is structured.

Do you need some ideas for preschool social studies activities? From recycling to road rules, fathers to firefighters, we’ve got you covered.

Looking for fun and engaging kindergarten social studies resources? Check out the interactive notebook that your students will love!

5 YouTube Channels that Rock!

Learn about science curriculum created for self-contained special education classrooms by a real special education teacher!

Effectively teach historical thinking skills and writing using an argument qualifier continuum line.

FREE printable sorting mats for preschoolers and kindergarten kids to learn about animals and their habitats. Great science and nature activity that kids will love! Includes rainforest, ocean, desert, polar, woodland and wetland habitats.

I've posted up my Social Studies program about Social Communities. You can purchase each section by itself, or get the whole bundle. There's even a set for Canadian and a different set f

If you've ever struggled with planning and implementing effective, engaging social studies lessons in your kindergarten classroom, then please read on. This post is for you! Maybe your district supplies you with a big-box curriculum that

Social Studies, first grade, centers, belonging, planning, centres, assessment

Read a few ideas for civics and government activities. There are free lessons and activities as well as other fun hands-on, engaging ideas.

Kick off your school year with map and globe skills ! What middle school social studies classroom doesn’t cover map skills? Since map skills are a basic concept covered in middle school social studies, you'd think it would be easy to find resources for it. However, most of the resources out there a

If you’ve visited my website before, you may notice that I have a slight obsession with interactive notebooks. While interactive notebooks are not for every teacher or every student, they solve so many problems for me that I cannot live...Read More

Learn how to use social studies stations in the Middle & High School classroom to increase student engagement. Includes link for a free station activity!

So, are you itching for winter break to get here or what?!? I am drowning here, people! Between report cards, conferences (for my students and my own kids!), shopping, baking, parties, wrapping... DROWNING!Don't get me

Teaching kids about our world, geography, maps, and more. Kindergarten Social Studies Lessons made easy #kindergarten #socialstudies

There are dozens of ways teachers can address students who finish their classwork early. Over the years I’ve had a binder with small academic tasks (including some from here) for kids to cho…

Learn how to use social studies political cartoons to increase student engagement. Includes link to a free political cartoon analysis activity!

Hey all! I hope that you are enjoying your last few days of summer. I've had some questions lately from both new and veteran teachers alike about year-long pacing of curriculum. How can you make sure

Check out these beginning of the year science activities to get you started! This post has lots of science ideas and a freebie to engage your students.

Get your students thinking like a historian from the get-go with these tips and ideas for your first Social Studies lesson of the year.

These engaging, science-backed activity ideas are a must for you high school social studies classroom. - Let's Cultivate Greatness

There are so many ways and amazing benefits for using exit slips in your classroom to engage learners.