糖心动漫vlog

Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers鈥 questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Social Studies Opinion

Q&A Collections: Teaching Social Studies

By Larry Ferlazzo 鈥 July 25, 2021 7 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 10 years. You can see all those collections from the first nine years here.

Here are the ones I鈥檝e published so far:

The 11 Most Popular Classroom Q&A Posts of the Year

Race & Racism in Schools

School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis

Classroom-Management Advice

Best Ways to Begin the School Year

Best Ways to End the School Year

Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning

Implementing the Common Core

Challenging Normative Gender Culture in Education

Today鈥檚 theme is on Teaching Social Studies. You can see the list of posts following this excerpt from one of them:

wecanlink

*Introducing Primary Sources to Students

Five 糖心动漫vlog share strategies for introducing primary sources to students, including English-language learners.

* Eight Ways to Teach With Primary Sources

Four 糖心动漫vlog share ways they use primary sources with students, including a strategy called 鈥淶oom鈥 and I don鈥檛 mean the meeting platform.

* 鈥楽tanding Up for What Is Right': Teaching in the Aftermath of the Presidential Election

Four teachers explain how they are handling this year鈥檚鈥2020鈥攑residential election in their classrooms.

* Post-Election Teaching Strategies

Four teachers share suggestions for lessons following the 2020 election, including focusing on local issues and practicing media literacy.

* Readers Respond: Should Politics Be Kept Out of the Classroom?

Many readers share their responses to the question of politics in the classroom, ranging from the importance of separating it from 鈥減artisanship鈥 to stating that 鈥渢eaching is political.鈥

* 鈥楰eeping Politics Out of the Classroom Is Like Keeping the Water Out of Rain鈥

Four 糖心动漫vlog consider how to explore politics in the classroom, including by incorporating multiple perspectives and ensuring all student voices are heard.

* Politics Belongs in the Classroom

Four 糖心动漫vlog discuss the importance of bringing politics into the classroom, including to help students develop skills in discourse and information literacy.

* 鈥楥lassrooms Are Political鈥

Four 糖心动漫vlog push back against the admonition to 鈥渒eep politics out of the classroom鈥 by, among other things, explaining that schools are part of a broader political system.

Three 糖心动漫vlog share ways to connect their students to community engagement, including through project-based learning and community-service projects.

Four teachers share their strategies to help students improve their communities, including through 鈥淪tructured Academic Controversies鈥 and 鈥淕enius Hours.鈥

*

Three social studies teachers share the instructional strategies they are using in distance learning, including project-based learning and various online tools.

Five social studies teachers discuss their online instructional strategies, including emphasizing relevancy and maintaining high standards.

Seven 糖心动漫vlog discuss multiple ways to bridge current events with their classroom lessons, including applying learning-transfer and information-literacy strategies.

Project-based learning and student-created podcasts are among the techniques six 糖心动漫vlog employ to bring current events into the classroom and engage students.

Carina Whiteside, Denise Fawcett Facey, Deborah Gatrell, and Mark Honeyman discuss what they think were their best social studies lessons that connected with their students.

This two-part series on best social studies lessons is 鈥渨rapped up鈥 today by commentaries from Rachel Johnson, Dawn Mitchell, Julie Stern, Cynthia W. Resor, Andrew Sharos, Lori Oczkus, and Keisha Rembert.

A series on teaching information literacy to students finishes up with suggestions from Elliott Rebhun, Laura Greenstein, Michael Fisher, Barbara R. Blackburn, and Douglas Reeves.

Carla Truttman, Josh Perlman, Jennifer Casa-Todd, Bryan Goodwin, and Frank W. Baker share their suggestions for information-literacy lessons.

Big mistakes are made in social studies instruction. What can teachers do to avoid them? Annie Brown, Amy Okimoto, Amy Fast, Lynette Yorgason, Mike Kaechele, and Rebecca Testa-Ryan weigh in.

Sarah Cooper and Ken Halla share suggestions on how to use tech in social studies classes.

Martha Sevetson Rush, Andrew Miller, Melissa Miles, Donna L. Shrum, and Richard Byrne contribute their thoughts on writing in social studies classes.

Stan Pesick, Ben Alvord, Dawn Mitchell, Rachel Johnson, and Rebecca Testa-Ryan share their suggestions on integrating writing into social studies classes.

*

Diana Laufenberg, Sarah Cooper, Chris Hulleman, Suzie Boss, and Erin Brandvold discuss how we can make social studies lessons more exciting!

Andrew Kozlowsky, Stephanie Smith, Greg Milo, Donna Wilson, Marcus Conyers, Andrew Miller, and Tamara Fyke contribute their ideas on how to make social studies lessons more engaging.

*

Sarah Cooper, Michael Fisher, Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath, Jody Passanisi, and Eugenia Mora-Flores share their thoughts on the impact of the Common Core State Standards on social studies classrooms.

*

Jennifer Hesseltine, Kenny McKee, Erik M. Francis, Wayne Journell, and Dave Stuart Jr. contribute their ideas about the social studies connection to the Common Core State Standards.

Lorena Germ谩n, Adeyemi Stembridge, Stephen Lazar, Jen Schwanke, and Aubrie Rojee share their ideas on how to handle so-called 鈥渃ontroversial鈥 topics in the classroom.

Gabriella Corales, Tom Rademacher, Martha Caldwell, Oman Frame, Danny Woo, Paul Barnwell, and Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski share their responses to the question: 鈥淗ow do you handle controversial issues in the classroom?鈥

Dominique Williams, Matthew Homrich-Knieling, Meg White, Kristina J. Doubet, Jessica A. Hockett, Vance Austin, and Stephanie Smith contribute to Part Three in a series on handling 鈥渃ontroversial鈥 issues in the classroom.

Today鈥檚 answers on dealing with controversial issues in the classroom are provided by Sara Ahmed, Jennifer Borgioli, Kevin Scott, Erik M. Francis, Phil Hunsberger, Jackie Walsh, Beth Sattes, and Dave Stuart Jr.

A five-part series on handling controversial topics in the classroom is wrapped up with commentaries by Meg Riordan, Lymaris Santana, Sarah Thomas, and Thomas Armstrong, along with many comments from readers.

Troy Hicks, Kristina J. Doubet, David Sherrin, Kirke Olson, and Barbara Blackburn share their thoughts. I鈥檝e also included comments from many readers.

Today鈥檚 guest responses come from Kelly Young, from whom I鈥檝e learned more about teaching than from anyone else; Elisabeth Johnson, who is the best social studies teacher I鈥檝e ever seen; middle school educator Lisa Butler; and Matt Podbury, who teaches geography at an International School in France.

Three 糖心动漫vlog鈥擜shanti Foster, Melissa Bollow Tempel, and P. L. Thomas鈥攁nd a number of readers share their thoughts on this challenge.

Four 糖心动漫vlog鈥擩ohn T. Spencer, Diana Laufenberg, Jennifer D. Klein, and Jason Flom鈥攔espond to this issue.

Educators Diana Laufenberg, Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez, and Peter Pappas contributed their responses to this piece.

Bruce Lesh, PJ Caposey, and Dave Orphal share their thoughts in this post, and I鈥檝e also included comments from readers.

Three talented and experienced 糖心动漫vlog share their thoughts on the topic鈥擲tephen Lazar, ReLeah Cossett Lent, and Bill Bigelow.

Many readers and I contribute our suggestions.

Social studies teachers Eric Langhorst, Beth Sanders, and Russel Tarr all write about what they鈥檝e learned from experience.

This post includes guest responses from three talented and experienced 糖心动漫vlog: Stephen Lazar, Bill Bigelow, and Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez.

Related Tags:

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Managing AI in Schools: Practical Strategies for Districts
How should districts govern AI in schools? Learn practical strategies for policies, safety, transparency, as well as responsible adoption.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Unlocking Success for Struggling Adolescent Readers
The Science of Reading transformed K-3 literacy. Now it's time to extend that focus to students in grades 6 through 12.
Content provided by 
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Social Studies Opinion How to Teach What It Means to Be American
As America turns 250, Richard Kahlenberg discusses how schools can cultivate a common identity.
9 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Social Studies Is the Court System Fair? What Students Want to Know About the Justice System
Chicago high schoolers asked a panel of Illinois judges how they decide tough cases.
5 min read
JL357
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth M. Rochford, in blue, talks to Lindblom Math and Science Academy student Marianna Haynes during an event at Chicago-Kent College of Law on March 13, 2026 in Chicago. Marianna and other students asked a panel of state judges how they decide cases鈥攁nd put aside their personal feelings.
Joshua Lott for Education Week
Social Studies Q&A A New Bill Calls for a Model Civics Curriculum at a Polarized Moment
A Democratic senator has introduced bills to boost hands-on civic learning and create a national civics curriculum.
9 min read
Students listen to social studies teacher Ella Pillitteri during a seventh grade civics class at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla., Tuesday, April 16, 2024. When teachers at the K-8 public school, one of the top-performing schools in Florida, are asked how they succeed, one answer is universal: They have autonomy.
Students listen to their social studies teacher during a 7th grade civics class at a school in Boca Raton, Fla., on April 16, 2024. New proposed legislation would create a model national civics curriculum鈥攕omething that has never successfully been tried.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Social Studies Opinion What Is Civic Hope? And Why Should Schools Care About It?
Cynicism and gloom are not a recipe to promote voting and good citizenship.
7 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week