Stick Up For Social Studies

Don’t worry about social studies, it’s not a tested subject. What elementary teacher hasn’t heard that? But the sad reality is social studies lack of priority stems largely from the subjects that are tested, aka math and reading. Look, we know math and reading are important. What often goes unthought of is that social studies can actually help teach math and reading.

Of of the most important standards in reading is to cite your text evidence and what better way to re-enforce that skill than having students cite primary sources to answer a historical question. Any time you’re reading a social studies textbook, you have the opportunity to talk about headings and other text features. Map comparisons are another way to go cross-curricular. The list could go on.

The entire point is to stick up for social studies. Don’t be shy about pointing out the benefits of social studies. Turns out it can help with test scores.


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