Teaching Social Studies

Here are some things you will have to do when teaching social studies.

• Balance breadth versus depth in order to cover all required material within the school year.
• Create assignments and tests that go beyond simple recall of names, places, and dates.
• Deal with controversial topics such as religion, abortion, and the death penalty.
• Connect what is taught to the lives of your students, even when a topic may bear little relationship to their lives.
• Provide information beyond the information provided in the textbook.
• Overcome the attitude of many students that social studies is boring.