We the People of Social Studies with Rebecca Lawson

What is Social Studies? Why do we teach it? And what will this class bring? I talked about what Social Studies meant to me in my first blog. In this blog, I will get more technical as I explore the first three chapters of our class textbook, Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary School: Communities, Connections, and Citizenship, by Lawrence Lyman, Scott Waters, Harvey C. Foyle, and Allyson L. Lyman. In the first chapter, the authors explore what the definition of Social Studies actually is. According to New York State Education Department , the purpose of social studies education is for students to "confront questions about the wonder and excitement of humankind in the world." To me, that is a great description of what social studies should be about. If the students are not introduced to any topic within the boarded term of social studies with excitement and wonder, they will struggle to obtain the information. To further this definition, the National Council of Soc

Welcome to my new Social Studies blog! The new semester has started and here I am, the day after my first Social Studies Methods class, writing my first blog. I am going to make sure that post at least once a week this  semester so that my posts do pile up at the end. I have learned from my past experience to better my future. When you think about it, that is one of the core definitions of Social Studies, teaching the past to better the future. I say one of the core definitions because Social Studies is not just about the past and historical facts. It is also about human nature and the study of how people create societies and how societies interact. It is also about geography, cartography, mythology, philosophy, and many other elements that all return to the "social" or the people and how and why we are who we are. That is why I love Social Studies because the more you look back into history and take a minute to examine what the geography of different places is like or the