DIG into Social Studies: Grades 3-5 contains comprehensive introductory, vocabulary, and Big Idea lessons across the major disciplines of social studies. Using evidence-based practices, the scripted lessons provide instructors with effective teaching strategies for all students. It also features content-based activities that instructors can implement to increase student understanding and foster engagement.
The curriculum contains 20 instructional topics with 80 multi-component lessons across the four disciplines of History, Geography, Economics, and Civics. Each topic (a central disciplinary idea, or Big Idea) contains five related lessons. The lessons are structured the same throughout the curriculum, and each lesson is broken down into smaller activities.
- Lesson 1: Building Knowledge; Finding New Words; Learning New Words; Learning a Big Idea In this lesson, students learn to identify academic vocabulary, match words with their definitions, and identify examples of the topic.
- Lesson 2: Reading to Learn; Getting Ready to Learn; Learning About Social Studies; Thinking about What We Learned In this lesson, students get ready to learn about the topic by using a KWHL chart to record facts they already know, ask questions they are wondering, answer questions about an expository text read aloud, and record facts they learn.
- Lesson 3: Practicing Thinking Skills In this lesson, students learn the steps to a specific critical thinking skill or practice and play a game that allows them to think critically about the topic. Students will have another chance to add to their KWHL chart to record additional facts they learn.
- Lesson 4: Putting It All Together; Writing in Our Journal; Community Chat In this lesson, students show understanding of the Big Idea and answer the guiding question. Next, they write about what they liked, learned, and are still wondering about the topic. Finally, students communicate with each other about their thoughts and questions related to the topic.
A comprehensive curriculum to teach grade-aligned social studies content to all learners in your classroom!
| Subject | Social Studies |
|---|---|
| Age Group | Elementary |
| Author | Leah Wood, PhD |
| Copyright | 2024 |
