Teaching Resources and Classroom Strategies for Social Studies Teachers
Teacher Created Materials offers easy-to-use teaching resources and fun, student-friendly printed and digital materials which encourage inquiry-based learning strategies to keep students actively engaged in past and present history exploration. Our education resources help students learn social studies concepts with ease and teachers like you to create meaningful, engaging lesson plans for your social studies classes or an entire school district curriculum.
Educators, teachers, and district leadership can rest assured our teaching resources are aligned to the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Social Studies Standards and National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) curriculum standards.
What is the C3 Framework for State Social Studies Standards?
Published by the NCSS, the C3 Framework is an inquiry-based framework for social studies education. It’s intended to help states, districts, and educators prepare students for “successful participation in college, careers, and civic life” and “guides—not prescribes—the choice of curricular content necessary for a rigorous social studies program.”
The core structure of the C3 Framework is known as an Inquiry Arc. The Arc “focuses on the nature of inquiry [...] and the pursuit of knowledge through questions.” It’s comprised of four Dimensions:
- Developing questions and planning inquiries
- Applying disciplinary concepts and tools
- Evaluating sources and using evidence
- Communicating conclusions and taking informed action
(pgs. 6, 12, and 17; The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History).
In simpler terms, students create or are provided intriguing questions to explore, investigate said questions, find and evaluate supporting evidence, and construct an argument (e.g. a detailed outline, essay, drawing) based on their research.
What are social studies?
Social studies integrate multiple disciplines "to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world" (NCSS).
What are the 5 components of social studies?
The five essential branches or areas of social studies are geography, history, culture and society, civics and government, and economics.
More Resources to Support K-8 Teachers
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