Social Studies Curriculum
TCH 347
Social Studies in the Elementary School
Department of Education
Shippensburg University
Han Liu, Ph. D.
Curriculum
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Definition #1
 What
a student should know and
be able to do, which is defined
by the state standards linked to
high-stake tests.
Curriculum
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Definition #2
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What a student should know and be able
to do
 Grade-level content expectations
 Instructional methods
 Any classroom learning materials
Curriculum for Social Studies
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Curriculum Content
Curriculum Organization
Curriculum Delivery
Conceptual Structure
Curriculum Scope & Sequence
Social Studies Skills
Social Studies Content
(Basic Disciplines)
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Culture
History
Geography
Economics
Civics
Current Affaires
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Sociology
Anthropology
Psychology
Philosophy
Social Studies Curriculum
Organization
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Interdisciplinary Approach is applied in Elementary and
middle schools, such as family life, cultural diversity,
improve the environment…
 Separate Subject Approach is applied in high schools,
such as U.S History, American Government,
Economics…
 Multidisciplinary Approach is applied in teaching units,
such as U.S. state, Latin America, middle east…
 Special topics, such as globalization, the Middle East,
etc.
Approaches to Deliver Social
Studies Curriculum
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Conceptual Approach
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Topical Approach
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Emphasizing the mastery of social studies concepts
Focus on topics, such as WW II, civil rights movement, etc.
Inquiry Approach
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Generating questions
Making Hypothesis to address the questions
Testing the hypothesis
Conceptual Structure for Social Studies
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Facts
 Vocabulary
 Concepts
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Concept Clusters
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Themes
 Generalizations
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Descriptive Generalizations
Prescriptive Generalizations
Scope and Sequence
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Scope:
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Sample
.
Basic Contents defined by state standards
Comparative Studies & Global Perspective
Special Topics: Peace Studies, Environmental
Issues…
Sequence:
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Textbook p.10, Figure 1.1
Sample. Textbook p.20, Units of Instruction in the K-8 Curriculum
Basic sequence defined by state standards based
on knowledge acquisition theory and grade levels
School’s decisions
Teacher’s decisions
Skills for Social Studies
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Thinking Skills
 Language & Communication Skills
 Vocabulary Building Skills
 Research Skills
 Data Processing Skills
 Technology Skills
Thinking Skills
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Inductive Thinking
Deductive Thinking
Critical Thinking
Creative Thinking
Analogical Thinking
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Problem Solving
Decision-Making
Generalizing
Particularizing
Metacognition
Language and
Communication Skills
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Receptive Skills
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Expressive Skills
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Reading
Listening
Speaking
Writing
Presenting
Comprehensive Communication Skills
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Debating
Vocabulary Building Skills
Semantic map (relationship
between/among concept
clusters)
 Clusters
 Pairs
 Mnemonics
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Research Skills
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Problem Identifying
Predicting/Hypothesizing
Inquiry Method Selecting
Data processing
Analyzing
Synthesizing
Interpreting
Inferring
Evaluating/Appraising
Data Processing Skills
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Data Source Identifying
Data collection
Data Tabulation
Data Organizing
Data Aggregation
Data Analysis
Data Presentation
Technology Skills
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Searching
 Classifying
 Organizing
 Tabulating
 Communicating
 Transmitting
 Presenting
 Graphing
 Multimedia integrating
 Teaching aids developing