Teaching Social Studies

There is never anytime to teach Social Studies, or is there?!  This is a big concern in schools and unfortunately Social Studies is being neglected.  I wanted to share a simple situation that happened in my observation classroom.  Their reading story for this week is Dear Juno. In the story Juno writes letters to his grandmother in Korea.   This story is in their basal reader, which list the Social Studies standards.  The story contains communication, goods and services, technology, signs and symbols, and comparing cultures.  The teacher also taught geography with this lesson.  They discussed the Social Studies elements in this story and the teacher looked up a map of Korea to show them on the smart board. They also watched a short video on the culture.  In the class discussion the teacher made a concept map allowing them to list different forms of communication.  In the writing center they wrote letters.  It didn't take up a lot of time but the students learned Social Studies, along with reading and writing.  See there is still hope!