Social Studies, Literacy, and Social Justice in the Elementary Classroom: A Guide for Teachers

by Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath, Christine E. Sleeter (Foreword)

Elementary-aged children are often positioned as not developmentally ready to learn about race, racism, and injustice. Yet, the classroom materials used in most schools misrepresent history, withhold knowledge about racial injustice, or fail to uplift stories of resilience and resistance. For almost a decade, this groundbreaking resource has been one of the most highly used textbooks in justice-oriented social studies methods courses for grades 3–8. The author has thoroughly revised her bestseller to provide additional lessons that are more deeply situated within the current context of converging pandemics―COVID-19, racism, and impending environmental catastrophe. Grounded in the daily realities of public schools, Agarwal-Rangnath shows teachers how to use primary and other sources that will offer students new ways of thinking about history while meeting language arts standards for informational text proficiency and critical thinking. Educators will also learn how to teach language arts and social studies as complementary subjects. New for the Second

160 pages, Paperback

Published September 23, 2022

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolute gem and something I know I will be referring back to multiple times! There are so many different options made available for implementation regardless of how much time or support is provided for social studies at the workplace. I really appreciate how thoughtful all of the examples are in describing how to make it work, what it will look like, questions to ask, and even where to match it up with standards and work cross-curricular. A must have for any elementary educator interested in also being an abolitionist or social justice educator.