How to Incorporate Social Studies Throughout the Day

1. How to Incorporate Social Studies Throughout the Day Based on Grades 4 – 8 (form 2) Social Studies Curriculum

2. Geography • Combine latitude, longitude, reference point distance scale within the math curriculum. • Create a geography work station to be used during literacy work stations: include maps and globes for students to use to learn about relationships between their community , island and world. • Combine Science with Social Studies study of technological changes and other major changes that lead to environmental changes.

3. History • Incorporate appropriate historical fiction and historical non-fiction material within the reading curriculum that support the benchmarks of the curriculum. • Incorporate historical events within Readers’ Theater scripts in Reader’s Workshop. • Create a living timeline of events in your morning assemblies as a group activity. • Have students write letters from a historical perspective about a particular event from the curriculum during writer’s workshop. E.g. A letter to a Carib Chief asking for an audience with him to discuss their attack on the Arawaks.

4. Citizenship • Use cooperative learning groups so students can explain their individual responsibilities to the group and learn the need for respect and civility within the work environment. • Have students develop a classroom Rights and Responsibilities of Students Bill after they have studied the Constitution of St. Lucia and how a bill becomes law. • Create a classroom government. What is its purpose? • Hold classroom elections for your classroom government that imitate local and national elections. • Use voting as a form of decision making within your classroom. • Vote on words for the class that can be used instead of “said” and other commonly used words

5. Citizenship • Research an issue that is pertinent to the classroom or school, looking at different points of view. Use reader’s or writer’s workshops time to do this important work. Examples of ideas quality of schools lunches and snacks sold to students. • Incorporate a service learning project within your school year to help students learn how they can make a difference in their community, even as a student. Example park clean up, food drive, 25 cents drive for the poor/disaster victims in the community/ island, National make a Difference Day.

6. Citizenship • Create a mini society within your classroom. • Create a project that can be sold at your school to benefit students. • Develop an incentive program that involves banking throughout the year. Let your students join a cooperative. Get in touch with the Cooperative Curriculum Specialists at CAMDU. • Students may also be given opportunities to spend some of their money during a field trip. In advance of the field trip, let students draw up a budget for the spending.

7. Citizenship • Incorporate multi cultural picture books, stories and folklores within the reading curriculum. Discuss how culture, prior knowledge, values and beliefs influence people. • Study biographies within your reading curriculum. Cover St. Lucian citizen and Caribbean Heroes that have made important contributions to the development of the nation and region.

8. Use All Parts of Your Day Effectively • Use those transition times between content areas for students to get up out of their seats, mix around and review Social Studies content in a fun way. • Use the time used to line up for music, art or physical Education for review. • Have a media teacher work with you on incorporating content area into research skills lessons.

9. Most Importantly Have Fun while you work with your students!