SOCIAL STUDIES From Kim Huegerich, South Hamilton Community Schools, Jewell, Iowa
1. Sequence Organizers
This is for step-by-step processes, such as how a bill becomes a law. The students are the ones becoming the meaning-makers by
creating the steps rather than just listening to them or reading them. This could be a recall situation in which they are recreating the
steps that they have already learned/discussed. This forces them to organize the information in order to tell/teach it to another person.
You could also have them trade sequence organizers and have them follow the steps as a “checks and balance”.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Bill introduced
Referred to
House/Senate agree
Both Houses vote on President…
Both Houses may
committee to hold
on single version of
Compromise Bill
 Signs Bill
vote to override
hearning, etc and
Bill; Compromise
 Vetoes Bill
veto.
then debated
Bill sent back to both
 Allows to become
Houses
law w/o signing
2. Problem-Solution Notes
In your textbook and curriculum you have many cause-effect scenarios. This type of two-column notes is a great way to initiate a
discussion about them. These can be rearranged in any order you see fit. For example, the effects could be effects of the problem or
the solution. You could also pose a question to them, rather than a situation, and have them fill in the blanks, such as, “Why do you
think the US developed economically at a faster rater than most other countries?”
What is the problem or the issue?
Inequality
What are the causes?
Rosa Parks is arrested, Montgomery bus boycott, Conflict at Little Rock,
SCLC is organized, students stage sit-ins, March on Washington
What are the solutions?
Civil Rights Amendment
What are the effects?
James Meredith enters University of MS, Thurgood Marshall appointed to
Supreme Court, Shirley Chisholm elected to House, Barbara Jordan and
Andrew Young are first Southern African Ams elected to House since 1901.
3. Venn Diagram
Helps students see relationships between concepts/vocabulary words. These can be very complex or simple. When doing three or more
circles it may even make the teacher think deeply about the content. 
Executive
Branch
Legislative
Branch
Senate
House
Judicial Branch
4. Comparison Organizer
After discussing the similarities and differences between a realist and an idealist, you could look at Mark Twain and have the students
determine if he was an idealist or realist based on what they wrote. This could easily lead to a deep discussion about the two
vocabulary words, maybe even a debate. This could be paired with seed discussions as well.
Difference #1
Difference #2
Difference #3
Difference #4
Difference #5
realist
Similarity #1
Similarity #2
Similarity #3
Similarity #4
Similarity #5
idealist
Difference #1
Difference #2
Difference #3
Difference #4
Difference #5
5. Concept Map
This can be done using pictures as well to help the students figure out an abstract mathematical concept. This could be paired with
Power Thinking also. There are numerous types of graphic organizers that kids could use. If you are interested in seeing others, please
let me know.
Makes laws
Carries out
the law
Executive
Checks on
Other
branches
Legislative
checks on
other branches
US Government
Judicial
Interprets laws
checks on
other branches
6. Conclusion-Support Notes
This forces students to think about the claims they make, judgements they create about other people, etc. As a teacher you could also
pose these questions for the students to defend. Conclusion-support notes gives them a way to organize their thoughts and create a
more fluid argument.
Yes
No
Do you think it’s possible to go from “rags to riches”?
Support #1
Support #2
Support #3
Support #4
Support #5
Support #1
Support #2
Support #3
Support #4
Support #5
7. Story Plan
This could be used to explain a political cartoon in terms of when the cartoon takes place (setting), who is involved in the situation or
event, literal or implied, (characters), what problem the cartoon is referring to, the “current” events surrounding the problem, the goal
of the cartoonist, and either how the artist implies to resolve it or how the students predict the events will/should be solved.
Setting
Characters
Problem
Goal
Events
Resolution
8. Magnet Summaries
You can have them discuss all four “magnets” or just 1-2 or a different one each day/piece. Different students/groups could have
different magnets. This can be done as a review or to summarize what was just taught. Either the teacher, the students, or a
combination could create the magnets.
Concept/idea/vocab #1
Concept/idea/vocab #2
supply
Main idea
Concept/idea/vocab #3
demand
economics
Concept/idea/vocab #4
GNP
product
9. Power Thinking
If your textbooks are well written (very considerate texts) then Power Notes will lend themselves well to students reading at night and
taking power notes. Your “lectures” may be very conducive to power thinking/writing as well.
Have students make a “skeleton” of power notes the day before you plan to lecture on a particular chapter. Ask them to complete the
power notes as they listen to your lecture.
10. Selective Underlining/Highlighting
As students read a portion of their text, have them highlight the important information. This could be used in conjunction with power
thinking, using a different color for each power as they read. Giving them the task of looking for certain types of information as they
highlight helps them to focus their reading and directs their underlining. This will set students up for success.
11. Pattern Puzzles
Write out the steps to a process (bill becoming a law, events that lead up to event X, events of a timeline), cut apart each step and have
the students put the steps back in order. Anything that involves a process or a sequence of events is a great candidate for pattern
puzzles. This can be used to introduce a concept or review a concept, with text or with pictures.
12. Think-Pair-Share
This is sometimes called Think-Ink-Pair-Share (TIPS). Anytime you have students do a worksheet or textbook problem, it is an ideal
time for TIPS. They think about the answer, “ink” it, share their response with a partner and then share/demonstrate with the whole
class. This builds in wait time for the slower students, builds confidence because they are sharing and validating their answers with
another student (collaborative work, teamwork skills), possibly even some reciprocal teaching may be going on if their answers don’t
agree, and then sharing one thought-out answer with their peers. The key is that the student is doing the processing, not the teacher for
the student.
13. Mind Streaming
This is a great way to assess the students’ background knowledge or to introduce a new concept. In pairs, a topic is given. One student
talks for 1 minute non-stop (you’d think this would be easy for them), saying everything s/he knows about the topic. The other student
may not say anything, however gestures such as nodding or smiling may be used. At the end of the minute, the roles are reversed. The
second student may repeat what the first student said, but again must continue talking for the whole time. Since some people argue
that students’ knowledge of historical facts may not be what we want, try to add a twist to this. For example, rather than asking
students to discus the settling of North America, ask them to discuss what it means to belong to a new group or club. The latter will
promote more in-depth discussion and “streaming” of ideas, whereas the former may create a mind block and not as fluid ideas.
14. Carousel Brainstorming
A problem using a new concept is posed to the class. The students work in groups or independently to come up with an answer. Ideas
are shared one-by-one as you go around the room (carousel). The ideas can be gathered and used in a later discussion or answers can
be discussed right away. This can be done immediately after a mind stream or other background-knowledge-initiating activity.
15. Three-Minute Pause
After explaining and modeling a new concept or discussing an important piece of content, put kids in groups of 3, identifying person
A, B, and C. Each student speaks for 1 min. You may choose to do more or less, depending on the topic, objective, or personalities of
kids. Student A: explains the concept; Student B: continues the explanation; Student C: asks a question. I encourage my students to
ask a question that may know the answer to, just to ask a question. It makes kids think and verbalize the process one more time! The
role of each student may change, such as vocabulary, how this could be applied in “real life”, etc. This usually works best immediately
after an explanation or discussion as the brain wants to organize the information, provoking students to talk about it.
16. Read-and-Say Something
When reading a complex process or new concept from the textbook, break it into “chunks”. This could be paragraphs or smaller
sections between bolded headings. Students read in pairs or small groups. Each reads the chunk and one-by-one the students
paraphrase each section. Depending on the text, they could add comments about any connections they make (text to text; text to self,
text to world). An alternative to this is to “read-and-write something”. The same concept is there, but they are writing independently,
rather than discussing. They can form groups after reading/writing and discuss what they wrote, maybe even add an element of
reciprocal teaching. Using only their notes, they can come up with a new text to explain what they read.
17. One-Sentence Summary
After explaining a concept or vocabulary word, and giving the students time to work on the idea in class, ask them to summarize what
they have learned into one sentence. This can be done on a sticky note or orally as a “ticket out”, or “ticket in” to the room the next
day, to ensure brevity in their explanation. It is a quick way to assess whether the students understood your objective.
18. Concentric Circles
After a concept, have each person summarize one of the aspects (no more than 4 usually works best). They write their summary on a
note card, paper, etc. In two circles, or two lines facing each other, they use the notes they wrote to explain the concept to the other
person. They then trade cards and rotate, moving one person to the left/right. They should have a new aspect to explain. The
explanation process continues. Rotate. Repeat until all aspects have been reviewed. This can be a way to jumpstart a conversation or to
review an old one.
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
19. Sticky Note Discussion
As students read, they write comments, questions, connecting (text to text, text to self, and text to world) statements about what they
read on sticky notes next to the text. These are later used to answer questions and create deeper discussions. This could be done with
homework or as a class explanation.
20. (QAR) Question-Answer Relationships
This involves using a textbook or any text and answering questions about what is read. By knowing the type of questions that are
asked, the answer can be found/created quickly. There are two types of questions: In the Book and In my Head. In the Book questions
can be divided into two additional types of questions: Right There (What is measured on these graphs?) and Think and Search (Where
are there increases, decreases, and sudden shifts?). These questions can be found in the book, as the name suggests. In my Head can
also be divided into two additional types of questions: Author and You (Explain why the stats are shown on two different graphs.) and
On my Own (What do people use oil for in the US/around the world?). For these types of questions the student must think a little
deeper about them. Often students try to look for an answer that isn’t there. Helping them to realize that a question should come from
their background knowledge and not from the book can be a revelation to them.
21. Reciprocal Teaching
Anytime a teacher can create a situation/environment in which students are teaching their peers is an ideal situation. We remember
90% of what we teach another person. Getting students to summarize, question, clarify and then predict is how they will teach other
students. Anytime a student has a question and you think another student knows the answer or can figure it out, send him/her to that
student. It will boost their confidence and force them to go through the process and explanation again.
22. KWL Plus
Upon introducing a new concept to the students (map reading, vocabulary words, the role of Aaron Burr, Louisiana Purchase, etc).
K: they identify what they already know…this could be from their own experience or what they’ve seen/read
W: show them how they will be using it so…what do they want (need) to know about this process in particular?
L: after it has been practiced/discussed….what is new/unique to this idea? What did they learn, transform, change?
The “plus” of this strategy is to get the students to identify categories of information in the K, so that they can identify what they W in
order to L.
23. Anticipation Guides
This gets at what they already know (background knowledge). It can identify misconceptions they have of concepts from previous
courses, previous units, previous experiences, etc. This could be done via a checklist, agree/disagree. This may serve as a pre-/posttest. In between, the students are introduced to the new concept and allowed time to discuss it, and then see if they were correct in
their original evaluation of the concept. This is a good way to introduce units.
24. Content Frames
This is used to see relationships between concepts. Students/class will write comments in each blank explaining the particular item.
Foreign policy
Technology or
Economics
Unique issues
ABC
XYZ
inventions
President A
President B
President C
President D
25. Semantic Feature Analysis
This is similar to a content frame, except the students are just identifying whether the shape has each characteristic or not.
Car was invented
At war
Social unrest
123
President A
+
+
+
President B
+
President C
+
+
President D
+
+
+ has this characteristic
- does not have this characteristic
26. Observation Entries
These journal entries are used to help students see more clearly as well as for developing and recording ideas. Observations can lead to
deeper, richer discussions based on student’s perspectives and learning filter. As they observe, they discover meaning in what they
see. Observation Entries can be used with movies to observe new things not discovered in class discussions, reading textbooks, or to
record current events and their impact on society, government, economy, etc. An alternative would be to give the students a picture of
an event, political cartoon, or an artifact from the past and have them record their observations.
27. You Ought to be in Pictures
This is used to imagine what life was like “way back when”. You could show pictures of any and every aspect slavery or the
Holocaust and have them learn and discuss the unit via pictures. This is sure to stir emotion, discussion, and rich writings.
28. RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, Topic)
Students take on the role of another person or inanimate object. They must describe or explain an event from another perspective. For
example, when discussing the Boston Tea Party, a student may choose to take on the role of the tea, the East India tea vendors, or the
Mohawks. You can give them as many variable of the RAFT as you want or allow them to choose.
29. Writing Templates
This is a quick way to know if students understand the objective. This is similar to a one-sentence summary except they are
completing a few sentences in their own words to summarize the lesson/concept. For example…The Civil War was between the North
and the South, each having advantages and disadvantages. First… Second… Third.
30. Author’s Craft
As stated earlier, your textbook is extremely “considerate”. There are many things that help the students better understand what they
are learning. In the back of the book, there are sections for maps, gazetteer, glossary, index, etc. At the beginning there are sections for
map reading, unit layouts, etc. Within each unit there are ways the authors help the students understand vocabulary and pictures. The
textbook also offers cultural kaleidoscopes, cross-curricular pages, building skills, American portraits, American Flags, and causeeffect charts. While these may be obvious to you, the experienced learner and expert in your field, these are all aids to guide the
students’ understanding of the content. This must be directly taught to the students.
31. Frayer Model
This strategy uses the characteristics of a vocabulary word or concept. It identifies the essential and nonessential characteristics as well
as examples and non-examples. Sometimes overgeneralization takes place so identifying what something is not is better than actually
identifying what it is.
Essential characteristics
Non essential characteristics
What it must have
What it may have
Examples
What is it?
Definition, in own words
Non examples
What is it not?
Antonym
32. Double-Entry Reflective Journal
There are numerous pictures and “pull-out” quotes all throughout the units being taught. These concepts are begging for this strategy.
It works great to use as an introduction to a new unit/concept. The students are presented with either a quote from the text, a picture, or
both. (No more than 2-3 works best.) To start the unit, you could have them respond to all or just one. They write about how they
connect with it. What does it remind them of? What do they think it means? Who do they think it is talking about? What was this
written/said? What questions does it bring? This could be combined with TPS and discussed. At the end of the unit this is revisited
and students bring new knowledge and experiences to the picture or quote. Discussion takes place about how their views have
changed after gaining new knowledge.
Before lesson/unit
After lesson/unit
(Picture)
“She is a very civil woman and shows
nothing of ruggedness or immodesty in her
carriage, yet she will carry a gun in the
woods and kill deer, turkeys, etc., shoot
down wild cattle, catch and tie hogs,
knock down beehives with an axe…”
33. Mental imagery
As they listen to the song, the students record any images that come to mind. With the invention of TV, this has become a dying art.
Our grandfathers had to listen to the radio and make up the images themselves. Today, students would rather watch a movie than read
a book. This strategy forces the students to be more creative and think about the images a word has to offer. “Thrust” has a very
different image, or feel, than “push”, for instance. Making them comprehend in a different way pushes the envelope of learning.
34. Text Coding
As they read, have them make notations about various things using symbols. For example: + something I agree with; - something I
didn’t know or was unaware of; ? something I’m wondering about or am unsure of. They could also code with letters: V = vocabulary
word; R = religious aspect; B = represents the burden they carried (physical, emotional, psychological)
After reading, students work in small groups to discuss what they marked and why.
35. Free Write
After reading the lyrics or listening to the song, have them write freely about what they read/heard. What emotion do you get from it?
How does it make you feel? If you were the subject of the song, what would you be thinking?
36. Picture Notes
Have them create pictures that represent what they heard/read. The main ideas can be the largest and the supports could be smaller.