Chapters 1 and 2 Reflections

    In chapters one and two of our class text, we were introduced to the idea of teaching social studies in the elementary school. The chapters touched on the ideas of teaching the subject, some of the benefits and challenges, and topics that social studies covers.

    To start off, social studies was broken down into 4 overarching areas of study. These areas are:

1. Civics: The rights and duties of citizens in society
2. Economics: The production, consumption, and transfer of wealth
3. Geography: The study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere and the affect of human activity
4. History: The study of past events

    After being introduced to the four overarching topics that are studied in social studies, the benefits and challenges of teaching social studies was examined. The main benefit of teaching social studies is it helps students to become informed citizens. When teachers teach social studies, it prepares students of future generations with real-life skills. The challenges that are presented in teaching social studies includes, time-management and knowledge. Many teachers struggle to find enough time in their lesson plans for their days to incorporate enriching social studies lessons, since much time is involved with reading, writing, and math. There is also an issue with teachers having the confidence in their knowledge of social studies to have the desire to teach it to their students effectively. 

    I found chapters one and two to be super important to start off the course. These chapters served as an introduction and were crucial to our course’s lesson plans and instructional methods.