Examples of Emergent Social Studies Projects
Chapter Summary
- Resilient children are able to adapt to stress with a sense of optimism and confidence in their ability to solve problems, and they are much more likely to be successful later on.
- Teachers support early learning standards for social and emotional development by providing a safe, secure, and inclusive emotional environment with warmth, positive language, and intentional modeling of social strategies.
- Self-concept begins in infancy and develops slowly as children acquire a sense of who they are as individuals and in relation to others. Personal and social identity, self-esteem, and an emerging sense of empathy provide a foundation for the development of social and friendship skills.
- Teachers build self-esteem with activities and strategies that allow children to develop realistic perceptions of their strengths and challenges, which encourages the confidence to persist in problem solving.
- Self-regulation includes the ability to defer gratification, control impulses, and solve problems in different kinds of situations; this ability is critical to the development of resilience and later academic and personal success in life and school.
- An individualized approach to promoting self-regulation includes interpreting children’s body language, active listening, helping them learn to identify and express feelings in nonviolent ways, providing affirmation and praise for their efforts, and teaching decision- making skills.
- Social studies include the multiple disciplines of history, geography, political science, anthropology, psychology, sociology, archaeology, religion, philosophy, and economics and provide abundant opportunities to integrate curriculum.
- National social studies standards emphasize development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes through active engagement in long-term inquiry-based investigations based on ten themes drawn from the various disciplines. Teachers plan for flexible curriculum themes that focus on “big ideas” connected to children’s prior experiences, such as “My Family” or “Our Neighborhood,” and take advantage of opportunities to adapt to emerging ideas, questions,
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