Social Studies has traditionally drawn from a range of different topic areas, and students in the United States usually begin receiving some form of social studies by about the sixth grade. The areas that social studies have historically encompassed include geography, history, government, and current events.
As students progress through school, the term "social studies" usually remains a constant, but the areas of study become more intensified and focused. Greater emphasis is placed on current events in a larger geo-political context, and students get an idea of how these seemingly diverse disciplines are really parts of the same enduring puzzle.
The study of government, sometimes referred to as "civics" in the Social Studies milieu, includes the history and forms of government, and the current states of government domestically and around the world. In the classes led by Sarah Eller, a social studies teacher in the Wake County School District in North Carolina, government is woven into the study of current events. She blends items from the day's news into a larger historical framework and encourages her students to track developments in assigned areas. While the topics of geography and history receive degrees of emphasis, she makes Civics and Current Events an ongoing part of the curriculum for the duration of the school year.
Sarah Eller Wake County has been teaching Social Studies in the Wake County School District since 2012, the same year she received her Masters degree in Education from the University of North Carolina, and her teaching certificate. She teaches at Thomas Jefferson High School, where she was once a student herself.
As students progress through school, the term "social studies" usually remains a constant, but the areas of study become more intensified and focused. Greater emphasis is placed on current events in a larger geo-political context, and students get an idea of how these seemingly diverse disciplines are really parts of the same enduring puzzle.
The study of government, sometimes referred to as "civics" in the Social Studies milieu, includes the history and forms of government, and the current states of government domestically and around the world. In the classes led by Sarah Eller, a social studies teacher in the Wake County School District in North Carolina, government is woven into the study of current events. She blends items from the day's news into a larger historical framework and encourages her students to track developments in assigned areas. While the topics of geography and history receive degrees of emphasis, she makes Civics and Current Events an ongoing part of the curriculum for the duration of the school year.
Sarah Eller Wake County has been teaching Social Studies in the Wake County School District since 2012, the same year she received her Masters degree in Education from the University of North Carolina, and her teaching certificate. She teaches at Thomas Jefferson High School, where she was once a student herself.