Social
Studies Lessons for High School is designed for social studies
teachers to use with their government and history courses. It was developed
in response to a shift in education throughout our country: a move away
from rote memorization and toward the critical thinking skills necessary
for many of the new performance assessment programs.
Each lesson will enable teachers to teach seven specific critical thinking
skills in a step-by-step process. The information has been adapted for
old media and new media formats. Web sites will be provided that will
allow teachers to choose the most appropriate resource for the selected
activity. All selections can be copied for classroom use. Teachers may
adapt activities to allow students to complete assignments via the web.
Robert O. Black is a social studies teacher at the Harbor City Learning
Center, and former Teachers Network web mentor.
Introduction
This lesson is included because of how frequently students must use charts, graphs, or tables to extrapolate information and draw conclusions. Have students practice frequently with the template using data located in the following web sites or selected text books.