History Repeats Itself in the Classroom, Too!

The best history/social studies classes are those in which students act as historians, political scientists, and economists. The best teachers are those who model “discipline-specific expertise.” There is an effective formula for achieving the Common Core State Standards’ goal of college and career readiness in history/social studies:
Establish the foundation for future academic work, subject area knowledge and skill developmentTake deliberate advantage of students prior knowledge of those topics taught multiple times from elementary school through high school Increase the complexity of reading materials in these subjects as they are covered in subsequent coursesDevelop a multi-year plan to vertically spiral writing and speaking skills towards producing work that demonstrates thinking commensurate with college and career readinessThis resource book is intended for both new and experienced teachers. School-site departments and district curriculum specialists will find this book useful. In addition, this book will be an excellent supplement for university methods instructors interested in helping their student teachers meet the goals of the Common Core State Standards.

Gregory Gray taught Advanced Placement American Government, Political Economy, and World History in the Social Science Department at Irvine High School, Irvine, CA for 32 years. He currently supervises teacher candidates at Portland State University.

Jennifer Donnelly has been teaching Social Science in the Irvine Unified School District for eight years. She teaches multiple courses each year including World History, AP European History, US History, AP US History, and Political Economy.