Living social studies! This is a K-12 curriculum designed by the Teacher Curriculum Institute (TCI). To make social studies attractive through interactive lessons and inquiry-based projects.
The program highlighted student-driven quest and chose the TCI primary school social studies curriculum as the teacher’s choice to encourage research and evidence-based discussion. Integrate reading and writing skills by incorporating primary resources, biography and diverse perspectives. It covers topics such as geography, history, economics, citizenship and more, and offers content at all grade level. Additionally, TCI offers a digital platform with interactive activities, assessments and teacher resources.
Sarah Wilson is a leading Missouri teacher and has taught social studies for 11 years. She knows what to look for in a program that follows both standards and clicks for kids. Sarah wants other teachers to know they’re alive about TCI’s social sciences! curriculum.
Is TCI’s social studies alive? Are you following specific standards or curriculum guidelines?
Each unit follows standard. Therefore, you need to see where these criteria line up in your state. Missouri teaches the symbols of the people (good citizens and rules/laws), Native Americans, the world and the region of Missouri, economics, government, famous Missouri people, pioneers and inventors, how things have changed over time. The unit matched what I needed to teach. Standard correlations allow you to know where each standard fits in the unit. This is very useful when editing the curriculum pacing guide for that year.
Sarah Wilson
How did you use the TCI Elementary School social studies curriculum in your classroom?
I taught the living economics lessons of social studies! My community unit in second grade. The online lessons were engaging and the students really enjoyed completing the activities. The physical materials designed for use in this lesson are incredible. The quality of the materials helped make every lesson more meaningful and engaging. In particular, I like practical lessons and have videos that I can present or assign to students to suit the material. My students were particularly fond of screening activities and were involved in community skits.
Sarah Wilson
Skit was their favorite because they love acting and making plays. The discussions the students had while organizing the cards with practical activities were amazing. They used such good teamwork to organize the cards and had meaningful conversations about the right order. When they didn’t know what the card/photo meant, they flipped it over and decided on the correct order. Students were then asked to come to the board and put them in order to agree that the team would self-check. The students remained engaged and seemed to be truly enjoying the activity.
“Wait, can we actually elicit this activity?”
“Can you change the colour? How cool!”
“You can create a shopping list! I love this!”
– Comments from second graders
Sarah Wilson
How did this make your job as a teacher easier and more enjoyable?
There are many things I love about this curriculum. I love real photography and all the tools available online. I enjoyed how easy it was to create classes and assign materials. Printing materials, editing ratings, and online/assigning them through Google Classroom was easy. You can refer to the cross-reference criteria to see where the program teaches that particular state criteria. This was very helpful. The printed material makes the lesson even more amazing. I am grateful for the fact that I have two copies of sort cards for practical activities. Both the student and I enjoyed the material and loved the various techniques and teaching/learning styles built into the entire lessons in this unit.
Can you emphasize what stood out to you?
Professional development videos have proven to be extremely useful. This material could be read at two speeds, allowing students to remain focused and work independently. One thing I found useful is that students can click on the main idea button and highlight it in the passage. This helped me to teach them this skill too, as the second graders focus a lot on the main ideas. The material is sturdy, colorful and meaningful. Text/reading is suitable for grade levels. Online slides were useful when teaching lessons across groups and assigning some of the materials you do yourself.
On a scale of 1-5, how easy was it to use TCI?
I’ll give it 5 stars. So many components are useful, easy to grasp, and easy to teach the material. Available features make students easier and less stressful. The practical materials for the lessons provided were fun and engaging to my students. They really enjoyed the student magazine because the pages were easy to read and not too overwhelming. The print was just as good as the photos. I feel that it helped ADHD students concentrate more on their reading.
Sarah Wilson
What brings TCI’s social studies to life! special?
Using a complete curriculum with both online and printed materials was unique to me. It is very easy to teach, puts a lot of pressure on students who struggle to read and feel overwhelmed by seeing huge textbooks. I love student magazines and activity cards, and it’s been much easier to implement content. The video was perfect length and was fun to add to another learning style. The activities offered were fun and engaging for my students.
Sarah Wilson
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