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Southern United States folk music is rich in not only sound, but in voices of the past. Folk songs were created by working class individuals who described aspects of their life in connection with societal issues and events. Folk songs, now digitally archived, can serve as primary historical sources that can be used to enhance the secondary social studies U.S. history curriculum. The vast offerings of folk songs can allow students to listen, read, and analyze the lyrics to gain a deeper understanding of the U.S. South, shed the "hillbilly" stereotype that Southerners have been historically subjected to, understand why and how Southerners spoke out against injustices through song, and analyze the lyrics that portray the history of southern folklife. Based on the National Council for the Social Studies' "Themes of Social Studies" and integrating folk songs from such online sites as the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institute, curriculum implications are presented for students to reflect on the Southerners' settings, perspectives of events and issues, and methods of protest. Modern technology's preservation of folk songs that would otherwise be absent from history not only has the power to educate, but also to keep southern folk music alive.

Elementary social studies is often viewed as less important than mathematics and reading. Although part of the curriculum, social studies is often overlooked by teachers due to testing demands. Therefore, it was important to investigate preservice teachers' perceptions and attitudes about social studies upon entering their methods courses to determine what may be needed to enrich the course. The study's findings suggest preservice teachers often hold negative views of social studies and fail to connect it to citizenship, the goal of social studies. The results have assisted educators in strengthening the methods courses to help preservice teachers teach social studies.

In the effort to create a multiculturally sensitive citizenry, addressing issues of immigration is critical in today's schools and society. Mathematics and social studies are subjects sensitive to the cultural and population shifts of society. Since STEM subjects and skills are what drive the 21st century classroom today, it is important that teachers incorporate mathematics into the framework of social and political issues such as immigration, acquire numerical data from a variety of online sources, and engage in project-based activities that could also help middle school students develop solutions to societal issues.

Most educators and students are unaware of the Name Day, an alternative to the birthday celebrated in many cultures. Rather than birthdays, individuals of these cultures celebrate a day devoted to the saint, mythological god, or historical figure after which they were named. If students, particularly of elementary years, are to be educated in a multicultural society, they should be introduced to worldwide cultural observances, such as the Name Day; then perhaps those who also celebrate the closing of one year and the beginning of another in a different manner would not feel culturally unrepresented during this crucial time of social development. Since the Name Day tradition is still honored throughout the world today and continues to be practiced by ethnic groups living in America, it is important that this cultural tradition be introduced to students in order to promote the value of this ancient, yet still relevant, tradition.

Although finding fault with someone or something is part of human nature, blame is merely a perception. Before assigning blame in the causation of historical events, students should be given the opportunity to look past textbook generalizations and establish sociological imagination, or the ability to recognize history's connection to society and its people. By instituting sociological imagination, societal and cultural factors could be emphasized, various perspectives could be examined, and empathy could be evoked from the voices of people who lived during, or participated in, these historical happenings.

In many parts of the less developed world it is women and girls who are expected to provide water for their family. Frequently, young girls are unable to complete school or get jobs because water scarcity means they are forced to walk miles daily to obtain this most basic need. Since the creation of the United Nations Millennium Goals, progress has been made in providing clean water and sanitation to billions of people. Although there are still many regions where water scarcity and gender inequity exclude women from schooling and the workforce. With the new Social Studies C3 Framework students are expected to apply and evaluate civic concepts and take action by engaging in global citizenship. In the "How Do You Get 'Your' Water?" Curriculum students' apply the concepts of structural violence and universal human rights to a case study on the connection between women, social inequity, and water. A writing extension gives students the reflective time to cultivate empathy for families experiencing water insecurity. Simulations meant to evoke emotional responses make the experience of water stress a reality and a culminating service-learning project fosters global citizenship.

Iranian women have endured more than 30 years of an Islamist dictatorship that uses religion as a validation for unjust control. Human rights violations against women in Iran are a tragic phenomenon for an otherwise highly developed civilization. Invisible and powerless in a male-dominated society, Iranian women are discouraged from becoming active agents of social change in their country. Government policies concerning issues such as inheritance, divorce, dress code, political involvement, and child custody have long been decided by Islamic traditionalists attempting to enforce their power over women's lives. The conditions of Iranian women as well as child soldiers can be a good idea for classroom discussions. This discussion can help students, in their active role as global citizens, be empowered to participate in a new generation of abolitionists. (Contains 1 resource, 7 online resources and 4 notes.)

Due to the vast amount of technology resources accessible to the public today, depictions of people, places, and events which were once held as true are no longer being accepted as reality. History is being reinterpreted. While youth often resort to social media for knowledge, sensationalized news and images can promote negative stereotypes. As media writers are criticized and accused of offering fake news and historical inaccuracies, the public, particularly youth, have come to distrust the media. Educators can help students distinguish between fact and fiction by infusing historical literacy - the ability to examine a historical event through social, political, and cultural factors, with media literacy - the ability to analyze and evaluate media communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]