Teaching Social Studies in Shorter Blocks of Time

Kirsten 0:00

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm Kirsten of The Southern Teach, an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies. I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Kirsten 0:47

Hello and welcome to another episode of the social studies teacher podcast. I'm so glad you're here listening as always. I always appreciate anybody who pops in every Monday or whenever you like to listen to this podcast. Today, we're going to be talking about some tips and ideas to teach social studies in shorter blocks of time. This is really under 30 minutes. Teaching social studies can be a challenge, especially when you don't have a lot of time, but with the right strategies, you can still deliver impactful lessons and keep your students engaged, whether you have just 10 minutes or 20 minutes, I'm going to share with you today some practical ideas to make the most of your time and ensure that your students have meaningful learning experiences for the Social Studies subject.

Kirsten 1:43

So today we are going to be talking about some 10 minute lesson ideas, and I'm also going to share with you a schedule of a 20 minute block and give you an example as well. Of course, I cannot end without examples. I also have some practical tips for success, as far as teaching in general, whatever topic you might be needing to teach in less than 30 minutes. So let's start with the 10 minute lesson ideas. I'm going to give you three. The first one is daily passages, the second one is guided notes, and the third is just a quick 10 minute mini lesson. So daily passages start the day with a brief passage related to a social studies topic. These passages can include historical facts, biographies, cultural information, or some type of current event, and you want to make sure that it is at the level of your students. So for example, you can use a short passage about a historical figure or a historical event and then follow it up after reading with a quick discussion. Or you can come up with short answer questions or multiple choice questions. So students are reading the passage, let's say, about the Declaration of Independence, and they're just learning like information about it. And then you can ask students to list three key points, super general or ask a couple of specific questions about the significance of the Declaration of Independence. Going into guided notes or even some type of anchor chart. You can provide students with a skeleton of notes that they can fill as you're explaining key concepts. This method can help students focus on essential information, and it also improves retention. Bonus points, if you can integrate this in interactive notebooks so they can refer to it, have like some type of reference guide. So for example, you can have a graphic organizer, or you can do a set of partially completed notes about the three branches of government. You can make it super simple, where maybe you have three squares. Each square, you're taking guided notes on the three different branches of government. And as you discuss each branch, students are filling in the blanks or filling in the notes, and you just help them understand structure and functions of the US government. So you can say, like, what the branch is, and some of the example positions in that branch and what their main purpose is as a whole. All right, now the third 10 minute lesson idea is the mini lesson. You can deliver a focused mini lesson on a specific concept or fact on any topic. Keep the content concise and directly related to your social studies curriculum. So for example, teaching a brief slideshow lesson on the importance of the Bill of Rights. Gather the information. Using different sources, explain what it is and its significance, and then have students discuss one right they find most important, and why. This can be a really great ender after they're learning the mini lesson, or they're learning about the information about the Bill of Rights. At the end, have some type of discussion on a right they find the most important and why. So to recap those 10 minute lesson ideas, you've got the daily passages, guided notes and mini lessons. The great news about this is that I have all of these lessons in my store, so I'll make sure to link my website store. But I've got a whole bundle of different daily passages that are for third through fifth grade. I've got a bundle of guided notes for a variety of social studies topics that are taught in upper elementary. And I also do have mini lessons - they're incorporated in my units for my guided curriculum. So all of that you can find in my website store, or, if you prefer, on TPT. The best part about my website store is that it is tax free. You can also sidestep maybe administration or districts don't allow you to purchase on TPT or maybe blocked for whatever reason. But with my website store, you're purchasing directly from the source, and you don't have to go through the marketplace. So that's always a benefit. And then additionally, if you're a member of the Smart and Simple Social Studies membership, I also have all of these broken down for you, and they're divided by domain and topic. So whatever topic you're looking for, you can always check to see that topic will most likely have a guided notes activity, a daily passage activity, and even a mini lesson from the many units that I have in the membership.

Kirsten 6:42

All right, let's go into 20 minute lesson ideas. I'm formatting this a little bit differently. This is a suggested breakdown and structure of what you could do for your 20 minute lesson. And if you have a little bit more wiggle room, maybe, you know, adjust the minutes for 25 minutes or even 30 minutes or 15 minutes, but this is just specifically for 20 minutes. So we're going to start with a five minute warm up. Then you're going to do an activity, mini lesson, or game for 10 to 12 minutes, and then you do your wrap up or review for three to five minutes, and that should all end up adding up to 20 minutes. So let's start with the first part: warm up, review discussion. So this is about five minutes. Start with a quick warm up activity or review to get students thinking about the topic that you're going to be talking about. This could be a short quiz, a review of previously covered material, or a discussion question that links to the day's lesson. I always love question of the days. This helps activate prior knowledge and it sets the stage for the new content. Next up is the activity, mini lesson, or game. This is 10 to 12 minutes, and this is where you're going to be choosing an engaging activity that reinforces the mini lesson and allows students to apply what they've learned. This could be some type of activity, hands on projects, worksheets that relate to the daily passage. This could also be a mini lesson, a brief extension of the earlier lesson, such as a deeper dive into a specific topic. And it could also be a game, an educational game or quiz that makes learning fun and interactive. Games can include trivia matching exercises or role playing scenarios. Make sure the activity is concise and focused, no more than one topic at a time, so that it allows enough time for students to participate and benefit. Now, the third step of this 20 minute lesson is the wrap up review, which takes about three to five minutes. End the lesson with a brief wrap up or a review, summarize those key points covered, address any lingering questions and reinforce the main takeaways. This is also a great time to preview what will be covered in the next lesson, providing some type of continuity and purpose of why they're learning about this in the first place.

Kirsten 9:06

So let's do an example of a commonly taught topic, usually around this month in October, the Boston Tea Party. For this first part, warm up, review, discussion, you could use a short quiz with questions about the Boston Tea Party, or ask students to discuss in pairs what they found most interesting about the passage. The second part, the activity, mini lesson, or game for the Boston Tea Party you might want to do for an activity students are creating a simple cause and effect chart that outlines what led to the Boston Tea Party and its consequences. You could also choose to do a mini lesson where you're doing maybe some type of slideshow, or lesson where students are learning about key figures from the Boston Tea Party, or some timeline of what happened. And then there's also the game organizing trivia game where students answer questions about the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party. You can always use Kahoot or some type of game show format with buzzers or digital quiz tool to make it interactive and fun. And then lastly, we've got the review and wrap up summarize the key points covered, such as the significance of the Boston Tea Party and its impact on the American Revolution. You can ask a few students to share what they've learned or what they found interesting, and then you can preview what will be covered in your next lesson to provide that continuity.

All right, so now that we've talked about ideas for teaching with 10 minutes or with 20 minutes, I'll share with you a few practical tips for success. The first tip is to plan ahead, have all materials and resources ready before class starts to maximize that instructional time. You do not want too much in between these different sections. You want to just transition as smoothly as possible. The second tip is to stay flexible, be prepared to adjust the timing of activities based on student needs and engagement levels. I cannot tell you how many times you know I allot a certain time for warm up or some type of discussion, and either nobody wants to participate, or it goes way longer, everybody wants to participate, and so more people are discussing. And so I adjust accordingly, and I try to stay as flexible as possible. I'm not always like, okay, it's been five minutes. The buzzer is off. Now let's go on to the next thing. I keep it as fluid as possible. Use technology, incorporate digital tools and resources to streamline instruction, and make activities more interactive. I mentioned Kahoot. There's all kinds of games, there's Nearpod, there's Quizlet, and there's even BrainPOP, if you want to find a video lesson instead of like a traditional slideshow lesson, that could always be a great source as well. And then engage students. Use a variety of instructional strategies to keep students engaged and interested, even within a short time frame, think about what your students like. Do they like game style things, or would they prefer something where they can write it out or talk more? So just engage students based on your students needs and learning styles.

By following this structured approach, you can deliver effective and engaging social studies lessons even with limited time. Focus on clear, concise instruction and interactive activities to ensure your students gain a solid understanding of the social studies concepts and topics, and it helps them to stay motivated to learn. Next week, we're going to be talking about ideas on teaching social studies in longer blocks of time. So if you have more than 30 minutes of flexible Social Studies time, I'm going to share with you some tips on that as well. So stick around. All right. I hope you have a great rest of your week, and I'll talk to you next week.

Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.