Introduction to Social Studies Lesson Ideas for Middle School

 I love teaching Social Studies. I really love it. It's exciting to present historical concepts to students and find ways to make it interesting and engaging for them. I love hearing comments like, "Social Studies is my favorite class" and "Social Studies is really fun" because they often come from students who were wary of the subject at the start of the school year. Through our activities and the creation of a positive classroom environment, they find an appreciation for my favorite school subject and sometimes it even becomes their favorite subject of the year. How cool is that?!

I also love sharing my passion for teaching Social Studies and connecting with teachers like you who share that same love of learning and bringing history to life in their classrooms! But where to begin? Hint: it involves lots of freebies which are included in a FREE Introduction to Social Studies Mini Unit - 5 complete days of lessons - all activities are included - just for you! 

Here are some lesson ideas for introducing the subject of social studies in your classroom:

Hook Ideas

A good hook activity is a great way to start a new lesson. It grabs students' attention and sets the scene for the unit or daily lesson. Here are some easy ideas:

1. True or False? 

Write a brief series of questions about the study of history and some key terms you plan to cover. Ask students to raise their thumbs in the air (up for yes, down for no) in response to the questions. It's an easy and fun way to assess prior knowledge. You can also use mini white boards and have students collaborate in groups of 2-3 to answer true or false. After each question, you can review the right answer.

2. YouTube Videos

I love finding a great (and brief!) YouTube video to use during a lesson. Here are some of my favorites to introduce the subject of social studies:

An Animated Introduction to Social Science (Soomo Publishing)

Why Study History? (The Pursuit of History)

Why Study History? (PragerU) recommended for older students

3. Draw It

This hook is perfect for mini whiteboards. Ask students to draw or write images, words, doodles, etc. when they think of the words "social studies" or "history". These images can spark discussions about concepts that relate to social studies!

A Word Wall

Hold up! Do you have a word wall in your classroom? If not, it's time to start. A word wall is a place to collect the important vocabulary terms you are teaching in your unit. You can even collect and keep them up all year! Word walls give students a chance to review and interact with vocabulary daily. The more students interact with vocabulary terms, the more connections they can make between ideas and build upon those concepts to better understand and make deeper connections to curriculum content. 

You can make your own word wall for an Introduction to Social Studies unit or download this free resource from my TpT store! :)

Introduction to Social Studies Activities

Now that your students are hooked, it's time to dive into the unit. I've created some free resources in my TpT store - The Teacher's Prep - to help you in this endeavor!

1. Vocabulary Activities

We've already discussed the importance of vocabulary posted in a word wall - now let's talk about some activities students can complete to interact with the vocabulary in a variety of ways! 

The Introduction to Social Studies Vocabulary Activities resource (it's free, too!) has three activities to use with your students. I like spreading out these activities over the course of the unit to give kids extra practice. 

The first activity I typically start with is the Introduction to Social Studies Vocabulary activity in which students write the definitions for each vocabulary term. As we use the terms in class during the unit, I give them time to write a sentence using each word in the chart.

On subsequent days, there are two more activities to use - a matching activity and a crossword puzzle. Again, the more students interact with the words, the more opportunities they will have to understand the important concepts you are teaching in class!

If that sounds like activities you'd find useful in your classroom, download it here!

2. Informational Text

Ok, now it's time to dive into the heart of the unit - reading informational text! If you don't already have access to informational text or would like to supplement the resources you currently have, I've created an Introduction to Social Studies Interactive PowerPoint that is filled with informational text students can read. It also directly corresponds to a set of interactive notebook graphic organizers for student note taking. 

Oh! And not only is it available in PowerPoint in an interactive format, there's also TpT Easel and Google Drive versions included, too. I've got you covered!

Check it out here! And yes, it's also free. (It's a theme!) :)

3. Interactive Notebooks

How do students organize their notes for this unit? In an interactive notebook! I love these graphic organizers because they consolidate student notes in one place. The graphic organizers directly correlate to all the activities I've mentioned above so far and give students the opportunity to summarize the main ideas and details they learn as they are introduced to the study of history. 

I love interactive notebooks so much, I made complete sets for Ancient History, American History and Civics / American Government ... in both paper and digital formats. You can check them out by clicking on the links in the last sentence!

And of course, this section wouldn't be complete without a paper and digital copy of the Introduction to Social Studies interactive notebooks to take with you! Click here for the digital interactive notebook and here for the paper interactive notebook. 

4. Task Cards

Last (for now!) but certainly not least are task cards. Task cards can be used as bell ringers, entrance tickets, exit tickets, station work and more! I alternate their use based on my class needs of the day, but they include brief writing prompts to encourage students to think critically about the content they are learning in class.

If task cards seem like something you'd like to add to your Introduction to Social Studies unit, click here to download a free resource of them from my TpT store!

And Finally...

Thank you for all you do for your students to bring history to life in your classroom and engage students in topics that will foster a love of learning. I hope these resources make your life a bit easier and save you valuable time in the school year.

I absolutely love hearing from teachers like you. If you find the resources useful in your classroom, I invite you to leave me a note in the feedback sections and let me know how you used the activities in your classroom. I read every word and your notes mean so much to me!

Happy Teaching! 

Oh, and here's a link (click here!) directly to a page in my TpT store that lists all of these free resources in case you don't want to scroll back through the post. :)