This brief, manageable, dynamic book helps teachers breathe life into their social studies teaching. The book illustrates the creation of a dynamic social studies classroom with its constructivist framework, key instructional approaches and literacy-based pedagogy, text sets, activities, and classroom vignettes. The most practical of all social studies methods books, this edition highlights fresh and creative strategies that build key social studies understandings, skills, and values. The book is highly readable, offering a solid blend of sound theory and descriptions of exciting classroom practice. Readers will feel they are being escorted through model social studies classrooms and come away from the reading with a clear vision of the most effective and creative way to teach social studies and to motivate elementary students to become social scientists.