Tools and Strategies for Improving Student Investment in Social Studies 

Social Studies teachers are, well, social. We love to connect and have conversations with our students. We know that a class that’s engaged is actively learning the content as well as a multitude of soft skills. Sadly, I’ve found that students are less willing to engage in civil discourse, debates, or collaborative inquiries than they were even 10 years ago. Students have confided two primary reasons for their reluctance: Our polarized climate – they don’t want to be known for having an opinion that is contrary to others in the class or their friends; and they believe engagement is not factored into their grade – it doesn’t “count.” 

The value in teaching adolescents to think critically about topics, voice their ideas that they justify with evidence cannot be overstated. Our democracy hinges on our ability and willingness to express thoughts, accept that others may have different points of view, and to filter through facts and misleading evidence. Before we explore tips and tricks, it is critical to state that students must feel safe expressing their thoughts in your classroom. Without the trust of a safe environment, any technique will have limited success. Here are a few tools that I use to get students not only engaged, but invested, in their learning. 

The Tools 

First, I use a version of the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) from the Right Question Institute. This is a great way to begin a new topic or cover curriculum elements that I am less excited about teaching. QFT relies on the students to do heavy lifting. Here’s how:  

Provide a prompt or artifact for your students to examine. Use a quote, a political cartoon, or a very short document to serve as a springboard to a larger topic, something that can be quickly processed, a few minutes at max. Here are some sources for appropriate prompts:  

Discovery Education activities and lessons, which is available statewide in New Hampshire (including NH-specific lessons) 

Oyez (using only the facts of the case)  

C-span clips that are under 2 minutes 

Political cartoons, famous quotes, images from the Library of Congress or  

Conflicting headlines about a current news article illustrating ideology within journalism. 

Separate your class into small groups of four to five students, with one serving as the scribe 

Set a timer for four minutes and instruct the groups to create and write down any question that they have about the prompt.  

The groups then choose the top three to five questions from their list that will best help them understand the prompt, which they share out to a shared document or the whiteboard. 

What generally happens next is nothing short of a miracle. Students start answering each other’s questions. That very shy student now feels a level of confidence to ask a question or provide a response. As the teacher, you simply fill in missing information to tie it all together. You now have a student – created instructional hook for a lesson on your larger topic. 

I have used a political cartoon from the 1700’s entitled “The Critical Period” to introduce the Articles of Confederation, which resulted in questions from the students that led us to discuss our first form of government and its weaknesses. This is a perfect introduction to the Constitution, our principle of federalism and the two factions of the 1780’s, the Federalists and the Anti-federalists. 

To learn more about the QFT process I’d recommend going to the Right Questions Institute’s website, where you’ll find online training and resources to help you get started. 

The Strategies 

Next, let’s return to the students’ misconception that engagement is not factored into their grade. I use the spider web evaluation approach adopted from Alexis Wiggin’s book, “The Best Class You Never Taught.” Essentially, all the students’ names are written on a paper according to where they are seated and as students participate in the discussion you simply map the flow with lines from name to name so that by the end your paper will look like a spider web. Seating them in a circle will make it look more web-like. I also make notes next to their names based on various criteria. For example, I may tell students that we are practicing responding to someone’s idea before building off of it and will note a star next to their name each time they practice this skill. 

To reinforce that civil discourse is not a competitive sport, I remind students that one side does not “win” while the other “loses.” For this reason, the spider web discussion tool is a collaborative grade but still requires that each individual challenge themselves. I provide students with a list of possible questions they can ask of their peers to help get them started. The goal is to work as a team on cooperative inquiry, engaging in active listening and respect. The skills you would assess would depend on your students and the task, however, the basics are: balanced participation, quality and thoughtfulness of contributions, respectful listening and meaningful dialogue. After the discussion we debrief on what went well and what can be improved in the future.  

A third strategy I use to get students engaged is an “Alley Debate.” 

Start by having students generate a list of debate topics or choose something that pertains specifically to a unit. Topics should be something that students have background on and can generate responses quickly. Set the topics up to be drawn at random (but you might start with a few fun ones to learn the game). 

Divide the class into two teams facing each other in the classroom. Assign each side to be affirmative or negative to the topics. Students on each team stand shoulder to shoulder – facing each other with the teacher standing in the middle. 

The teacher draws or chooses a topic and the first student from one team will give an argument either affirming or negating the topic, if their argument is convincing enough the teacher takes a step towards them, if not, they don’t move. Then the other team takes a turn. They go back and forth until each team member has taken a turn, with each team trying to move the teacher to their side. The winning team has the teacher closer to them by the last person’s response. 

In addition to getting students up and moving, every student must give a reason to support/oppose the topic – allowing them to slowly feel more comfortable with speaking and expressing their opinions and using what they know. From there, you can take a more serious topic and break into a full class discussion or quick Socratic seminar to reinforce learning.

Our educational toolkits and the culture of today’s students have evolved, but not necessarily in alignment. However, social studies and civics allows teachers to connect with students on a level that assists them in building authentic relationships. Begin by creating a space for students to voice their concerns and let them know that their interests and ideas matter. Give them accessible examples and a clear method for exploration. You’ll impart not only the subject of your course but also engender a love of lifelong learning.